Loch Ness & Environs

DAY 4

Another day filled with driving. I am better today and able to stay awake for a lot of it. We plan to visit a set of standing stones near Loch Ness but, miles later, find ourselves still stoneless, although with a lot of driving behind us. Craig is now navigating the roundabouts with more ease and loves making left turns. We get lost a fair bit and, thrice, Craig actually descends from his masculine tower of eternal competence to ask directions of a passer-by. Alas, the first, a blond cyclist, speaks no English. The second, a hopeful looking pair of walkers, are also American, and the last, a proper Scottish native does not know where the stones are. She does, however, send us round back of a closed pub to ask someone who - finally - directs us there. When we get there, we see why no one knew where they were. The Stonehenge wanna be has one nice sized stone, but the rest are tiny rocks arranged like Snow White and the 20 or so dwarves. If these were the center for Druid worship, then surely these druids rode the short bus. We head on to the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre.  The museum consists of multiple large rooms meant to look like underwater caverns. A short film strip is played in each room and then everyone walks on. It you aren’t planning to attend, here’s a synopsis: People see monster. Scientists look for monster. No monster. There ya go. That ought to save you a few pounds sterling and a plane ticket. I still want there to be a monster (so does Craig). So there.  After lunch at the Ness Cafe (gotta love all the puns in this area) we return to our B and B. 

Scottish Coast Guard practicing over Loch Ness

Our view of Loch Ness 

The Great Cat Doctor (USA) examines Ness Kittie (UK).  

From the Official Hunt Expedition for Nessie

Don't go into the Deep Water!

This is the point at which our trip took a little toggle from our plans formed nearly a year ago. We had planned to stay at Loch Ness on Sep 5 and 8, while spending Sep 6 and 7 in the Hebrides. However, a little mix up of the dates ( I still say the chart Craig made up was misleading…) meant that we had to change Loch Ness to Sep 4 and 5 and go direct from the Hebrides to Glasgow later. This ended up being a less complicated itinerary, it just necessitated early rising to catch the ferry. Leaving before breakfast when one is staying at an excellent B and B is always a sad thing, but our hostess packed us marvelous sausage sandwiches for the road that quite alleviated our sorrow. We are falling in love with breads in the UK. They all seem so much more hearty and packed with flavor than even designer breads in the US. Is it all in our heads or is it that we detect the absence of Roundup? Not sure, but I’m pretty sure I’d never want to go low carb around here. 

Driving the Highland Backcountry