On the Road, to the Highlands

An inauspicious start to our first foray into the Highlands: torrential rains, flooded roads, and gale-force winds that sent our 15-passenger minibus swaying from side to side. First stop: Luss, a tiny village on the (water-logged) shores of Loch Lomond. It’s apparently a very polite place (according to parking signs), where garden gnomes are quite comfortable. Then, it was on to a brief stop at the Drover Inn, voted “Scottish pub of the Year: 1707.” We didn’t spot the ghost who reportedly inhabits room 6, but we got an eyeful of the taxidermy collection of beasts that’s accumulated over the centuries.

Up through Glencoe and over to the Isle of Skye we passed dramatic landscapes of fog-shrouded mountains, gushing waterfalls, and a substantial number of Scotland’s 32,000 lochs (or lakes). Castles like Eilean Donan appeared like mirages in the mist on our way to Kyleakin on the Isle of Skye where we stayed at a cozy bed and breakfast on the water.