Scotland Trip Report--Day 11--Loch Lomond to Inverness

I had breakfast this morning with 3 grouchy old women. All they did was complain about one thing after another! I do believe I will avoid this bunch at future meals.
On the bus, I was sitting with a fun crowd--Dick & Jennifer, Pete & Peg, and some other characters. We were talking about the weather and being cold, and Pete said, “well, you’re tiny, you’ll always be cold”!!!! Ummmm, tiny? Me? I don’t THINK so! I’ll agree to the ‘fit’ comment of a few days ago, but tiny is pushing it just a bit.
Anyway, as we drove away from the hotel, along the banks of Loch Lomond, Karen put on a CD of Allistair MacDonald singing, what else? “Loch Lomond”! We all sang along on the choruses. It was raining a little, and Karen said, “oh, Mother Nature has decided to wash the tree leaves”! The word for the tour (from Jennifer and Dick) is “gobsmacked”, as in, “When I saw the price of gas in Scotland, I was just gobsmacked!" We’re getting a kick out of that one.
Our morning break stop was at ‘The Green Welly Shop”. They actually won an award for their bathrooms, which were immaculate. I got some sweets for Laura (which she had requested), and a cup of hot chocolate for me, as I was chilly. Apparently this little shop is a big deal, but I’ll be damned if I can figure out why.
We drove up along the Great Glen, and I noticed lots of campgrounds along the way. We made several photo stops--a waterfall, the area of the Glencoe massacre (we stopped at the Glencoe visitor center), Ben Nevis (the highest spot in the UK), and the Commando Monument, where the Green Berets trained during WWII. We drove past Lochaber, which is where I own my Highland Estate (an entire 10 square feet of Scotland belongs to me, making me ‘Lady Wendy’.)
We stopped for lunch at an old hunting lodge, the Corriegeur Lodge. There are very tall pine trees there, and one is about 15 feet shorter than the others. Why? The top was shorn off by a low flying fighter jet!! For lunch I had a “Timbale of Roasted Vegetables with Farmer Cheese”, which was so cool I took a picture of it! It was yummy too. I had Prime Rib, which was very different from what we have at home--so tender and really good. For dessert, I had Sticky Toffee Pudding, which was to die for. They had a little doggie, a longhaired dauschund, who was very cute and quite friendly. Petting him made me miss my Dukie!
We drove north, and things started to look a bit familiar. Had I been there before? Turns out I have! We stopped at Neptune’s Staircase, a series of 5 locks, one atop another, that we had driven past last year when we were here! I had my picture taken with a piper. We drove up along Loch Ness, but didn’t see Nessie. We did stop at Urquart Castle, which is just ruins, but we got some good pictures there. The Rowan trees are all in bloom and are so pretty with their red flowers. Apparently the tradition is to plant one outside your front door to protect you from the fairies. There were some coaches there from the Loch Ness tour company, and the license plate of one of them was NESI BUS, and another was NESS BUS. Pretty clever.
We arrived at our hotel, the Kingsmills, and got checked in. My room is not as far away this time. It is a big room again, and for some odd reason, a handicapped room! Nice to have the higher toilet though. I finally managed to get through to Deb, finishing up the time on my first SIM card, so I put the newer one in. Only problem is, I now have NO idea what my phone number is, so no one can call me!
At 6:30 we gathered for a reception, complete with bagpipes. The piper piped us in to dinner, where we were entertained by his music and by Highland dancers. He even piped in the Haggis, as Pete carried it in, which was really cool, and read Robert Burns’ “Ode To A Haggis”. Yes, I did eat some, but still found it a bit too peppery for my liking. The Cock-a-Leekie soup tasted a lot like mine, and the lamb was good (but not as good as last night). Dessert was Raspberry Cranachan, which was soooo good, even if it is laced with booze!
Our weather has held out and been very nice so far. Tomorrow is supposed to get to 75 degrees! I think I may need to break out one of my short sleeved shirts…