A Trip to Scotland Part 6 of 6 by KimB

[Editor's note: This is a many part story by KimB
This is the final story in the series.]

The bus bounced along the back roads and through the English countryside as we headed south to Newcastle. The weather was lovely and and the countryside had many trees and fields totally different than the plain hills of Southern Scotland.

I arrived at the bus stop and a nice gentleman came up to me and introduced himself: Jimmy Grey. I had found my destination! We got in his car and headed off towards “home”.

While I had difficulty understanding him, he seemed to understand me just fine. He said he had set me up in a Bed and Breakfast in town where the food was good and the room was clean and neat.

I asked again, “Who is “Peter Lee Horten”?” He laughed and said it was the name of the towns near by: Peterlee is near Newcastle and Horden, not Horten, is near Peterlee. His village was very small and that was the address. As everyone knew everyone in the village, all you needed was the person's name and the names of the nearby towns.

He took me to his home where he had his kennel and oh my gosh! Lovely Airedales EVERYWHERE! We talked dogs and dog breeding and dog shows long into the night. He said he'd be happy to let me have a puppy from his next litter in about 6 months and he would make sure it was a good show quality dog. He said he would arrange to have the dog shipped to France for me and that was part of the bargain.

My mission accomplished I left the next day. Jimmy took me to the Highway where I could catch a ride South and we said our goodbyes. I thanked him again and was happy that I had finally found my dog.

And so, I started on the long road back to France. There were minor adventures on the way south: drinking my first pint of Guinness; getting stopped by an English Highway Patrol Officer for hitch-hiking in the wrong spot – so he drove me 10 miles to the next cloverleaf where I would have a better chance of catching a ride, having to share the cab of a truck overnight when it broke down on the way south and the weather outside had turned freezing and meeting loads of nice people on the way.

The day after I landed at the Pas de Calais and collected my car, Scotland had the worst snow storm they'd seen in many years. I had a wonderful visit to Scotland in February and not one drop of rain or snow fell my entire visit there.

My adventures were not over, not by a long shot but the stories of my trip home shall have to wait for another day.