27 March 2008
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!
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!
26 March 2008
I am Blessed
There are a multitude of ways that I/we are blessed each day, but since my brother left yesterday I have been thinking about how blessed I am to have such a great brother! It's been so quiet here without him and I've been missing him since he left. As Todd pointed out, aside from a week of family vacationing this summer and a few additional days at my parents (during which time we were both frantically preparing for our lives overseas so it wasn't the greatest time in our relationship...) we haven't spent 8 days together just hanging out in who knows how long! Definitely not since I got married. It was a blast to tour the country together and be silly together like when we were growing up. My brother and I have never had a hard time being weird/silly together. Poor Mark :)I know not everyone gets along with their siblings, but I praise God my brother and I have a good relationship based on both of us knowing the Lord as our Savior. What a joy and blessing to have you as my brother, Todd, I love you!
24 March 2008
23 March 2008
He Is RISEN!!
What a joy to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus today! It is so easy to take for granted the fact that we serve a Lord who has died for our sins and now LIVES again. We long to live for Him each day. Reflecting on His death and resurrection reminds us what a privilege it is to serve a living God!
But today has not been a very traditional Easter other than reflecting on these core truths of our faith (which, ultimately, are really the most important parts of Easter). We woke up to sun and snow covered rooftops, grass and cars. It melted shortly thereafter, only to come down again in huge flakes. Once again, it was back and forth throughout the day.
Todd got to experience a lovely Scottish Sunday lunch at Ian and Isobel's house with us. It was not a typical ham dinner (well, that's what we grew up with for Easter lunch anyways), but seemed much like the other meals we'd been served on other Sundays. Not bad, just different!
As we left their house, the snow was coming down thick and beautifully! What a Christmas....er, I mean, Easter!
But today has not been a very traditional Easter other than reflecting on these core truths of our faith (which, ultimately, are really the most important parts of Easter). We woke up to sun and snow covered rooftops, grass and cars. It melted shortly thereafter, only to come down again in huge flakes. Once again, it was back and forth throughout the day.
Todd got to experience a lovely Scottish Sunday lunch at Ian and Isobel's house with us. It was not a typical ham dinner (well, that's what we grew up with for Easter lunch anyways), but seemed much like the other meals we'd been served on other Sundays. Not bad, just different!
As we left their house, the snow was coming down thick and beautifully! What a Christmas....er, I mean, Easter!
22 March 2008
Where to Start?
Where in the world do you start trying to post about the sights, experiences, and fun had in a two and a half day, nearly 500 mile car trip with your husband and brother? I've been contemplating it and haven't come up with any good ideas yet. Guess I'll just have to type and see what I come up with.
The weather was typical Scottish weather, mostly grey, off and on rain, with bits of sun peaking out at random times as we drove towards Inverness and then south to Loch Ness and our hostel on Thursday. If I could guess the number of times we said on this trip, "Oh, it's raining again." (15 minutes later) "Oh, yah! The sun!" (15 minutes) "Oh, there's the rain/snow again" (15 minutes) "Oh, how happy, the sun!" etc, etc, etc it would number in the hundreds....no joke.
Inverness is known at "The Capital of the Highlands" because it is the biggest major city in the North and East of Scotland. It was a lovely scene to drive into the city and see the "firth" (bay) leading into the city. Once in the city we just drove randomly until we came to a bridge, looked down and saw a river with a nice patch of green to stroll on, and decided we'd go there to stretch our legs.
After the biting wind did us in, we jumped back in the car journeyed on southward to Loch Ness. We came to Urquhart Castle right on Loch Ness just outside of Drumnadrochit (we are still trying to figure out exactly how this is pronounced!). Since the clouds broke in a large circle right over us, we decided to go ahead and pay the fee and go check out the ruins for ourselves up close.
Just as we were finishing up our self-guided tour of the ruins dark grey clouds threatened to dump their rain on us, so we quickly headed for the car. We had about an hour and a half until we could check into our hostel so we took advantage of it being "tea time" and visited a local cafe in Drumnadrochit. Finally we decided to go and find our home away from home for the next two nights, Loch Ness Scottish Youth Hostel. Neither Mark nor I had stayed in a hostel before so we weren't quite sure what to expect. It reminded me of camp. Smelled like camp, especially. You know, that musty, "campy" smell? This hostel was chosen because of their superb price on a 3 person room. The boys took the bunk bed and I got the single bed. It was a tight fit with luggage and lots of warm clothes and food, but it really did work out well.
