We pack all of our luggage which surprisingly fits pretty well although I won’t be able to see out of the back window for the 130 mile trip to our destination on the Isle of Seil in western Scotland. The road trip is both enjoyable and also taxing. None of us got much sleep on the overnight flight and we find ourselves looking forward to our destination and a bed. We travel through some interesting and beautiful small towns and we stopped for Breakfast/Lunch in Callander and are amazed by the gorgeous gardens which appeared in full bloom and were full of various pollinators (Bees & Butterflies). We cannot officially check in until 4 PM so on our way we stop in OBAN to grab a few groceries for tomorrows breakfast. After a few wrong turns and some group discussions we arrive at our destination (Island View) and greeted by our host Claire. The place is everything it was advertised to be and we are looking forward to calling it home for the next 2 weeks – after a good nights sleep 1st.

Amazing what a good nights rest will do for the mind and body. Today we are all ready to get out and see the area. The weather is a bit unexpected for me based on my past experiences. It’s perfectly sunny with a light breeze and the temp in the low to mid 60s. We decided head to the island of Easdale today and all I can say is WOW. Easdale is a very small island that is only accessible by a ferry that holds a max of 12 people and has no motor vehicles or roads. It does have some quaint little cottages and some terrific trails that highlight the shale quarries that were in use years ago. After spending a few hours there we ferried back and had lunch and a delicious pint in the Oyster Bar Restaurant.

One other item of note and possibly – well not possibly but definitely our biggest issue so far is with the coffee. Four the five of us are Heine Brother coffee drinkers (AKA coffee snobs), so much so we brought 5 pounds of whole beans, coffee grinder, and French press in our luggage. Well, all went well until we forgot how to use the plug converter from a US plug to the UK plug system. So we went to a store in OBAN and purchased 3 cheap converter plugs, unfortunately for us these cheap converters do not reduce the current so that when we plugged the US coffee grinder into the converter it burned up the grinder. Luckily, or so we thought our host, Claire let us borrow a hand cranked grinder to use. The grinder was a chore to operated and the grind was either to coarse or a powder and you definitely had to work to grind enough beans for 4 people.

“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.”
—Ernest Hemingway

“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
– Abraham Lincoln

Today the Mahoney’s and Green’s went off to Oban to explore and do some shopping while Sharon and I stayed at Island View to just chill. Once the crew returned from Oban we (Jerry,Brandi, & I) decided to go for a Hike around here. The weather was once again more of what I expected in Scotland – Cloudy, sunny, cool, warm, and sometimes wet. The hike was just down the road from where we are staying and the directions in the guest book indicated to go through several farm gates. It amazes me that gates in Scotland don’t appear to be to keep humans from traversing through the land but are only there to keep the livestock in. The hike took us up to the high ares on Seil and from there we could see several nearby islands including the Isle of Mull, which is one of our future destinations.

The hike consisted mostly of fairly gentle hills and slopes for the most part. There were lots of sheep and even more of their droppings which probably accounts for the greenness of the grass and the fertile soil. The weather was another typical Scottish day and Brandi even commented on experiencing all of Scotlands weather (Hot, Cold, Wet) in the same day. I told her we might even get some snow at some point. We met a young lady and her young black lab at the beginning of our hike and got to get some dog licks and petting in. Later in the hike we met an older gentleman (my age) and his 14 1/2 year old black lab named Polly and got some more dog loving. I do miss my girls back home.

The older gentleman directed us to another path along the shoreline to take us back. It was pretty wet and rocky in places but we missed several hills and got to see some different scenery, so it was well worth it. The hike in total was about 3 1/4 miles and we plan on taking a few more hikes around this area later in the week.

One more big item of note – While they were in Oban they got an electric coffee grinder, so no more hand grinding. It really is the small things in life that can sometimes bring the biggest smiles.

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
– Dolly Parton

I brought my drone with me on the trip and since this was a slow day I decided to play with some footage that I got this past Saturday. It had been awhile since I had flown it and so its a little rough and I used a new editor so please understand it is pretty choppy. I do plan, if the weather allows to fly it some more and provide a better overview of where we are and the fantastic scenery the surrounds us.

“There are few places in my life that I’ve found more ruggedly beautiful than the Highlands of Scotland. The place is magical – it’s so far north, so remote, that sometimes it feels like you’ve left this world and gone to another.”
– Julia London