After we got the Outlander fun out of our systems, we continued north from Glasgow. The only solid plans we had were our Airbnb reservations. And in between each of those, we just drove around and pulled over to explore. On this day, we were heading up to Isle of Skye.

We decided to pull over to stretch and wander while driving through the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

Loch Lomond is a freshwater lake, and is considered the breaking point between the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands. It was created from glaciers melting at the end of the last ice age. And the mountain, Ben Lomond sits on the eastern shore of the lake. This place is just stunning.

By this point we had gotten the hang of the opposite side driving, and pulled over again further up in the Highlands to take in some rolling hills.

This was somewhere around the town of Fort William, where we stopped for lunch and to wander the main street. I found a Tesco which made me a happy camper. (If you know, you know.)

I snapped these from the back seat of the car. On my worst days in New York, I’ll think of this peaceful white farm house. It’s probably my dream living situation TBH.

Just before crossing the bridge to Isle of Skye, Eilean Donan Castle stands proud. This is said to be the most photographed castle in all of Scotland because of where it sits on the popular tourist route.

We decided not to visit inside to save some money and time. So we snapped a few photos and I took the last driving shift of the day to take us into Portree.

I’ve been dreaming of visiting Isle of Skye for a long time. Living in New York is like living inside an exciting bubble, but it drains a lot out of you and I usually find myself in need of reconnecting with nature and normal civilization. Well I don’t know if this can be considered normal civilization…

but it sure beats a stinky subway platform!

Because Skye is a bit isolated and the furthest away on our little road trip, we decided to stay here for 2 days. There’s a ton of great hiking and wandering!

I envisioned us packing the days with hike after hike, but I was surprised to find that it took much longer than expected to drive around. We were staying in the main city on the island called, Portree. There’s a main town area with some cute shops, restaurants, and lodging. We were able to park and walk to dinner and pubs which was nice! But that meant we had to drive quite a bit to get to some of the more scenic and remote hikes on the island.

Because so many people stay in Portree, one of the more popular hikes is the Storr. Or Old Man Storr. It was about a 20 minute drive, give or take letting a few cows cross the road.

We got an early start and were able to beat a lot of the crowds.

I think I might slightly prefer desert hiking, but man this place was heaven.

This is about when Laura and I lost Harrison, high school running star.

Laura and I ended up making a wrong turn, and we got absorbed in this super dense, foggy section of the trail.

By this point the fog and mist had soaked us through. And we thought we made it to Storr? But it didn’t match the pictures… and where was Harrison and all the other people?

We were completely alone. Laura kept her cool! I only slightly panicked that we were lost forever in a blanket of fog.

But then we were able to retrace our steps—”does that rock look familiar?!”—and finally looped back up with other people who were on the right section of the trail. And look! There’s the real Old Man Storr!

We did it! But only got to enjoy the end before turning back around before the serious crowds made it miserable. And where was Harrison all this time?… He had made it to Storr with no problem, walked all the way around it, and headed back to the car by himself. Laura and I found him later sitting there with a book, ha!

One more tale from Scotland coming up next! Don’t miss out on the wedding fun!