New Phase of Trip

 And What Was that Who Song?  I Can See For Miles & Miles....

Zip...zip...ZIP!  What a day!  I hopped in the Hyundai i20 rental and hightailed it to York from Kinross this morning.  Don't tell anyone.  But the motorway down from Glasgow most of the way to York was 6 lanes.  I was toodling along, looked down at the speedometer, & I saw I was going 84 MPH!  Didn't even feel like it and cars were leaving me in the dust! 

Anyway, I arrived in York & returned the Enterprise rental.  Drumroll please....  

 I drove 2,511 miles during the month I had the car.  I thought it would be close to 2,000 - but 2,500?? WOW!  I was a busy lass. 

And picked up my long term rental.  I do not KNOW why I was so lucky. May be it was all the hoop-loop jumping I had to do with this company - seriously, more than in a cereal box I'm SURE! But Enterprise was just around the corner from the new company.  AH-MAZING! 

So from Cormack Cottage I headed west to Isle of Skye via Eilean Donan Castle.  The road getting there was really a tiny one laner that had twists around mountains & the inside of the lane was breaking down.  It was slow going for me at least.  I could not BELIEVE the speed at which some of the trucks were going - really, really fast.  Talk about having faith that people will get out of your way and it'll be ok.  I did notice that I was not nearly as nervous driving as I have been. I was waiting for that happen! 

Eilean Donan is home of the MacCrae clan. The castle holds special significance as I have a very close friend that comes from. Clan MacCrae. lineage.

I have on the MacCrae tartan for good warmth and joy! - This one's for you Mrs. Church!!

 

 I stayed for a couple of hours and then headed up to Isle of Skye.  It was a really good drive.  After crossing the bridge I headed north to Portree & Uig (pronounced oo-ig).  Skye turned out to be a lot like home - in that it's surrounded by water and mountains.  Their winters are filled with lots of rain storms that move in swiftly and then are gone.  I took a trip around the east part of the Isle to also include Dunvegan Castle to the west. Home to the MacCleod Clan.

It was raining sideways and POURING.  Nothing like we have at home in Alaska.  I was wet down to my underwear & socks.  It became very clear that my raincoat I brought was not going to hold up in these Scottish storms.  So I didn't climb Man of Storr due to the weather.

The B&B outside of Uig, Garybuie, was one of the most comfortable on the trip so far.  Kevin & Christine were wonderful hosts.  I was one of their last guests as they are in the process of building a new home and will be retiring.

Conservatory where I ate breakfast each morning.

First morning sunrise

The mountains look like a big giant grabbed a piece and yanked it off.  I've never seen anything like it before.

In my drive I came across this ewe standing in the road eating.  I slowed to give her time to move off.  But she began walking towards my car.  And then two other ewes stopped eating and began staring at me too.  Soon, the 3 ewes and me were having a stare down.  Since I was interrupting their big meal, I inched my way around them and motored on. 

I do think that sheep have very sweet faces~

Visiting Dunvegan was a very informative trip.  It is thought to be the oldest occupied castle in Scotland.  The MacCleod Clan have lived in Dunvegan for over a 800 years through 30 generations.  Alaska is such a baby state, in the US - a baby country.  I never cease to be astonished by this and even more interested in the history of this country - my new home.

Dunvegan Castle was a great tour because the owners provided really good signage on the history and what it meant to the people.  Plus, they allowed photography.  There was also a 6 minute video on the history of the Clan and Castle which was hosted by the current Chief.

Sooo steep!

I decided to take a video in the master bedroom I toured.  The furniture was really beautiful.

And the differences between the upstairs and downstairs folk....

And lastly, I found it ironic that while touring the gardens and on my way to the Water Garden, that it really came down cats & dogs!  I snapped a pic...

So I picked up the new car and headed to Oban. Oban is where I'm living for the month of October.  It'll be nice to stay in one place for a spell.....