Today we drove all around the Isle of Skye.  The drive up brings you by Loch Ness.  Yes, the one made famous by the Loch Ness Monster.  The loch is a lot bigger than I would have imagined.  The drive started with some intermittent rain, but cleared up by lunch time.  The roads were super busy.  We wanted to stop at one of the castles, but the parking lots were full.  We had to settle for pictures from afar.  

The drive up there takes about three hours.  The roads are narrow and there are a good number of pot holes you have to take care not to hit.  It can also be hazardous when parking the car in a pull off or viewpoint as there are not enough spaces for all the people that want to stop.  

We stopped briefly in Portree for pictures of the colorful houses and the number of people walking around town was unreal.  

When we reached Storr Lookout we couldn’t believe the number of people parked in the lot that were going to hike the mountain.  It was jam packed.  We drove all the way up to Kilt Rock and headed back.  The drive to Storr has a road that only is one lane with pull outs so you can let people go by.  It’s an interesting experience for tourist drivers.  

On the drive back, we stopped to see a Hairy Coo up close. We were under the impression that all cows in Scotland were Hairy Coos, but after driving all over, we have seen very few.  They are super cute and this one was all about the carrots someone brought him. I am also including a picture of heather up close.  You have seen it on the mountains, but this is what it looks like in person.  

We drove back on a different route that did not take us next to Loch Ness. The views were just as beautiful and there was less traffic, but the road was a little more precarious in that there was a lot of one lane sections.  It was an adventure.