Day 3

I woke up excited to take a run this morning, but was a little disappointed to be greeted with a driving rain. I decided not to let that deter me, so I laced up my trainers and hit the streets of Oban. This was a helpful way to quickly get the lay of the land.

Amanda and I had a lovely breakfast where we both had yogurt, fruit, and granola to start. We continued with scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. It was a great way to start the day.

We then set out to explore Oban together and do some shopping. i really wanted to get a sweater while here and I found a few candidates out of the many choices. I have been told that I'm not ready for a plaid deerstocker cap, but I know that my day will come eventually. I also saw a couple of great tweed jackets, but not £350 great.

After shopping we went back to our room to gather our stuff and get ready for a scenic drive. We spent 10 miles on a one-lane road along a raging river. We didn't see very many other folks on the road either, which was nice. After that we got lunch at an inn that was highly-recommended on TripAdvisor. It did not disappoint.

We continued our scenic drive back home and then walked back in to town to finish up our shopping. I did commit to a nice fleece-lined cardigan sweater. We also made reservations for kayaking on Wednesday. After that we went to check out a place for Amanda's benefit - Aldi. If it was not in a glass jar I certainly would have picked up some lemon marmalade for 95p. We did get some goodies that would be considered premier in the States, but they are just food at Aldi. We only wish that clotted cream would keep on the plane ride.

Finally, we went back out on the town for dinner. Amanda had fish & chips while I had fried squid. Both were good. We stopped at a restaurant/pub for dessert. Amanda had chocolate cake and I had sticky toffee. Again, both were excellent.

The weather today was, well, authentic. It was in the low 50s and it rained off and on all day. The rain here is like the rain you get in the mountains. It is not a driving rain with big nasty drops, but rather it is a mist of varying intensity. As I look out the window I see it is back to intense mist. We did see a tiny patch of blue sky when we walked to dinner, but that was it. We are undeterred though. If we wanted sunshine we would have taken another cruise. Instead we got to see some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. A little rain/mist can't spoil that!