Fitzsimmons/Brown Family Blog

So, it has been a few days since I have been able to get on and post anything. I think I need a vacation from our vacation..... it has been a busy and nail biting few days. The roads here leave something to be desired. The double carriage ways are good and you can travel up to 70 mph and have enough roadway to drive with ease. The single carriage ways are another story. Holy crap.... when you are have a lorry flying down the road towards you, you tense up, go white knuckled, and hold your breath. There is barely 12 inches between you and you hope like hell that they are not tired. To add to that, the roadway is very windy.... worse than the "winding in and winding out..."!

Our travels took us from Stirling to Inverness. We went to view the historical site of the Battle of Culloden, the last battle of the Jacobites.

From there, we headed to the Isle of Skye. This is where we encountered the one lane only roads. Very interesting! I have to say that I believe land to be a high demand or these areas would have been up to be at least single carriage ways. So when I say one lane, it is just wide enough for one vehicle. There is no shoulder to speak of and to get around an oncoming vehicle they have these very small pull outs the length of a small car. At times, if you miss seeing the vehicle in time or vice versus there is a chance that one of you would have to back up.

Across to the lighthouse at Neist Point we traveled. This is where we had to fight the sheep for passage. The sheep here roam free and tend to be a little annoyed and slow at getting up and moving off the road when you want to pass. One even had the nerve to rub down side of the car and leave poop on both doors. How rude!

Ok, so FYI for future travelers..... there are no bathrooms, outhouses or anything of the sort up there. Not so bad for guys....a little more interesting for the girls especially when there are 5 or 6 other vehicles parked up there and you can here guys talking but cannot see them. Same problem for the morning since we slept in the car that night. Only difference now being is that it was daylight and the sheep herder was out with his dog....arrgghh!

Jacob and I folded the back seats down, crawled in and no sooner put our heads down and the alarm went off. What the heck! It was late and I am sure the motorhome 8 feet in front of us was none to happy. Ok, turned that off and put our heads down and it went off again. Holy mother of mercy! Out I go with Jacob pushing me to get over the lip of the hatch in the back to find the manual for the car. Sure enough it has an alarm that covers exterior and interior areas. Shut off the interior and headed back to "bed". Oh the pain, the agony. My knees are screening in pain. We have done so much walking and climbing and descending that they are so very sore. Problem is that even with my short legs, I cannot stretch out fully. Not normally an issue but definitely one at that time. Out I go again, move the suitcase and bag and jump in the drivers seat....ahh much better, can stretch my legs and it is totally softer than the back of the vehicle.

Morning has arrived and we can now see the absolutely stunning view of where the lighthouse is located............................... and how absolutely, jaw dropping, make you want to cry distance and terrain that you have to walk to get to it. Bet you thought I was going to go on with how beautiful it was... well it definitely was that but it wasn't the first thought in my head. Jacob says "it's ok mom, we don't have to go down.". I say "we drove all this distance, we are going down to see it.". So off we go. Thanks to the fellow who put in some stairs. Definitely far easier on the legs than the sloped walkway next to it. Sadly, they didn't last too long. But you know, I am stubborn and determined so we truck on. Down, up, down, up then turn the corner thinking it should be close and low and behold we have to go down another cliff and up the other side. This is where I start to cry, internally of course cause I don't want anyone else to see it. Again, Jacob says "this is close enough mom". What an understanding young man. Again, I say "no Jacob, I will plug on but you may have to drag me all the way back (I am truly not kidding when I say that). So we went on got to the lighthouse. Once done, we headed back. Not to bad to start but then it started getting difficult. Jacob had to walk in front of me to make sure my knees didn't give out and then had to hold my hand to help me go up the other side. That was the first major cliff. Part way through I advised Jacob that he should get a helicopter to pick me up because there was no way I was going to make it. With continuing encouragement we kept going, till we got to the last major cliff to climb. Definitely need the helicopter now....... please bring the copter..... can't make it...... going to die. Argghh! Jacob is now pushing me from behind. After several, ok a lot of stops we made it to the top. I think I no longer have any bones in my legs.

Off we go on a mad dash to The Kilt. Coastal cliffs of what looked like shale standing on end so that it resembled the pleats of a kilt were many, many feet tall. There was also a very nice waterfall. It was really neat however it was a little hard to see due to it's distance away.

Back in the car and to the crazy single lane carriage ways. The fact that it is tourist season and that the Highlands are very, very popular meant that there were no hotels, B&Bs, etc available. Unfortunately Scotland does not have areas where you can pull off the roads to sleep for the night. The areas where there are information centers have no parking or are in a parking lot where it is camera monitored and you have a two hour time limit to stay or you get a £100 fine. Even the supermarkets have the same type of system. Hence, we found the Red Squirrel Campground in Glencoe that cost us £11 per person. It did have showers included and free WIFI. We camped out in the car again and put up a few blankets around the windows for privacy.