Hassells in the Highlands

Inverness. It's a large city. To get to Thurso, we had to fly into Inverness and then drive the rest of the way. There are other options: train or bus. It is only 119 miles away, but it took us 3 hours to drive it. That seems like a lot of time, you say. Well,...the roads. They are mostly 2 lanes (one each direction) with no shoulders. And I am sure the lanes are smaller than what they are in the US. Mike actually is driving 60 mph most of the way. But I guess there is something about all those curves. Not quite "The Road to Hana," but curvy. And, I have to admit, we found a nice little coffee shop that offers all kinds of homemade baked goods to go along with their wonderful coffee, which just happens to be at a public parking lot. So, we made a 20 minute stop. (Actually, we discovered it on the way up last week, so we sort of planned to stop on the way down). We needed to drive to Inverness this weekend for a couple of reasons. 1. We needed to return the rental ...

Well, after one week "in-country" I must admit that this is more of an adventure for me than a challenge, although I have had my share of challenges - mainly logistical issues (getting a lease signed, buying a car, applying for shipping numbers, etc.). Country and people are beautiful - love the accents. Getting the brain wired to discern what I just heard is a blast.  Especially love hearing locals tell me (and Jodi) that we have strong accents - sounds pretty plain to me. 😁  Have had several tell me they knew I was from the Pacific Northwest from my accent.  Who knew we had a PNW accent??  North East I get, South I get, Texas I get, but NorthWest - who knew? I miss Home Depot - the local stores have a tiny (or is it a "wee") shelf for the handyman.  If you need more, then you need to go to the - pick one: plumbing store, electric store, computer store - oh wait, we don't have a computer store...had to drive 20 miles to another town to find a printer/scann...