Tim's Live Journal

Woke up at 4:30am. Decided to start day off early, and leave Glasgow for Oban. Asked directions from old man behind counter. Took him a while to figure things out, and left unsatisfactory answer. Got computer from car to look up on internet. Left key in room and locked myself out. Old man couldn't find spare key for my room. Told me to wait until receptionist arrived at 7AM. Waited in cafe and ordered breakfast. Sausage, potato scones (cornmeal and flat), egg, and burnt wheat bread. Receptionist arrives and can't find key. I had to wait till the cleaning staff came in at 9. Killed 2 hours by eating more from the buffet and taking a walk. Started on side of road. Walked aimlessly through a forest with tire wheels placed in piles in random areas. Ended up in private golf club and returning to hotel in roundabout fashion.

Got keys. Waitress let me top off a cup of coffee for the road. Bought water. Stopped by a small town called Luss on the way to Oban. Allergies killing me. Took photos of beautiful shoreline vista on the pier. Went back to grab tripod so that I could take some HDR images, but found mount missing after returning to the shore. Spent some time in historic church surrounded by ancient gravestones. Oldest gravestone was from 5th century, looked like a cement tire sunk into the earth with cyrillic etchings. Went to cozy coffee shop with waiters wearing kilts as uniforms. Had latte and scone served with cream, butter, and strawberry jam. Read a couple of chapters of novel from Kindle.

Started to rain as I left, but still gross humidity. Road to Oban was extremely scary at times. Blind corners around every turn, single tracks, narrow 2-way tracks for 30-40 miles. Still not used to driving on the right side of the car. Hit the curb periodically. Distance from left side of car hard to gauge. Had to make a couple of stops to de-stress -one at a historic hydro-electric plant established in 1950, another at Drover's Inn, one of the oldest pubs in Scotland. Almost every wall had ancient stuffed animal carcasses. Decided not to eat there. Back on the road I started to fall asleep at wheel. Played loud hip-hop music piped from nano to stay awake.

Get into town and drive around in circles trying to find a place to park. The city reminds me of Sausalito with the crowdedness of Boston. A lot of roundabouts. A lot of cars. Thought I hit a car, but checked and it was just the rearview mirrors. I hit a couple more until finding hotel and parking lot. Very stressed at this point. Felt anxious. Thought about staying in room and resting, but decided to check the city out. Oban is very small and compact. A lot of cars and people clustered in a small mass of shops. Talked to a cop about the city. Really friendly. Moved to Oban from Glasgow. Said crowd was due to vacation time. I asked where to get allergy medicine and he pointed me in direction of Tesco supermarket. Tesco is a supermarket that sells clothes and electronics. The ratio being the opposite of Walmart. Saw a lot of US brand products marketed with different names (AXE is LYNX). Surprised to find no Oban in the whiskey section. Didn't find allergy medicine. Bought Tropicana smoothie and water.

Stopped by Oban distillery plant on way back to hotel and purchased a ticket for their last tour at 6:30 for £6. Tour was interesting. Factory rooms smelled of sweet honey. Saw distilling machines and tasted cask-strength. Everyone thought it was strong except me -bad sign. Found they used American barrels previously used to hold Jack Daniels bourbon. Lost a couple of respect points from me. Met a couple of cool folks on tour. One guy was an investor and asked a lot of financial questions. He and his girlfriend/wife are from Boulder, CO -they just came back from Skye and said it was awesome. A lot of people have been telling me that. Can't wait to go tomorrow.

Ate at popular seafood restaurant across from hotel called SS-USR. Awesome view overlooking the sea. Ordered half-dozen locally farmed oysters (amazingly tasteful), a glass of Shiraz, and the Seafood Platter. The food and service was very good. Asked couple sitting next to me how to open up large shrimp. The man is originally from Scotland and now lives in England with his British girlfriend. We ended up talking about the benefits of travel to one's personal growth. Told them about the Oban tour and the man asked if I liked whiskey. When I told him I did he ordered me a glass of what they were drinking (Oban). Meeting them made the day worthwhile and emboldened me to continue along on my journey of solitude.

Got back to hotel around 10 and crashed on bed. Woke up at 12 to write summary of the day while fresh in mind. Tomorrow I plan on going back to Oban distillery and use £3 coupon to buy unique bottle of whiskey. Then off to Skye which is supposed to be more relaxing and less crowded.