Sept. 18 - We might have stayed in Glasgow, but it's a big city, and our inclinations are towards countryside and a good walk. So after an excellent full Scottish breakfast (eggs, toast, beans, tomato, potato cake, sausage, orange juice and tea...good for all day) we got info from the desk clerk and braved the streets of Glasgow. We found our way to Motorway A82, and managed to cope with busy streets as we made our way out toward Loch Loman. Getting used to a standard drive on the wrong side of the car driving down the left side of the road takes a little getting used to, but soon became pretty comfortable.

As we got closer to the lake, the road became 2 lane, and quite narrow in places. But we managed, and found a lovely little village called "Luss". We spent a good part of the day there, walking about, enjoying the lake, the lovely cottages, and the Fairy Walk. The latter is a trail that has been developed in honour of the little people, with 9 stations depicting aspects of fairy life. It was a lovely walk in the woods, complete with sheep in the meadow, fairy dust, little houses in the trees, and much imparted wisdom. Quite neat. Our grand-daughter Anna would love to visit here.

When we got back to the village, we met Ian Cameron, who had just come out of his house to go for a walk. We had a great chat with this 89 year old former shepherd. He was sent here when he was 15 to be a shepherd's helper, and stayed to do that work for more than 50 years. Bright, articulate, and totally delightful he is. Like us, he fears for the future of the world. Like us, he regrets the changes that have come to his little community, with busloads of tourists pouring in every day. He also regrets the disappearance of his trade. Whereas there used to be 15 shepherds in this area, there are now none, so the majority of sheep that are here are almost feral, confirming the shyness they exhibited when we encountered them on the trail. He also told us that Gail's clan, the Elliotts, were shepherds, who came to the Central Highlands from the border country of England to do their trade. Gail had no idea of this.

Later, we went to another spot on the lake called Fricken Point. There we met a couple from Vancouver Island. Like us, their rural community is being bought up by city people. Their community is being over-run by tourism. Their community is not the same as before, which they greatly regret. We had a lot in common.

We did a nice one hour walk along the shore, then drove along the A82 towards the north end of the lake. The road was very narrow in spots, and just a little scary when meeting a truck or a bus. There were many signs on the road saying "SLOW", and there were signs saying "oncoming traffic on center of road", which meant cars coming our way had to cross the center line to get around the curves in some places, meaning you had to brake, or really hug the left side, lined with rock walls. And speed...most of the drivers on this road were driving like they were in the Daytona 500.

But we managed, and found our way to Callandar, a nice little town on the way to Stirling. We had dinner in the local hotel, just around the corner from our very nice B and B. sitting next to 3 ladies who were having a great chat. We ended up joining in, and found that the eldest is about to turn 90, and was with her niece and great-niece. We covered many topics, discovering that the niece is still practising her Ministry at 85 years of age, loving it, and her daughter is a professional opera singer. all of them are worried about Brexit, especially the singer, as it may affect her opportunities to perform abroad once Britain goes solo. They are off to Glasgow tomorrow to have a nice birthday dinner for the aunt. But as they were leaving, the niece couldn't resist coming back to tell us a group of the family have planned a large surprise birthday party for the old girl. They were great fun to talk with...one of the bonuses of travel being to meet people this way.

Tomorrow a huge storm is supposed to blow in from the west, across Ireland, with winds up to 50 or 60 miles per hour, and lots of rain. So we don't quite know what to do tomorrow. Will have to wait to see how bad it is. We may just stay here, or we may head over towards St. Andrew's. Time will tell. So stay tuned. More excitement later.