From Glasgow to the Scottish Highlands, this is one of the days Shealyn has looked forward to. Mostly she uses the bus time as her catch up on sleep time, but not today. Shes in the front seat watching out the window for Cooley Cows and the Loch Ness Monster.
Our first stop was Loch Lomond And Trossachs National Park for pictures of Loch Lomond. This National park was the first in Scotland to be awarded that status. Loch Lomond is a fresh water lake that is 200 meters deep at its deepest. Much of our drive this morning was around the lake.
We drive through some beautiful countryside. It was just as I imagined hills, valleys, sheep, cows, the foggy mist of the Scottish Highlands. It was so incredible!! It makes me sing the songs from Brigadoon.
Our next stop was the village of Fort William. Fort William is known as the outdoor capital of the UK because of its location near mountain climbing, hiking, snow sports and water sports. Its also know for the gentler pleasures of fishing, walking in the country, and biking. It was a cute village with plenty of shops and restaurants. It
Some people on our bus were a little upset that to use the public toilets cost money. Most public toilets in the UK are pay toilets. Many people use their cards. I always carry money and my card. This place was only .50. Some on my last trip were as high as 2.00.
Along the road between Fort William and Fort Andrew sits The Commando Memorial. The Commandos were an elite unit of the British armed forces, formed in 1940 to carry out raids behind enemy lines in Europe. In 1942. They where trained in secret. Over list their lives during the war. This memorial was erected in 1952 to honor them.
Fort Augustus was our next stop. It lays at the southern tip of Loch Ness and on the 70 mile long Caledonian Canal halfway between Ft William and Inverness. It connects the North Atlantic with the North Sea and was once important Now its used mostly by fishing and pleasure boats.
From there we drive through Inverness and drive by the Inverness Castle. However, there was construction going on and
Our next stop was Culloden Moor, the site ofthe final confrontation of the Jacobite uprising of 1745. The Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force. It was the last pitched battle on British soil. A pitched battle is one that was planned not by chance. On the grounds was a historic thatched roof cottage that was probably used as a field hospital during the war.
Our final destination is Strathpeffer, a Victorian spa town in the Scottish Highlands. We will be staying at The Ben Wyvis Hotel which is a Victorian hotel built in 1879. It was once a field hospital. We have dinner here tonight then off to bed.
