Today we accomplished the extraordinary -- by visiting Loch Ness we checked off an item from two very different bucket lists. It's rare when the two lists share an item.
We woke up and had a nice breakfast at our hotel, Lime Tree, where The Girl and The Boy requested an extra apple to take along... We checked out the map room where we laughed about the ad that Shackleton ran in 1914. Ummm... tempting... If you return.
On our way to THE Loch we stopped by the Commando Memorial. The Boy read the wording and said, "Oh, so they had like a training camp around here before going over to war." And I explained that the phrase, "This country was their training ground..." actually means that they were raised here, that it is referring more about the training on becoming men, not just soldiers. For some reason I felt like the distinction needed to be made, to say it out loud, and so acknowledge that whatever their fate as soldiers during WWII, they had also been trained to be citizens, and sons, and comedians, and teachers, and naturalists, and poets, and ten-pin bowlers, and lovers, and so many other things... and that Scotland was proud of them for all of that. Maybe I was wrong, and there was a training field nearby, but I wanted The Boy to consider the more subtle kind of training.
And then we drove on, and finally had our first glimpse, and at the first opportunity we pulled over to give it our first serious study -- just in case somebody decided to poke her head out of the water. Where we pulled over is where the path starts, and the tickets are sold, for Urqhart Castle. We decided not to tour the castle on this trip, as our agenda is full, but we did put it on our "next time" list.
As Nessie was being coy, we went in to Drumnadrochit and visited the Loch Ness Centre. First of all, it needs to be said that just being in Drumnadrochit was important. The kids have been watching a movie for the past eight (yes, EIGHT... 8!!!) years called Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster. The Boy was gifted it on his second birthday from some family friends (who heavily influenced his childhood Scooby-Doo addiction), and he became fascinated with it. Since it's actually pretty fun, it was one of the few "children's movies" that became a part of our family's canon -- we all frequently quote lines from it. ANYWAY, there is a scene where they try to pronounce Drumnadrochit, so fortunately for me, I got to hear Fred's dippy voice in my head every time we passed a sign... but it was still cool.
In all seriousness, the Loch Ness Center is an amazing academic/critical thinking opportunity. It goes into detail about how the different theories have been disproved. Starting with a presentation on the continental drift and how eventually the collision caused the buckling (ergo the mountains) that would eventually form the glen that would eventually fill with water, etc... The fact that the Ice Age happened between the era of the dinosaurs and now means that no dinosaur could possibly be "left over." It explained what amphibians are/require, and what reptiles are/require, and what mammals are/require for survival which led to a fascinating discussion on the food-chain (i.e. for a mammal to adapt to such cold temperatures it would require an enormous protein-rich diet, and yet there are not enough large fish in the lake to support a predator of that size, etc. and so forth).
Really, it was such a cool example of how you can take a topic that kids are really into and then go through various lessons (geography, history, biology). Further, it shows how you take a hypothesis and follow it through various lines of logic via experiments/data collection. And also how data collection can be skewed. So experiments need to be able to be replicated. And how one hypothesis leads to a new hypothesis, and the scientific method continues to open new doors.
One door that was opened during all of the various studies was a core sample taken of the soil beneath the lake. It detailed a history of floods and fires and various animals and plants coming and going, but it also stood as a witness to things like Chernobyl... And it showed that as certain environmental restrictions were put into place how the lake was impacted for good.
It ended on a note not about the monster, but humans... not only the impact that man is having on the environment, but by posing the question: what it is about humans that makes us want there to be a monster in the lake?
Because my kids definitely want there to be one. I was almost afraid that the experience at the Centre would bum them out, but they actually just did what most of us do -- heard what they wanted to hear. Adrian Shine, a marine researcher who has been connected with Loch Ness for decades (and author of the book we bought today) has a great quote: "If Operation Deepscan [an enormous scientific study done about ten years ago] proved one thing, it is that you can't kill a legend with science."
I read a couple of reviews on the Centre and some people actually called it a tourist trap. Ha. Ha. Ha. These people have clearly never been to Vegas, or Niagra, or New Orleans, or... the United States.... So, as Americans, we still had a while to go before our kitch quota was filled. Per the children's request we went up the hill to NessieLand. We exceeded our quota. Here the gift shop comes first and last. Once you buy tickets to the "experience" you go through some glass doors into the most foul smelling area ever. I can only hope that it was some kind of paint or glue, and not embalming bodies. The exhibit is essentially a really big Nessie, and then a smaller one that the kids can ride, and lots of posters/"information" cards along the wall. And then the prize -- the "documentary." We walked into it late and so all burst out laughing when the narrator came on the screen -- he looked very official wearing a Heidi-inspired shirt. It got better when a male witch is shown coming to bless the monster and fight with a "scientist" who is hoping to get a swab of the monster for DNA testing... Oh. If my lumpy (decaying body parts?) seat didn't smell so much like something rotting I would have thoroughly enjoyed myself watching a movie that Christopher Guest could not have orchestrated better (and he's my idol, so this is saying A LOT). As it was, I kept trying to keep my family from laughing too hard because the couple in the front row were clearly not appreciating us.
After looping back into the gift shop (where we tried to buy the most home-made looking buttons ever for 10p, and the super nice lady at the counter not only told us that we could just have them, but she actually encouraged the kids to go and grab some more for their "mates"), we went out to the back where there's a "castle." Oh me, oh my... It's a random playhouse (think weird beds? Perhaps for playing house?) that has awesome Nessie posters. We stayed long enough for me to take pictures of the posters, and then we quickly ran through the play yard out in the back, and straight to our car.
