The adventure of home stay and travel began on Friday and Saturday for the scouts and scout leaders. Over the next week, as new pictures become available, a view of everyones home stay and travels will be added to the site.

Our scouts were able to travel to other sites throughout Scotland with their host families. Of course the first order of business was clothes washing, followed by showers and rest. From all reports all home stays were fun. As Michael Dominguez says, the fed me a lot, took me to many historic places, and in general spoiled me. Adam Holland says he quickly adapted to family life and hanging out like any typical Scottish teenager. Bobby Hean learned about cattle as part of his homestay experience. I will add more of the boys writing in the future.

On the last full day we all gathered in Edinburgh for dinner and the 50th Anniversary Tatoo. For those of you who are clueless about a tatoo, it is a military, musical, and entertainment show, with emphasis on the military component. Being in Scotland this means a heavy emphasis on bag pipes. As part of the 50th anniversary celebration, groups from throughout the Commonwealth were represented. Our seats were three rows below the royal box and given to us by John Somerville and Scottish Scouting. For that we are very thankful. The finale of the Tatoo was a fireworks display. Though it was not equal to a Macys display, there is a lot to be said for explosions less than 100 feet over your head, and stong enough to release the moisture from the night sky. We were rained on by a mixture of water and ash, from the fireworks.

After the Tatoo the boys returned to the Glenrothes scout hall, only to get ready for a 6 o'clock departure for the airport. Many of the boys did not sleep, until the plane. Our total trip was a little over 11 hours in length.

I have included photos of my travels with Joan. We revisited Anstruther, Crail, and St. Andrews, as well as Sterling, Perth, Dundee, Broughty Ferry, Grieff, and of course Edinburgh. An overall impression is the closeness of the cities surrounded by vast areas of open space.

More to come.

Historic Sites Around Dundee, The HMS Discovery, Broughty Castle, The high pint view-The Law

Scottish Homes-small, but oh the gardens

The March of the Bands to the Castle, pre Tatoo

and the bands kept coming

The Festival Events and Our Tatoo Dinner

Joan's wish, a cheese and bread lunch at the castle

The Tatoo

MORE TO COME