My mother was Scottish and could trace her ancestry back to the Campbells of Breadalbane. If I recall correctly it was her grandmother’s grandmother who was the daughter of the Earl of Campbell (so 5 or 6 generations back). I, of course, grew up listening to the stories of the Campbells and seeing the odd snippets of memorabilia from those roots that were owned by various members of the family.
Sadly, my mother and all of her siblings have passed away and all that is left are those memories I have of those stories.

But those memories are firmly rooted in my being and Scotland has, and always will be, very much a part of me. Scotland is in my soul and I am profoundly proud of those roots.

When I married Linda Norvelle twelve years ago it became a goal to, one day, take her to to Scotland and introduce her to that part of me. Note also, that my parents’ ashes are scattered in the Scottish Highlands and they had both passed away before I ever met Linda. So a secondary goal was to visit their final resting place and “officially” introduce Linda to them.

So our 2023 trip to Europe was an opportunity to take care of both goals.
You can read about that in this blog post.

When posting about our trip to Facebook, one of Linda’s cousins (also named Linda), commented something like “how cool, did you know some of our ancestors were Scottish”.
This was a total surprise to (my) Linda, whose maiden name is “Norvelle”, a French-sounding name and never knew anything about this Scottish connection. So Linda asked her cousin if she knew anything more about that connection and if she knew the name of the clan.
Well it turned out that was the Macleod clan from the Isle of Skye. We had just toured the Isle of Skye and, in researching where to go and what to see, had learned that the Dunvegan Castle in Skye is the original stronghold of the Macloeds and that the castle is the longest, continuously inhabited castle in all of Scotland. Mind blown!

So, Linda is right there with me and can legitimately lay claim to some Scottish ancestry. While the exact connection is a bit grey (the MacLoed clan has several “branches”), those are details that did not squash our enthusiasm.

We then did some research to find out what Tartan belongs to the Macleod clan.. and thing got a little greyer. Sometimes a branch in a clan can have multiple Tartans associated (a “dress Tartan”, an “hunting Tartan”, etc) and the Macleod clan is one of them.
This is what they look like.

The Campbell of Breadalbane only has one tartan and it looks like this.

Crests and Mottos

Another thing typical to clans are the Clan Crest, often combined with a motto.
So too do the Campbells and MacLeods.

Here they are:

To our delight, we found keychains with both those crests. We obviously purchased them as a great souvenir and moment of this “story of two clans”.

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A Kelpie is a Mythical Beast in Scottish folklore that lives in lochs and other Scottish waterways. While it is a “shape-shifter” it usually presents itself to humans in the form of a beautiful horse to lure them away to their doom, similar to the “sirens” of the old sailor’s myth.

When the town of Falkirk wanted a monument to commemorate the history of the Forth and Clyde Canal, with their horse-pulled barges used in the past to transport goods to and from the area, the “horse” was chosen as the visual icon. Naming the monument after a Scottish mythological beast, made it uniquely Scottish.

We had pre-booked a tour well before we travelled as we had a narrow time-window and did not want to miss the opportunity due to tours being sold out. So, when we showed up, the tour-guide was waiting for us and informed us we were the only ones so it would be a private tour. Awesome! We had wanted to do the tour as it was the only way to see INSIDE the statues. We got the full attention of Allison, the name of the guide, who was delightful and we could not help but feel we got several snippets of information not usually discussed in other tours. We also had the opportunity to ask a ton of questions making the whole tour exceptionally special and very “personal”.

The statues are AMAZING! Built upon a steel tube structure made of approximately 18,000 individual pieces. Each horse head is has 464 steel plates and each one is unique in shape. They were bent and curved into their final shape on location, as they were being installed using a special tool.

We also learned that the artist, Andy Scott, is not only a Scotland’s leading sculptor, he is originally from the town of Falkirk and grew up hearing stories about the horse-pulled barges from his father, thus adding some unique, real-life, back-ground to the design and concept of the monument.

The two horse heads are modeled after two Clydesdale horses, the very same breed of horse originally used to pull the barges. The horses, Duke and Barron, were picked due to their size. At 18.1 and 17.3 hands, they were the largest Clydesdales that could be found in Scotland and were deemed to be perfect for the job of modeling.

