~: My Favorite Day! Inverness Scotland and the Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness

There was a day at sea when the waves were too large for us to have the tenders come and pick us up to go to port, so instead we just enjoyed a day at sea. I loved walking around and exploring the boat with Clint. We ate LOTS of food that day, and had a fun time playing games with the family.

One of my very favorite days though while we were on our trip was the day we spent in Inverness Scotland! I know we passed through a few other towns, but I don't remember all the names...

We did pass this cool art mural on our way to the buses, and I snapped a few pictures...

…on King Street!

I LOVE this picture of the Highland games!

We also LOVED seeing all the neat buildings and churches.

They were everywhere!

The beautiful countryside

The fireweed!

The last time I saw fireweed was when we lived in Alaska!

Our first stop on the bus was at the Culloden Battlefield

They had an equestrian security guard with the most beautiful horse!

She let us come closer and pet it and take pictures of it. I kept on thinking that my kids would love to see this!

We first went inside and took a tour of the museum.

(We were not allowed to take pictures inside.)

Then we went outside to the battlefield and saw so much history!

This was a little home with the thatched roof...turned into part of the museum.

This battlefield was only a few short miles from the birthplace of my mom's great grandparents, and had so much meaning to her to be there! A few miles to the south was where my 3rd great grandmother was born, and a few miles to the west was where my 3rd great grandfather was born. Such a special place!

Although I can't speak Scottish Gaelic, I find the language so interesting!

I may even have a sign like this made to put in my home too! ;)

After we finished visiting the battlefields, we got back o our bus and drove a few miles down the road to Inverness, Scotland.

...beautiful buildings and beautiful churches...

This is where our trip became really SPECIAL!

My mom had a picture of a headstone with her great-great grandfather's name on it that she really wanted to find. Well guess where it was located???

In Inverness. ;)

We hopped off the bus with the blessing of our sweet tour guide (I can't remember his name!). He was so kind and attentive to my mom. ;)

We walked down the streets of this picturesque and quaint little town in search of St. Stephens Cathedral where we were hoping to find the headstone my mom had a picture of.

We walked along the river and across the footbridge into a neighborhood that we were told would lead us to the church and cemetery.

I was SO PROUD of my mom and all of the walking she did! She was a champ!

You can't tell from the picture, but we made our way up a pretty steep hill, where we stopped a man to ask for further help with finding the church...

The sweet guy on his bike told us we were almost there! But that the church we were heading towards did NOT have a cemetery. My heart sank for my mom who had walked so far IN THE RAIN!!!

But we weren't about to give up!!!

We walked back down the neighborhood streets and towards the city, knowing that we only had 2 hours overall for our stop in Inverness...I told my mom the we WERE going to find it!

As we followed the guys who were in search of some yummy food for lunch, we were led down a street with lots of signs and smells advertising food. I told my mom that I had my eyes open for someone who looked like they were from around there that I could ask for more help on finding the "other" St. Stephens Cathedral...the one that also had a cemetery.

I hit the jackpot when I stopped a lady who told us with a smile on her face, that we were on the right street, only a few blocks away! "Head straight down the street until you get to the Walrus and Corkscrew pub, and it's right behind that!" She said.

BINGO!!!

We found it!!!!

I could FEEL the spirit guiding us to this sacred place.

I took out my phone and began recording what I was seeing as I ran through the cemetery just looking for the SHAPE of the headstone, knowing that it would take too long to read every one...

I could hardly believe my eyes (and the fact that I got it on video) of the moment when we found my mom's great great grandfather's headstone in Inverness Scotland!!!!!

This was my favorite moment of our whole trip.

SO COOL!!!!

I LOVE my sweet momma!

Taking her on this trip was something that I always wanted to do, and being able to take her back to her roots, and have an experience like this with her was absolutely priceless to me!

My sweet, sweet momma, in Inverness Scotland, at St. Stephens Cathedral, standing in the cemetery of her ancestors...

PRICELESS!!!!

Knowing that we were quickly running out of time, and that we still had to find the rest of our family, some food, AND our way back to the bus, we had to hurry and head out. But the whole time we were walking, our footsteps were filled with excitement! We FOUND the cemetery!!! We were SO HAPPY!

We made our way back down the same street, where we found a food court AND our family!

We didn't have time to wait for anything to be cooked, so we grabbed a cookie and a diet coke (which is all a girl really needs anyway ;) and started walking back to the bus.

I thought I might be killing my mom with all of the walking, but seriously, we were SO HAPPY

The funny thing was, AFTER we knew where the church was, we realized we could see it from the footbridge near where we got off the bus in the first place! HA!!

When we got back to the bus, we were pleasantly surprised to find 2 sister missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! I guess there was also a church right around the corner too! It kind of felt like we "came home" with all that we were experiencing in Scotland!

With happy hearts, we boarded the bus, enjoyed sitting, and then got off at our next stop...Loch Ness!!!

Immediately when we got off the bus to go ride on the ferry on Loch Ness, we RAN to see these amazing Highland Cows!!!

They were SO FUN to see!!!

We had to hurry as to not get left on the boat, so I knew I would return for more pictures when we came back.

We were excited to ride on the ferry because not only would we get a chance to see "Nessy" the Loch Ness Monster, but we would also get to see the Urquhart Castle!

My mom also has this royal lineage, and was excited to see her family castle!

We all rode up on the top of the ferry as to have the fresh air AND the best unobstructed view! ;)

Everything we saw was so beautiful!

I think Scotland was my FAVORITE place to see.

The grey skies slowly let down the rain, and we all bundled up in our coats and rain ponchos.

This time for real, I think my mom thought I was trying to kill her!!!

Or at least freeze her to death.;)

We DID make her laugh... :) :) :)

After riding for about 40 minutes, we came upon the Urquhart Castle!

It was said that Nessy actually lives near the base of the castle so it can protect the castle...

It was so neat to see the castle, and to imagine what life might have been like back then...

One really cool thing about this too, is that our daughter Kambriella actually learned about Janet Urquhart and walked for her name during Trek this year. There was a neat spiritual connection that we felt.