Too Much Adventure. Oh, & Lots of Sheep.

(Tuesday Continued.)

We left for Stirling Castle around 10 (although Dad wanted to leave earlier). It was about an hour drive. People had suggested going to Stirling instead of the Edinburgh Castle, and it was really cool!

When we got there Robert the Bruce was there to meet us (in his stonely form). The weather was very dreary, I have to say. So we went in and decided to take the tour (let me just remind some of you..I really don't like tours..) But our tour guide Craig was great... There were some American's in our group. They had funny accents. Funny, wonderful, I-had-forgotten-what-they-sounded-like accents. Sigh. The tour was just enough information (for me) and not to long (for me) and was perfect (for me). After the tour was over, Mom and Dad picked Craig's brain some more for what felt like...forever. The weather finally was beginning to get nice, though. We went to the Unicorn Cafe for lunch. Dad and I got this uh-mazing chicken and red pepper puff. Dad officially loves Fentiman's Victorian Lemonade. oh emm gee. "Historic Scotland" cafeteria food is so. good. Anyhoo the sky was now blue with fluffy puffy clouds and so we walked around the grounds. And. Wow. The view was amazing!!! I can't even describe it. It went on for miles and miles. The Castle was up on a hill so any way you looked the land was stretched out before you. Which was a good plan if you were a king.

Ellie wanted to see the "soldiers demonstration" on the bowling green. Today's demonstration was of "roundhead" musketeers . They were extremely funny and knew their stuff..inside and out. We talked to the one guy afterwards and he knew what the difference was between Amish and Mennonite. That was weird. I'm in the UK..not Lancaster..

There was another tour and the gift shop (which was a disappointment) all of which are really not worth mentioning. We left the castle and on our way out stopped for ice cream. They have good ice cream here.

Then we drove. An hour from Stirling we stopped at a place called The Real Food Cafe that Antonia suggested (Thank You Antonia!!). It was really good. (I had fishnchips...again.). The weather had gone bad..again..no surprise there..as we left.

And we drove.

And we drove.

And we drove.

This was all Minnie GeePeers fault. Way ta go Minnie.

The Plan: Go the Oban. Get Ferry. Go to Mull. Go to bed.

What Really Happened: Drive toward Oban. Follow Minnie's directions. Go down one lane road. That goes on forever. And then to nowhere. And then some. Where cars could hit you. Where Sheep could hit you. Yes. Sheep.

Ferry in Lochaline!(Don't ask where that is..We don't know). Yay!

Fail.

Last ferry: 6pm. Current time: 8:30pm

Problem?

Silly Daddy thought he could get a ferry at night time. Like in civilization. Silly Daddy.

Nice man in shady bar by ferry tells us to go to local hotel in Lochaline. Scratch That. Reverse It. ONLY hotel in Lochaline.

Very helpful bloke from dive centre went the extra (2)mile(s) to look for extra housing. There was no extra beds in the whole town. Town can only hold 36 extra persons. They were full.

Closest place to sleep.. 30 miles back down the scary road. Nice bloke calls 30mileawayplace to reserve room. Programs Minnie with directions. Sends us on our way.

After more sleeping (me), more (quiet) freakingout (dad), more reading (maggie), more aahhing over scenery (mom) and more oh sleeping (ellie..and me) we finally arrive at Ariundle Centre {For Good Wholesome Food}. It's Dark. It's Rainy. We were at the end of a dirt road. It's scary. This place was described as a bunk house. How good can that be? (according to mom and dad's thoughts..not so good.)

We pull up to the end of the dirt road, in the dark, and in the rain, to a lodge-like house. A sweet older lady was there and asked us if we wanted "toasted cheese and bacon". We wanted beds. She took us down to the bunk house and up to our room. Woah. It was totally "The Bustards Go Camping". It was like a place you would go to on a youth retreat. It was clean. It was fresh. It was new. (It had some spiders :( ) It was great. Maggie killed all the spiders. She's my hero.

Katie Campbell, the owner of the bunkhouse, still wanted us to go back up to get food. We decided to oblige her and went up to the restaurant part of the place. I felt like I should've been in Vermont. It made me miss Vermont. The building was open and had exposed beams running along the ceiling. It was rustic, in a Bustard way. Katie and Cassie (the help) got us chicken sandwiches, yogurt, scones, bacon, fresh raspberries, and quiche. The food was what you would've expected at a posh sandwich shop. But all home cooked! So Cozy!

Then off to bed. It was so nice to have a bed to sleep on, since we thought we were going to sleep in the car or in some shady hotel..well not the hotel. It was full of scuba divers.

God blessed us so much at the end of Tuesday, I can't even fathom. Katie Campbell is up there on the Nice List with William and Geordie.

And Now.... Two Life Lessons From Dad:

1) Never... Ever.... Ever..... go to Lochaline. Even if the GPS tells you to. Unless you're a scuba diver.

2) Always know where your towel is. (carey's two-cents: cuz we didn't have one.)

---------

So thats Tuesday's post. I'll update the rest of the week tomorrow. I'm tired I'm going to bed.

Much Love,

CareyAnne

ps. Mom REALLYYY wants you all to know that, even though Dad couldn't see it while driving, the scenery was lushly magnificent (carey's two-cents: even though I was asleep for most of it, I concur). Mom lost part of her heart back there somewhere..in the vegetation..and sheep..and hills..and lochs..and lonely houses..