Today, we did a first for Amy. She drove the rental car onto the ferry to the Isle of Arran, off Scotland’s west coast . It’s tricker than it seems, especially when the guys guiding you on get impatient and you’re driving on the wrong side of everything! But she did great. It was raining, so the pictures aren’t that great, but I have a funny video.

When we landed on Arran at Brodick, where we’re staying, we had a little time to kill, so we went shopping on the high street. Yes, we bought things. I’m coming home with a Scottish Gardens 2020 calendar and a new purse backpack, a gift from Amy, Amy bought some lovely sweaters, and DeAnna found several things, including a cute blouse. Oh, and I had to buy a pair of gloves, because I forgot mine.

It was good that I had the gloves because they kept my hands warm even when they got wet. We’d planned to go see Brodick Castle this afternoon, but by the time our self-catering flat was ready, we’d unloaded and shopped and had lunch, it was getting late, and the castle was only going to be open another half hour. It was a bit pricey for so little time, as the kind woman at the gate warned us, so we decided to skip the castle and try to find a spot we’d heard about and seen pictures of, Glen Rosa Falls.

After some U-turns and a little cursing at SatNav, we found the cart track to the parking area. It was raining steadily, but we had rain jackets and good boots and shoes. We thought we’d be fine. There were lots of other hikers returning from their hikes up the river or up on Goatfell, and we asked some knowledgeable-looking men about tge falls. They didn’t have a clue. But we were sure, so we set off on the muddy track in the only direction we could go. We’d gone about a half-mile when we met another couple of returning hikers who told us we were on the right path, and we were about a mile away. We’d been enjoying a lovely meander up to that point, photographing wild bluebells, foxglove, flowering trees, shrubs, berries, moss, ferns, lichen, rocks, the river, the mountain, pretty much everything in sight, and getting soaked. I mean WET.

So, a mile farther. DeAnna said, “Hey, we’ve come this far, and we’re already wet. We might as well go on.” And we were so glad we did, although we were thoroughly soggy, actually dripping, when we made it back to the car, and the flat is draped with half-dried jackets, jeans, hats, gloves, and boots. We hope they’re dried by morning, because we plan another hike to Machrie Moor stone circles. It’ll be about the same length, maybe a bit shorter than the one today. I had my walking sticks, and they helped me do three miles today, which is really good for me. My knee is telling me about it, and my neck aches from the pull of my  sodden backpack, but my back is no worse than usual.

Rain is forecast for tomorrow.  But we are getting a real taste of Scotland, and we love it. The destination of our hike in the rain today, Glen Rosa Falls, was worth the drenching

I still haven’t figured out how to post photos from my phone here, so there will be some on my Jean L. French Facebook page in the comments of the link to the blog post.