First — there’s the distance thing. Everytime I asked how long it would take for me to get from one place to another, I was told 30 minutes. Craignure to Tobermory? 30 minutes. Tobermory to Dervaig? 30 minutes. Oban to Kilmartin? 30 minutes. Obviously, we must use different measurements of time and distance in the US than here in the UK….30 minutes my arse!  

    The only way that can happen is if you’re not driving, but are flying your car overhead – as the crow flies because these roads are like your intestines — a short distance if you measure on the outside, but 30 feet if you stretch them out and measure from end to end. (sorry — it seemed the perfect explanation!)  

FYI – Oban to Kilmartin? closer to an hour of break-neck turns and hills and wind and rain!

And these mean what....???!

When you see signs like these — it’s your first warning that: a)the road is narrowing, and b) it’s curving, too! But it’s still all good because at this point, there will still be two lanes – one for each direction of traffic. They may be small and curve wildly up or down the mountainside, but there are TWO of them.

And take a look at the two photos below — the one on the left (I hope) shows the width of my car and the width of the road – a single track road. Not a whole-lot-a extra road space there, huh? The second one shows a little place calling a PASSING Place – can you imagine two cars or a bus or truck edging over to their side and and easing past each other — uh, yeah. It’s how it all works and the very reason why I will need more help from my colorist when I get home to cover all my new gray hairs from the experience!

Look at the width of my car -- then the road? Which is bigger?

                                   

Next driving challenge :

So, if GREEN means go, and YELLOW means slow down and RED mean stop, what the heck do red AND yellow mean at the same time? This light (sorry for the wiper blade in the middle of the photo) is at a construction site on a single-track road on the way to Kilmartin. Apparently, in the UK, they use this signal to alert drivers that light will be changing to green next… Do you know what would happen in the US if they told us the green light was coming soon? LOL – I know, but here it seems to work.

The Back End of a Suicide Sheep!

Yes, this sheep decided not to die today and instead, wisely, meandered back off the road before I hit it with my cute little blue rental car! Out on Mull (and in many other places where they have single-track roads), sheep are free to range and graze, walking out on the road by themselves or in groups.  They then stand and wait for a foreign driver to come over a hill and remain still – forcing said foreign driver to come to a screeching halt. I suspect that these suicide sheep know many curse words in many different languages. I also suspected them to be like cats, but cats would continue to stare you down and never move first. Sheep finally look at you and then walk away. Fun….

Well, I think I’m getting accustomed to these Scottish driving practices, but I have many miles ahead yet to drive. I’m sure there are still some surprises out there for me!

Check back in tomorrow — I’ll be attending a MacRae Clan Gathering at Eilean Donan Castle! Surely I’ll spot my first Scottish-man-in-a-kilt there? If not, there’s the MacLeod Clan Gathering at Dunvegan Castle on Skye Saturday night.

Terri

Oh, thank goodness!! I was getting depressed — almost a week here in Scotland and nary a man in a kilt to be seen….or appreciated…but last night at Eilean Donan Castle, these two greeted me at the door on my way to the Clan MacRae gathering –

Ossian and Alex at Eilean Donan Castle

    I’d met Alex before — on my first trip to Scotland I toured the Highlands with Sue-ellen Welfonder and Lisa Trimbauer – Alex gave us a tour of Eilean Donan and drew us a wonderful map of medieval sites on Skye.  But this is the first I’d met Ossian — so I got a photo with him. And, gentleman that he is, he let me hold his very big sword:

Ossian's Sword - Oh My!

Oh, c’mon!! You knew I had to say that sometime in this trip?! LOL!

     The rest of the event was fabulous — first the ‘youngsters’ performed for us, singing songs in Gaelic and playing everything from bodhran to harp to guitars to accordions to fiddles. Then the ‘masters’ took over, with a narrator telling the story of the Clan MacRae and singers and musicians joining in with songs written by or about the MacRaes of Kintail. Being in Eilean Donan simply made it more special.

     Tonight, after driving to Skye, I went to another gathering — this time the Clan MacLeod at Dunvegan Castle.  This time, the piper played the big-sized bagpipes, a thrill he said because of his family background.  I learned that the MacKinnons were the hereditary pipers for the Clan MacLeod, and this piper, Calum MacKinnon, is the latest in a line of pipers in his family. He told us that his father even texted him about the significance of him performing at Dunvegan! And the sound was almost too large for the room where we were.

     It was pretty special — listening to him play and sitting right next to the Fairy Flag of the MacLeod’s….

     The drive back to Uig where I’m staying was another interesting driving challenge — rains and winds and curving unlit roads….oh my!  But I was still humming some of the music I’d heard all the way back…..

Terri

PS – Getting excited about my trip over to Lewis and Harris in the outer Hebrides on Monday. . . Leaving on a 5:30 AM ferry is not exciting though….