New Jersey Mom Happy to Report a Tale of an Exciting Trip to Scotland

Hi, my name is Linda Shute from New Jersey and I'dLoch Ness has many moods from the sultry to the
like to tell you about my exciting trip to Scotland andserene. Strange currents move across and below the
"The Highlands". My hunger to travel to far awaysurface and even sturgeon have been known to swim
places has not diminished as I have grow older I stillacross the loch.
enjoy far away places and like to meet the folks whoThe waters are so black from the depth and pitch it's
live there. Being an avid horse enthusiast, and ridinghard find anything even on sonar, so who knows what
since childhood, I like to combine these two pleasurespeople have seen or not seen. You have to make up
whenever I can.your own mind whether Nessie swims freely through
One day while browsing my new travel cataloguethose dark waters or not.
from Equitours, (they offer worldwide riding holidays), INext it was onward to Aberdeen to return the car and
found a trip to Scotland that I just couldn't pass up. Igo to the stables for my horseback part of the trip
phoned them and booked the horseback trip andwhich was stationed out of a small town called
extended the trip to include a week of traveling viaTomintoul in the Highlands.
rental car and stay at Bed-and-Breakfast homes.I stayed at the same hotel for the week and the
This would ensure I would get off the beaten path tohorseback tours headed out in a different direction
meet the local people and just maybe get a glimpse ofeach day and lasted about 5 to 6 hours. I found
the Loch Ness Monster.Tomintoul to be a sleepy little town with not much
Unlike the trip I took to Ireland, first I did the horsebackaction you could say they rolled up the sidewalks at
trip and then traveled on my own in a rental car.dusk.
This time I drove around first, then did the horsebackOn this trip there were three other riders from England
trip.and one other lady from the US.
Off to the travel agent I went with checkbook in hand.For the week we were all suppose to ride the
I paid for the airline tickets and booked the rental carHighland ponies. This I did not like at all. I found them to
and picked up the Bed-and-Breakfast information. Ibe slow and pokey with not much get up a go spirit.
flew into Glasgow, rented a car and headed eastAt the end of the day my legs were so tired from the
towards Edinburgh.constant urging on of this animal I was miserable. I
After getting lost and found several times in this city, Icomplained so much they finally let me go out into the
finally found my destination castle.pasture and pick another mount.
I took a tour of Edinburgh Castle. This was aI chose a high-spirited half Arabian mare for the rest of
breath-taking experience in two ways: the shearthe week and I was very happy with her.
beauty of the place and It was a huge, very steep hill, IOne of our day trips was to the Glenlivet Distillery
had to walk up to get to the castle.where we tied our mounts to the fence and wet inside
Once at the entrance, I asked the guard who was thefor the tour and taste test.
big bronze statue of and he replied "William Wallace,I'm not usually much of a straight whiskey drinker but
he is similar to your George Washington in theon this day I made an exception. Needless to say the
Americans fight for freedom".ride home was very interesting. Most days where
After the tour of the castle and a peek at the crownspent on trails through the hills and crossing streams or
jewels it was a much easier trek downhill to the car.forest.
I headed northwest towards Stirling then on to FortThe Heather was not in bloom when I was there and
William and Loch Ness. I spent a day and a night inthis was a bit disappointing, I could see that the hillsides
Fort William browsing old museums, enjoying a lovelywould be blazing with color just a few weeks after
dinner, complete with local folk musicians and dancers.my departure. On our last day in Tomintoul were taken
In the morning I was off to Loch Ness and in search ofto a nearby town and to watch the one and only
the mystery monster.Highland Games I have ever seen.
Loch Ness is a really huge lake 22 miles long withThey started out with a parade of horse drawn
waters as black as pitch, in its deepest parts it's saidcarriages, bagpipers and all the competitors walking
to be about 700 feet.behind them all were dressed in Kilts.
I learned that the legend of 'Nessie' the monster datesThey had dancing, log throwing, tossing the caber, tug
back to 565 AD. I visited the Loch Ness museum andof war, and other contest I have know idea what the
found some very interesting information. Sonarname of it would be it was not like anything I had ever
surveys of the loch using the latest equipment haveseen before. Everything was more of a Medieval type
failed to find any conclusive evidence of Nessieatmosphere.
existence, but neither have they proved that sheAt last much to my dismay, my vacation has come to
doesn't exist.an end and I must return to New Jersey.