Hassells in the Highlands

It was Friday, two weeks ago, and we realized we had no plans for the weekend. The next weekend we would be staying in town because that Saturday would be the Highland Games in Halkirk and we absolutely had to go to that. I expected it to be THE Scottish event and not to be missed. So we thought we should “do something.” But what? Frankly, I was not feeling inspired. beach just before Durness I rifled through a wonderful travel book of Scotland that my friend Jenn gave me before leaving WA to see what might be nearby. And a little trip caught my eye. I love the way the book puts it - “though it’s tough to tear yourself away from the coast, we recommend plunging   down the A897 just east of Melvich.” There, we would find an exhibit on the peat bogs. So should we make it just an afternoon trip or part of a bigger trip? That was the question.  I lazily glanced through a copy of the “North Coast 500” paper looking for inspiration and an ad for a B&B in Ull...

  Durness.  It is a small but picturesque town on the west coast in Northern Scotland. Mike made a trip there when he was here for a week in March. And he brought back pictures of fabulous hot chocolate and a very cool cave. So, it being a weekend with no other plans, and wanting to take advantage of the time we have here, we decided to make a road trip.  It is 71 miles from Thurso to Durness. It took 2 hours to drive it. Here is why. Two lanes about half the way to Durness. Then one lane, with no road markings at all, but with "passing places" the rest of the way. ("Passing places" are a little wider area on the side of the road- sometimes hardly noticeable without the sign telling you so).  Now, granted, there were "passing places" quite often on the road. But the thing is, the road is windy - there are curves the whole way. Every once in a while, you can get up some speed (50 mph) but you quickly have to slow down either because ...