Day Trips, Yo.

So, I promised at the tail-end of my last post that I would tell you all about my day trip to Oban.  Well, because I took forever to get to this, you now get a two-for-one deal!  First, I'll tell you the boring things about my schoolwork.  Namely that I have three big assignments (each of the three counting for 50% of my grade in each class) that are due back to back.  One last week, one this week and one the week after that.  I've been slaving away on these papers and reports like a madwoman and am almost finished, so now that there is officially light at the end of the tunnel again, I can take a minute to update all of you. ;)

 

On my trip to Oban, I was accompanied by two foundational members of the Adventuring Club, Alyssa and Marianthi!  The trip was organized through school and we wanted to sign up in order to go through the highlands again.  The major draw of Oban is that it's all the way on the other side of the country, laying on the west coast of Scotland.  We boarded the bus early (which is a pain in the ass on a Saturday, but we can't resist a good day trip so we put up with it) and then started the 2 hour journey out west.  The scenery was beautiful and I noted a few places that I'd like to visit in future trips, especially one great-looking castle on a lake and Loch Lubnaig which is a truly stunning lake which twists in between two towering mountains!  When we got to Oban, we didn't have very much time to explore, so we took some pictures on the coastline, had lunch, pet a few dogs (our favorite hobby) and then walked around the town.  We also stopped at two small towns during the trip - one on the way there and one on the way back - and got to explore some pretty nice locations there, as well.  Overall, a very scenic and successful trip.  And that cow....what?! lol

However, it doesn't really hold a candle to the magnificence that was yesterday's day trip!  Yours truly, Marianthi, Alyssa and new addition to the Adventuring Club Pierrick went to the Lake District in England.  Now, the Lake District (located in the northwest corner of England) is actually the largest national park in England.  It was home to Beatrix Potter, who wrote the Peter Rabbit stories, and revolves mostly around the town and lake of Windermere.  It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Edinburgh to Windermere - so just imagine how early I was up - and we were able to spend 5 hours just exploring the area!  We decided to go on a lake cruise which lasted for 90 minutes and let us thoroughly enjoy the lake and surrounding landscape. There's a mountain peak in the distance and the weather was gorgeous yesterday, so we had sunny, cloud-filled skies and rippling, sparkling water. (At least until we were hit by a random rain/sleet burst for about 15 minutes during which time it was miserable outside)  After we got off our cruise, we walked the town, assaulting unprepared strangers with dogs, eating delicious toffee ice cream, walking up the steep hills, and around the rocky lake coast. In other words, we had an absolute blast! Enjoy the pics and there are more on my Facebook, of course.