It's Snowing in the Highlands!

Thom here...

Today we drove from Oxenholm to Glencoe which is 17 miles up the road from Ft. William. Those technogeeks among you can actually follow along on our journey as Jen attached the EPERB unit to the top bar of the trailer. More important to those of us along on the trip Jen did a masterful job at locating lodging… but first the journey.

Steve drove the van as he is the only one insured to get behind the wheel. Brian kept him awake while Jen and I sat in the next seat back napping and fending off the cold. And I do mean cold! As we crossed the Highlands it started to snow. Not just fluffy little flakes – but big globby ones, each one falling with determination, seizing the opportunity to make a difference as they hurtled towards the earth. Fortunately as we descended into Glencoe and back towards sea level the ambient temperature warmed just above freezing and snow turned back to rain. The mountains should be pretty in the morning.

What about the house, you ask? River view, lots of parking for the van and trailer, three bedrooms, three baths, sleeping for six, three eating areas including a sunroom, a huge well equipped kitchen, and a living room with a fireplace (well OK it is fake but the chairs are all over stuffed) and heat! At this point we aren’t sure we will go back outside!

After arriving around 5PM (well after dark) we unloaded the van recovered from our shock regarding our new living situation and headed on in to Ft. William to buy groceries at Morrisons. And buy groceries we did. All four of us went separate directions (now we did prepare a list before our shopping trip), occasionally meeting up on one isle, then , and filled our grocery cart to the brim. At the checkout counter we looked at each other dumbfounded and in disbelief that we were buying so much food (and drink). I was sure our bill would exceed 200 pounds, but low and behold it totaled to just a bit less than 130 pounds. On our journey home we congratulated ourselves at how shrewd we had been, saving all that money we would have spent eating out the balance of the week (except Steve who seemed appalled at our consumptive American habits).

So we whiled away the evening as Jen cooked dinner and the rest of us helped in our own way. The evening floated away with us and soon it was leaning on 11 PM and we drifted off to bed, our thoughts of Scotland, and blessed sleep - or is that sheep (which Steve calls Meadow Maggots). Tomorrow, we promise, we will get outside as we head down to Oban and begin scouting the area for Jen’s upcoming assessment (brrrrr…).

Regards - Thom