A good sleep after amazing music immersion over the weekend before we headed north again to resume our original Scottish highlands adventures. A much easier drive than the way down both due to leaving earlier in the day and also the weather being much more conducive to easy driving. One of our favourite signs are ones that simply say "the North". We resisted the temptation for a side detour to Hadrian's Wall but did think of it as we passed Carlisle.

We did like the feel of open space as we entered Scotland and some nice churches and castles were visible from the motorway, along with plenty of drystone walls and heather/brush hedges on properties. Once well into Scotland and the motorways ended, moving onto the A9 coincided with a drop in speed, single lane highways and more scenery. Driving through the Penines and then the Cairngorns was really pretty. We'd had some sleet earlier in the day, but with temperatures at 2-3C, most of the precipitation was light rain. That said, there was a LOT of snow around, right up to the roadside...a little unexpected but still remnants of the big dump from Storm Eowyn last week. Lots and lots of evidence of tree loss and we were sad to hear that up to 150 trees in Edinburgh's botanic gardens, some of which were over 100 years old have been lost in the storm.

Anyway, we made good time and also picked up our third hire car (this time the change due to our second car being overdue for a service. Oh well, this one seems like a good one. Tomorrow, exploring the Inverness area and maybe some shopping in the mix :)