"There can only be one..."

After a restful night at the Pine Trees Resort, we headed further north and into the real Scotland Highlands.  The landscape is truly unbelievable, something from another planet, yet very familiar too.  So green and lush... though sparse.  Definitely one of the most amazing places I've had the pleasure to experience.

Scottish Highlands just south of Fort William, Scotland.

 

Here's the family for a photo op... it was a little chilly for the girls.

 

Hadden and I took a short hike out on one of the many trails the criss cross this area.  Totally stunning.  The West Highland Trail (Way) paralleled the highway for miles... we saw many backpackers trekking their way through this land... surely this would be an epic journey.

We crossed through this remote country... up through a series of Lochs (Loch Leven, Caledonian Channel, Loch Lochy (no kiddin')) until we reached Fort William.  There we did some grocery shopping as we headed deeper into the north.... on our way to the Isle of Skye.  The tiny roads here made for some very exciting driving as we passed large trucks (lorries) sailing past us in the oncoming lanes... one lane bridges, etc.  But well worth it as we traveled through this magical country.  Just before we crossed over the bridge at Kyleakin which takes you to the island.. we saw this ancient ruin of a church and cemetery on an inlet of the Sound of Sleat.  We had to stop!  Here are some pictures...

 Small church and cemetery that had mostly graves from the McCrae Clan... some dating back to the 1500s!  Whoa!

 

Beautiful Heather everywhere... and the flowers aren't bad either!

We had our sites set on Portree on the Isle of Skye... on advice from some wise travelers... and we had found a camp just above Portree... with internet!  So... here we are... just as we arrived the rain began in earnest... so we had our tea, pie and raspberry trifle... sent the kiddies to do the dishes and we're sitting here enjoying the rain on the roof of our little home on wheels.  Yeah Scotland!  We'll see where tomorrow takes us.

Here's the view from our camp just above Portree... on the Isle of Skye... obviously the rain hadn't started yet!