We got in about 1:30am on Sunday morning following our week with Jane (we had to return our rental car to the Newcastle Airport on Saturday night). We went to church in the morning and then came home to do laundry and pack for our week in Scotland. We didn't get out early on Monday because we had to wait on new brake pads for the car. Our accommodation in Scotland was about 4 hours away. We stopped at Stirling Castle along the way, and we also ran into an obstacle, so it was late when we got in.
We got stuck in the snow about 3.5 miles from our destination that first evening. We were driving on a one-track road up over a mountain. We came to this snow patch (first picture below), saw car tracks in it, and thought we could make it too. We tried to clear a little more of it before we went through it (there was a lot of mud on the side, so you couldn't go around the snow). We got partway through and then got stuck. We couldn't go forward or backwards - our wheels were just spinning. We sat out there for a while, wondering what we were going to do. We were out in the middle of nowhere. We said a prayer for help in getting out, but weren't very hopeful since it was getting dark and we hadn't seen anyone on that road. Any of our own attempts were useless. And then... someone did come up behind us. We were blocking the path, so they had to try to help us so they could get by as well. They were able to help us get out and then we followed them. It turns out that was just the first patch of snow, with more along the way. They made sure that we made it through each snow patch. We easily got through a couple more patches because we were going downhill. And then... we came to a place where it was too deep for anyone to get through. We were going to have to turn around and go the way we came in, back through the 3-4 patches we had made it through. We got stuck a couple more times, because then we were fighting to go uphill through the snow. The people stayed and coached us through every spot until we were safely on the main road (and off another way to our destination). It turns out that they trained people to drive in conditions like we were in AND they had no real destination for that evening. They were just out for a drive. We know they were the answer to our prayer.
When we did arrive at our accommodation, something was broken in the one we reserved, so they put us in another place that was even nicer than our reservation. Unfortunately, we only got to stay there one night. The rest of the week we stayed in a house on the Isle of Raasay, near Isle of Skye. It wasn't what we expected - it was pretty old and small, and it was also cold. We had to keep a fire going, which circulated warmth to the place. So Alex and the boys had to keep putting more coal in the fire. It turned out okay, but it definitely wasn't anything luxurious. The owner of the house was the parents of a friend, who let us stay in the place for free. So we were really grateful that we were able to stay there for free. To get to the Isle of Raasay did require using a ferry, which was about $30 by car. So we didn't leave very much that week.
The disadvantage of the ferry was that we weren't guaranteed to get out when we wanted to. We tried to catch the 9:00am ferry on Saturday morning, but it was full and we had to sit there and wait another hour. What was particularly unfair was that a big utility truck pulled in a couple of cars behind us, and then got to go in front of us. It took up spots for about 4 cars.
Scotland is beautiful!
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