The Last Road Trip (for Scotland)

Coming to an end of our stay here in Scotland so we thought we would take one more road trip before calling it quits. We’ve covered a lot of territory during our stay, almost 2,500 miles not counting trains and buses (or walking). It’s been fun and at times, a bit challenging but this is why we travel, to see the country and meet the people. So, with no further ado, off to the Isle of Skye.

The Isle of Skye is the largest of the Inner Hebrides islands. The island is one of Scotland’s most popular destinations in the summer due to its mild temperatures and loads of beaches. The interior of the island is a major attraction as well, with the Black Cullin mountains containing twelve “Munros” and some of the most dramatic landscape in Scotland.

We plan to do an over night here in the small village of Uig. With a population of ~200, the village has little in the way of restaurants and pubs. And since we’re at low season for tourism, most hotels and B&B’s are closed, so we’ll rely on the Uig Hotel for our entertainment and eats.

The drive up to Skye covers some of the same roads we’ve been on before, but once we cross over from Ivergarry, it’s new territory! Forecast for the next two days is good, 40% chance of rain (so it WILL rain) and temps in the mid-50’s. And flight time is about 6.5 hours with a couple of stops along the way. We need to be in Staffin bay before 2pm to make low tide. Why? Read on…..

Out of the house bright and early, ~730am. Packed our usual snack lunch, along with change of clothes last night so no delays hitting the road. Beautiful morning without a cloud in the sky, but a little brisk. Not a lot of traffic, mostly people coming into town for work and a few tractors heading out to the fields. That’s a good thing since these roads are quite small.

There was some beautiful landscape on the way. Last night it was pretty cold so some of the higher mountains have snow-capped peaks. There is still a bit of color in the trees, mostly oranges and browns, but occasionally there are stands of yellow and red trees mixed in with the pines. Put all that along the shores of the lochs and you really have some spectacular scenery.

So, remember that 40% chance for rain, well we hit 100%. Started raining just about 30 minutes outside of Portree, the capital city of Skye. So, driving just got a little slower but we should still make Staffin during low tide. Why Staffin at low tide? Dinosaurs, silly!

Seems that somewhere around 180 million years ago there was a dance party at what is now called Staffin bay. The Ornithopods, herbivores that walked on two legs, cruised through here on their way home. The prints are covered during high tide and during the summer by sand so this is the perfect time to see them.  And since the rain stopped, we’re in!

Not without its challenges! Finding footprints in moss covered rock isn’t easy. Fortunately, there was a couple there when we arrived who had spotted the prints and passed along their location. In all, we found about 5 footprints. Amazing!

Footprint with key bob

Now on to another amazing site, our hotel and the pub. It’s cocktail hour, yea! We actually decided to have an early dinner and just relax for the rest of the evening. To our surprise, the hotel had entertainment! How cool is that? Just as we finished our meals and our first glass of wine, out comes these three guys with guitars. And while they’re getting set up, in comes 6-8 people with song books. Hot damn, it’s karaoke!!!!! If only I could remember the words to Stairway to Heaven.

After a wild night in the karaoke bar, and a huge breakfast the next morning, we’re back on the road. May seem strange but we’re heading back the way we came instead of making the loop around the island. We missed several of the other sites, which all seem to be on one side of the island, so we’re driving back. But before we do, we need to see the Fairy Glen, it’s just around the corner, sort of.

View from our hotel

Life on Skye

Fairy Glen fairy ring (I think it’s more like bored farmers)

Once we wiggle our way back out of the Fairy Glen, it’s off to the coast and some incredible viewpoints (and maybe a castle ruin at Duntulm).

The Three Sisters

Old Man of Storr

Ruins of Duntulm Castle w/ guard sheep

Kilt rock and Mealt falls

Kilt rock

That’s it for the sightseeing tour. Time to settle in for the drive for home. I put the hot rod on auto, set the cruise, and went to the back to mix up a couple of gin & tonics for road. Just kick back and let the autonomous mode do the rest. Not a chance! The autonomous mode they gave me for this car was a rope and a couple of broom handles, never did figure it out but I don’t trust it anyway. Good weather, little traffic and daylight so the drive isn’t all that bad.

Last trip for Scotland. We have a couple of down days before heading to Harrogate, England and some of the best Yorkshire lamb in the world. Till then….