August 2, 2008 Spean Bridge to Bridge of Orchy

I woke up early because I was COLD! I wasn’t feeling great, and I seem to be losing my voice. A little queasy, and SO tired. I hope I’m not coming down with something. I went into the observation car wearing both of my coats! I napped for a bit up there, and then the coach came to take us to Arasaig for a trip to Morar Sands. Now, this is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Scotland, with white sands and turquoise water. But on this cold and rainy day, it was nothing to write home about! However, I was NOT going to miss a chance to be on the beach in Scotland! So, out I went, trudging over the sand. Our new host, Bryan (a real stuff shirt) took off his shoes and waded into the water, as did a few others. Not me—it was too bloody cold! It’s just a rainy and gloomy day, “driech”, as the Scots say. There were actually people camping in a tent on the beach! The coach was very different from the one we had earlier in the trip. There was no water available, no bathroom, and a driver with absolutely no personality. Gosh, I sure miss Q and Des!!!

We returned to the station, and found the train was not there. For some odd reason, Bryan had us all cross the tracks and stand out on the platform waiting for the train—in the rain! We waited a good 30 minutes, and it was just pouring. Thank heavens we’d brought some umbrellas. Back on board, lunch was a small serving of pork, and some berries. Then we got off again and back on the coach with Ray Owens (our “Highlander”) He took us to the Glenfinnan Monument, where Bonnie Prince Charlie met up with his troops to fight for his crown. We did a bit of shopping in the gift shop there, and then went to the Falcon Inn for the “best scones in Scotland”. (they may have been the biggest, but definitely not the best, although they were very good). When we returned to the train, I met Sean, the “goth” teenager, who had stayed on board and was hanging out with Mom, who had also stayed on the train. He is VERY nice, and is apparently quite the computer guru. He offered to look at my laptop, and was able to get it to turn back on, but then it did the same weird display and went black. Well, he tried!

I read until it was time for an informal dinner. I was too cold to change clothes, and I sat through dinner in my fleece jacket! Bryan sat with us at dinner, and actually loosened up a little bit. There was a group from Switzerland (7 women and one very handsome guy), and they were SO loud! Deb got a headache just from their noise! We opted not to go to the observation car, since they were only going to be drinking more and getting rowdier. I stopped by the kitchen for a protein bolus, and drank 2/3 of it, since my protein has been really low. We returned to our cabins to do a bit of pre-packing. I folded up all my dirty clothes in my small suitcase. I figured it would save time with tomorrow night’s packing. My room was really cold, so I was happy to snuggle down into my bed. I was really tired, so I turned in at 11:00.