This trip however was meant for us to just enjoy our time together as mother and daughter and for me to begin that OH so hard transition from " Mothering to Mentoring". I've been so blessed with our kids. As a Mom, they have always been good to me and have always talked to me. Ofcourse, there are always times in their life and mine when we aren't as connected as we should be but truly there are few of them, thank the Lord.
I really wanted Kayla to have full control over this trip and so she did - there were times that she got tired of making all the decisions. At one time in our trip she said, Mom you make the decision, I'm tired of always making them! I had to smile and say, Yeah it can be tiring can't it!
We laughed so hard and we cried... thank goodness the laughing happened together and the crying was on alternating days. :) When she was hurting I was her cheer leader and when I was hurting she was mine. I did learn something about us though! When she is hurting she is willing to take a hand and be helped along. I on the other hand am not so willing! However, Kay realized I needed to be alone and she allowed me to press on - and when I would get through the tough section she would turn around and cheer me on, only to continue on the trail.
Now some of you are probably thinking, what would make you both cry?
The West Highland Way! This is a 95 mile hike that trails across portions of Scotland. It's a must do hike if you love the outdoors and love to hike. Now mind, we had a year to prepare. I read all I could on the hike and NO one mentioned that it was difficult or hilly or mountainous- continuiously. In all that I read it only said, Easy to Moderate! Mind you - 95 miles is nothing to take lightly but I had been hiking before and was in good shape. What I wasn't prepared for was the heavy pack on my back which added to the weight on my knees. I realized something that I had not known - I officially have BAD knees!
Anyway, 27 miles later in 2 days.. I couldn't hardly walk. It took almost 4 days for my knees to recover. I had to end the hike. It was hard to swallow but I just couldn't do another day of that and the next day was a 21 miler....
So we headed out to the end destination where we had planned to rent a car for the last leg of our trip. Now we would have more time and would be able to take our time.
Here are some pictures of the amazing sunset that we had the opportunity to see. Well, I saw it lying down. Then we headed to Fort William - but along the way we had heard about the "Drovers Inn" an old pub that was a MUST SEE! It has been kept just as it was when it first opened back in 1704. Mind you that is pretty stinkin old! We took a bus and it literally dropped us off right across the street.
It was a cool place and we were both in awe of the age and how well preserved it was. Walking in the doors you could just imagine stepping back in time. Yes, everyone was wearing kilts and spoke with such cool accents! :)
Then we had to stand and wait for the bus to come through and pick us up to continue on our way to Fort William. It was suppose to arrive at 1pm and it wasn't until almost 3pm. We were so tired and our bodies didn't want to carry those backpacks. We had bruises on our shoulders, hips and well, plenty of blisters. Kay had 21 just after 2 days! Ouch!
We finally arrived to Fort William and had to find a place to sleep. We walked around and decided on one place. We couldn't believe our eyes - but it was located at the top of a very steep hill. We laughed and thought, Oh my gosh, another hill! Going up wasn't as bad as coming down. UGH!
So, enough of my rambling for now! Here are a few more pictures of our adventure.
