Fort William and Oban

June 25th continued...
So we went to Hootananny's pub last night in Inverness...super cool. It was a two storey bar and the main floor had a Scottish band playing and was a pretty mellow vibe but upstairs is where the action was. The second floor had a Ska band called Bombskare from Edinburgh playing. They were super cool and not sure the last time we had heard any Ska bands but it was a nice treat! We headed there with Colleen from California and Daniel from Germany. It was good times had by all!!! Tons of dancing and signing!!

Saturday, June 26th
Got the 1045 bus to Fort William this morning...both of us not feeling great with waves of nausea on the bus ride. Meghan was certain she was going to be sick but we made it!!! Feeling much better when we got some fresh Fort William air and a bit of lunch in us. Fort William is pretty small and not a whole lot going on but it does have some great scenery and Ben Nevis...the highest point in Scotland!! It is some 2400 ft to the top. We were a little intimidated by its height...it puts Arthur's seat to shame!! Needless to say we did not even attempt to climb it with the few hours we had in Fort William. We did however, do some adventure seeking...we headed to the Glen Nevis centre which is the starting point for the climb up big benny!! It was absolutely gorgeous...the hills/mountains are so overwhelming and just amazing to be so close to. The stream that ran along side was cool too. It was pretty rocky with some rapids and wildlife. We took a walk along the river path and adventured in for some neat scenery. We even stopped to touch the wishing rock...a little luck never hurts!! In no time we had made it back into town, grabbed a bite to eat and were back on the bus, this time heading to Oban. It was a short bus ride and we arrived at a small fishing town on the West coast of Scotland. Oban is small and quaint and just like the rest of Scotland, has long, long days!!! The sun doesn't set till midnight and is back up by 4ish. It makes it difficult to sleep in but who needs sleep when you are on an adventure!!!! We'll sleep when we're dead!!!

Sunday, June 27th
Early start in Oban, grabbed some breaky at the hostel and was off to make the 0955 ferry to Isle of Mull. In true Heather and Meghan fashion, they were calling final boarding as we showed up and therefore missed it. OOps!! So we had a couple of hours to kill before the noon ferry so we went to the tower at the top of the hill in Oban. It was a stone colluseum looking structure overlooking Oban and the water and was a memorial for the McCaig family built in 1897. It was pretty cool but Oban isn't teaming with things to do and see...so we hit up the war museum. For lunch we grabbed a seafood cup from a truck vendor. Oban is Scotland's seafood capital so it was only fitting that we had mussels, shrimp, lobster, and cockle's...mmm...so we had a 45 minute ferry ride to Isle of Mull and only had about 2 hours on the island. So more adventuring to be had...we didn't have enough time to go into the town of Tobermory or to make it over to Duart castle either, so we took a nature walk along the coast. There was a path that led us to a smaller castle that could only be viewed from the outside. We could however see Duart castle from the woods...pretty amazing even from afar. We met an older couple along our walk and they told us that there was a train to go back to the ferry. So we ventured along the path a bit further and found a 'mini train' and mini it was!!! It was a coal operated train that ran along the coast line. It was neat to take that back and we got some pretty hilarious photo's to boot. Then came the rain...lol we have had amazing weather "knock wood" the entire trip...until now!! We got poured on from the short walk from the train to the ferry and it continued off and on for the rest of the night. Back in Oban we grabbed our things and headed for dinner. We once again thought, if we are in the seafood capital of Scotland, seafood it shall be! The chowder was amazing and the fish was pretty good...just greasy is all! We had a bus to catch after that so we grabbed our things and headed to the bus station. Off to Glasgow...again! :) Carol Ann and Margaret kindly picked us up from the bus station again and family reunion part 2 commenced. Frances, Derek, Ashley and Jared all came over to say hi once again. We had roasted cheese...Heather wasn't kidding...soooooo good!!!! It was essentially melted cheese on a piece of bread but as heather puts it..."its the fattiness of the cheese and the thin bread that makes it taste so good". Anyhow, we headed to bed shortly after and had a jam packed day ahead!