This morning we all got a bit of a lie-in since we were in no rush to get out and shoot anything. I think the extra half hour made a difference. We woke to overcast skies and Karl said the outlook for our journey south towards Edinburgh wasn’t promising. We decided at breakfast that there were a few target sights we had to skip earlier this week that we hoped to hit again so would meander our way towards Edinburgh with those in mind.
My breakfast was the same as previous days. I will miss my porridge with berry compote! I was already mostly packed so just pulled the rest of it together and said goodbye to my gorgeous room.
It didn’t take long before the rain and low clouds and fog caught up with us, or we caught up with it. And our first couple of stops were scuppered because of the rain or the low visibility that wouldn’t add any visual interest. I think we all had our hopes set on the cute little white bothy house at the bottom of the valley, but despite really good looking skies when we approached it, Karl zipped past it. I could sense Don getting frustrated, so the next time we stopped he asked Karl why we didn’t stop there. Karl was worried about us parking on such a busy road and having to cross traffic. Fair enough, but we’re all adults and I still would have liked to try.
So we skipped the bridge, the bothy house and a castle that all were reasonable possibilities. We did stop at the entrance road to Glen Etive, where we’d seen the raging waterfall earlier this week, because the very very low hanging clouds were really putting on a good show around the mountains. I felt I could reach up and snatch them right out of the air. The light and the clouds were changing so fast that it was a good exercise in adjusting on the fly, recomposing and getting the shot. It was neat.
We stopped at Karl’s cafe again on our way through Glencoe and I got to have my vegetarian haggis flatbread again, which was wonderful.
Earlier this week, I charged my Garmin watch in the room. I realized when we got to Portree that I’d lost my Garmin charger, presumably at the hotel in Glencoe as that’s where I last charged it. When we left Karl’s cafe today, we zipped back over to our Glencoe hotel because Jamie had left his rain pants there. I asked Don if I could pop in too and just ask about my charger. The gentleman at reception reached beneath the desk and put a large box of cords, chargers and plugs in front of me. I lost hope and didn’t want him to have to go through this entire knot of mismatched, orphaned cords. “Don’t worry about it, I don’t want to take up your time,” I said. “You’ve already got me started, let’s just see what we find,” he replied. And wouldn’t you know, he had my Garmin charger! I was overjoyed.
After not too long, we were at Hampton Inn at Edinburgh Airport. We said goodbye to Karl and checked into our rooms while Don returned the vans. We had some drinks in the bar and ordered some mediocre food while we had one last chat about things. I’ve been talking with Cindy (who hiked up Old Man of Storr with me yesterday) about doing the puffin trip in July next year. She flies from San Antonio to do these trips with Don.
While we were driving back and some of my fellow travelers were dozing the miles away, I started of things I’ll miss about Scotland:
The little white dots up and down the side of mountains that are actually sheep! They climb so high.
And while we’re talking about sheep, that they just wander in the road, or sit on the edge of the road staring at oncoming traffic, completely relaxed, chewing their cud.
The fir trees that look as if they’ve been watercolor brushed up a canvas, all needles pointing heaven-ward.
The snark of the Scottish, never sure if it’s tongue in cheek or a jab with a smile. Maybe this is where I get my snark from.
Moss-covered walls separating bright green plots of grass.
Hearing Cindy call out “good morning” to every hiker we passed on the way up and down the trek yesterday (like we do as runners every morning!)
Porridge, fish & chips, Gregg’s sausage rolls, chocolate gingerbread, and all sorts of gins I’ll never find at home.
Time to wrap this up for today and head to bed. Up at 5:30 for my flight to London then Boston tomorrow. I miss my kids!
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