Dropping Veronica off at Camp...

We took the only train that afternoon that stops at the Outward Bound train station. After a few wrong turns, we managed to find the path to the base camp. Veronica was thrilled to learn that they had WiFi; she promised to send us daily updates, but stay off of Facebook. One of the instructors took us on a tour. The facilities were impressive.

Since Veronica was the first to arrive in her room, she got to pick her bed. Ironically, the other two girls were both Dutch; the three of them got along great. I was lucky because I was able to catch a ride into Fort William, where I was spending the night since there were no way to get to the airport. The next morning, I took a bus to the airport; the route was different than the train and was also lovely as it crossed the mountains.

The Highlands...

After we dropped off our bags at The Prince’s House Hotel, we walked down to Loch Shiel for a picnic lunch.

Then we walked up a nearby hill so we could watch a steam train travel across the Glenfinnan Viaduct, as the Hogwarts Express does in Harry Potter. The viaduct was built in 1898 entirely out of concrete and is featured on the Scottish £10 note (side note: while the Scottish will accept British pounds, the British won’t accept Scottish pounds).

When I booked our overnight stay in Glenfinnan, I didn’t realize that there wasn’t actually a village. We had a great dinner at the hotel and weren’t surprised that the innkeeper suggested that we catch a train to a bigger town the next day. We went into Fort William, at the foot of Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest mountain. We wandered the main street with its cute souvenir shops, then took a walk to Old Inverlochy Castle. Dating to the 13th century, it was abandoned in 1654.

The Train to the Highlands...

We left Glasgow early Friday morning to catch a train to Glenfinnan, in the Highlands. The journey took a little over four hours, which meant Veronica had plenty of time for a nap.

Scotland is unusual in that there are train stations to very remote villages. The scenery along the way was beautiful.

The reason that I chose to go to Glenfinnan was because our train would cross this viaduct, which was featured in three of the Harry Potter movies as the students rode the Hogwarts Express to their wizarding school.

Mother-Daughter Trip to Glasgow...

After researching summer camps, Veronica discovered that Outward Bound, which Jimmy attended in North Carolina during college, ran an adventure camp in the Highlands of Scotland. Originally, she was going to fly over by herself and take a bus to the camp, but then a friend mentioned that it would be a lovely train ride from Glasgow and I decided to accompany her. We spent two nights in Glasgow right in the heart of the shopping district. After our first day of shopping and an evening at the cinema, we spent the second day sightseeing. We stopped at Glasgow University to check out the Environmental Science Department, which was very underwhelming.

Veronica was happy to find a Tardis (the time machine from the BBC show Dr. Who); this version serves as an ice cream shop.

We visited the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, which was in a great purpose-built building from 1901 that houses an impressive collection owned by the public; it is the most visited museum in the UK outside of London. We also visited the Gallery of Modern Art, shown with its statue of the Duke of Wellington that continuously wears an orange traffic cone.

Cool Abandoned Staircases...

What nice ironwork on this staircase.

This staircase actually used to be inside with a wall of windows next to it.

Now it’s just the perfect place to take photos with just a touch of M.C. Escher. Clearly Veronica doesn’t have a fear of heights.

Urbexing in Brussels...

Jimmy has always had a passion about exploring abandoned buildings. He considers urbexing contemporary archaeology. He spotted this factory outside of Brussels from the train and couldn’t wait to explore it with Veronica. When I expressed some nervousness, he assured me that there were no “No Trespassing” signs and the place was wide open. They took their bikes on the train for a day trip in early July.

The factory used to make heat exchangers. They ran into another urbexer while there. Veronica took dozens of photos and these are a few of my favorite.

Some folks have used the place to dump household trash. How sad that this photo has ended up there. 

Another Great Expedition...

Veronica’s GPS proved how far they hiked

There were over 40 students going on expeditions, so the school chartered a bus to bring them to the Ardennes. The groups all camped in separate locations the first night, but camped together next to a river the second night.

Before the final day of hiking

Veronica was the team captain and was in charge of communications with the accessors and keeping the group motivated. There were four checkpoints per day, so adults were keeping tabs on them, and several places where they could pick up additional water.

It rained on them one day, but luckily never poured.

Goofing around at the first checkpoint

Veronica is hoping that Mr. Le Heux, who’s in charge of the school’s International Award program, is going to assist in planning a Gold Expedition next summer in France. In the meantime, he’ll use Veronica’s new video to help promote the International Award for the next set of Year 10 kids.

