The sun shone brightly, and the rain gently fell as we stood on the tarmac boarding the small plane that would take us from Dublin Ireland to Edinburgh Scotland. I hope I never become accustomed to simultaneous rain and sunshine.
In Edinburgh, we rented a car and headed west and north, into the Highlands. A light rain fell almost the entire day. We stopped for lunch just before Loch Lomond at a little barbeque joint out in the middle of nowhere. It was really good Q! (Yes, barbeque in Scotland).
Then up and into the Glencoe valley, a landscape of rugged beauty, steeped in a good dose of bloody clan history. (Curious? Google the 1692 Glencoe Massacre). This is where filmmakers find stunning backdrops (the opening credits for The Outlander were filmed here), where hikers come for a challenge, and where Scots come to remember their hard-fought past.
The glen did seem to weep a bit as we drove through the mist.
We stopped for the night in Ballachulish, then got an early start the next morning. We kicked around a little in Ft. Williams,
then picked up groceries before heading out to the Isle of Skye.
We had received weather alerts from the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry about high winds, and two crossings had already been canceled that morning. But the sun was shining, and our crossing was still showing as a go, so we headed out to the little village of Mallaig.
The weather held, and we made the ferry. The crossing was so rough that car alarm sirens sounded from one car after another the entire journey across. Our new little red rental's dashboard computer asked us if we had been in an accident when we got back on land.
We arrived on the Isle of Skye at dusk, and the rain cleared enough for us to find our completely isolated home for the next four days: Molly's Den.
I can't wait to go exploring!!!!