Here is a rundown so far.......... I know I have been lacking in my communications skills so far on this trip, apologies all around, it's those men in kilts that keep distracting me :-)
We have had amazing weather so far. Sunny, blue skies, temps in the 60's, just fantastic! Not what we expected!
Our first few days in Edinburgh were great, lots of action, we caught the fireworks at Edinburgh Castle to mark the end of the Edinburgh Festival, beautiful but TONS of people. Those that know me well, know that is not my thing. It was beautiful, but I was yearning for the more rural and less hectic part of the trip. I opted out for a day off and let Linda take off on her own to hike all of Edinburgh as long as she wanted. She hit the castle, the royal mile, the gardens, and miles of sidewalk in between. Lots of beautiful pictures to share later.
Next day we headed north to Lossiemouth (near Inverness) and spent a night there. Beautiful coastal town, small, but perfect. We arrived at 9pm at night along with another couple, without dinner. The hostess at the B&B called down to the bar/restaurant nearby that closed at 9, asked would they serve us, and walked us down there. They stayed open for us, a staff of 4 people, and served us great soup & pizza. Then to top off a great day, the other couple we ate with treated us to dinner!
As hard as it was to leave....... we then headed off to stay at a place that both Linda and I were enchanted with online, Ghillies Lodge in Inverness. The river walk was beautiful as we walked along to dinner in town. Then back to soak in the atmosphere. It is by the River Ness and our window opened to the river side, we fell asleep to the sound of the river flowing. Mmmmm! I could get used to this!
All our B&B's serve wonderful breakfasts, we have had scrambled eggs and smoked salmon several times, and could easily do more, and more! Off to explore Ullapool and the western highlands for a real adventure! We went to Rogie Falls on the way, beautiful falls, lots of salmon in the river, and a salmon ladder---- no salmon though, oh well. Beautiful trails and suspension bridge. Nice hiking! Then off to Ullapool a fishing village and the turnaround point for our trip. Had a great lunch, fish & chips that were delish! Perfect!
Off to Inverewe Gardens near Gairloch. Due to Gulf Stream flow in ocean, it is the perfect area for almost any type garden. Palm trees, tropic plants, you name it, they all seem to grow here! Plenty of pictures taken here which will be included once we get them all posted and labeled! Good thing we weren't taking ROLLS of film! It would have cost a fortune.
NOW.......for the adventure! As we are leaving we notice the gas is getting low and we need to find a gas station soon. The display reads 'range - 52 miles' (remember that number!). So, we check the map, see a little town to get off and get petrol. It is 5:30 pm, we drive a bit looking for the gas station then finally decide to ask ----- ooops! At the Surf Shack Bar we find out the gas station closed at 5:30, next station is 57 miles away. Now we have used some of that '52 miles' driving around so we are sure we will not make it. We fall upon the mercy of the barmaid! She makes a few calls, while we get advice and lots of head shaking about not driving in the highlands with less than 1/2 tank of gas! The barmaid has come through for us, not only does she finds someone that has a 5 liter can of petrol for us, but she leads us there so we won't get lost! We get our gas, and lots of advice with directions, more comments about driving with less than 1/2 tank of gas in the highlands, and we are on our way! Our gas is still precious, no wrong turns on the highland backroads, so we ask a man driving a delivery van if we are going the right way. He says yes, and that he will be coming behind us, so he will watch for us. Very comforting! As the display read "REFUEL NOW" on out dashboard, for quite some time now, we finally pull into the gas station, wave to our van driver and see that all the diesel pumps are OUT OF FUEL! So, we get directions for a station 10 miles down the road, and cross our fingers and take off again. Anticlimatic....... we make it, fill up, recover from the cost and are on our way!
Today is a rainy stormy day, an unusual turn of weather for our trip! We have been blessed with fantastic weather so far, only one rainy day and that was a driving day, so not a problem. Our hostess at the B&B told me this morning we need to leave on Monday in order to avoid a 'brutal' (her word) storm heading for Orkney and should hit shore on Tuesday. We are making our ferry reservations to head out before the big event. The 90 minute ferry ride should be fun! Wait until you see the pictures of the ferry. It is like a luxury cruise ship. Bar, restaurant, gift store, cafe, dining room, reclining lounge chairs, the works. We sat and talked with Charles Macpherson, storyteller & author. He was dressed in full highland gear, kilt, sock knife (skein dunh?), sporran (man purse), and most importantly, silver flask! What a character! It was a great 90 minute ride. Full of history, and great stories. He was trying to figure out if we were related as his Macpherson roots have some branches in the Ayeshire and Edinburgh areas. He's going to put his wife to work when he gets home and have her figure it out.
Linda felt a little punky yesterday while driving, and has been put down flat in bed today. A day of rest, maybe. I don't see her staying in bed all day, she keep saying she can't miss anything. Hope she will just relax one day and recover. We'll see! Meanwhile, I am enjoying the slower pace for the day.....more my speed. : )