We had one final thing to do.
They fed the Loch Ness monster.
Maybe that need that was talked about at the Centre is just being needed. Deep down we know that in order for a monster to survive, we have to believe in it. We know that it's by feeding them (feeding into it) that they survive... So their survival depends on us -- which is a powerful feeling. Like Cheap Trick sings, we need to be needed.
Having now "done" the two attractions, we did decide that "next time" we would like to take a a boat tour and perhaps pack a lunch to enjoy... while sitting and watching... and perhaps every now and again we'll toss something in...
Bucket lists lighter, we had to move on, as we had some sheepherding to see. First we stopped by for a fast lunch, heavily subsidized by a truly grotesque amount of packaged treats from Tesco (pastries, cookies, Jaffa cakes, etc.). While driving to our next stop The Boy kept unrolling his window and we kept squawking at him. Finally he said, "You can put on a coat, but it's not very often I get to breathe Scottish air."
The next stop was in Cairngorms National Park to see the reindeer. There is a herd that you van visit and feed with a herder. Unfortunately, we didn't have the two hours that that takes, what we were able to do was see the reindeer that were in the paddock. Every couple of weeks they rotate a few deer into the paddock behind the small visitors center for people to see close up. It was pretty cool. Next time we will go up and feed the herd. We learned that May is the month to come, as that is the month when reindeer have their babies.
It was a race against the clock to get to the 4pm demonstration of sheep dogs with Neil Ross. So sad! For some reason it was canceled today. Next time. Next time we are also going on the ranger-led tour of the "hairy coos" (the highland cattle -- those cows with the awesome hair do's). We actually haven't seen that many hairy coos for some reason on this trip. In the past I felt like they were plentiful. We have had a good time referring to all cows as coos. And we pulled over for the children to take more pictures of the sheep. We are like the tourists in Central Park stopping to take pictures of every freakin' squirrel.
Eleven years ago The Dad and I were in Scotland and we were being all crazy and hadn't made reservations for one night. It was pouring rain and there was NOTHING available. We went on for village after town after village looking for something. Finally, in Pitlochry, we followed a sign up a curving road and arrived at Atholl Palace. In the driving rain, dead tired, in the wee hours of the morning it felt like we were checking in to the Scottish version of the Shining Hotel. An attendant took us up the strangely small lift, to a hallway that seemed out of proportion (there was renovating going on, so furniture was strangely piled) and into a room that was wonky (perhaps because of the renovation?). We were tweaked out, but too tired to do anything but pass out on our respective twin beds that were at strange angles to each other. We woke up the next morning and found out that the storm had been pretty major and had caused a lot of damage, and we were actually in a charming place. Everything looks different in the sunshine. Today we told the offspring and The Sister our story and drove them to Atholl Palace (to use the restrooms). The kids suggested we stay there next time. The Dad and I agreed, but laughed nervously...
We really, really try to get as much nature as possible into our trips. The Dad is good about planning excursions. Our next stop was the Hermitage where we took a short hike to see Ossian's Hall, and the bridge. The Hermitage is one of the oldest tourist attractions in Scotland, being a stopping point on the grand Scottish tour. Wordsworth, Turner, and Mendelssohn all walked the same paths that we did.
We saw one of the tallest trees in the UK. A Douglas fir that was introduced to Britain from North America by a Scot (David Douglas). The species was first planted at the Hermitage in 1860 (34 years after being brought across the pond).
And we saw a black slug that The Boy first scooted out of harms way (i.e. the middle of the path), then photographed, then christened Black Licorice.
We tried to make another stop (the Macbeth Tree -- The Birnam Oak), but we couldn't find the path, and when I tried to dump some garbage I ended up having to chase down some stray pieces of paper, and the kids were calling me Mr. Bean... Anyway, it wasn't in the cards. Next time.
It was time to head into Edinburgh, where we are staying tonight and exploring tomorrow. I'm thinking that if you are part of the cult of So I Married an Axe Murderer you can't come to Scotland and not order KFC. Because of the colonel's wee bitty eyes... that make yeh crrrave it fortnightly. We had a really hard time ordering at the drive-thru (some accent issues) and we cracked up so badly I was ashamed and had to bury my nose in a book before we pulled up to the window.
We have done a lot of driving so far. I wish I could capture what we see out of our windows. I understand why the driving tours were so popular. I tried to capture the cute streets with stone buildings, and the green fields dotted with sheep, but all attempts were a flop. The Boy was also trying to do the same and at one point said, "Geez. I'm like the Keystone Cops with my camera."
We came into the city listening to BBC Scotland. The guest session featured a new band -- Delta Mainline -- and what they played in the studio sounded cool. Echo and the Bunnymen-esque...
It made me think about how at the end of the 90's The Dad and I drove into London quite late one night. We were listening to the BBC and someone was saying that there was some buzz about a new writer, and someone had had the audacity to say that she could be as big as Roald Dahl. Chuckling into the microphone. A few weeks later at a bookstore I saw a couple of books sitting on a small round table, and remembering the comments on the radio decided to buy them. Harry Potter. Perhaps next time we come Delta Mainline will be some major band...
Next time. This is how we travel. We buzz along and grab, grab, grab, and then time plays out and the next time around we get another layer. It's tiring, but each night as I type up these entries (in the past I would scribble in journals) I feel grateful to know that there will always be things to do and see. It adds purpose. I guess that might be why Shackleton knew he would get some takers.
