Today ended the first "phase" of our Brittish vacation; we depart the comfortable confines of the Nasmyth household in Dunfermline (just outside Edinburgh, on the East coast of Scotland) and head up for the road trip/Highlands portion of our trip.  We will spend the next four days attempting to drive on the left, not get into an accident, manage the inconceivable road signs, single-track roads, sheep hurds and majestic views as we travel to the West coast to visit the Isle of Skye and Inverness.

Day One, and Ray has me driving already... We did pay for two drivers (not to mention the FULL COVERAGE on the hire car - it was about 2 pounds more a day, so we figured we'd hedge our bets)... but as I had viewed most of the scenery before (although it was 8 or 13 years ago) we figured Ray could ooh and ahh at the vistas and keep me in the lane, and I would manage the speed and the other tourists.  We picked the hire car up yesterday, Ray sat in the back and Charles in the passenger seat, to help direct me home.  He was calm, even and completely unflustered, even after reminding me "mind the curb" (*BANG* as I bump the curb on the left... we hadn't even left the airport yet....) and "mind the bus" while he was inches away from it.  Ray believes he might have saved our marriage, as I don't take driving advice all that well from him.... Our route took us past Stirling and the Trossachs National Park, where Lochs Katrine and Lomond are, and we only got lost once.  Mind you, it was in the Nasmyths neighborhood, but after the first 10 minutes, we were on our way!  Our first stop was in Tyndrum, at The Green Welly Stop.  We had been advised by Charles that this would be a good place to pause for food, and so we stopped for some lunch of packaged sandwiches, ice cream and Irn Bru! Irn Bru was on the list of "Things Ray Must Consume While in Scotland"!  It's a soda, and comes in two flavors as far as I can tell (orange and purple).  Scotland is the only country in the world where Coca-Cola isn't the top selling soda - Irn Bru is!  I have my own personal opinion about Irn Bru, but it's part of the Scottish experience, and here is what Ray thought of it!

I agree with Ray!  I think it tastes like cough syrup, but capturing his honest reaction was priceless!

And here is a bit of a glimpse of what most of the trip was like!  Ray, outside the hire car, snapping photos!

The weather was mixed, we had sunny patches, cloudy patches and certainly some of the famous (and well remembered) misty Scottish rain!  Here are some photos from our trip between Tyndrum and Mallaig, where we caught the ferry to Skye. Here are a few photos of Rannoch Moor, lovely isloated rugged mountains, and Ray's first real taste of the Highlands. Glen Coe, some of the most majestic and beautiful scenery in the Highlands, and also the scene of an ancient massacre. The entire day was a bit of a race against the clock.  We were meant to catch the last ferry (at 6:00pm) in Mallaig over to Skye and we had to be there at least a half hour before the ferry sailed.  Unfortunately, we had very little sense of how long it would take us to get where we were going, or if we had time to be slow or if we had to rush.  By the time we reached Fort William, we knew we would make it (we didn't wan to be late, as we had already paid for it!), so we took a brief pause at Glenfinnan.  Glenfinnan is where Bonnie Prince Charlie landed in Scotland before the Jacobite uprising in 1745 and there is a memorial there to the fallen Highlanders and a lovely view down Loch Shiel.  Unfortunately, it was raining.... It also happens to be the home of the viaduct seen in the Harry Potter movies, and so we had to take a quick glance... We did make our ferry, and managed to get over to Skye, without much incident.  We stopped in Broadford for a bite of dinner and then rung our B&B to let them know we were on our way.   We made a late arrival, but were warmly welcomed by owners Charlotte and Bill and our room couldn't be more wonderful!  Tomorrow will be our day to tour around the isle, and we are hopping for sunny weather!