Tue June 4 - 10:10 (Balloch Castle- Loch Lomond)

This morning we woke up and took the #500 bus to the airport. I went to Hertz where I rented a car for the first time in my life! I got a white Ford Fiesta. I pulled out onto the road and try to remain calm as I drove on the left side of the road. The roads are narrow in many places so I'm glad I got a small car. Also, I'm glad I got a GPS so Ricky can navigate me. We would be lost without it. We got on the highway and Ricky told me to remember it's kilometers per hour here. I was driving the speed limit, but cars were speeding past us. It wasn't for 10 miles or so until we saw a speed limit sign and realized that the speed limit is in miles per hour! I'd been driving slow the whole way over to Loch Lomond!

We arrived at Balloch Castle, which overlooks Loch Lomond, and explored the area.

Hiking through some gardens, we spotted the castle and saw the beautiful Loch behind it.

It was the most beautiful piece of land I've seen all trip. We had mostly seen cities so far, but this view was breathtaking. It didn't hurt that it was 70°F too. We walked to the water and down a cement dock that slowly descended into the water. On this dock, we asked a stranger to take a picture of Ricky and I with the Loch in the background.

There were some other people there and many of them had dogs with them. The dogs loved splashing around in the water and chasing each other. We strolled along a trail that parallels the water and ventured into the nearby forest.

Now we walked back to the top of the hill in front of the castle, where we are writing in our journal and taking in the fresh air and tranquil landscape.