the drive to Portree

We left Inverness this am and headed along the famed Loch Ness. First stop was at Urquhart Castle. This castle had existed since around the 11th century or maybe before, but was in fairly rough shape by 2024. It was very well presented, and was once a huge castle.

They explained how it had changed hands many many times in the Catholic-Protestant and the Scottish-English drama, and it was last maintained in the late 1600's. Following that, we kept heading west to Portree. Along the way we finally ran across a herd of "Highland Hairy Coos (cows)", so we had to stop and take 644 pictures of them.

More miles down the road we saw some entertaining signs.

Several indicated "sheep crossings", one identified a region known for "feral goats", and at least one sign warning there were in fact..... RED SQUIRRELS in the area. Maybe htey are rare or protected, or maybe they are in season right now??? I dont know, but we sure dont put up warning signs for tree rats in Texas.

other important signs include "GIVE WAY" - which means "Yield" in America. Then, we made it onto the Isle of Skye, which is pretty well what you've been shown in images of Scotland. Huge wide open hills, some rocks....., and completely covered with green grass, peat, bushes, and an occasional tree. Also saw a herd of red deer, which was pretty cool. they are apparently pretty common here, and must not be heavily hunted, cause they werent road-shy. After that, dinner at a pub in downtown Portree, and Deanna had her favorite meal of the trip thus far - Skink Soup. think potato soup with big chunks of smoked fish in it. Very good. As a bonus, Scotland was playing vs Swiss in the Eurocup and doing well, so the pub was jamming and everyone was having a good time.