When we called to ask about what bedding was provided and they said "pillow, sheets, two duvets" we should have been clued in that maybe there wasn't heat in the room and it might be a tad chilly! Ha! It maybe wouldn't have been so bad in there hadn't been the stiff wind and snow. We all survived, though, and chalked it up to the whole hostel experience!
One of 4 or 5 rainbows we saw on Thursday. This one is just outside of the annex where our room was located at the hostel. That's Loch Ness. It was so windy there were white caps on the lake and we were lulled to sleep with the waves crashing on the shore (all of about 15 feet outside the window).
So that is a brief summary of our first day's travels. May you sleep tight and dream of Nessie knocking at your window as I did....or was it a dream?
The weather was typical Scottish weather, mostly grey, off and on rain, with bits of sun peaking out at random times as we drove towards Inverness and then south to Loch Ness and our hostel on Thursday. If I could guess the number of times we said on this trip, "Oh, it's raining again." (15 minutes later) "Oh, yah! The sun!" (15 minutes) "Oh, there's the rain/snow again" (15 minutes) "Oh, how happy, the sun!" etc, etc, etc it would number in the hundreds....no joke.
Inverness is known at "The Capital of the Highlands" because it is the biggest major city in the North and East of Scotland. It was a lovely scene to drive into the city and see the "firth" (bay) leading into the city. Once in the city we just drove randomly until we came to a bridge, looked down and saw a river with a nice patch of green to stroll on, and decided we'd go there to stretch our legs.
After the biting wind did us in, we jumped back in the car journeyed on southward to Loch Ness. We came to Urquhart Castle right on Loch Ness just outside of Drumnadrochit (we are still trying to figure out exactly how this is pronounced!). Since the clouds broke in a large circle right over us, we decided to go ahead and pay the fee and go check out the ruins for ourselves up close.
Just as we were finishing up our self-guided tour of the ruins dark grey clouds threatened to dump their rain on us, so we quickly headed for the car. We had about an hour and a half until we could check into our hostel so we took advantage of it being "tea time" and visited a local cafe in Drumnadrochit. Finally we decided to go and find our home away from home for the next two nights, Loch Ness Scottish Youth Hostel. Neither Mark nor I had stayed in a hostel before so we weren't quite sure what to expect. It reminded me of camp. Smelled like camp, especially. You know, that musty, "campy" smell? This hostel was chosen because of their superb price on a 3 person room. The boys took the bunk bed and I got the single bed. It was a tight fit with luggage and lots of warm clothes and food, but it really did work out well.
When we called to ask about what bedding was provided and they said "pillow, sheets, two duvets" we should have been clued in that maybe there wasn't heat in the room and it might be a tad chilly! Ha! It maybe wouldn't have been so bad in there hadn't been the stiff wind and snow. We all survived, though, and chalked it up to the whole hostel experience!
One of 4 or 5 rainbows we saw on Thursday. This one is just outside of the annex where our room was located at the hostel. That's Loch Ness. It was so windy there were white caps on the lake and we were lulled to sleep with the waves crashing on the shore (all of about 15 feet outside the window).
So that is a brief summary of our first day's travels. May you sleep tight and dream of Nessie knocking at your window as I did....or was it a dream?
19 March 2008
Back for More
My brother, Todd, made it safely to Aberdeen late Monday night. We've definitely been enjoying this time together. This afternoon we ventured to Stonehaven and Dunnottar Castle. Someone just can't visit you in Aberdeen and you not take them there!
I was chatting away (can you imagine?) on the drive down, missed a sign and somehow ended up headed North to Aberdeen again. Thankfully we realized this mistake almost instantly and found an old country road to turn around on. The country road also happened to give us a great view of the city so I just pretended I just wanted to show him the great view! It was fantastic because the sun decided to come out shortly after we arrived at Dunnottar, and there were so few people there this time. I'd love to share the video I took, but maybe another day. For now, I'm off to pack! We are headed to Loch Ness tomorrow through Saturday! Mark and I can't wait to explore some more. It will be our first night out of Aberdeen since arriving here.
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