Scotland Adventures

Again- we're recapping 2014 today on Caledonian Road... and today's adventures take us to the bonny hills of Scotland! The hubs and I snuck up for a long weekend away... spending a day in Edinburgh before staying with some extended family of friends from church. It was amazingly wonderful of them to welcome us in their home, and the highlands of Banchory (I think we were right on the border of the highlands, honestly) were breathtaking! Loved it!

Edinburgh... a city of ups and downs, winds and alleyways... just breathtaking!

The hubby took me for an early morning coffee, and then up to Calton Hill to watch the sun come up over the city!

Then we hired a car and began the drive to Banchory.

Our friends took us for an afternoon walk up Scolty Hill. It doesn't even count as a mountain in Scotland, but it had me stopping for breath, and the views from the top were incredible!

The afternoon sun still lit the hillsides, while a wall of rain travelled down the valley between.

We even got to see a rainbow!

Remnants of August's heather still dotted the hillside, though we were a month too late to see truly purple hills!

And the stone walls were covered in moss unbelievably thick! Such a contrast of stark, barren hillsides with rich, overgrown valleys. Breathaking!

And not bad for a wig too! Especially if you're going for the chia pet look!

On the way home, we drove through high altitude, dry wind-swept valleys. Honestly, parts of it reminded me very much of my old home in Colorado... driving over Monarch Pass on the way to Gunnison, no guardrails between you and the drops, the fog lower than the treeline, and a barren beauty all around.

We loved Scotland!