We visited them all today. Sort of!

The view from our loft was pretty impressive. When I opened the window to get a better look, it was pretty cold too!

We drove about 20 minutes to a little place called Glenfinnan.

Glenfinnan is a big on the tourist map for two reasons. But I’m pretty sure the majority of visitors only come for one.

Glenfinnan is the home to a monument celebrating the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his fathers standard, marking the start of the Jacobite rebellion. The highlander perched on top of the monument is a reminder of the clansmen who gave their lives to the Jacobite cause. Less than a year after Charlie’s brave stand, the battle of Culloden took place.

The setting was stunning !!

Glenfinnan is also home to the Glenfinnan Railway Viaduct which features in the Harry Potter Movies.

At 10.30am each day a steam train (similar to the Hogwarts Express) chugs over the viaduct sending a lot of young ( and not so young) Harry Potter fans into a tizz. So, guess when this train stopped operating for the winter? Yep!! Yesterday!!

Interesting fact: (for me only). Many years ago (36 years ago!!) I caught a train from Maillag to Glasgow and I have just realised I would have passed over this beautiful viaduct. Before it was famous.

Back in Fort William we called in at Neptune’s Steps to see the huge lochs in operation. A yacht was heading up the lochs and the process took over an hour and several loch gate workers. None of that windlass stuff. It was fascinating to watch.

We drove south towards Glasgow. The drive continued to be so picturesque it was breathtaking.

I commented to Grahame that the scenery reminded me of the scenery in the James Bond movie, Skyfall. The scene was filmed near Glencoe and sure enough that’s where we were!

We drove along Loch Lomond and I guess by then we were out of the highlands!

Goodbye stunning stark snowy scenery. You made my eyes happy.

Goodbye Highland Coos. You are so cute!! You made me smile!!

Goodbye waterfalls, goodbye sideways hail, goodbye soggy ground, goodbye North Coast 500. You were amazing.

About half an hour past Glasgow, in a little farming village called Nemphlar, we visited Margaret and Robin. We had never met them before, but we had come specifically to their sheep farm to do so. They are long lost, almost, sort of, nearly relatives on my Dads side. Dad had found them on Ancestry as potential relatives going back a few generations. Turns out they are! We promised Dad that if we were in the area we would call in.

I were lovely and made us feel very welcome. They pulled out the family tree and explained our connection. I still don’t really get it, but it has everything to do with Catherine Elizabeth Johnson Leary.

She married my great great grandpa. When he died, she remarried a James Hird who is an ancestor of Margarets. I think!!

Anyway Robin and Margaret breed prizewinning sheep who produce prizewinning wool. So we went to feed some of the sheep and we got to check out the wool.

It was getting late and now daylight savings had finished, dark. We had to get back to Glasgow where we had booked our final nights accommodation!!

So do you see the connection? We did all this in one day!!