Right in front of the visitor’s center were 2 smaller horse heads. They were one of two sets, initially used as a prototype. They were “tested” in a wind tunnel to understand the aerodynamics of the statues and to calculate the requirements of the foundation needed. Those foundations are now bigger and deeper than the statues are tall! 35 feet deep vs. 30 feet tall.
These two sculptures are now the largest equine sculptures in the world and, amazingly, took only 90 days to erect.

After this testing, the smaller statues were used to promote the monument and each set has traveled the world. These smaller versions are identical to the actual statues, but only 1/10 the size. As a small attention to detail, there is a small figurine to show the proportions of a human being against the massive size of the statues.

The following Youtube video has the Artist tell the story of the Kelpies.

The statues are lit up at night, which we did not get to see due to jet-lag, but please checkout the following video on Youtube to see more.
This visit turned out to be the perfect start to our European vacation, which will see us travel to Scotland, Southern England, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

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As we set up camp, we noticed signs referring to the strangely named “Makoshika State Park”  only 2 miles away from the camping. So we decided to go take a look and were totally amazed by what we saw. Weird, alien looking landscapes, with “mushroom-like” geological formations, clearly caused by many of years of erosion.

We later learned that Makoshika (pronounced as “ma-KO-sh(ih)kuh”) is derived from “Maco sica” the Lakota term for “Bad Land” or “Land of bad Spirits”. The Lakota are a Native American people and one of the three prominent subcultures of the Sioux people. 

Dinosaurs too

As you can see in the image at the top of this post, there is a Triceratops on the entrance sign as the park also houses fossil remains of such dinosaurs as tyrannosaurus and triceratops. One of the visitor centers at the park entrance houses a triceratops skull.

Making our way through the park we could certainly see why they referred to this area that way. Parts were downright “Spooky” and so unreal we had never seen anything like this before. Yet it was hauntingly beautiful!

Here are some pictures to give you an idea.

You could walk right through these area as you can see in the picture below, with a little bridge.

Being out there late afternoon and early evening, presented some fabulous shots too.

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We just had to find out what that was and if we could drive down. So we visited the Park’s visitor center to find out more about this trail.

We learned that this was The Shafer Trail, an iconic road that descends 1,500 feet (457 m) through a colorful, massive sandstone cliff. Original a route made by Native Americans to access resources on the mesa top it is now a challenging, unpaved backcountry road for recreational users seeking the experience of a lifetime. We also learned that our “All-Wheel-drive” Subaru would not do – we would need a High-clearance 4WD vehicle with a low range gear in order to do the trail..

Determined to do the trail, we ended up renting a Jeep Rubicon 4×4 for a day, a car that met these requirements. We had set aside a full day for the adventure and headed off to the trail head, totally not knowing what to expect. The only bit of advice we received was “Turn left at the old shack, otherwise you’ll get lost for a few days and we’ll need to come rescue you”. So, with that, very, reassuring snippet of information, we set off on this adventure. Here is a brief video as we start the Trail (but before it gets “scary”).

After about a mile, along the relatively flat and even dirt road, we got to the hair-raising switchbacks seen in the picture above. We figured that the “easy approach” was just to calm your nerves, before it got scary! And scary it is! You look out the window and see . . . nothing. A sheer drop. You are literally just a foot away from the edge. I found myself not looking out the window, just white knuckling the steering wheel and focussing on the dirt road in from of me. Talk about an adrenaline rush!

After what seemed like an eternity, we got to the bottom. We were IN THE CANYON. The first thing I did was get out and kiss the ground!

After out heart-rate returned back to normal, we set out to explore the rest of the Trail. We knew the Trail was “one way”, you emerge near a tiny settlement called Potash, where you get back onto paved roads, not too far from Moab.

We were not really prepared for the sheer magnificence of these canyons! They are nothing short of amazing! No number of superlatives will do these scenes justice, and the following picture don’t even come close either.

This whole area is referred to as “The Colorado Plateau” and the canyon formations is a product of the Colorado and Green rivers, which snake through the area, eroding and carving away the red sandstone. A process that takes millions of years. Driving through the area gives one a distinct “Wild West” feeling, an atmosphere few people today will aver experience. Only American Indians, cowboys, river explorers and uranium prospectors have dared enter this rugged corner of Utah. This is wild America! 

