Heading North
3:24 AM
After two quiet weeks painting fences and hanging out with cows in Largoward, we piled in the car with our hosts to stay the next four days with them in their renovation house in Helmsdale. Scotland has already proven itself to be cold, so I wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of heading even more north. Five more hours north into the highlands, precisely. But we go where the wind takes us, or rather the car this time. So we packed our bags and jumped in the car for some scenic countryside views.
On the way up we pulled off for ten minutes to check out the remains of some old military barracks. I can't quite remember how long this structure had been around, but had clearly been used long enough for the roof and most of the walls to disappear. It was no surprise really, with how windy it was there. Thankfully we had some very helpful signs to let us know what area was used for what. Apparently the man in charge of these barracks was pretty gnarly, with one legend being that he met his demise after playing a game of chess with the devil.
Driving through Scotland really opens your eyes to how much rural space there is. Sure there were houses scattered throughout the country, but they do quite of nice job of clumping together. It leaves a lot of wildnerness and wild space between civilization, which we were told makes for some excellent camping.
The house that we arrived to in Scotland is the very definition of renovation. Our hosts, Rebecca and Jon, bought it a few months ago and have already spent some time cleaning out the junk from the backyard and the house. We were appalled by the amount of pure garbage that the previous owners had left when we arrived, which was apparently not even the half of it. I can't even imagine a time or place where I would ever walk into my backyard and throw trash right on the ground. Shout out to Helen and Stuart, who also had to deal with this mentality when they bought their house in Tuscany. Maybe all these terrible house owners have a convention somewhere to share ideas?
Helmsdale proved to be a bit wearing for us. Since the house is very much under renovation (Zach literally installed the toilet the night we got there), we slept in tents on cots in a little room with very little insulation and no heat. It was truly camping in a house and if you can remember to our time camping in upstate New York, we are generally never very well prepared for it. So the nights were fairly cold and uncomfortable and mostly spent waiting for the morning when we could try and warm ourselves in the sunlight. Thankfully the walking paths around Helmsdale were beautiful, so we had some nice scenery to distract us during the day.
Winry loved these walks. She'd spend the whole time running far up the path, then back to us, then back up the path in an infinite back and forth at full sprint each time. I figured by the end that she must have doubled the distance that we walked by running around like this. It was yet another moment that reminded us that we couldn't have done this trip without her. She always knows how to have fun even after a sleepless night and her energy is simply contagious, at least it was until we got back to the house when she was passed out for the rest of the night!
Until part two,
H W Z
2 comments
Wow that sounds & looks cold. Stunning scenery though. Can definitely sympathise with the rubbish being left behind. Love the idea of terrible previous house owners having a convention somewhere - I'd like to gate crash and tell them a thing or two :-) Tried Marmite again yet? Eating marmite is meant to be great for keeping biting insects at bay, although it doesn't look like any of you have much skin exposed in those temperatures! Safe travels, love to you all x
ReplyDeleteI'd gladly help you crash it. Maybe we can bring them boxes and teach them about organization?
DeleteWe're in York now and buying our own food, so i'll keep an eye out for marmite to try again :) I suppose Stuart was right about the Haggis, so we have to trust you guys on this one too...