Ferry on, my wayward son

This was an early morning.  We woke up to heavy wind gusts and rain.  I knew it would take some extra time to make it to the ferry to Uist, and we had to be there by 8am.  Normally, it was supposed to take around 40 minutes. We got on the road at 7, and at first, everything looked great.  It is early for Scotland (well, maybe except for the ranchers, farmers, and fishermen), so there wasn’t anyone on the road.  We made it through Tarbert, and hit the one-track section.  There was a heavy truck, and a few camper vans trailing it.  It was slow going.  But, we made it in plenty of time.  Parked in our queue, it was clear that this wasn’t going to be a large ferry.  There were only 3 lanes of vehicles, including the heavy goods vehicles.  With the massive wind, we were prepared for a rough crossing.  We got on the ferry, parked, and went upstairs to the small cabin.  We got there in time to snag a table, and we set to importing and uploading pictures, and composing the blog.  Oddly enough, the cel service on the ferry crossing was better internet than in the B&B.By the time we got what we wanted done, done, it was time to disembark.  Since this was a small ferry, there were no concessions aboard, so we were hungry.  We set out to find something to eat.  We headed to Lochmaddy, which is where we will take the ferry to Skye this afternoon.   Originally, we had planned to ferry from Harris to Skye directly, but the ferry was fully booked up several months in advance.  So, we took a detour to the Uist islands, and then to Skye later in the day.In Lochmaddy, we found a cafe/museum, and got a light breakfast.  We did enjoy the pot of tea - civilized, don’t you know.  The weather outside was still blowing and raining, and you could barely see the neighboring seas.  I’m sure these Outer Hebrides islands are much prettier when you can actually see.  We found some neat crafts, and were able to refuel.This was a point of some anxiety, as motor services in outer areas are less dependably found.  We looked on several maps, and some even recommended fueling on Harris before coming over.  Well, it was too late for us when we saw that recommendation, as we were about 5 minutes from boarding the ferry.  It ended up not being much of a problem.  While shopping at a craft store (surprise, right?), we asked if there was a petrol station in town, and it ended up being about a quarter mile down the road.  With our car refuelled, we continued down the main artery - connecting the four islands.  We stopped off at a Puffin Craft shop, and I was disappointed that it was merely the name, not the theme.   There were some cool items, and I got a Harris Tweed-covered flask.  I don’t know if it will ever be used, but it looks cool.We saw some places we wanted to stop at on our way back, and made it almost down to the bottom island - Eriskay.  Carrie wanted to go down there, because the island is filled with wild ponies.  However, with the poor weather, we decided not to, and turned back north.We stopped at Flora McDonald’s birthplace.  I’ve mentioned before about the love the Scottish people have for her - standing up to the English for Bonny Prince Charlie.  The location was the ruin of a stone house with a monument in the middle.  For all it’s import, Carrie was as excited to get some cow pictures in the neighboring field.As we worked our way north to the afternoon ferry, we stopped off at a jewelry shop.  It was clear they actually made a lot of jewelry there, and it was highly priced.  I was just excited to get some coffee.  I wanted to try an experiment.  At one of the craft stores earlier, we had bought some Hebridean “toffee”.  The consistency when you bit into a piece, was more like loosely packed sugar.  It tasted like toffee, but felt like a mouth full of brown sugar.  I speculated that it would be good in coffee, so I tried it out.  Luckily, the shop made their coffee super hot, so the toffee could dissolve.  Though it took some extra swirling, I was vindicated - delicious!We took some pictures at a hillside statue - Our Lady of the Isles, and continued on.  We figured that if we got back to Lochmaddy early enough, we could stop at that cafe and get some lunch before the ferry.  We were successful, and barely beat the throng of other ferry passengers with the same idea.  We got the ferry terminal, got our tickets, and got in line.  It seemed like an eternity before loading in, and we parked and headed upstairs.  I must note, that every time we have ridden a ferry, I have worried that I didn’t put the car in park, or put the emergency brake on.  I just knew we would come down to the deck, and find a wreck.  Unnecessary fears, I guess.We found a nice couch section next to a window on the top deck.  This ferry was much larger, but apparently was heading to rougher seas, for as soon as we sailed, the boat was rising and falling a fair amount.  Carrie was none to pleased.  It was also a little warm in there, so we made our way to the rear observation deck, which was outside.  It seemed to be a smoother ride, and with the blowing air, helped Carrie a lot.  I got her some soda and crisps, and she felt better.  It started getting cold, so I pulled out my cashmere gloves we bought earlier in the trip.  Both because I didn’t want her to mess with the crisps, and because I didn’t want the gloves to get all messy, I fed her crisp by crisp, until she felt better.We made it to Skye with no chucks upped, and set off to find our B&B,  Though I passed the entrance (poor signage), we were able to find it and unload.  Carrie had called ahead to a restaurant for a table, as we were told it is quite busy in Skye, so we were already booked.  I was stoked that our B&B room was on the first story.  Stairs here are quite narrow, and challenging to porter our Everest Expedition up the mountain.Dinner was amazing, but by the end, Carrie was just about unconscious.  She had taken medicine on the ferry, and it was really kicking in.  We made it back, and went promptly to bed.  We are hoping tomorrow will not be so wet.