Craig na dun, Ardsmuir, Edradour, Lallybroch, Edinburgh Castle

May 21: Well, the morning after dawned on the six of us, who may or may not still be slightly drunk. After an elaborate breakfast, we packed up the van and took group pictures in front of the castle. What a night-even though somewhat blurry, it's one we won't be forgetting anytime soon.

Clava Cairns was eerie. You see these rock mounds that are thousands of years old, and were designed to coincide with the winter solstice-more accurately than modern technology too. All us girls got a picture "going through" the stones before we went off to our next destination....

Ardsmuir, or Ruthven Barracks in real life, like so many other structures we've seen so far, had no roof. If you had no roof, you paid no taxes. Guarding the "prison" were two Highland Cows (pronounced hee-lan coo). Very docile animals, in fact-one was eating while lying down. It's fairly close to what we all were feeling. But, we marched on...back to Pitlochry.

Our first stop-Edradour Distillery, the smallest one in Scotland. We'd already heard of it at our whisky tasting back in February though. The tour was 40 minutes long but felt like hours in the warm sunny weather. A quick stop through the gift shop and I acquired two bottles of single malt (Bowmore and Bruichladdich-both 19 years) to take home.

We hiked back on a beautiful trail to our B&B (Gerry and Janice again) and changed clothes for dinner. All of us are exhausted, and settled for the first place we came to. Dinner and ales consumed, we headed back to the B&B for showers, naps, and emails. Scot entertained us with more stories before bed. I have no idea what time I fell asleep, but it was after 11 pm-still light out by the way.

May 22: Our "Lallybroch" was a private estate built in the early 1600s-1720s. Because it was a private home, we weren't able to take pictures. It's really close to Diana Gabaldon's description. The church on the estate was built in the 1500s, and they still have services occasionally. There were memorials inside, and some of their family way back fought with Robert the Bruce.

We ate lunch in a cafe in Edinburgh, then dropped off our luggage at our respective B&B's (each "couple" stayed at a different one). Erin and Scott came to get us when they got settled in, and we all walked to the castle. I was a little underwhelmed-in my mind I'd pictured the interior restored to what it would've looked like in it's hayday. It was still beautiful. We all paid money for those stupid headsets that we ended up not using much. Oh well. Lots of pictures were taken and souvenirs bought. My favorite part was the Cavalry room (of course it would be horse related).

Dinner was frozen pizza and a wonderful ale (Caledonia) at Ensign Ewart pub. Great place-we went there a lot while in Edinburgh. We had a few drinks, and stopped off at the Hard Rock Cafe for t-shirts for the kids and us. Erin hadn't been feeling well all day, so we split up to go home. On our way back, we ran into Jenn and Brenda who were sitting outside a pub having drinks. Never one to pass on good company and alcohol, we sat down to join them. At this point in the tour, it's hard to believe we'll be going home soon, and may never see these two in person again-a bittersweet thought.

Cranesmuir, Family Lands, & a chance at time travel

Our Journey Continues...

May 16: Woke up before John, and went downstairs to read before breakfast. It was a good hour or so before the others joined me. Erin and Scott gave me the run-down of their travel woes. At least they made it to Scotland with their luggage.

We all had a delicious "Scottish Breakfast" that consisted of bacon, sausage, eggs, mushrooms, potatoes, and tomatoes...parritch optional

Sam and Scot arrived just before 9am. We loaded the van, introductions were made, and a group picture was taken. (From Left: Jennifer Kellogg, Brenda Kecskes, Scott Moyers, Erin Moyers, Me, John, Scot AnSgeulaiche, and Samantha MacKenzie)

First stop Culross, or "Cranesmuir" for my fellow Outlander fanatics. We saw the home of Gellis Duncan, the herb garden, and the pillory. (Pics below)

Next we drove through the MacGregor (Oggs roots) and MacNab lands, wonderful rolling green hills, and into the Highlands.

While in MacNab territory we stopped for lunch and saw a water mill wheel that may have a pair of red underpants floating somewhere nearby :)

Strolling through the MacNab burial ground was a particular treat for John and myself. And all us Monty Python fans were elated to see Doune Castle which was used in 'Holy Grail.'

Glen Lyon provided some nice uphill trekking for us out of shape folk. Rain threatened for just a moment before the sun came out again. We were surprised at the end by a cleft stone, and of course all us ladies had to touch it just in case. Alas, no humming was heard and no one was magically transported back to the 18th century. No pictures of this, but stay tuned for the next cleft rock trip only days away....

We drove to Pitlochry where our B&B was located. Our hosts were Janice and Gerry-very kind folks. After putting up our bags, again on the third floor room (I'm thinking this is a hint from somewhere high up that we need to exercise more), we all walked to Fern Cottage for dinner and ales. Tried the Red MacGregor, in honor of my fellow clansmen/women, and found it to be a wonderful full-bodied red ale. Too bad we can't get it in the states :( On our way into the restaurant, we spotted Dougie Maclean (O Caledonia) in the restaurant. Always nice to spot a local celebrity.

May 17: Happy Birthday to me! The big 3-0! And what a view to wake up to...

After a nice birthday breakfast-with a tart provided by Sam and Scot, as well as a birthday song, to be eaten later- we conversed over cup after cup of amazing coffee from a press. Even Erin liked it, and she never drank coffee during all those night shifts we worked together. Finally we were dragged out to the van, reluctantly leaving behind the last dregs of our caffeine.

On our way to the Highland Museum, we stopped in Newtonmore to browse the Harris Tweed shop. Man was that a mistake! Erin and I stood there practically drooling over the double breasted coats. They were only $570 USD, I don't understand why John and Scott were against us buying them. To our chagrin, we left the store with nothing.

The Highland museum is an outdoor facility that recreates 18th century life. Here we also encountered our first of many "feral" animals. This inside joke provided lots of humor throughout the rest of the tour. Any living animal was considered feral after that day.

The lingering peat smoke on my jacket had me craving that special single malt blend that Scot carries (Laphroaig and Macallan) for the rest of the day.

Our next stop was a wee church (Cille Choirill) that resembles the one Jamie and Claire were married in. The view was spectacular from the old graveyard in the back.

We had tea, actually coffee, at Glengarry Castle (the new one, built in 1866, after the old one burned down) and had a stroll around the grounds afterwards.

Fort Augustus @ southern end of Loch Ness. Got some great pictures of flowers, and maybe Nessie herself! Brenda read the passage from Outlander where Claire encounters the Loch Ness Monster. (credit to Erin Moyers for the picture of John & me at Loch Ness).

Our next B&B was the Woodlands located in Drumnadrochit. After dropping off our stuff we set out for "Fiddler's," a pub and restaurant with a jaw-dropping whisky collection. The owner, Jon Beach, was most helpful in suggesting our wee drams after dinner. Among the gifts I got from the generous owner were a dram of 30 year blended whisky, a whisky glass with the Fiddler's label, and what can only be described as a water dispenser resembling a tiny bong. Our total came to around 20 whiskies. We stayed until closing time and walked back. "Tha smuid orm ann mo choire," or "The vapours are upon me in my cauldron," would be an appropriate saying for us all after that. Scot tells us that expression means you are only slightly drunk. When I asked what you'd say when you're really drunk, he replied that a Scot would never admit to that.

(view from our B&B; my birthday celebration)

After we returned to the Woodlands, John surprised me with a copper and agate necklace for my birthday. It matches the earrings he got me for Christmas last year.

There's no way to top this birthday. What a way to usher in my third decade!