Veronica’s Silver Expedition...

The day after Ashlynn left, it was Veronica’s turn to head to the Ardennes in Belgium to go on her Silver Expedition for the International Award. To get in the mood for hiking 48K (30 miles) over three days, she walked the mile to school rather than catching the bus.

Veronica was happy to be with so many of her good friends. Their group of six had one extra girl assigned to join them. Unfortunately, this caused some difficulties because she had back problems and the other girls ended up having to carry her pack for several kilometers per day where it was then put in a truck and brought to the next campsite. Luckily, the girls had good attitudes about the extra burden.

Off to Germany...

The first Sunday in July, Ashlynn left for the Year 8 (7th grade) school trip to Ahrweiler, Germany, outside of Cologne. Luckily Ashlynn wasn’t too embarrassed to have me take photos of her before she got on the bus.

Ashlynn shared a room with Emma, Sophie and Uma. Of course, they all thought they were rather cool.

There were a few bits with educational value on the trip including visiting this ancient Roman villa, a World War II bunker, a chocolate museum and a Formula One museum.

Ashlynn especially enjoyed the free time to bum around with her friends.

Cool Night Shots...

Jimmy had a lot of fun playing professional photographer. We both loved how the glass on this ostrich sculpture sparkled in the moonlight.

The moon was nearly full, the sky was nice and clear, and it wasn’t too windy--the perfect night to party outside until nearly 4 a.m.

Jimmy loved the light set-up that the band brought along. What an awesome setting for a fantastic night!

We Partied for Hours...

Chris and Lauren

About 10 p.m., the band got started. As we walked up the steps from the pool, Jimmy asked if we were hearing Coldplay. Of course, he was wrong, but Niels Geusebroek, the lead singer of the Dutch band Silkstone, did have an awesome voice.

Terri and Max

A Group Sing-Along

Between sets, we went up to the house for dinner. The kitchen was fun of a team of chefs; I especially loved the sautéd scallops and asparagus and the dessert buffet was amazing. There was another champagne bar set up on the deck and a vodka bar that was very busy with Chris’ Russian colleagues. Terri got very good at pretending to drink shots of vodka, but actually downing water.

Appetizers by the Pool...

We spent the first two hours of the evening by the pool. There was a sashimi bar, an oyster bar and a champagne bar. I’m not a fan of raw oysters, but Jimmy said they were the best that he’d ever had. Lauren was talked into trying one for the first time.

Her reaction was priceless.

Let the Party Begin...

It was a bit like herding cats, but Jimmy managed to get a group posed at the end of the pool just before the sun dipped down.

It was difficult for Terri to hold the 50 open roses that one of Chris’ colleagues gave her.

Chris gave a great speech honoring Terri, which was the perfect mix of tenderness and humor.

Jimmy was determined to take at least one photo of the full group of 100 and the stairs up to the house was the best setting.

Terri’s 50th Party...

Saturday evening, vans took us from the hotel to Pironi. Terri looked beautiful and the house looked amazing.

Of course, we couldn’t resist getting a few photos of ourselves in this lovely setting.

Friday’s Party...

Friday night Terri and Chris hosted a dinner on the hotel’s rooftop. The food was delicious and the champagne was flowing. Lauren looked adorable with her new haircut and a glass of bubbly in her hand.

We managed to pull Terri away from her hostess duties just long enough to grab a quick photo. It was a pleasure meeting her parents. Her father is quite a Photoshop guru and vowed to help Jimmy who explained that I keep catching him when he tries to hide things on the cover of Going Dutch, like a spaceship or an alien.

The views were amazing during the entire evening.

Back to St. Tropez...

Terri doesn’t turn fifty until November, but that didn’t stop her and Chris from throwing her big celebration at their house in Southern France during the summer. They invited family from the US and UK and friends from all aspects of their lives, including a large group of us from Holland. They took over the entire Kube Hotel just outside of St. Tropez. This was the beautiful view from our room.

And here’s the pool at the front of the hotel, which overlooks the Mediterranean.

We flew down with Frank and Johanna early Friday morning so we could maximize our weekend away. After checking into the hotel, we set off on a walk along the beach towards town.

Jimmy opted to walk in the sea, while the rest of us managed to keep our feet dry. We had a nice lunch overlooking the water. The following day we headed back into town to visit the market. Jimmy and I bought some lovely tableclothes for our extra-long dining table.