The Other Side of Scotland

On the other side of Scotland (that's the west coast since we are on the east, for those of you interested) you get to see the other side of Scotland (that would be mountains since the rest seems to be rolling, green hills).

Friday our journeys continued southward towards Fort William. The day started out crummy and the first 30 minutes of our trip I was praying the Lord might allow us to see some sun to better enjoy His creation. What a loving Father to answer shortly thereafter! We stopped at the Bridge of Oich and walked across the swing bridge (like a draw bridge, only it swings) to get the lovely shot that is now our banner for our blog. Little did we know that we'd get to see the bridge in action, which meant standing in the freezing, blowing wind for a good 10-15 minutes while two boats passed. It was soooo cold, but thankfully the sky was blue in a great big circle over our heads :)

Back in the car we were in awe as we saw more and more snow-capped mountains lining Loch Lochy (isn't that the coolest name?!). The further south we drove, the more mountains we saw. We knew that there were some munros (mountains over 3,000 ft in height) in western Scotland but didn't realize exactly how tall 3,000+ feet were. These were definitely mountains! Finally we got to Fort William where Ben Nevis (tallest mountain in UK) and the Nevis Range loom over the town. As we drove closer to the mountains it started to snow, we saw highland cows (I love their shaggy look! Can you see how it looks plastered to his face? Yeah, that was the wind!), a sheep with legs that looked like they had been transplanted from a Dalmatian puppy, and lots of beautiful mountains!

After a quick walk through the quaint pedestrian area of Fort William, photos of the old church/cemetery, a pit stop, and lunch in the car (the cheap way to see Scotland and so I could eat my "safe" salad I'd brought with me), we were ready to head west towards Isle of Skye. Unfortunately, Road Works (i.e. the construction crew) had started a small project which only allowed our lane of traffic to go for about 2 minutes every 5 minutes (I timed it). So, we saw more detail of Fort William than we cared to because in about 40 minutes we went maybe 2 miles. Finally, though, we made it passed the area they were working on (by the way, they finished just after we passed....how annoying!).

The wait was worth it for what we got to see next :) We drove along the Glen Sheil Ridge that gave a spectacular view at the summit of the drive. It was so lovely I could have stayed if it weren't for that reoccurring theme of wind and cold! So onward we pressed to find lots of deer hidden in the rocks and brush as it snowed. We even stumbled upon another picturesque castle: Eilean Donan Castle. We eventually ended up at Kyle of Loclosh (click to see webcam) which looks onto the Isle of Skye.After tea to warm up, a quick trip to Skye, more photos (I was glad my brother was tired of taking pictures and let me use his camera since my batteries were dead) and dinner we decided we'd better head home while there was still some light in the sky...but not without first seeing the sun set over the water and mountains :) What a full and wonderful day we had touring this amazing country!