Arrived safely in Dublin on Sunday morning. The plan to leave the airport was nixed by the rain.

A friendly reminder on the rules of the road…

And, the maximum size bag allowed on the next flight on Flybe into Inverness.

Checked in for the Flybe flight, and then realized that I had left my most favorite pillow and pooh blanket on the plane. Running between terminals a couple of times trying to make it appear didn’t work. Some tears were shed.

Life goes on. Made it through the third security check of the trip and hung around for several hours waiting for the next flight. Treated myself to a cold one to get over the trauma of losing my pillow and blankee. I only cried a little more.

Took this on the way out of the Dublin airport.

Still raining as we departed for Inverness.

Flying low…

Arrived in Inverness safely, only two days later, or so it seemed. I liked the the name and paint job of the airline we didn’t fly into Inverness on.

Off to shop next!

A last look around the yard before heading to the airport today. A surprise lily on the left, and a hibiscus on the right.

Roger took Amy and me to the airport, with a stop on the way at the Bean for some rain pants. Got some new shorts as well, and Amy got a fleece jacket. Still had plenty of time to hang out at Dulles waiting for our flight to Boston – like five hours, because the flight was late leaving for Boston.

Which meant that the cushion for the next flight evaporated, and we had to make a mad dash to the international terminal (on foot, because we didn’t see a shuttle option), get back through security, and to the plane just as they were putting the final touches on the boarding process.  Whew!

Amy and I didn’t have seats together, and there was no time to try switching.  I scored a great alternate seatmate, originally from Edinburgh, and we chatted some, but mostly just read or tried to get a little sleep.  He did suggest I try a lager called Innocent Gun.  I will have to look into that.

The Scottish 6 Days an excellent choice for my first experience orienteering overseas. I had a great time!

The organization was top notch. Everything went so smoothly, or at least appeared to be going smoothly, and that is all that counts sometimes. Everyone was so friendly and helpful, not that I expected otherwise… Continue reading →

Day 6: Loch Ordie (4.5 km 170 m climb 14 controls 136:24)

This was the closest I got to “working” the download this week. It was nice to be at an event that I did not have any responsibilities except getting to the start on time and finding all of my controls. Continue reading →

Day 5: Barry Buddon (5.4 km 125 m climb 17 controls 83:51)

Today’s map was on a military installation. I was strongly advised/reminded by Roger and Sandy that I did not want to be crossing any fences which were marked “Danger! Explosives!”, so I didn’t.

I did have a fence encounter of sorts when I messed up #2 and used the fence to sort me out.

I turned my left ankle leaving #6. Laid on the group for a bit, and luckily no one came into the control during that time.

The rest of the way, I had bits of wandering and questionable route choices, but I liked this map.

Sandy started 15 minutes behind me on her course, so my personal goal was to finish before she did, and I did, barely.

Finished 67/84. So, the result was not totally in the toilet today. Yes, that was weak, but I wanted to work the picture in.

At the lodge on the first night, there was a mother duck and about eight ducklings. I finally saw them again tonight (ducklings down to five) and fed them the last of Roger’s sandwich bread.

Day 4: Tentsmuir (5.9 km 80 m climb 19 controls 85:23)

One of the two furthest away drives, down to Dundee and across the Tay Bridge. But the trip also included a stop on the way back at a big grocery store for Roger, so it was a bonus day of sorts.

The chuckle for the day, besides my orienteering skills, were the herd of cows which came up to the back of the toilets and started mooing. Roger missed the picture with the cows in it…but, he did get a picture of the toilets.

OK, now to the more interesting part of the day…

The map was fairly small, with many trails and mounds. The course started with a huge blunder on my part, and, yes, it was related to a fence, again crossing where I didn’t belong, though this time not into out of bounds, just into out of my mind instead. I couldn’t figure it out until Sandy put her finger on it… (Left to Right: Susie DeWitt, Sandy, Valerie).

We had queued up for the start on a trail, then for our last part to the map pickup and to the start triangle, we took a right hand turn. I lined up my compass like I was still on the trail, and immediately took a bearing towards my control, climbing over the fence into the forest. Came back out of there, but I was still unclear of what my problem was. I fumbled around and, luckily, I found my second control. From there, I followed the tracks back to my first control, and then I nailed the second control on the return trip. Mostly clean after that with the exception of 13 where I wisely went back out to the trail and relocated instead of thrashing around in the green when I realized I didn’t know where I was.

Placed 55/80.

Here is a picture of all of the available USA participants hanging out at the meeting place.

Rest Day: Scone Palace and Perth Race Course Sprint (3.0 km 15 c 25:32)

This was Roger’s day to pick something to do, so we visited the Creiff Glassworks which makes mostly paperweights. Small production shop, but just the kind of thing we like – no lines and no fuss. We walked into the shop and watched and asked questions.

We didn’t take any pictures of the glassworks, but these very colorful flowers were along the sidewalk. Sandy and I commented more then once on the beautiful flowers, in hanging baskets especially, that we saw everywhere we went during the week.

Headed to the Event Center in Perth for some free wireless internet, and then since we just happened to be there, I ran the Middle Sprint.
I really enjoyed the race, as I do with most sprint races, though my legs were a bit dead. Luckily, my brain was only absent on the leg from 12-13.

Start times were not assigned, and I wasn’t pre-registered either, so we got there about 3 PM for the 4 PM starts. But, they had decided to start even earlier at 3:30, so I got registered and to the start about 3:15 in the hopes of getting out pretty quickly. That strategy worked, and I was the second starter – sandwiched between Ruth Campbell (W70) and Alison Campbell (F18) – no relationship. We started at 30 second increments.

