Deflection

I did sleep good last night, like eight hours. Probably the best that I have slept for months. Although my body did seem to be rested, I still felt rested. I do not feel like I had jet lag, since I was to tired that the time did not make a difference. Since it was partly cloudy today, the sun was shinning for most of the day. The temperature got up to 54 degrees, so it was nice for hiking. I walked for 5.88 miles with a total of 7.62 miles or 17,246 steps. I guess that I got my exercise.

Since I was going to use today as a recuperation day, I started trying to get tours set up for my stay, and I have found them to be a little expensive, but when I add the exchange rate between dollars and pounds, like an extra 35 percent, the tours get expensive, and they tour guides know it. So, they are trying to compensate the cost, but with the Iran war and the UK does not have oil fields, the cost of gas is expensive here now. I have arranged for an all day tour on Sunday at 500 pounds, or $675 for the area of Ballater. I do not feel like I am only going to go on one tour, with that type of cost. So, I am looking for other things to do, and I found that I can rent a bike and travels some of the trails around here, I have found a bus service that will take me to trails around Balmoral Castle and Braemar that are in the Cairngorms National Park. So, it looks like I will find ways to fill my days. However, I do wish that I had a car, since I could save money and pick the sight that I want to see. So, I guess that when I come back I will just have to learn how to drive in the wrong side of the highway.

I walk down to Ballater this morning o look around and do a little hiking. Once again, I was taken by the stone construction on all through the city, actually, all through Aberdeenshire. The quality of the workmanship is unbelievable, since they fit modern windows perfectly in the holes left for the windows without much sealant between the stone and the window frame. It was still amazing.

I walked over the bridge over the River Dee that is an arch bridge. With the deck covered asphalt, it came as no surprise that the water was leaking out of the bottom of the arch, with the longest stalagmites that I have ever seen on the bottom of a bridge. In Iowa, we would be replacing into deck to keep the water from filtering through the bridge, since the freeze/thaw would be destroying the bridge. With out a major issue with freeze/thaw here, I guess that the water filtering through the deck was not a big issue.

I found an RV park here today that was 70 percent full. Basically, it looks like most of the parks in the USA, but the trailers look a little different. They seem to be more of a fiberglass shell and lighter weight.

I hiked around the River Dee, and I found that the river channel is basically polished rocks ranging in size from gravel to about a foot in diameter. At one time the channel had filled in and now the new channel is cutting through the filled old river channel. I have to look into the geology of this area some time.

Tomorrow it is to be raining, so I will hike around here when it is not raining. I do feel more relaxed here than I have for some time, so it is good for me to be away of a while. I will see what happens tomorrow.

Roger