Adventures of Thor Braxwood: Scotland - Is Big Foot visiting the Loch Ness monster?

Since Scotland is known for the Loch Ness Monster, I decided that it would be reasonable that Big Foot would want to meet that cryptid and perhaps pick up some advice on laying low and evading detection. So off to Scotland I went.

I toured the Highlands and was distracted by the beauty of the place, as there were many rivers and waterfalls and the natural environment was stunning. I managed to find a few castles and cathedrals to tour which was fortunate. The Cawdor Castle and Gardens were stunning and really well maintained. There was no sign of Big Foot but the person responsible for the signs in the rooms of the castle has a great sense of humor and wit. I tried to take some pictures but they didn't quite turn out but the level of sassiness was right in my ballpark.

Cawdor Castle

Cawdor Castle looking good

Natural path at Cawdor

Cool landscaping

Yet another church

The Black River

I was staying in Inverness which was a lovely city and went down to Loch Ness to see what could be seen. Again saw castle ruins on the shore which was destroyed in some rebellion or another. Clearly there is also a lot of history just underfoot but has been buried or is just not recognized. The history of the world is far more complex than most realize for sure as we only have fragments of what was and not a true record. I wonder in 8000 years if someone dug up our civilization if they would have a true picture. Hell, I am living in it and I am clueless.

Loch Ness

Loch Ness is an interesting body of water. It is really long and deep but not particularly wide. It feels more like a river to me but I am not the arbiter of such things. There was no sign of Big Foot or "Nessie". Frankly after reading the aforementioned signs at the castle and seeing other elements of Scottish humor, it may be feasible that the famous picture of the Loch Ness Monster was actually a prank. This of course would not be true of Big Foot who has many TV shows and an upcoming movie and in no way could not be real.

After Inverness it was off to the Isle of Skye with a brief stop off at various waterfalls and rivers for a hike. I also checked out Attadale Gardens knowing Big Foot's fondness for botanical gardens. It was quite lovely even in the rain but he/she was not to be found.

The Isle of Skye was beautiful and parts of it extremely remote. I managed to go geocaching and placed a free drink token from John's Main Event in Burlington, WI. Hopefully someone uses it. I stayed in a modern version of a shepherd's hut. It had electricity and water so it was quite luxurious. This was down a long (over 5 miles) single lane road that had sheep grazing across it. The sheep would just step in front of the car if they felt like it but the bigger hazard were the local drivers who thought they were on a rally route and tried to go 60 mph. Thankfully ever few hundred feet there was a space that allowed two cars to pass but one would stop. The trick was when you saw an oncoming car, you would speed up to see who would get to the passing space the quickest. Needless to say, I missed two lane roads with shoulders. In a massive coincidence, there was a little tea and cake shop about a quarter of mile further down the "road". This was the only place around for miles and there was no cellular coverage (at least for the two difference services I tried). The name of the shop was Amy's place. The couple running it named it after their daughter who had passed away early from Lupus. The color for Lupus is purple which is the color they painted their shop. Again coincidently, purple is the color for pancreatic cancer which is what took our Amy away from us too early. If you are in the area, check them out https://www.amys-tearoom-torrin.com/

Shephard's Hut

"Road"

Overly aggressive chickens. I ate their relatives in retribution.

Amy's Place

I did record a video of me driving on the road but it turned out to be expletive filled and not family-friendly. After a few days soaking up the "sunshine" of the highlands it was time to head to the cities. As a side note, the sun set after 10pm and was up around 4am. It seemed dark for only a few hours at night so I missed my opportunity for star gazing as I generally try to sleep at some point in my day.

Glasgow was a really cool city and the museums were excellent. All were free which was an exciting change of pace from nearly everything else I visited. I enjoyed walking around but there was no sign of Big Foot anywhere - not even at the hipster coffee shop I stopped in where I was able to get avocado toast and a proper pour over coffee. I tried to visit as many pubs as I could to see if I could catch the creature but alas.

University of Glasgow

William Wallace

Enjoying a local beverage in the castle house I stayed in.

Edinburgh was my final destination and looked promising as an opportunity to catch up my prey. It appeared that all of Europe was on holiday at the same time wandering around the castle of Edinburgh. I loved checking out the shops and people watching along with the national museum. No Big Foot but plenty of interesting history. Plus free admission so make sure you go and spend a few hours. The self guided tour or Edinburgh castle was very nice but pretty crowded. I even got to see where Scottish military prisoners were kept and also where prisoners of the American Revolution were kept (mostly sailors). The French and Spanish prisoners were treated quite well as noticed by the English tourists. They failed to notice the American prisoners were treated like common criminals and given only water and a little bread, This was due to the thought that they were petty criminals - much like the Irish republicans in the 20th century. At least there is consistency?