I caught Ruth by the first control, and Alison punched in just ahead of us because we visited a nearby one first. I then had to work really hard to hold off Ruth managing to barely top her 25:32 to 26:33.

The young women in green and black is Ruth’s granddaughter, Caitlin (W14) who started a minute behind me and finished in 24:21.

I finished 155/233.

For the evening activities, Roger cooked at home, and Sandy continued to rest.

Day 3: Tullochroisk (4.6 km 180 m climb 11 controls 115:48)

The only rainy day of the entire week, and really, I have no complaints. It wouldn’t have been Scotland without a bit of rain.

The walk to the start was long and steep (2500 m with 110 m climb). The first part was on a muddy, narrow, slanted trail, and then it got easier. I was pleased to make it through the first part without rolling back down the hill.

The course started in the woods (controls 1-5.5), and the rest of the course was on the open moorland. Hosed 1-2 and then the last part of the long leg from 5-6. My route choice down the hill to 6 was poor resulting in a steep climb down through the wet rocks and heather. I fell and smacked a couple of fingers on my left hand.

Better placement today – 65/73.

The download area was set up in a barn again today, though it was meant to be in the field near the finish in the large tents. However, a severe storm overnight demolished the tents, and the operation was quickly moved before dawn.

Before my start, the team from Sportident UK, patiently gave me a run down on some of the features of the software they have developed. Their kindness was even more remarkable because of the upheaval they had dealt with, which I did not know about at the time.

On the drive home, Roger had to dodge the sheep on the road.

While Sandy relaxed at the lodge, Roger and I went into Pitlochry for some internet time and had dinner at the Moulin Inn.

Day 2: Kinnoull Hill (5.1 km 150 m climb 16 controls 112:52)

We awoke to a beautiful day. This was the view off of our back deck.

We were one of the first competitors to the meet site. Later there would be cars parked all over the place.

We are so early that the finish is still being set up when we got there.

The walk to the start was shorter at only 1 meter, but the first part was straight uphill.

The course started and ended poorly for me. I was 26 minutes to the first control. After that, I recovered well and navigated somewhat cleanly from 1-14. Then there were the last two-three controls! I took a poor route choice from 13-14, then I hosed 14-15. After finding 15, I lost my mind when I came off the hill at a 45 degree angle and went through an uncrossable gate into an out of bounds area. Oops! At the time I remembered looking at the purple line and saying out loud that I had no idea what the purple line meant. The stuff on the other side didn’t match up, but I sure tried to make it fit. There were others who did the same thing. Of course, the smarter ones turned back before they were shooed back by someone on the String-O course. Very embarrassing.

Here I am finishing down the correct hill.

I finished 74/78 today, but this was my favorite map, and the download setup was truly unique.

After leaving the event, we drove back to Edinburgh to take care of some paperwork at the rental place. For dinner, we went to the The Old Armoury in Pitlochry and had dinner with Sandy, Cristinia, and Melissa.

Day 1: Dalrulzion (3.0 km 175 m climb 11 controls 75:51)

Roger and I finally arrived in Edinburgh one day plus one hour late after leaving JFK (New York) about one day plus 2:20 late. Bumped into First Class (FC) seats. Waiting for a plane to leave, was just as stressful as sitting in the back of the plane, albeit, a bit more comfortable. The problem – the FC toilet was broken.

By the time we got in the air, we didn’t even want the meal or even the wine/port options. I waited until we were in the air long enough to leave our seats, used the recently repaired bathroom, took a sleeping pill, and slept on and off until breakfast was served. Roused myself enough to have breakfast, since I knew I needed to think about food in relationship to my start time, and it was quite good/adequate.

Landed safely, went through passport control (painless), and then through Customs (also painless since no one was there).

Sandy was waiting for us in the arrival area, and we were finally off to Dulrulzion near Blairgowrie. Huge props to Sandy for coming back down many miles to pick us up. Miles magnified by the fact that she was driving on the wrong side of the road with a manual transmission on the other side of what we are used to in the U.S.

We arrived at the meet site before 12:30, important since each day’s event involved a one way entry into and out of the meet site. You had to be there before 12:30, and then you could not leave before 12:30.

I stretched my legs with the walk to the start which was about 2200 meters and took ~30 minutes. My start time arrived, I punched the start box, and then I picked up my map.

I tried to be careful, and I don’t really remember much about this day, though it turned out to be my highest placement of the week – 39/80. I wasn’t clean, but mostly I kept my act together.

The route choice from 4-5 was not a good one, but it was a safe one for me to go up and follow the fence line, especially after the error from 3-4 shook me up a little. I wouldn’t see the ride to the right until Sandy pointed it out later.

It would turn out that a theme of sorts for the week would be fences – good, bad, and ugly. So, in that vein, I navigated correctly to the mandatory fence crossing leading into the last two controls. From the last control to the finish, I took a spectacular tumble, but I managed to roll out of the way of the all of the runners following close behind me. Unfortunately, both calves cramped up, and I was unable to get up and continue for a minute or so.

Finished and downloaded.

Sandy sprained her ankle but completed her course and would be able to complete the rest of the week. I found Roger waiting for her outside of the medic vehicle.

Roger really enjoyed the time he spent in the finish area. He talked to people in the club tents and to the rep from Trimtex.

The drive from the meet site to our lodgings at the Logierait Pine Lodges was a bit hairy. With Roger behind the wheel, we drove many miles on a “minor” road. It was very frightening with many cars coming towards us at high speed on the curvy, narrow roads. We scraped the side of the car on a fence. At least we didn’t hit another car, or a squirrel…see bottom of the sign in the picture below.

We stopped at the Co-op in Pitlochry and got dinner ingredient so that Roger could cook. Then it was off to our lodging for the week. We stayed in the Logierait Pine Lodges.