07 Jun 1985, Posted by Scott An Chora in Travelogue, No Comments.

06/07 Inverness, Scotland

We took a tour bus around the lock, walked along the water’s edge, waited and watched but never did see a sea monster.  I took off my shoes along its edge and waded ankle deep, for only seconds.  To a California boy this was cold.  One old man told me that this sea monster stuff had a lot to do with how much whiskey was drunk, but that didn’t help either.  But do I love good Scotch.  It echoes through like the character of the local ‘usquebac’ which is Gaelic for ‘the water of life’.  Time is truly its partner.  Clouds began to gather overhead and turned the sky into a gray but as of yet, still we’ve seen no rain.

It was time for us to move from rail to wheel.  We loaded up a car with the necessary ingredients to suffice for a day or two.  Bread, luncheon meats, fruit, beer and once packed we then headed out west toward the countryside.  This is what I’ve been waiting for, a different type of freedom.  I really needed to grab hold of a wheel and take control.  It’s wasn’t just the control I was seeking but the ability to pass through and experience the remote places and people removed from large city squares and the veins of tourism.

Out came our roadmap of antiquity and our plan was to track each of them down to see what gave then notoriety.  I figure having destination like these should give us the opportunity to trek in areas we might have ignored.  “Good thing I’m driving” I thought to myself.  Well that feeling lasted for about a mile before a small curb got in my way and I destroyed our right front tire.  Got out of the roadway and was forced to jack up the car.  Not a good first step but it did slow us down a bit which might have been a good thing in the long run.