Richmond, VA Highland Games

[PaulX608]

Throwing the heavy weight(56lbs. I think he said) for distance.


Pipers.

[PaulX608]

Raising the caber, Iwo Jima style. 20' hickory, dried two years, ~150lbs.



Tossing that bad boy.

[PaulX608]

Me right before we left. Tired and muddy and a feelin' the whiskey tastin' just a wee li'l bit.

Looked for JerMC and his Mrs., but did not see 'em. Wish I knew a good way to spot any more of you. I hope any one else who was there had as good a day as we did despite the weather. Can't wait to meet more of y'all in the future.

[Jerry]

Sorry I missed you, Paul. From your angle on the caber toss, my wife and I had to be nearby when you took that photo. I did stop by the Barclay Clan tent and meet Heathbar and his wife. The weather today was a little warmer. I really enjoyed the athletics, but today was the highlight of the festival. I caught both Albannach performances. In my, now three straight years attending the Richmond event, I have never seen a bigger crowd at the Guinness stage. Albannach had everyone within earshot clapping and a lot of them dancing. All ages in the audience were enthralled with their performances.

[Gil Prothero]

yeah, went there today, it's gonna take three days to wash off the dust..
BUT, so many people! so much to buy! to see, to walk.. so little time!! my sister in law asked me about the "tossing of the sheep", i told her it was practice to get them on the roof to mow the grass..
tried some beer and coffee, and lemonade, ( not all at one time..) didn't get to try the whiskey, it would have cut the dust..
NICE , lots and lots of vendors..bought some stuff even though i said i wasn't going to...only saw one backward kilt, saved the boy as fast as i could, it was his moms fault...she knows now..
and KCW is right, that band...yes THAT ONE, ALBANNACH
holy haggis !!
they got a web site, look it up, play the music.. goosebumps..
i want that played the day i go, as loud as possible..
it might bring me back..
my brother got to wear his new AMERIKILT, khaki, he was happy as hell...and he couldn't get over the stares and comment going down and coming back..he asked if i always experience that...i said no, must be him...lol
he'll want another soon...
so, next year supposedly, it's moving further north, coroline county,
be there, or be square..
oh, by the by, saw a trend, both on one of the band members, and in the field, kilts , LONG kilts, below the knees..i think it's a puck, rock, celtic, goth, neo-scottish, rebellion..( what? scots rebelling, how shocking !) thing..
i get it now, good on em...bless em, (sniff) all..

[HeathBar]

We had a whirlwind trip. Not including the wind from Saturday. We drove Nashville, Tennessee Friday morning and made it to Richmond in time for dinner. The bad thing is we had to drive in rain the whole 12 hours. Some unfortunate circumstances back home caused us to have to cut our trip short and we drove back home Sunday. The weather was much better though.
We enjoyed our time at the games, despite the wind. At least it wasn't rain. Instead of sunburnt, I think we got wind burt. I don't know If I have ever seen so many vendors. My wife had never been to a games that size. We had a good time. Clan Barclay had its AGM there. The tent organizer was excited because he had never had that many Barclays in his tent. We had people coming from all over, California, Tennessee, and New York. We had fun despite the circumstances.
The only xmarker I met was JerMc. But I think I saw Paul, walking back to his car with his wife and daughter.
I'm having a problem posting my pics. The photo address when copied over has spaces that I think throwing them out of whack. I'll work on it and post them later.

I think I've got it now.
JerMc and me

Me

VMI band (w/o gray tunics)

Richmond band (I think)

[Mael Coluim]

Great photos from last year's Games, Paul!