Only 24 hours into the Tour and one of us has aged already. Thankfully it wasn’t a casualty but a birthday for Jim Ramsay. Captain Clive presented Jim with a cake (how good was that?) and we all sang Happy Birthday to Jim.
We’ve had lots of messages of good wishes from former Scots Tourists going back 20 Years. Thanks all. It’s good to know that the trail ahead of us has already been blazed by you.
The Dublin Chicago flight was just over 8 hours and 3672 miles: someone somewhere will want to know that. We arrived in good shape to a full-on welcome form ten or so US Curling Association men including Russ Brown who is to be our courier this week. Malcolm MacAllister gave a full version of Highland Cathedral on the coach on the journey to the hotel to the delight of all. Later a short walk took us to the social gathering at Chicago Curling Club for pizza and drinks. Wilson Gotthchild gave us the warmest of welcomes “to the Scots who have been coming here since 1952” to cheers from the big audience. Everyone we spoke to knew we were coming, and many had personal or family connections with Scots an curling in Scotland.
A long day, and a good one. No doubt much of the same is ahead of us. We’re up for that.
Scottish Men's 2017 Curling Tour to USA 