Fort Gratiot Lighthouse...

After several weeks of settling in, we ventured out and drove up to Lake Huron. We drove to the oldest lighthouse on Michigan's shores, Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, which dates from 1825. It was a beautiful, sunny day at Port Huron - and we all enjoyed walking along Lighthouse Beach and watching the lake traffic sail serenely by. :)

The southern tip of Lake Huron in the distance.

Fort Gratiot Lighthouse.

Pleasure cruiser on the lake.

US Coast Guard vessel.

The Canadian and American flags fly proudly at the entrance to the St. Clair River.

Lovely yachts on the water.

Family photo as we headed back to the car.

Move to Michigan...

After arriving back from our overseas adventures, our life became a fast flurry of activity, full of packing and saying farewells to friends and family. We picked up another U-Haul truck early on Monday, July 3rd, and spent the next day packing up our life in Indiana. 

The 4th of July was spent driving up to Michigan - again, in convoy with Candace, and this time with a canine travelling companion in the front seat of the U-Haul truck. :) Candace's parents arrived in Detroit the next day - after we had officially signed the paperwork and taken possession of our lovely home here. 

The next week or so was a whirlwind, as we unpacked and set up utilities and internet service. Candace's parents were a huge help those first few days, as they assisted us with assembling Ikea furniture and unpacking and sorting.

Soon, however, we had settled into a rhythm of life in Detroit, from discovering the location of the closest grocery store to finding the nearest park, and from trying out cycling routes nearby to making connections with new friends here. Life is good. :)

Saying farewell to friends in Indiana was quite sad.

Treating Candace's parents to dinner at a local hamburger restaurant.

Lovely little park in the area.

The melodious tunes of ice-cream vans are a constant summertime sound in this area of Detroit.

The front of our new house...

... And the view in the back garden.

Our first family braai...

... And my first exploratory cycle. :)

Travels back to Indiana...

We caught our bus at Buchanan Bus Station in Glasgow and arrived at Edinburgh Airport about an hour or so later. We checked-in for our flights and dropped off our bags, cleared security, and slowly made our way to the boarding gates for our United Airlines flight to Newark.

Knowing that any delay could mean that we would likely miss our connection in Newark, we anxiously waited to board the Boeing 757 jet. (We initially only had 1.5 hours between our flight landing in Newark and our departure to Indianapolis - it would be tight even if the flight was running on time.) Once onboard the plane we sat and waited, and were then told that the plane was overbooked. Five people needed to give up their seats. Eventually, the situation was resolved - but we only took off from Edinburgh an hour or so behind schedule!

We made up some time on the flight, but still landed well behind schedule. We bolted through passport control in Newark - cutting the queue to ensure we made our flight. Our three bags were within the first five bags off the plane! We grabbed them and rechecked them, and quickly made our way to the terminal. We cut the line again at security, and ran through the terminal to our boarding gate. We would have had perhaps 15 minutes to spare, but as it turned out the flight to Indianapolis was ever so slightly delayed, which was a tremendous blessing! 

We boarded our final, extremely turbulent, flight and landed safely in Indianapolis at around 21h15 (9:15pm) local time. The equivalent of 02h15 in the morning in Glasgow. Exhausted, we found our car at the long-stay parking lot and loaded up and drove the two hours down to Southern Indiana. We stopped in Bloomington for a brief nap, since both Candace and I couldn't keep our eyes open. 

Eventually, we pulled safely into Candace's parents' house well after midnight local time or 5am in Glasgow. It had been an incredibly long day of travels after a fantastic working holiday!

Driving out of Buchanan Bus Station.

Riaan and Eliza loved their seats in the bus!

Candace and Anya as we head towards Edinburgh.

Pretty skies on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

Lots of cars parked at Edinburgh Airport. Look at them all!

Edinburgh Airport, which welcomed us a fortnight earlier.

Welcome sign inside the terminal.

United Airlines Boeing 757 painted in Star Alliance livery.

Taxiing for departure.

Climbing away from Scotland.

Flying over the southeast side of the island of Newfoundland, Canada.

Tired selfie on our final flight to Indianapolis.

Farewells in Glasgow...

After a lovely fortnight split (for me, at least) between Glasgow and Beirut, it was time to be on our way back to the USA. We spent a relatively relaxing early morning at Shirley's place, soaking up time together as family before the time came to head downstairs to catch our taxi to the Buchanan Bus Station.

Unfortunately though, the taxi company sent a vehicle far too small for all of us. So, I said my sad goodbyes and left with our luggage, while Candace and the children followed a little later with Rhyenn (to make sure they got there safely). We all made it safely to the bus station with lots of time before our bus to Edinburgh International Airport departed.

Thanks to Shirley, Montassir, Rhyenn, Jesse, and Mom for a wonderful time together in Scotland! :)

Shirley and Montassir's lovely loft apartment.

Our room for our stay.

Bags packed and ready to go.

The Crawford-side cousins all together for one final group photo. :)

Shirl and Eliza spending some last few minutes snuggling on the couch.

Rhyenn says farewell to Riaan...

... And Anya...

... And Eliza while I take a quick selfie. USA, here we come! :)

Final full day in Glasgow...

We walked over the River Clyde via the Squiggly Bridge one final time on Wednesday, 28th June. We loved all the walking and the affordable public transportation that Glasgow offered us! Together with Mom, we explored more tourist shops in the downtown area of the city. I was particularly excited to find a cute little teddy bear, wearing the Crawford tartan! 

My parents are both philatelists (stamp collectors) and so one final assignment for my mother was to locate the Glasgow Stamp Shop, a long walk up into the city. Here we browsed at the various stamp exhibits and postcards, and also marvelled at all of the model ships and model cars - Royal Mail vehicles - that the owner had on display. It was quite interesting!

We walked back via St Enoch's Mall, where we ordered coffee at the nearby Cafe Nero and did a brief shop at Tesco. We were also sure to stop in at Hamley's, the famous toy store chain, where the children had a fantastic time looking at all the toys and being entertained by the lovely staff.  

After about four hours and many kilometres under our shoes, it was time to return to Shirley's place and finish our packing for our next day's travels back to Indiana. Our time in Scotland was quickly coming to a close, but what a special time it had been!

Mom with all of her grandchildren in one location. 

Shirley's flat has a lovely communal garden and braai area.

Lovely red double-decker buses.

The Cycling World Championships came to Glasgow in August.

Welded metal peacock decoration.

Map of Glasgow.

The church at Nelson Mandela Place.

Nelson Mandela Place. :)

It was a pretty dreary day.

Glasgow Stamp Shop.

Model Royal Mail vehicles on display.

Looking at all of the interesting stamps.

There is some quite amazing street art in Glasgow, like this floating taxi...

... And this lady peering into her magnifying glass.

These poor gentlemen must be taking an enormous strain!

Early Learning Centre - also Eliza's initials!

Walking over another bridge.

Pretty River Clyde.

Walking back towards Shirley's flat.

I love my Crawford tartan bear!