Gairloch:a seaside village on the Minch.

Today we left Portree, we had stayed two nights and it was nice to not have to drive so much.  Kathy is doing a great job  but the one track roads with drive-bys where you pull to the side to let oncoming traffic go by is intense.  We stopped at a place Mark Lena would consider heaven, the Cuillin Mountains.  They are spectacular and we are in hiker heaven.  It is unseasonably warm here, in the 70's.  We keep telling the natives that this is heavenly compared to where we are from. We left the beautiful mountains to stop in, Kyle of Lochlesh, a nice seaport town with a view of the Isle of Sky bridge. What about this car to rent. 

 Ha Ha...check out this car it was a huge hit with a lot of people.  A Jaguar E type????with a fancy license plate.  Fiona and Moira,  we joked with the tourists that we met that I would send home a picture saying "Hey, look what we rented".  This was after Kathy took a side street that landed us on a small platform that was for trains.  She tried to turn on a dime and with  me laughing a lot to support her we made it.  Next stop: Eilean Donan Castle:  so far this is my favorite. It has been used in a recent famous Pixar movie:  Brave... there is an amazing story: In the 1700s,  the castle  was blown up because The MacLean's were sympathizers for the Jacobites. Then a true labor of love in the early 1920,s when the current owner restored the castle to former glory and it it is a wonderful historical visit.

  We ate a picnic and then headed off to Gairloch on a single track road...again...It is amazing that at the end of the woods and lochs and single track roads there is a beautiful sea town with shops, beaches, Golf, etc.  Dinner was Cullen skink stew for me with a venison burger and Kathy had wild boar burger.  She is beginning to live dangerously.  Of course it doesn't get dark until after 10 pm so we are planning our next event and it is only 8 pm.  I am having a bit of complications uploading pictures so expect more later.  We drove quite a ways looking for a lighthouse on another single track road.  Remember I am with a photographer, not only did we stop for spectacular views we stopped for sheep and more highland cows, my favorite.  We finally settled in and after a great breakfast we are off to Inverness .