Auroragirl Adventures: Cycling, Skiing and Traveling: Thursday: Standing Stones in Kilmartin off to Skye

Ford house BB: this was a funny place and off the beaten track. It was like a track to get there. The lights didn't work and MKL went to sleep. Breakfast was standard fare and we were off to....

I hope you get the post cards I sent.

Kathy can't use her cell phone. Mark doesn't answer as he thinks its ET.

Kilmartin Glen: cairns, mist, burial chambers and sheep.

The cairns and burial chamber were very cool. The standing stones were very far away but we walked to the linear cemetery and the cairns are from important chieftains and an important woman was buried in the first one. Wikipedia: Kilmartin Parish Church is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. The present church building was designed by architect James Gordon Davis and opened in 1835, though there had been earlier churches on the site.^[1] The churchyard has an important collection of early Christian and medieval carved stones, known as the Kilmartin Stones. Some are displayed within the parish church itself, others have been gathered into lapidaria within the graveyard, others still remain lying within it

I saw a beehive hut too.

Isle of Skye: We are on the Road to Skye. We have stopped for the fiftieth time for photo ops, it is truly fabulous the way MKL and I view the world and each get a different view. The Scottish national forest is my big interest today there are miles and miles of deforestation going on, pines being cut everywhere. We finally had lunch at a great spot by Castle Stalker.

More on that later but at the castle lookout CAFE we ate lunch with a very nice couple named Angus and Kathleen who invited us to eat with them .

I was able to ask why everywhere we go the mountain ranges have the pines being cut like deforestation and clear cutting. Angus, our new friend, gave startling news. Scotland was once covered in oaks and was totally cut for shipping and other uses long ago. Pines were planted and they grow fast due to water and weather. After about forty years they have to be cut because they will blow down and won't be worth anything. Now Scotland is in the process of reforestation which means planting oak, a more sustainable tree. When Angus mentioned sending trees to the Clyde Waters I almost flipped. I have been obsessed with Childe ballads so it was great to hear the place and know that a lot of scots write and sing about the Clyde waters.

Just notes of the day. Refolded the map the at is the size of a queen sheet in the front seat of a small car. Don't ask me why we didn't get out of the car, the sun is coming out. I have seen a potential Mark Lena climbing vacation. There is biking but I could not be on these roads. My whole body has been clenched tight at the core even though Kathy is doing great, I have discovered how to add to the blog on my iPad while looking ahead keeping tabs on MKL. My words, Jesus, Mary and Joseph and all the Saints preserve us, OMG, Gasp, OVER, and slow down. Finally found an ancient Oak but no stag or lord of the wood.

Now here are the views of the lochs and mountains of the highlands. There is no picture that I think can do justice but I did try a video that I will post later.