As we approached the end of the trail, the geography returned to “somewhat normal” .. i.e. not the barren, eroded, red-rock formations we saw on the Shafer Trail. Instead a more tranquil views of the river and sandstone rocks with the odd sign of civilizations, not the wild, rugged and rock sight we experienced all day.

We arrived here late afternoon, having spent a full day on the Shafer Trail… and yes, we DID turn left at the old shack (which was very easily identifiable) and NO, we did not get lost nor did we need rescuing!

We were promised this would be the trip of a lifetime, and it is. We will treasure the memories of this trip for may years to come.

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We now know why and, no, we actually never made it to Hana. There is SO much to see and do along the road, that getting there is a full day’s drive, despite the fact it is only about 50 miles from the airport. The road is also amazingly narrow and windy, usually allowing speeds of only 20 miles/hour. This makes the (one way) trip about a 2 1/2 – 3 hour at the very least. Add several stops and a fair amount of traffic and it is easy to comprehend that getting all the way to Hana requires a significant investment of time. Going there and back all on the same day is pretty much impossible.

The road itself is quite spectacular and passes though the “jungle” side of the island. Extremely dense vegetation, rocky cliffs, waterfalls and lots of interesting stops, many of them have small stands with fresh fruit smoothies, freshly baked banana bread, coconut ice cream and many more Hawaiian delicacies. All to keep the traveller well nourished and snacked-up, until the next stop.

Right at the start of the road is the famous “Mama’s Fish House” restaurant. We did not stop (it was morning), but have heard lots praise about its fish menu. You pass some small villages before you get to “Twin Falls”, our first planned stop.

Twin Falls

As you would expect from the name, there are two waterfalls here. The first is just a brief walk from the carpark and is the fall that most people go to.

A lot fewer people make it to the second waterfall (which is way more beautiful). I suspect that the main reason is this “scary” sign that is posted at the beginning of the trail that leads there.   

Throwing all  caution into the wind, I set off expecting the worst! But it is a delightful hike and not too hard at all! This is what you find when you get there.

There were very few people there and I suspect the sign, at the beginning of the trail, was put there just to deter people in an attempt to minimize the environmental impact to this pristine location.

Needless to say, I had to get into the water and swim over to the falls. The water was surprisingly cold, but, as this was a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, I got in and swam up to the fall and treaded water for a little, while letting the water splash onto my hear. Quite the experience! 

Along the trail, you can observe several other beautiful aspects of this tropical paradise.

Moving further along the road to Hana, we kept passing these creeks and cascades. So much water, no wonder the vegetation is so lush and green! 

At some stage we decided to head back, it was mid-afternoon, we were still quite a ways from Hana, but still had to get back to the other side of the island to get home. So we turned around. The day turned out to be quite full and interesting, but actually reaching Hana itself will have to wait until another time. We will go better prepared book a place to stay a few nights in Hana. 

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There are literally beaches everywhere! Small ones, large ones, wide open ones, intimate ones, straight ones, crescent-shaped ones, you name it, it is there. Many of them are open to the public. Picnic tables, ample parking (paved as well as unpaved) and portage-potties are provided at most of them. It does say a lot about the Maui “culture”. You’ll see interesting types on those beaches – surfers, families with kids, tourists, “hippie” types (complete with VW Combi-vans), lots of Jeep Wranglers, fishermen and, sadly, homeless people.

There was a beach just next to the hotel we stayed at, literally a 2 minute walk from our room. I went snorkeling there as we could see turtles swimming around. No, I did no get to see a turtle while out, I guess they made a point of avoiding me . 

The other thing that struck me was how few people were on the beaches. Perhaps because there were so many to choose from, but we did not see a single beach that was busy, certainly none that were crowded! Even the small beaches, those that were only 50-100 feet wide, were sparsely populated, no matter how pretty or idyllic the location..

Flora

The flora of the island was spectacular. You would expect the iconic hibiscus and plumeria (known as “Frangipani” in Australia), but there was so much more! We saw all kinds of amazing, spectacular flowers growing everywhere.

