Day 3

 On day 3, Tavel day.

 Madeline and I rode the bus back to the airport to pick up our rental car.  Lorraine stayed at the hotel with all our luggage.  There was a small kerfuffle with the car.  They only had standard transmissions.  As Madeline was our driver and did not know how to drive a stick, we had a problem.  I started wondering around to the other dealers and seeing what they could do.  Some had no cars to rent.  We found one that had automatic's.  Good!  We went with them.  What is funny is that they only rent with full insurance, theirs.  I'm sure it has to do with driving on the other side of the car and road. LOL  I'll say it many times, Madeline did fantastic!  Most of the roads in the big towns are narrow and people park every which way they can.  NOT an ideal situation for a new driver on the other side of the car and road.   Today was really just a travel day. 

I wish I could go back and take pictures of every bathroom.  I've never seen so many options of toilets and sinks. SO many and most out and about were never the same style.  

I'd never seen a square toilet before.  I showed it to almost everyone who would look, they hadn't seen one either.  The sinks were tiny too.  Almost like fingertips only sinks.  BUT they did the job.  I wish I'd have thought to take a picture of them all.  

Back to driving.  We headed to Inverness.  Once we were out of town the drive was relatively easy.  I do know I say that as the passenger in the front seat.  The highways were nice and really well marked.  The other picture I wish I'd have gotten.  I could have asked Madeline to stop and ran back but didn't.  The sign was Welcome to the Scottish Highlands. It was so cool.  We knew we were climbing, our ears were popping. It actually isn't that far from Glasgow to Inverness.  When we got there, we found our motel. We stayed at the Smithton.  Peter was a wonderful host and was very accommodating. They served a wonderful traditional Scottish breakfast.  I did not have haggis or blood pudding.  But sausage and toast and eggs were wonderful.  We went to a few grocery stores trying to find a few things. As we were leaving one, I asked a woman if she could recommend a place for dinner.  We ended up at the golf course restaurant.  We all had fish and chips.  It wasn't bad, just not great.  But it served it's purpose and we were all happy to be out of the car for a bit.   We went back to our hotel and figured out the next days plans.   

Peace