After we picked up the rest of the gang, we set out on part of the castle trail. We drove up to Oldmeldrum and saw the ruins of Tolquhon Castle. This castle was not supposed to be open, so we had only expected to see the outside, but the gate was open and the groundskeeper said to go on in, so we did.
After that we headed over to Huntly Castle, the one castle that we knew we would get to see inside. This was another ruin, but the outside was especially impressive. We also had a picnic lunch on the grounds. It was a bit chilly for those of us not quite acclimated to Scotland weather, but still a beautiful day to eat outside.
After that we headed over to Huntly Castle, the one castle that we knew we would get to see inside. This was another ruin, but the outside was especially impressive. We also had a picnic lunch on the grounds. It was a bit chilly for those of us not quite acclimated to Scotland weather, but still a beautiful day to eat outside.
We also got to see the ruins of Kildrummy Castle, another one that wasn't supposed to be open but was. We had great luck with that yesterday. A highlight for me at Kildrummy was seeing the little lambs. This little guy almost came over to me before some people started making a lot of noise and scared him away.
From there we headed south over the mountains in the Cairgorm National Park. The view was gorgeous from the top of the mountains, though we did feel like we were on a roller coaster a few times. At one point we had to stop to let the sheep cross the road, because they sure weren't stopping for us! I enjoyed the ride - I'm not sure if the rest did.
Then we went to the best castle we saw - Balmoral. This is the Queen's residence when she's in Scotland, and it was by no means a ruin. It was gorgeous! Unfortunately we couldn't drive the car back to the estate, and the castle is quite far from the main road, so Papa didn't walk back there with us. He would have loved this castle though. On the walk back, Mom started a snowball fight with the snow remnants on the side of the trail.
Finally, we turned toward home. The sun was going down fast, but we did pull in to see the outside of Drum Castle. It wasn't the most exciting castle, but it made a total of FIVE castles in one day!
Overall, we had a great day of traveling. We spent a while in the van, but also got to see a LOT of sights, including part of the Scottish highlands.
Then we went to the best castle we saw - Balmoral. This is the Queen's residence when she's in Scotland, and it was by no means a ruin. It was gorgeous! Unfortunately we couldn't drive the car back to the estate, and the castle is quite far from the main road, so Papa didn't walk back there with us. He would have loved this castle though. On the walk back, Mom started a snowball fight with the snow remnants on the side of the trail.
Finally, we turned toward home. The sun was going down fast, but we did pull in to see the outside of Drum Castle. It wasn't the most exciting castle, but it made a total of FIVE castles in one day!
Overall, we had a great day of traveling. We spent a while in the van, but also got to see a LOT of sights, including part of the Scottish highlands.
4 comments:
You guys look like you are having so much fun. I miss all of you. I can't believe I missed both of your calls today. Just my luck. How is dad? My email address is KM6029@aol.com. Thanks for sharing your memories with us. Love you all so much. Have fun and let me hear from you soon either by email or phone. Kathy
Okay I am so jealous now. Mamaw gets calls, Kathy gets calls, and I didn't even get a T-shirt. Seriously, I am so glad all you guys are having such fun. Barb your pics continue to be great. Thanks for sharing, it's almost like being there. Love you all,
I'm glad you are having so much fun with your family. :-)
Looks like you guys are having fun. I always look forward to seeing all your pics. I know you are enjoying your family being there.
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