A wee bit o' Scotland- The Highlands (Aviemore, Inverness, Loch Ness, Oban)

The Highlands of Scotland...what a refreshing sight. Absolutely stunning to say the least. I had another one of those moments similar to the one that happened to me when I was traveling by train through Austria- You look out of the window and suddenly see this Narnia wold that doesn't even look real. Then as you ponder how this is possible, you remember how insanely awesome God is. I looked out the window as the train went on and saw snow covered mountains in the fog so you have no idea where they end and where the clouds start. I saw highland cows going about their business having no mind of us. I glanced around the train to see if there were any other open jaws and I saw none. That made me think...would I ever get to the place where I had seen this beauty so much that my jaw would stop falling. I sure hope not. I want to appreciate his beautiful creation forever!
I try to find it in the everyday things that are around me but it it nice every once in a while to loose your breath and be completely humbled. There were many moments in Scotland that did this to me and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to go.

This was the train station in Aviemore. This small town was similar to some of the ski towns of Colorado with a lot less glamour. There wasn't any snow on the ground, but there was plenty when we went to the top of the mountains. 

Leigh and I were a little early to check into our hostel so we went on a few walks around the area. This one has this amazing view of the mountains that we were going to ski. 

We went on another walk behind our hostel and it turned into a hike and climbing a mountain to a viewpoint that overlooked the town of Aviemore. This half frozen pond was on the way. I was really loving the colors of this hike and was sad when they were transferred in photos.

Because we hadn't checked into the hostel yet we had to carry our purses that had anything we considered valuable in it. This made it a bit more challenging to hike. HAHA! Also my feet weren't liking my boots, but once I got to the top, I realized the pain was well worth it! 

Leigh and I after the successful hike to the top!

I would say the one thing that we really splurged on during this trip, was one day of skiing on Cairngorm Mountain in Scotland. We were quite worried that this was not going to be possible because when we got there we learned that the ski slope had been closed for the past 2 days because of 50-70 mph winds. The road to the resort had to be cut out and the little tram that takes you up to the top had to be rescued too! We got there on a Monday and were only going to be there for one day and had to catch a train on the Tuesday night. The man at the information center said that there was a possibility it would open for the day that we were going to be there, but not a lot of likelihood. Poor Leigh had really had her heart set to ski in Scotland, so you can imagine that there were a few prayers going up that night from us. I will say it now, and I will say it this entire trip...we really had someone looking out for us. 

The next day we woke up to perfect conditions. The sun was shining, and there were 0-5 mph winds on the mountain. The only unfortunate thing was that everyone and their mom had been cooped up for 2 day and as soon as they heard the mountain was open they were going to take advantage of it. The amount of people made me nervous at the beginning of the morning because I am not an experienced skier. It also didn't help that my surgical knee was not letting me switch directions very easily. It also had to warm up! By the end of the day though, I was really going! 

Most likely sliding downhill during this pic!

The wonderful sun graced us with it's presence for most of the day. We hardly knew what it was anymore, but were more than excited to become reacquainted with it again. We even feared we could possible burn because it's been months since we have been in the sun's presence for more than a short time. Luckily- no burns happened...

The top of the mountain was really beautiful. The former wind had made some neat snow sculptures around the fences and flags. I realized that I should have tried the snow blades or something shorter than skis so it would have been easier on my poor knee. Next time I am going to try those for sure!

After a day of skiing we went via train to Inverness. Our hostel was a lovely surprise when we got there because Leigh and I had a room to ourselves! Two Kiwis were working the front desk at the hostel and I heard my first genuine "sweet as" in over two years. That was exciting! Also, while we were skiing we had learned about the horrible earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand and this is where one of them happened to be from. It was good to hear that he had talked to all of his family and that everyone was ok. What a blessing. I'm sure he still had friends that may have been hurt or killed. Many of my thoughts were with New Zealand because as most of you may know, part of my heart is still in that country because I loved it so much! Even in the Highlands of Scotland, we were provided with a reminder about the preciousness of the life we were given...
The next day, after a "wonderful" walk to the coast through and industrial part of Inverness---choke.choke, we were off to see the infamous Loch Ness. Since we had the day to do this we thought that maybe the easiest way to do this would be to also see some castle ruins since Scotland has a billion. Urquhart Castle was built around the 1300's and since the 18th century has stood in ruins. Now, some may know this but one of the most famous Loch Ness Monster, or as I like to call her, Nessie, was from the Urquhart Castle. Of course, because of this...we had our eyes peeled all day! And guess what? I saw her...well maybe. I guess it would have been a stick...WE'LL NEVER KNOW!

We were hoping that we would be able to walk around the castle without paying because we were that pathetic, but sadly we learned that you couldn't go much past the bus stop without paying. In the end, I was happy we paid to go in and walk around the ruins and learn about the castle, but at the time I wasn't that happy! :)

It turned a wee bit mistay while we were there...

I had heard from someone once that Loch Ness was really nothing much to see, but it really was the only Loch that we spent much time at and we thought that it was really beautiful. It also had the cool factor that so many people had directed their attention to this lake in the past.

A supper low cloud decided to go over the castle as we were leaving.  Turned out kind of whimsical...

Next Stop: Oban (at least of 10 hours that is...)

We took a 3 hour bus down to Oban which was where our ferry left for Tiree in the morning. Our 10 hours we spent there were not enough sadly. Again we got lucky and stayed in this amazing private room. After days of living in a backpack being able to unpack and repack your stuff is a nice privilege. We wanted to see a least a wee bit of Oban, so we walked down to the wharf and had a look around. When we were coming back we noticed some boys...*cough* excuse me, young men wearing kilts. Now, I forgot to mention that this day happened to be the day that I had a kilt-count so it was extra special to add two more to that figure. I asked them when or why they wear kilts and they said that they wear them on Wednesdays and that a lot of people do. To make things even more Scottish, these boys were stopping to get fish and chips after their piping-band practice!....hmmm...only in Scotland.

A view of Oban on the west coast of Scotland