Our final day of the #bffUK2015 was a travel day. We had to make it from Edinburgh to London, which is quite a long way! We thought we would make it a leisurely drive since we’d started a new book the day before and it was 11 hours long (Faking it by Jennifer Crusie, my all time favorite!)

An early start on a blustery day.

We decided to stop along the way and check out Gretna Green. To get there, our route was along some windy country roads that passed over a few mountains. The winds were intense and the rain fell most of the way.

Just look at the twisties I had to wrestle that damn Mokka around. It breaks my heart they couldn’t find me a MINI.

We stopped a couple of times to take a few pictures because the views were incredible.

Amazing views on the road from Edinburgh to Gretna Green

Eventually, we reached the famous Blacksmith Shop in Gretna Green. In the 1800s couples in England who wanted to marry but didn’t have their parent’s permission or were under age, would elope to Scotland and Gretna Green was the closest town. The blacksmiths there began a brisk trade marrying couples who arrived at all hours of the day and night, often chased by angry relatives!

Got there right before the storm started but thankfully it blew over about the time we left.

The museum is adorable and has some wedding dresses from the ages…

Trying to talk Jenni into talking Patrick into renewing their vows here so the maid of honor (me) could wear a cool dress (this).

A lot of interesting stories about the history and actual couples who married there…

Blacksmiths would celebrate the wedding by striking the anvil and “sparking true love” heh heh!

and a really cool exhibit of blacksmith tools and carriages…

Such polite signs. I love the UK.

By the time we finished touring the museum, the rain was pouring down. We passed some time in the gift shop and when the rain let up I went out to the Love Maze and captured a few more shots.

Wore the cutest hat in the world and then almost lost it in the hurricane force winds.

We got back in the car to finish our drive (book) and the winds were even worse, gusting over 58 MPH. The car shuddered constantly and we passed three different semi trucks blown over sideways on the side of the road.

Winds blow…

As lunchtime approached, we decided to skip the service area meals and find a pub somewhere along the route. We turned off near Lancaster and turned down some random roads when we stumbled across a cute little pub with ample parking. They didn’t seem very friendly and I as surprised they weren’t more appreciative of our colorful outfits and witty banter. We ordered at the bar and a sullen waitress brought it over to us.

Cute little pub near Lancaster.

Afterwards we piled back in fired up the book and drove some more. As tea time approached, because we were on back roads and there weren’t any service areas we stopped at a local McDonalds.

Sunday roast with all the trimmings!

While Jenni frantically checked her email and updated her status, I had a cup of tea and a festive pie.

Thanks again T Mobile, I heart you!

We continued on and it got later and later. As we got closer and closer to London the traffic got heavier and heavier. At one point we were barely moving, but that wasn’t a problem because we were so close to the end of the book. We stopped to fill up the gas tank so we wouldn’t have to do it the next morning and to find our hotel on Google Maps since the GPS didn’t seem to think it existed. We didn’t realize it was actually trying to warn us away!

42 liters of gas! That is actually meaningless to me since I was never required to learn the metric system. Still, it seems like a lot.

We finished the book as we pulled into the hotel lot. Jenni recognized it as we pulled in and warned me we’d stayed there before and as soon as we entered I recognized it too. Our spirits sank as we realized our last night in the UK would be a lot less fun than we’d hoped…

Flashback pic! This was us at the Heathrow Doubletree in 2012. It still smells like crushing disappointment.