The Return of the Scots

This one is going back a little ways to the begining of November. It fits in between our visit home the first weekend in November and our trip to Spain.

Our friends Colin and Ashley arrived in Scotland! This was really cool, because Colin is not only from Scotland, but he grew up in Ayr, the town we live in. (Plus we were excited to see them)

Unfortunately, their rental car reservation got screwed up and they ended up with a ... I don't remember, but Colin was not happy with it. This led to a series of FOUR visits to the car rental place until we found one that was satisfactory... the Ford Mondeo, which we all agreed was a very nice car.

We had a fantastic trip up to Skye that weekend, the drive was gorgeous. A few highlights from the trip.

-Stopped at Auchentoshan Distillery, tours were closed but we checked out the shop,

-Stopped at Loch Lomond for sunset (see below)

-Stopped at the Real Food Cafe for a chippy dinner... twice (this is pretty much required every time we pass it, because it is the only place that has gluten free fish & chips)
-We stopped in at Fort William, went on a pub crawl through fine establishments such as the Grog and Gruel, the Ben Nevis Club, and Crofters, met some locals (an excitable Scottish chef and a stoic Polish? traveler)

-Stayed at the Isles Inn which had a pub downstairs and rooms upstairs. Was a fantastic place to stay. Hung out by the fireplace while it was raining out, watched some rugby, ate some haggis.
-Skye was as incredible as ever, shrouded in mist and fog, we went for a great tour of the island, and hiked the Quirang. I tried to run to the top of a mountain... I did not make it far.
-Colin later decided it would be fun to drive away while I was taking a picture... more running.

-The girls found a yarn shop where they hand dye Scottish wool and the woman who worked there gave us a tour.
-Stopped in Glen Coe for a fantastic hike down to the bottom of the glen where a small bridge crosses the water and then up the other side.
-Found a local band in Portree... (I fell asleep, but they were good from what I remember)

-Had a Chinese food picnic in our room

Colin's sister, Wendy, and fiancee, Sean, flew in to surprise Colin for his birthday. When we got back to Ayr we told him that we wanted to go to the West Kirk to see live music (turns out they never have live music). We got him there and made sure he sat so that his back was to the door. When Wendy and Sean showed up Colin was blown away. Which was amazing, because we each had blown the secret at least once. We were able to go out with them to their favorite local spots and meet some of their friends.