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We started to think about Hawaii after my daughter and her husband’s family went to Hawaii a few weeks earlier. Their pictures and stories inspired us to check into the travel rules a bit deeper to see if we would be comfortable with going too. Eventhough we have both been fully vaccinated (Linda with Pfizer and myself with Moderna), we were still somewhat concerned and put off by the thought of flying and being in a hotel. However, any concern we may have had was pretty much put to bed when seeing the details on the rules and conditions that were set in place by the state of Hawaii.

These rules include: getting a negative COVID test 72 hours before arrival, a re-test upon arrival, a state-wide mask mandate, a mandatory COVID tracing app on the phone, reduced capacity events (such as tours, dinner cruises, etc) and lots of social distancing. Additionally, Hawaii has implemented a “Vaccination Passport”, which (currently) only applies to Hawaiians traveling inter-island. We had hoped that the fact we had been fully vaccinated would help us, but applying vaccination passport control on “non-Hawaiian visitors” is too hot a potato in the current political climate of the US (note that some states have even gone as far as outlawing vaccination passports). The whole set of rules is clearly outlined on the official Hawaiian Government website which has 6 basic phases”

1. Mandatory Account creation on the website.
2. Upload of travel details (flight, hotel reservations, etc) to the website
3. A location to upload your COVID test.  Note that only results from certified testing institutions will be accepted! Also required is some some sort of official ID (like passport or driver’s license).
4. Completion of a Health Questionnaire.
5. When all done and verified you will receive a QR Code via email (an automated process) that you need to save on your phone (we advice printing it too)
6. Upon arrival at the airport, you need to present that QRCode, the same official ID you uploaded to the website, a cell phone that is charged (you NEED to take a picture of a form they present to you).

Each adult visitor needs all of the above (obviously, parents with children can include their kids in their submission). Linda and I both needed to do this.

Your arrival and positive verification of everything will automatically trigger an update to your account on the website. I assume this is for tracking, as they now know you are in Hawaii and know where you are staying.

Please note: Failure to meet ANY of these conditions will require a mandatory 10 day quarantine period! At your own expense!

All-in-all, we agree and like how Hawaii has not only set these guidelines in place, they have set-up an infrastructure aimed to TRACK the fact you are following the rules. By default, all travelers need to quarantine, UNLESS YOU MEET THESE CRITERIA! We have heard of people getting arrested and cited, who did not abide by the rules and order to quarantine! 

This all added up to us feeling safe enough to decide to book a 7 day trip to Maui! Linda found an amazing deal that included hotel, airfare and car rental. We even scored a one bedroom suite with ocean view at the Royal Kahana in Lahaina (which is located in North-West Maui). We were all set!

Arrival in Maui

We arrived late at night and after getting the rental car, drove in the dark to the hotel. Kinda frustrating because we could not see a thing (very few street lights on the island ). The room turned out to be awesome! Not only does it have that ocean view we were expecting, we are right above the pool and, because we are facing West, can see some awesome sunsets right from our balcony!

We are also pleased to report (now that we are here), that Hawaii businesses also follow the rules outlined above. For example, the hotel has a rule to only allow two people in the elevator at one time (unless a family) and that masks must be worn throughout the hotel. Of course you are allowed to take it off when in the pool or when (socially distanced) on the beech. We also heard the resident tour guide tell people that tours are all operating at half capacity, so availability is limited. We would therefore advise anyone traveling to Hawaii, to prebook anything they may want to do, as waiting until getting there may be too late. We have heard that we are not the only ones who feel safe traveling to Hawaii (we can also see it on the roads), so be forewarned.

Another note of advice, the influx of people traveling to Hawaii has strained the local car rental business who were all forced to sell their un-rented inventory when the pandemic started. Now that visitors are returning, there are not enough rental cars to go around and the ones that ARE available are very expensive! So please book well in advance!

Aloha from Maui

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We made the trip to the Haleakala National Park, about 90 minute drive from our hotel in West Maui. The weather was dreary, some rain and heavy mist. So dreary, we almost did not go. But being lazy was not really on our agenda, so up the mountain we went…. rain or not. We then realized that we would go right through the low hanging clouds and emerged in glorious sunshine and blue skies. How wondrous!

And how amazing it turned out to be!

Our hotel lies behind that mountain in the middle of the shot. That “shadow” of land in the background is the island of Lanai, the nearest Hawaiian island. As you can see, we are still below the clouds here.. still a long way up to the top.

