Finding James Fraser Day 5

DAY FIVE

We left the hotel just as the sun was rising to drive to Glen Brittle to hike to the Fairy Pools. Due to the early hour, we were all pretty subdued. The van was quiet, our eyes taking in the majestic scenery flying by.  We were so busy looking at the scenery we missed our turn to the trail head. There wasn't any other traffic on the road except a few highway crew trucks driving to their work site behind us so Shavon did a U-turn in the middle of the road. The road was lined with heather, which we learned is very deceptive stuff.  It looks like it is just a few inches deep until you step into it, or drive into it in this case, and find out it is up to your waist.  In order to complete our three-point turn, Shavon had to back on to the narrow shoulder of the road and in to the heather.  The rear wheels of the van sunk into that three foot high heather and poor Mons Meg was high centered on the side of the road.  The six of us who had elected to go on the hike, hopped out of the van, put some rocks under the rear tires, and started pushing.  We could get Mons Meg part way up the hill side but we lacked the oomph needed to get her back on the road.  As we were discussing our next course of action a highway crew truck stopped in the middle of the road and two men jumped out.  "What happened?" one of them asked.  We explained and the other man just started shaking his head.  He glanced in the van, saw Shavon behind the wheel and grumbled,"Lady driver" under his breath.  There was some discussion between the two men in Gaelic, they signaled for Shavon to get out, and then one of them sat down in the driver's seat and began fiddling around.  It looked to me like he was trying to figure out how to drive an automatic.  At that moment I began to lose faith in the men and think we might be better off on our own.  They asked Shavon to get back in and drive, ran and got some shovels, and began shoveling gravel under the tires.  When that didn't help they signaled for Shavon to back further into the ditch.  Now we were really nervous.  That didn't sound like a very good idea.  Shavon inched back, the undercarriage of the van scraping on the road. "Why don't we try pushing it out?" I hollered.  The men grumbled in Gaelic some more and walked to the back of the van.  When we joined them to lend our help pushing they laughed and waved us away.  Apparently they thought they were stronger than six women.  They weren't. The van didn't budge.  Thankfully, at that moment another highway truck stopped behind the first. The two men looked up and made a pushing signal to the men in the truck.  The men in the truck got out and began pushing. Now the two were four. Still she didn't budge. Another highway truck stopped and two more men jumped out and began to push. Nothing. Then a random man in a maroon van pulled over and decided to get in on the action. His strength was just what we needed to get Mons Meg out of that ditch!  With one last push she was back on the road where she belonged!  We clapped and cheered and thanked the seven men who silently returned to their vehicles.  We laughed all the way to the trail head. 

When we pulled into the dirt parking lot and saw the beauty before us, all laughter stopped.  We were awestruck.  The walk to the Fairy Pools was like something from a movie.  I cannot even find the words to describe it.  We took our time walking, exploring, taking photos, dipping our limbs in the cool magical water, and finding special stones to take home with us.  It was so quiet and peaceful there, almost like we had stepped in to another time.  I kept waiting for unicorns to come galloping down out of the mountains!  There isn't much more to say.  The photos speak for themselves.

I think we were all a little sad to leave the Fairy Pools.  Back in the van we were once again subdued, afraid conversation  might break the spell that had been placed upon us as we walked through such wonder.  The quiet was replaced with laughter as we drove back up the highway and approached a road crew at work.  The first worker in line saw our van coming, radioed ahead, and then began smiling and waving like a madman.  I don't recall seeing a Scot smile up until this point in the trip. They are such a reserved people! From that point on, every worker we saw stopped what they were doing, waved, smiled, and even laughed, as we drove by.  Apparently, our rescuers had shared our adventure from earlier that morning with all their friends and "the American girls in the van" were famous!

We stopped back by the hotel to pick up our seventh member, fuel up, and grab some snacks before driving to Doune Castle.  Shavon gassed up the van, Layla made a grocery store run, and Renee and Becky went to get us some hot cocoa.  We didn't see many blondes while in Scotland so all the blonde women on our trip really got a lot of attention. When Renee and Becky walked up to the cocoa stand the cashier shrieked with delight and said,"Your hair is like puffy clouds!" Unsure as to whether or not that was a compliment, Becky and Renee smiled politely, grabbed their drinks, and got in the van to check their hair!

Doune Castle was built in the 13th century and has been featured in a great many films and TV shows, Outlander (Castle Leoch) and Monty Python and the Holy Grail just to name a few. 

We got a kick out of this castle because it had an en-suite bathroom. When this was a working castle I hope everyone walking by below paid attention to what may be raining down on them from up above! 

After Doune Castle we headed to Stirling Castle, one of the most important castles in Scotland. It dates back to at least the 12th century and efforts to restore the castle are ongoing.   We were a bit disappointed when we arrived because a portion of the castle was closed due to an event taking place there.  We also just barely made it there before closing time and were a bit rushed. It would have been nice if we had a bit more time to explore.  The castle is richly decorated with intricate tapestries, beautiful wooden beamed ceilings, wood carved Stirling Heads, and statues.

 One of the unicorn tapestries in the Queen's Chamber and a part of the ceiling.

A wood carving.





After our walk around the castle we drove to Glasgow for our last night in Scotland.  We took a cab to The Drum n' Monkey for dinner where, thank Heavens, we were able to get the chef to make us some dessert even though the kitchen had already closed. We just couldn't bear to leave magical Scotland with out dessert!