Skipping off to Skye

You can't very well visit Scotland without choosing an island or two to visit.  I chose Skye for no other reason than the idea appealed to me.  I figured it was no further than a trip to Duluth, so why not drive on over.
The first thing to consider is how to get there.  With Skye you have a choice:  drive over the bridge, or take the ferry (and there's more than one).  In my vast experience with doing brave things, I quickly decided there was no way I was driving my car onto a ferry, so I took the bridge.  Caution is the better form of valor, right?  Ok, so I am just a chicken.  I can take it.
The second thing to consider is what to do when you are there to make the most of your time.  I was originally thinking of making it a day trip.  Hit a few highlights, take a walk or two, and head back to the cabin.  Then I began researching all the possibilities: castles, museums, shopping, hiking, kayaking, seal trips, etc.  In reality, I could have spent about five days on Skye just fulfilling my wish list.  So I settled on three days, two nights and intended on cramming in as much as I could stand.
The third thing to consider is the weather.  If you don't want to hike in a downpour, plan on inside things like museums and shopping in town.  If you don't mind hiking in a downpour and have planned ahead and purchased rain pants as well as a rain coat, then by all means, hike in the rain.  I had not considered rain pants or really rain at all, so things did not go as planned.

I had planned on leaving in the morning, stopping a few places on the way to tour, and getting into Portree about noon or so, so I could do a few walks before I got to my B&B.  Old Man of Stor, Kilt Rock, and the Quiraing were on my list of walks to take and all on the way to the B&B.
When I crossed the bridge into Skye, it started to sprinkle.  By the time I got to Portree, it was pouring, windy, and cold.  I had planned on stopping in Portree to do some shopping, so I donned my rain coat and stomped around the town.  It is always a good idea to stop first at the Information Center and get a map of the area and hit the public toilets (which were very nice), before adventuring out.  Oh, and remember where you parked.  Portree has quite a few interesting shops to look through, my favorite being Skye Batiks, and many cafes and restaurants, some with gluten free fare.

So, after I was thoroughly soaked and chilled to the bone, I decided against hiking in a windy downpour and continued on to Staffin to the Hallaig Guest House where I was staying for the next two nights.  Betty greeted me as I dripped onto her floor and asked if I would like dinner (it was about 4:30 at the time) and she had tomato soup for dinner!  Oh joy and rapture!  Hot soup!  And it was delicious!  I went to bed that night, hot soup in my stomach, listening to the wind howl and the rain lash against the windows...and sheep bleating.  Really.

Day two I had planned on going to Dunvegan Castle and chatted with Willy (Betty's husband) about the best route to take.  He suggested going up around the Quiraing through Uig and around to Dunvegan, so that is the route I took.  The scenery was fantastic!  I stopped at the Museum of Island Life on the way, which by far had the best gift shop of all the places I stopped.  I could have bought one of everything there, but settled on a sweatshirt, and now regret not picking up some other things.
Castles are always fun to tour.  I enjoy the art and artifacts, and the architecture of the building.  Dunvegan did not disappoint.  The castle was worth the tour, but the gardens were amazing!  You could spend a good hour or two walking the grounds enjoying garden after garden.
After that, I had to gas up the car, so I found a gas station in town and headed back to the B&B.

Day three I had planned on visiting the Clan Donald Center and then hitting a shop called Ragamuffin (you can google it) which is just off the pier in Armadale.  So I said goodbye to Betty and Willy and headed out to Armadale.  The drive was fantastic, and the scenery divine.  It really makes me think about how blessed we are.  God didn't have to make the earth beautiful, but he chose to anyway, to His great glory, and He put a vast quantity of it in Scotland.  We used to consider Wisconsin God's country, but I amend that.  Scotland is clearly God's country.  So off we went.  Clan Donald Center is a reading museum, which means there is more to read than see, but they displayed it well and I enjoyed it.  They had some artifacts and some excellent paintings and a very good history of the Clan Donald and the Isle of Skye.  The castle is a ruin you can walk over to see.  It is right on the ocean, so the views are fantastic.  And the gardens around make for good walking.  After reading my way through the museum, I quickly jaunted off to the ruins, and headed straight for the cafe.  I was starving and as I have mentioned previously, fainting from hunger is embarrassing, so best skip all the walking and stuff food in my face, quickly.
The cafe had soup without gluten and dairy so I got the soup, some chips, and gluten free chocolate cake!  I almost kissed the guy behind the counter!  Chocolate Cake!!  Be still my soul.
Back in the car, rain began to pour down, and I headed to the pier.  Ragamuffin!  It is one of those stores that speaks to me.  I want one of everything they sell!  I expected it to be expensive so I budgeted the bulk of my spending money just for that.  I was planning on buying an outfit, but once I got inside, it was really spendy, so I settled on one thing and bought a sweater.  And I love it!  I almost skipped to the car, but people were looking, so I squirreled away my treasure and drove on.

I hit Invermoriston by about 2:30 and had about an hour left to drive when I got to the junction for Drumnadrochit and the road was coned over and a van was parked in the intersection.  A highway worker came up to my window and reported:  there were two serious car crashes on the road ahead, one on the way to Drumnadrochit, and one on the way to Inverness.  He said the roads would be closed for hours.  I asked him was there an alternate route?  He said I could go back to Skye and take the other road over to Beauly.  That would be two hours back and two hours going around.  He said I could go get a drink at the cafe and enjoy the day.  I didn't tell him what I thought of that.
I parked my car at the hotel and bar and went to enjoy the day.  Apparently there is a lot to see in Invermoriston when you need to be there for an indeterminate amount of time.  I walked over to see a waterfall, walked in the woods, hit some shops in the town, and finally sat in my car and had a snack.  While sitting there, I prayed for the crash victims and the emergency workers, and I also asked that they would get the road open before dark so we could all go home safely.  About 4:30 they pulled away the cones and we were on our way.

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.