Glencoe Hoooooooooooooo!

As promised, a report on our trip to Glencoe. After our Thanksgiving celebration we tried to get ready as quickly as we could so we wouldn't be up really late.. But, we were up really late anyway :) No biggie, we're on vacation! Friday morning we were picked up by the Enterprise guy (I think his name was Bob) and taken to get our CAR for the weekend. We were more than a little bit excited. We got the car, Ian managed to get us out of the parking lot and we were on our way! Until we got to Cupar (about 5 minutes from where we started) and missed a turn.. Never ones to be upset about getting lost (wonder why??) we just kept going and lo and behold we found a Lidl! Lidl is a store that we always get flyers for but can never go to because we don't have a car. It's sort of like a small walmart. There's food, but there's also other stuff that costs less money than it does in most other stores. So we had a good time marveling at how inexpensive the chickens and frozen food items were and bought some snacks as well as a stainless steel cake decorating set (come on, it was £4, like I was going to just leave it there). So anyway.. We headed back in the right direction and were happily on our way!

Until we got to Perth. Perth is where I told Ian to go the way I just told him not to go. Because I got confused. Because I had to decide where we needed to go real fast. And I wasn't ready. But it was OK! Because we were driving in a CAR.. and because we're used to getting lost. I don't fear it anymore. I don't hate it. I say, bring it on!

It worked out quite nicely though because we took a scenic route and ended up at the Crieff visitors' centre which happened to have a super cool glass blowing facility! So we watched and oooohhed and aaahhhhed while they made pretty things we can't afford. They also had a free bathroom! So we made use of that once and then stayed long enough to make use of it again! :) As we headed onwards and upwards to Glencoe, it got progressively snowier, I got progressively more excited, and Ian got progressively more quiet and tense. He did a great job driving, left-handed shifting and all! We both kept saying how weird it was that it didn't seem weird that we were driving on the left side of the road. I guess we've been here long enough but I still thought it would seem more strange since we're rarely in vehicles. The only thing that still gets me sometimes is turning. Fortunately, I'm never driving, so you don't have to worry.

So we made it safe and sound to our cabin, got ourselves organized and got kind of disappointed with the provisions in the cabin. It was a great cabin, but just lacked some of the essentials for making a meal, and you know, drying off after you shower (we had one hand towel), and you know, heat. But, we cranked her up and set out to find food! Fortunately the cabin had lots of movies to choose from.. The nights are long and cold and dark in such remote places in the highlands :) Not much to do after the sun goes down.

The next morning we woke up to snow! As we got closer to Gencoe, the snow started disappearing because it is very close to the coast like St Andrews (yes.. we drove across the horizontal axis of the country in less than one day! crazy!). I was afraid we weren't going to have any, but the Lord blessed us with a snowy Saturday. We went up to ask some questions before deciding where to go hiking and left for a hike that would be fairly easy, but would have good views and last us a few hours. The views were AMAZING! It was a beautiful day and we were just amazed at the treasures in that area.

We headed out to Fort William in the evening and found most things closed (one of the downfalls of being a tourist when it's not tourist season) but grabbed some ingredients for a delightful dinner of chicken, potatoes, broccoli, rolls, and cheesecake! Yeah, we were roughing it. It was really tough.

Sunday morning we decided to drive to Oban with a stop at Dunstaffnage Castle on the way. It was another beautiful day and the drive was stunning. We most definitely want to head back west during the tourist months so we can experience more of this location. It was a wonderful trip!

I know I haven't included any pictures in this post.. That's because I'm tired and it would take longer and I just spent too much time going through our pictures for the slideshow over there on the right. So please, please look at the slideshow. There are some beautiful pictures that I wouldn't want you to miss! :) And, more details of our adventure that I know you will enjoy!