Searching for the Loch Ness Monster!

Our next adventure on my ROCK STAR tour of Scotland was Inverness.  I was convinced that this would be the "best part" of our holiday.  That is until the lady at a boutique in St. Andrews informed me, in front of everyone in my family,  that Inverness was a granite jungle and that we would hate it!  Great, thanks a bunch for that comment lady.  Maybe her Mom hadn't told her "if you have nothing nice to say..."  Oh well, she would not put a damper on this trip;  the sun was shining and as of then, I was still holding onto my ROCK STAR status!

So, off we went.  For this portion of our trip I had us staying at an amazing country house complete with fishing ponds, grounds for hiking and the "piece de resistance" a hot tub...Oh no, I forgot the swimsuits!!  That didn't stop the boys!  Boxer shorts, swimsuits, what's the difference?

For our first outing we were hunting for a glimpse of "Nessie" on the famous Loch Ness!  It was a sunny but cool day when we headed out on the Jacobite cruise for a tour of the Loch and exploration of the Loch's Urquhart Castle.  It was a perfect combination of time exploring the Loch and time running through the castle ruins and burning some energy.  And although we never did spot "Nessie", we had an amazing day; the weather also co-operated and made for some great pictures!

The next day was ALL BOY, for we were going fly fishing!  I have to tell you, at this point my thoughts were of having a really good mani/pedi and even possibly a massage.  Wonder if they would notice if I snuck out?

"Mom, aren't you excited?" the little Expat asked me about 1,000 times that morning.

"Soooo excited honey!" I replied about 1,000 times!

"We are going to catch dinner, you just wait."  the older Expat informed me.

I hate to burst my kids bubble, but I had heard this many a times before, and every time we went fishing we ended up eating McDonald's!

But, thanks to the kind folks at the location we were staying, connecting us with David Mateer , after 4 hours of fly fishing...both of the little Expats caught not one, but two gorgeous rainbow trout.  We indeed would have fish for dinner!

Inverness in my opinion was in no way like the boutique lady explained.  This gorgeous part of the Scottish Highlands was full of hiking, gorgeous scenery around every corner, and the promise of Spring...

Next stop on the ROCK STAR tour...The Isle of Skye!