Scotland 2015 - Day 15 - August 30, 2015

This was our day to go to the Loch Lomand and Trossachs National Park.  I wanted to see snow covered mountains- like the Alps, and waterfalls and interesting animals, etc.  Hmmmmm.

At the end of a narrow, windy road  with vegetation "kissing" my side of the van

We got to the beautiful and famous Loch Katrina and the steamboat, the Sir Walter Scott.

For US $80.00, the two of us could go on a cruise down the loch - for one hour - and back for another hour, with narrative on the points of interest along the shore.  I was tempted....but I've been on really long lakes in a canoe in Canada.......but the final decision maker came when we realized we'd have to wait for an hour in cold drizzly weather.  Back to the van; our days of mountains in Scotland were over.

We stopped at the Scotland Wool Center in some town which had a big store with "everything wool" that you would ever want to buy.  There were different kinds of sheep in small pens around the building.  Ths was my favorite.  The sign says that this kind of sheep can have 2, 4, 6, or 8 horns.

Then Dad spotted a.........

and we chose from all of these things

I got a pie - Haggis with a potato cheesy top.  Very tasty - really

We also learned about traybakes - 

Headed east to Stirling to see and visit the castle.  It's quite the place.  A lot of restoration has occurred and many of the buidings are as they were in the 1500's  and 1600's and 1700's and 1800's until 1964 when the last garrison of soldiers quartered there marched out.

From the top of the walls

Interiors .  Jessica, you need this table

a place for Logan and Jude to play in

Living history actors were there to interact with visitors.  They were really good - like at Williamsburg

the queens bed.  But it was only for show - she slept in a smaller room elsewhere

After two and a half hours, Dad and I were exhausted from listening to our guide who knew everything - or at least pretended to.  I admire British historians who can remember, for instance, all the kings named James, their numbers, who they married, what wars they won/lost.  I can't even remember the names of vice presidents.

We headed east again to get as close as possible to Edinburgh for our last night in the camper van.  I don't even know where we are - the nearest city that is.  It's on a farm with cows, chickens, and more cows.  Dad says it reminds him of Holland - guess there were lots of cows there.

Went to eat at a fancy (fancy for us, that is) restaurant.  We had roast beef and all the triming

On the way back to the van, we saw a tiny take out place advertising "Chinese and European Take Out."  I'll always wonder what we could have taken away from there.

Tomorrow - Edinburgh.  We'll hardly know how to act not being able to see sheep out or window.

Scotland 2015 - Day 14 - August 29, 2015

Okay - everybody..guess if it rained today.

Here is the caravan park where we stayed last night just a little bit north of Oban.  Oban is an old city with a cutsie main street that is narrow and lined with tourist shops

There were lots of rabbit warrens dug in the hillsdes close to the beach and then on small burms amongst the caravan parking areas.  When we came back at dusk there were rabbits everywhere on their evening siflay.

We drove into a litte town to "top up" my iPad.  While dad was doing that I wandered around the little store wanting to buy some canned peas, but I couldn't find the ones I wanted.

Our first goal was Bonawe Funaces, a 18th century charcoal iron works.  

It was realy incredibly interesting.  I didnt know anything about this - probably because I slept through (honestly, I slept through all of them) every film shown in chemistry in both high school and college.  There were lots of ways to make iron and the charcoal method was that was used here.  Have a big stone vat;  fill it up with iron ore, charcaol and ground limestone; start the charcoal on fire; use some BIG bellows to blow air onto the charcoal, and presto you have molten iron.  Read about it here - 

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/taynuilt/bonawe/

There were old stone buildings and great displays explaining most everything.

There was a water wheel here, but in 1941, it was dismantled and all the cast iron was then used for the war effort.

Below Dad is standing where the molten iron poured out of the furnace and filled long depressions that had been made in the sand. Attached to this first depression and perpendicular to it were other depressions about three feet long that also filled with molten iron.  These ingots of iron, called pig iron, are what was shipped to other industrial sites to be made into iron thingys.

Visualize that you are at the fair in the pig barn.  Lying in her pen is a big mother pig and nestled up to her belly are all her piglets happily nursing.  Then think of what I just described about the iron filling the depressions in the sand..  Right pig iron!  Or better, piglet iron.

