Surprising no one, except perhaps the Big 12-2′s Dan Beebe, Texas A&M University has given notice that they intend to leave the conference.

The reality is that A&M has been under Texas’ shadow for a long time. I can’t blame them for wanting out. In fact, they should have gone last summer when everything was happening with Nebraska and Colorado.

But they didn’t. And the Aggie fanbase just got more and more angry and frustrated.

I, for one, will …

© Copyright 2011 Eric Allie – All Rights Reserved.
Used with permission.

© Copyright 2011 Joe Heller – All Rights Reserved.
Used with permission.

After the Scottish Highlands tour, our next stop was Cardiff, Wales. This meant a long train ride.

If we caught the 6:07am train out of Edinburgh, the ride was six hours long with only one change of trains. Otherwise, the trip would be much longer, with several changes.

We got our tails out of bed in time to catch the 6:07am.

We headed due west to the coast of England. In Crewe, we were to change trains for Cardiff.…

After we explored Stirling Castle, it was back in the tour bus for the ride into the Scottish Highlands. Again, our tour guide did a great job telling stories the entire trip.

Our first stop was Doune Castle, which gained fame as the shooting location for several scenes in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I actually would have liked to have explored the place, but it was really just a potty break.

We stopped at a number …

For our second day in Scotland, we did the Loch Lomand and Stirling Castle tour from Rabbie’s Tours. Our first stop on the tour was Stirling Castle.

The is the castle that overlooks the battleground of the famous Battle of Stirling Bridge from Braveheart. Of course, reality was nothing like Braveheart, but that’s a story for another time.

Of all the castles we visited on our UK Holiday (and I think there were six total), this had the most …

After our road trip around County Durham, we jumped back on the train and headed up to Scotland.

Our first destination was Edinburgh.

We dropped our bags off at the hotel, and then walked up to Edinburgh Castle. We walked around the back side, toured the castle (after standing in the longest line of the entire trip), and then walked back down the front side of the castle (through the touristy section of town).

It’s imposing, to say the …

Our second day in Durham, we rented a car so we could get around. The top priority of the day was to visit Sockburn, but we weren’t going to be able to access that property until the afternoon.

So, in the morning, we headed to Raby Castle.

Raby Castle was built in the 12th century by the powerful Neville family. Joan Beaufort married Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, and Joan is my half 3rd cousin, 21 times …

Our third morning in the United Kingdom, we took the train from London Kings Cross Station to Durham, England.

This is where the extra we spent for the first class BritRail Pass paid off. The standard class cars were packed and seemed to be standing room only, while the first class had plenty of room.

And free coffee. Delivered to my big, comfy seat.

I’m referring to my chair. My posterior is neither big nor comfy. And I rarely have …

Today we’re jumping backwards in our trip. Our first stop on our United Kingdom tour was actually London. We spent two days there before heading up the east coast in a train.

It’s amazing how much you can see in two days with an unlimited London Underground pass.

We went to Kensington Palace, but it was mostly closed due to renovations being made for the impending move-in of Prince William and his bride. There was some kiddie tour (find the …