This morning we were up early again to begin our trip to Scone. We left the hotel around 7:15 and got to Waverley Station at 7:30, an hour early for our train to Perth. 🤪 I’m not a paranoid traveller, but I really do prefer having to wait than not being sure if I’ll even make it. We spent our hour drinking tea/coffee and watching people and bold pigeons mill around the station. The train to Perth left on time. We were surprised at how few people were on it. In our car we had a maximum of five people, and with a third of the journey left we were the only two still on board. The journey through Perthshire was “lovely” as they might say here, and reminiscent of some previous trips in the area. The landscapes of rolling hills, and green farmers fields is very picturesque.
It was neat for my dad to be travelling to Perth, home of the Tay River, because he also lives in Perth back home in Ontario, which is also home to the “mighty” Tay River!!😁
After getting off the train we had a short walk to the bus station for a quick ten minute ride to the town of Scone. The driver corrected me on my pronunciation right away. I didn’t mind though, because I knew better - I had been taught the proper way to say it on my last trip to Scotland, but unfortunately wasn’t thinking before I opened my mouth to speak to the bus driver. 🤣
We arrived at Joyce and Allan’s at 11:00, after a short walk up their track. Amanda and I met Joyce on our first Scottish crossing in 2017. We knew she was an amazing person right away, and have been blessed to reconnect with her again on subsequent hiking trips - she joined us for part of our hikes, and she rescued us when we were stranded in Glasgow waiting four days for missing backpacks…. She is truly the one of the kindest and most loving people we have ever met. We met Allan, her husband, last year, and he’s not so bad either!!😁
Joyce had planned a day of visiting and lawn bowling for us, and we have both been very excited about it since the trip started. It was a beautiful day out yesterday and we spent the first hour sitting on their back patio visiting, enjoying the warm sun, the garden, the birds, and each others company. Lunch was next - we needed to fuel up for our lawn bowling match! Joyce had prepared some delicious egg buns, sandwiches, and Scotch pies, with a fresh fruit platter for dessert. It was all perfect, and we enjoyed every minute of it.
After digesting a bit it was time to drive over to the club and bowl! We were a little unsure about how it was going to go at first as Jojo and I have never bowled, and it was rather busy with what looked to be some serious bowlers. Joyce and Allan put us at ease though, and before we knew it we were giving it our best and having a great time. Joyce and I took on Allan and Jojo. It’s safe to say that it was really Joyce against Allan, and Jojo and I were just along for the ride. We did both get a few good shots, but Joyce and Allan are clearly in a league of their own! The whole experience was picture-perfect - the weather was good, we really enjoyed learning to bowl, and the atmosphere was light and very sociable. If you ever get the chance, I would recommend trying lawn bowling - so fun!!
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| Allan Making It Look Easy |
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| Joyce Showing Us How It’s Done |
Jojo With A Money Shot!!
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| Post-Match Rehydration 😁 |
We headed back to the house after our match, where Joyce served us tea and some delicious treats before driving us to the train station for our journey back to Edinburgh.
Thank you Joyce and Allan for a day we will never forget!! We could not have hoped for a more enjoyable time with two such special people!! ❤️
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