Lacey's Visit - Roadtrip - Day 3

Sunday, June 28 - We woke up early, showered, and had a wonderful breakfast. I had scrambled eggs, tons of white toast, a potato scone, and some sausage. Lacey had porridge and some veggies with eggs (I think). We were so sorry to leave early, but we had to try to catch the first ferry of the morning – so that, at least, if we missed it, we’d be first in line for the second one!
So, yesterday on the way to the bed and breakfast in Strontian, the road forked. This morning we had to backtrack down the road, along the loch, to the fork and take the other path. This new road – talk about country lanes!! Single lanes with passing places we’ve done, but this was a whole new experience – driving in a single lane right alongside a cliff that drops down to the rocky beach of the loch. But we made it! We missed the first ferry, probably by only 5 minutes, as we saw it sailing away as we pulled up… oh well. It was probably the best thing that happened to us on the trip. We parked the car in the queue and had about an hour and a half to kill before the next ferry… We took pictures, Lacey danced around listening to Big Country, and then we explored. Walking through a broken gate and up a hill lead to the most beautiful meadow area that overlooked, and lead down to, the water! The views from here were amazing, you could see the islands, the coast of the mainland, a castle across the sea…


Finally the ferry came and we boarded. It was tiny! There were about 4 cars on it, I think, including us. One of these was a VW Bus carrying three red-haired men, whom we actually continued to run into throughout the rest of the day. It was freezing on the ferry! There were no indoor areas like the bigger ones (no cafes, no bar, no bathrooms). Luckily the passage was only a half hour, so Lacey and I donned our headphones, bucked up, and enjoyed the ride. If you look at my pictures, you'll see several in a row of Lacey on the ferry that end with pics of her cracking up. She wanted me to get a picture of her with the islands as backdrop, but it was a great view from every angle - so I was moving all around trying to get the shot from every side so she could pick her favorite. Apparently she felt famous and called me the paparazzi (although I didn't hear her over the noise of the boat), so she started cracking up, and I kept snapping pictures... not quite sure what was so funny.

When we arrived in Tobemory on the Isle of Mull we had a choice to make, drive around the long side of the Isle to the next ferry, or spend time in Tobemory and take the much shorter half of the island around to the next ferry. We choose spending time in Tobemory and I’m so glad we did. Until this point, much of the trip had been appreciating the views and scenery from inside the car, or at periodic stopping places along the way. Here we went in the shops, talked to the people, ate in a restaurant, bought souvenirs, and mailed postcards! The town of Tobemory has a main street that leads to the pier where we spent our day. The buildings are all brightly colored and a popular Scottish children’s tv show used to be filmed right there in the town center!

A couple hours before our next ferry, we said goodbye to Tobemory, and drove to the ferry. After queuing in line again, we went into a pub to kill some time. We each had a Scottish shortbread and a Strongbow (yes, I know you’re jealous!). The ferry this time was Huge! There were at least 4 tour busses on it (don’t ask me how they managed to navigate the single lane roads to get to the ferry! Eek!) and many cars! There were several cafes on board, a bar, etc, etc. We got hot chocolates and went up to the top deck (only open air sailing for us! The views are the best!) to enjoy the ride.
When the ferry arrived at port, we were again back on the mainland. We decided this time to take the longer, more scenic drive back to the apartment, and ended up passing a nice beach area (where several people were camping and had bonfires going!) and enjoying much more scenery before returning home where we showered, unpacked, and went to bed.