Invergordon, Scotland

After a wonderful, lazy, restful day at sea, our last 2 stops in Scotland were sure to be wonderful. Since Jen is still sleeping, I decided to write today's posting.


Our first stop was a quiet, sleepy town called Invergordon. It is at the mouth of the River Ness. You guessed it!!! We are close to Loch Ness. However, we did not go and visit Nessie since many of the would-be tourists were flocking to the famous loch. So we decided to stay in town and just roam peacefully. Unlike the huge metropolis of Glasgow at 1.5 million people, Invergordon has about 5 streets and a population of 4200. We stopped by the museum, which outlined the history of the area and its role in WWII and the oil boom. There are still several oil derricks in the bay and several oil tanks on land. It leads us to believe that the area is very rich in the industry and still produces a fair amount. As we walked down the main street and to the outskirts of town, it was so nice not to dodge people, wrestle with the autos, and be on sensory overload. We stopped to take pictures of Jen's foliage. We also got the puppy fix when we were approached by a very friendly 11-year-old shepard, whose owner proceeded to tell about the area and our next stop. We located a wee little church and several wee little shops before heading back to the ship. This is certainly the type of town that we would love to live, as long it was close to a major area, such as Edinburgh.
We have noticed many things so far on this trip. The most obvious is the traffic driving on the wrong side. But that was a given. The one thing that stands out is the lack of fast food restaurants on every corner. In Bakersfield, for example, there are a minimum of 14 fast food restaurants within a 1-mile radius of my work. I don't think I have counted 14 on this entire trip. The point is the America is really a fast food nation. There are very few petrol stations. There is not one on every corner either. It seems that they are only spread about severals few kilometers apart. Again, Americans are so reliant on their autos. Anyway, there are so many stark differences that shows why many nations think we are so wasteful.


Anyway, onward to Edinburgh. We are looking forward to this city rich in Scottish history.