Highland Games

Saturday, August 26th! we drove to Drummadrocht for their Highland Games. It reminded me of our Peach Days or a county fair back home. 

Here's their welcoming flag.

Carnival type games set up for the kiddo's. 

In the morning they began with the kids races. 

They started with the younger kids and moved up in ages.  

They also had pole vaults. I had fun watching that one. Again they started with the younger kids and moved up to the older ones.  

When grew tired of watching the kids sports we walked around to the many different booths. 

This was a contest you could play for a pound.

It was to see how long you could hold this log out in front of you with your arms straight. After just a short time like 10-15 seconds some peoples arms would start to shake. It was fun to watch.  

This one was for kids called the Haggis Basher. The lady would drop a stuffed animal looking rat down the pipe. The child was then suppose to try to hit the rat falling out of the pipe before it landed on the ground.  

Fishing for ducks. Kids were suppose to try to "pick" a duck using the chopstick looking things. The number on the bottom of the duck would determine what prize they won.  

This sweet lady was selling her potted plants. She had all sorts of flowers and other green shrubbery for gardens. She grew them all from seed. I loved her accent!

Free entertainment. 

For lunch we stopped at the Strawberry vendor and grabbed 2 plates of waffles with fresh strawberries. Super yummy! 

We got tired of the kids sports so decided to walk into town and visit the Loch Ness Museum. We passed this house with recycled art. 

I got a kick out of this sign.

Not exactly sure what that's suppose to mean.

I love the story of the Loch Ness Monster, Nessie. 

This was a real submarine that was used trying to find Nessie back in the day.  

 The exhibit is something that we walked through.  Each room was dark and would play a little video about that specific subject relating to the Loch Ness Monster. When it was over you'd walk to the next room and so on. 

Is Nessie a pre-historic water dinosaur? 

Some of the rooms we moved through had different machines on display that had been used trying to find Nessie over the years.  

Near the end scientists tried to explain why they had originally thought Nessie was a real monster but after years and years of research why they now think Nessie is just a myth. 

One wall had over 30 testimonies of eye witnesses who have claimed to have seen Nessie. There were pictures taken of Nessie before photoshop was around. Scientists have tried to explained how the shape of Nessie is seen in these photos but "probably" aren't Nessie. Thy claim the angle of the camera in the right light using the shadows over head of trees or birds and a stick floating on top of the water is portrayed as a monster in the water. Hmmmmm..... I don't know! It looked like Nessie to me! At the very end of the exhibit you are asked, Do you believe in Nessie the Loch Ness Monster?

Brayden would have loved, loved, loved this museum!

After the exhibit we wandered back to the games. The adults were finally having their turn!

Oh how I wish remember how much they said these log poles weighed! 

There were some "big, buff" men participating. You could see them straining to not only pick up the log but balance it enough to throw it without dropping it first. It was amazing to watch! 

I think this was the hammer throw but it's a metal ball that weighs about 20lbs. Whomever throws it the farthest is the winner!

Soon it was time to go. It was about 3 in the afternoon and we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us to our hotel. 

On our way out we passed a dancing group of little girls dancing to the bag pipe.  

 Hanna stopped and asked for a picture of these 2 that were fully dressed in their Scottish heritage.

This group reminded me of a marching band. Marching along while playing their bagpipes.  

Before leaving I thought to snap a picture real quick of the rear view mirrors. 

There are 2 of them! Freakn' genius, you could see everything!

We had some pretty narrow roads to drive to our hotel for the night. 

Lots of greenery to stare at to pass the time. 

We brought snacks for our trip.

Flat Peaches. Hmmmmm.... They were just o.k. Not very flavorful or juicy. 

 They didn't seem to be very ripe. I would have loved to try one in it's season!

Just like fruit by foot at home!

No matter where you are at or what country you are driving in it's no fun to get "stuck" behind farm equipment. 

Here we are driving down the hwy going 60+ when in the middle of no where pops up a "Cycle Crossing" sign. There was not an adjacent road or even a visible road in sight. No house or business place anywhere. Just all of a sudden there was a sidewalk with the sign. Then just as quickly it was gone. 

We stayed the night in Onich.

Passed the family of scarecrows painted onto someones wooden fence. 

Our hotel was old. A bit dirty and grungy looking. I just kept telling myself the sheets were clean. 

Mom saw a rat out her window running across the sidewalk. That next morning we learned Hanna saw one in the hallway! Glad we were only here for one night!

It did however, have a pretty view of another Loch Ness.

For dinner we drove into the nearest town and walked their streets. 

We passed a church with a little red fence. Most of the churches have a small cemetery on its grounds.   

An ice cream store. 

The one and only picture taken of me and turns out blurry. 

Ughh... 

And a candy store filled with all sorts of treats! 

It was a long day but a good day.