That is me on top of the main mast (second photo). I was on my way to Scotland on the tall ship "Eye of the Wind" That was when I got interested in my Ferguson family tree. My Thomas Ferguson is buried on a Farm in southern Indiana. He is still there. There are six people there that were in the Revolutionary War.

Did I tell you that I broke my shoulder a month before this trip? It was a bummer. Had to adapt quickly. It took 30 days to get to the Azores. I was scheduled to stay on the ship all the way to Denmark. I was so bored I wanted to get off. There is nothing else to do after climbing the mast except climbing it again. If you look closely, you can see me on top of the mast in the third photo. We all had two four hour watches a day. My wife, Nancy, had just gotten her ticket to meet me in Copenhagen. She talked me into staying on two more weeks until we reached Falmouth, England.

We rented a car and drove up to Scotland. Spent a month touring. It was just fantastic. I felt at home. It was really an experience. The people would tell you their life story and the history of the country. They all knew all the battles they lost to the English. They (the English) fought dirty. The English burned all the trees so the Scots could not hide behind them.

If you did not support the English, you would be shipped out to America, Australia or Northern Ireland. You also could not learn how to read.

We went all over the place. In the highlands in the north, they had single track roads with a passing spot. The roads were about as wide as a Volkswagen Beetle. They had "traffic" going both directions. Every now and then, there was a spot along side the road so one driver could park so the other car moving in the opposite direction could pass. A trip you would take fifteen minutes here would take at least an hour there.

The native language in Scotland is Gaelic. That is why they have such a thick accent. Nice people would come over to tell us things and we could not understand a word they said.

We liked Loch Lomen the best. It was so tranquil and beautiful. We stayed at a B&B next to the water. Loch Ness is much bigger. But it has a lot of traffic and is much more commercial.

I spend half my time on Lake Tahoe in Zephyr Cove, Nevada and half on the ocean in Jenner, California (Timber Cove). The top photo is from my yard. The bottom photo is a lighthouse with a mermaid holding up the lamp. This is made from a buoy from the English Channel.