At Heathrow Airport in London, while waiting for the shuttle to Glasgow at six am in a deserted waiting area, we happened upon an American couple also waiting but for the Edinburgh shuttle. They were from the Elmira, New York area and knew Joey Sindelar, a pro golfer acquaintance of ours. In fact, this man plays golf at Joey’s home golf course, Soaring Eagles Country Club. To add to this they knew of the Elbow Room in Elmira and its owner Billie Cox, also Ole Petersen’s first wife who is Tommy Hilfiger’s sister. It gets better. He was originally from Bellingham, Washington and went to the University of Washington. He found out I was a dentist. His wife’s father and grandfather were dentists. He and his wife are both librarians. I showed him that I was reading a library book, an obscure title: Mysteries of the Middle Ages. [Ironically, I NEVER read library books] He was quite pleased I used the library system. He had not only read that book but also asked if I had read others by that author. He had enjoyed them all. It gets even better. They were taking a tour of Scotland and had booked a Rick Steves’ tour. We said we had a friend, Ann Neel, who works with Rick at his office in Edmonds, Washington. I have never had so many connections with a person I had met for the first time at Heathrow Airport! We boarded our plane destined never to see this couple again.

Finally, we arrived at Glasgow Airport and stood in line to rent our previously booked 16-day rental through Alamo. First issue was that the car, Alamo said, was not scheduled to be picked up until the next day. I had changed the reservation the previous day due to Mary and German not coming along. The change order that I received by email10 seconds after pressing the button still had not arrived in Scotland two days later. Fortunately, I had my copy so that trumped everything else. After calling around they found a car suitable for us at Europcar Rental. The rental cost for this larger than usual, for us, mid-sized station wagon was to be $575 split two ways. Not bad. The car required mandatory insurance, they said. The total would be slightly over $2000!!!!!!!! That was almost 4 times the quoted price. I went round and round with rental agent lady saying I had a contract for the stated price. Yes, she said but you need insurance, it is mandatory. American auto insurance does not insure cars outside the US. Finally, exasperated, I said I had car rental insurance through my Visa Business card. OK, that was fine then. The car rental was the stated $575 after all. Tempest in a teapot but adrenalin was now coursing through my body. I was no longer as tired as I was five minutes ago.

Off we drove to Jane and Ian’s house in Lenzie, just outside Glasgow, for the night. We spent the afternoon with Jane and later her son, 11-year-old Fraser. When Jane left to be “taxi mom” for four hours, we took a walk around central Lenzie (a small village). After an hour and a half nap to rejuvenate us, Ian and the girls came home – Rachael 9 and Kirsten 7. Rachael is about the same age Laurel was when Jane spent the summer with us in 1983. All three of their children were a delight to be around, bright, interested, interesting and politely verbal. Fraser, without much success, attempted to teach me the rules of his favorite sport, rugby. This dumb American just couldn’t comprehend the intricacies of the sport Fraser plays for his school. Ever tried explaining baseball to a Scot: Same result.

We began a true Scottish meal – a couple of beers followed by two and a half bottles of wine. Oh, we had something to eat also, I think. Actually, the meal menu included whole prawns on a green salad with small shrimp in a Marie Rose sauce, Coq au Vin, broccoli and a Pavlova for dessert. Who says Scottish food is uninteresting. But then again this was not traditional Scottish fare, was it? Jane is a very good cook.

Ian is a hoot to be with; Jane is the still the wonderful girl we met 25 years ago. Off we went to bed at the late (?) hour of 9:45 to sleep until after 8:00 the next morning. We were restored. Our trip could now begin in earnest thanks to the Cannon’s taking in these poor, tired, hungry travelers for the night.