Morven Lodge Ballater

... drove all over the Caringorm Mountains today and I found some beautiful poisonous mushrooms which I have added photo's of.

Tomorrow we move on to Isle of Sky, supposedly one of the most beautiful places in Scotland. It will be a long drive but we should see many great things. Our driver is spoiling us and has been wonderful and it just could not have been a better trip for us. The lodgings have been luxurious and the food great.

... Malt Whiskey is made. It was very interesting and I asked lots of questions. We had a taste testing and discovered we still do not like the whiskey that much! To much taste of peat. They were nice to let us in as they were flooded around them and did a great tour for us.

We ended by seeing ancient sites dating back to 4-5000 BC. It was quite something!

... vacation. We went to the gates and although the police were standing by they allowed us to photograph and did not run us off. We waved at them when we left and they probably thought those crazy Americans! I told Gordon our driver that I was sure the Queen didn't get the message that we were coming or I was certain she would have sent us an invitation to tea!

Looking forward to the over 14,000 mile trip and the 19 hours flying.

Left the nice sunny day in Aberdeen. Nice view back down on the city/north sea as well as the office / quarry / home.

Also got some pictures of St Andrews again. But then it clouded up.

Rothes is the little Scottish village where the Glen Grant Whiskey Distillery is located. It is part of the Speyside Whisky Trail, where the largest concentration of Scotch whisky distilleries is located in Scotland. This large valley is popular among distillers because this is where most of the barley is grown for the distillation process.

The distillery has a nice garden and a gift shop.

Well, I thought I would miss it, but had to walk through a little rain to/from the taxi and from the gate to the plane. Don't you just love airports with outside stairs?

Plus it is always fun to watch the flight attendants clean up all that rain that gets into the cabin in their seat/work area.

... of duty/customs issues but the whisky store can.
After our distillery tour we went and got settled in at Fernbank. Karen, the owner is hilarious! She is so funny! We had some tea with her and chatted for a while. Then we headed down to Dufftown city centre and walked around. We grabbed a beer and a really weird bar. Super tiny, but they had McEwans. And I had my 2nd scottish delicacy that I had promised myself I would ...

... stopped in Kirkcaldy for a coffee and some very yummy pancakses and apple pie. Then headed on to St. Andrews (Famous for the Golf Open and Tiger Woods) via the St Monans trail …..passed a lot of castles, churches and ruins. Had some lovely views over the Firth of Forth/ Firth of Tay.

Drove through Dundee and kept north on the A90 and then the B974.

Stopped for ...

I don't like those phone calls that come in on my blackberry. I shouldn't have told one of my friends that I would be in Aberdeen for 2-1/2 weeks. Shortly after I said that, the call came and I was packing my bags. A couple more aerial photos of the city, including one of the office and my flat.

... Clockhouse Restaurant across the road from our hotel, but we were both disappointed with the quality of the food and, frankly, the service. After dinner, we went back to our SPACIOUS hotel room and went to bed at about 10 PM. Before drifting off to sleep, Rebecca read me a bedtime story (I kid you not!) called "Floss" which was about a border collie. She had purchased the children's book while at the Glenlivet Distillery.