Once through the clouds, we were rewarded by beautiful clear skies. We walked up to the rim and looked down into the crater which displayed magnificent sections of reds and greens. What a breathtaking view.

We had been attracted to the “Sunset tour”, an event you need to prebook as they only allow a limited number of people. We decided against that for several reasons. Firstly it meant leaving the hotel at 3am and second, it meant driving the route (which entailed multiple switchbacks and tricky rods) in the dark.

The sunset visit is an event rooted in Hawaiian history and legend. You can read all about that here. But in summary; the Hawaiian Demi-God Maui’ s mother Hina complains that her kapa (bark cloth) is unable to dry because the days are so short. So Māui climbs Haleakala and lassoes the sun’s rays as the sun comes up. The sun pleads for life and agrees that the days shall be long in summer and short in winter. This event is perpetuated today, by these sunrise events. 

The volcano crater lies well above the treeline with only small shrubs and plants growing among the distinctly volcanic rocks. Noteworthy is the Haleakala Silversword, a silvery plant that has adapted to the climactic conditions on the volcano. They are protected and we saw lots of them. 

[See image gallery at hitthefrogandtoad.albertdebruijn.com] Click on a thumbnail for a larger view.

This unique plant flowers only once in its 50 year life, the flower produces over 50,000 seeds and then the plant dies. It is believed to have evolved from a California Tarweed that arrived in Maui more than a million years ago (probably by a bird). It is now unique to Hawaii and only grows on the slopes of Haleakala and nowhere else in the world. Its Hawaiian name is “Ahinahina”.

Also unique to Hawaii is the Nene (pronounced “nay-nay”), a goose that is a relative of the Canadian Goose. The Nene is an endangered species and we saw two. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a shot.

At the very top of the volcano is an observatory that is dubbed “the Science City” because its near-absence of light pollution, as well as the high-altitude air and the mountain’s tremendous height. The combination of these conditions render it one of the most superb and valuable planetariums in the world.

Here are a few more images taken at the top of the volcano.

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Boy was I wrong…

Linda and I heard about a place called “Slab City”, located out in the middle of nowhere, in an inhospitable part of the Southern California desert, where summer temperatures easily reach 120F (48C). Once the location of a WW2 camp, all that remains now are some concrete slabs, from which the place gets its name.

With our interest having been sparked (I know we have weird interests), we set out  to find it… and did!

What a place! It is really hard to define, but “post-apocalyptic” certainly comes to mind. Like a scene straight of a “Mad Max” movie, this place is occupied with as diverse a community of people as I have ever seen. Sure, there was the odd fancy motorhome or RV (the place is destination for “Snowbirders”), but by far the most common sight to see are ramshackle dwellings, old rusted out trailers, tents with lean-tos built with pallets, corrugated roofing sheets or old shipping crates. Among all this are a plethora of tire-less car wrecks, garbage, broken bottles and all kinds of stuff you can really only refer to as “crap”.

Then, among all this, are a few “artistically” laid out plots or trailers decorated in unusually artistic ways or “buildings” crafted in eye-catching designs, using anything that can be found (usually for free) in the vicinity.

While this makes for a visually interesting visit to people like us, to the folk that make Slab City their home, it is all quite normal and an inexpensive way to extend their home while expressing their inner creativity. Obviously, there are lots of folk who really like the abscence of any building regulations and rules. While the area is owned by the state of California, it is generally “left alone” with no real governing body to oversee things. Perhaps put in the State’s “Too Hard” basket, the place has been allowed to grow into a haven for people “who don’t quite fit in mainstream society”. A place for people “down on their luck”, outcasts, or just people who simply don’t like having to comply with rules and regulations imposed by “mundane” things like “mortgages”, “rent” “being politically correct” and other  things that you and I would consider normal.

These people have decided to forego all of those things and have chosen to live in Slab City, with no rent or title deeds or even a fixed address. As there is also no water, sewer or even electric, they need to be creative to survive living there year round – hence the odd constructions seen around the place, all providing some manner of shade, cool in the summer and protection during the cool nights of the desert.

There is a “code of conduct” in Slab City, “leave us alone and we’ll leave you alone”.

Sounds reasonable . . .

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