The road to the furnaces passed through the perfect old Scottish town.  We couldn't help but take these pictures

Our next goal was another industrial site - a modern one

This is an electrical power plant that produces electricity for peak demand - like at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  They can respond to a grid need in 28 seconds.  Really neat, you should read it and learn something new like we did today.  I can't possibly do a good account of the process.

www.visitcruachan.co.uk

photographs weren't allowed, but I could take this picture of the process, simplified

Back on the road again, Dad naturally got hungry.  We're in the Trossachs, a vacationland where lots of people looking for outdoor fun were gatherig.  It was like being at a truck stop

Welcome to The Green Welly Stop.

why you would name your store after a green muck boat, I don't know.

There was a little cafe.  My mouth started watering at the thought of a juicy hamburger with fries and cole slaw.  yes - I see Ray coming with the food

Dream on!  It was still very tasty.

We're in a caravan park on the eastern edge of the Lock Lomond and Trossachs National Park.  Looks like driving up to Mt Hood.  It isn't a national park like we envision but a great outdoor place where people walk, kayak, mountain bike, etc.  It is beautiful through - like driving up the Clackamas.

Here's our park

At the facilities block ( toilets, showers, dish washing site, and trash site) there was this poster.  It's probably just an insect repellent with Deet.  Don't need it today anyway.

Oh - Im having a bit of problem with the way Scottish society treats people and animals and things.

First there was the photo I sent regarding poor soccer dogs that don't have good playing skills on the field

Then the older folks crossing the street ae seemingly criticized for having poor posture.

Now today  a slam against the flora of Scotland.  Just because some veggies, say pumpkins are, well big, they should be called plus size rather than......

We're on our way into town now.

And it did rain today - at least 95% of the time

Scotland 2015 - Day 13 - August 28th, 2015

Outside our front window at last night's caravan park.  

Sigh.............today it rained - a lot.  Reminds me of the 1996 flood in Oregon or perhaps the time when we were in Turin, Italy and we were walking to our hostel.  It rained most of the time on the three days in Skye.  

Our first attempt at adventure was to go to Elgol, take a boat across a bay to an interesting hiking place.  The boat drops you off at a loch (lake) which can only be reached by boat.  The mountains are really steep and the place is kinda mysterious.

Th drive there took forever of the single track road through tpical countryside.

Here's the dock/pier at the little port.

Here's the place to get tickets........hmmmm...no one is in the window; only a sign that reads, basically, there may be no boat trips for several days due to the weather.  Yep.  Knew it!  We had already decided we didn't want to go and were happy the notice made the final decision for us.  Let's see; boat trip on stormy sea, wind howling so strongly that it is difficult to open/close the door; unable to wear rain capes in such blustery weather.

We left.  It was rainng so much that water covered many parts of the road.  The sheep were not happy.   They were huddling anyplace where they could find a bit of shelter.  It looks like these were trying to get into a barn (don't think Scottish sheep get a barn - unless maybe they are on death's door - ).  I even saw a sheep shaking itself like a dog.

We determined our next adventure to be the little town of Kylerhea where we got a ferry from the island of Sky to the mainland.

This is the body of water we are going to cross.

This is  very unusual ferry - the only kind that remains in the world.  It is a hand operated ferry that has a turntable that is rotated at each side of the body of water.  This rotation allows the cars to get on and off from the side of the boat.   See pictures below or google  ww.skyeferry.co.uk

On the other side of the loch was a villge that we decided to drive through with a bustling mainstreet

We found a cafe and decided it was lunch time

The lunch menu had only sweet potato and cocunut milk soup with homemade bread

We kept heading south on our way to Oban

Stopped at a snack shack (food cart) parked  along a loch thinking we'd get a geniune Scottich  snack.  I ordered a potato scone - imagine creamy chopped  potatoes with a yummy sauce and grilled onions.  Dad got a sausage sandwich - imagine two grilled sausage links on italian bread with a curry sauce.  Wrong?

We got to a nice caravan park north of Oban.  It is on a bay that directly connects to the Atantic.

I just took another one.  Yep, it's raining

Two more full days until we return the car and enter the big city of Edinburgh.