I said AUTOMATIC!!!

Where has the roaming gnome been roaming? Well, it seems my company from Western Washington were keen to see a bit of Scotland... via 4 wheels.

After reserving an automatic from Enterprise on the web, I was gun ho about driving on the wrong side of the road! But, in true gnome fashion, life threw us a curve. When I arrived at Enterprise, promptly at 9am, there was only one attendant and the office was swamped. An hour later reinforcements arrived, but my precious automatic drove off the lot as they printed my contract. Reluctantly, and a foot stomp later, I hired a manual Ford Fiesta (with the optional damage waiver and a 30% discount for the hassle) having never driven a manual before in my life. (As way of an explanation for my European cousins, Americans get a drivers license with which you can drive any type of vehicle – manual or automatic.)

Twenty minutes later, I managed to get the car started and out of the lot. We were off! I only killed the car a few dozen times in town that first day. Ten days later, the car still had a working clutch and even my mum was impressed with my skill!

We roamed quite a bit – over 710 miles to places like: Melrose and the abbeys, Borders in general, Fife & St. Andrews, Stirling/Killin/Loch Lomond, and Rosslyn chapel. These long days hopefully explain the delay in posts. My company was here from 1-15 April; I’ve spent the past week recuperating. Happily, all this roaming has provided a deep portfolio of photos for upcoming posts...