Inverness -> Aberdeen -> Amsterdam -> Atlanta and Beyond

Tomorrow I will reverse the trip I made on 11 January.  I will not only be reversing the route itself, but the trip will also be the "reverse" in the sense that, rather than going from the familiar to the unfamiliar or the known to the unknown as I did in January, I will be traveling back to the familiar, to family, friends, and the southern US which, until 3 months ago, has been my home all of my life.

But the biggest difference is that tomorrow I will not be traveling alone.  I will be bringing Lynden with me, and I hope I can be one-tenth the "tour guide" he has been for me.  Competing with the raw, wild, and genuinely awe-inspiring natural beauty of the Scottish Highlands is a tall order indeed!  We plan to visit the north Georgia mountains and North Carolina, and to do some hiking on the Appalachian Trail and elsewhere.

Later in the visit we will spend some time in Florida, possibly both the east and west coasts, and by then we should know which one of us has the greater heat tolerance!  Perhaps I have a slight edge based on length of experience, but I wouldn't place any wagers.  This winter in northern Scotland has shown me that perhaps I'm not quite as cold-natured as I thought I had become in recent years.  However, I have to say I am a bit concerned about the rapid transition from one climate to another upon arriving in Atlanta tomorrow evening.  It's been in the 30's in Inverness after our mini-spring preview of a few weeks ago.  I remember last summer, upon returning from the cool mountainous region of Guatemala to a wall of heat in Atlanta, I was in a state of shock.  I'm hoping that the fact that, at least technically, it's still spring will be in my favor.

Yesterday we went for a walk along Glen Strathfarrar, where there was a new and stunning vista every few steps.  We took over 230 photographs (I've posted a few below), including several groups of mountain goats, and we saw a fox that wasn't interested in posing.  It was a gorgeous day, perfect weather, and a fitting send-off.  I found my eyes lingering on now-familiar scenery, well aware that it would be several months before I would look upon it again in person.  While many of the day's photographs turned out to be excellent, we agreed that they did not capture the beauty that our eyes had seen.

Today dawned gray and drizzly, and as I write this approaching mid-day the rain is continuing.  If the weather continues this way until tomorrow, maybe it will make it a bit easier to finish packing and fly away.

The first mountain goat of the day was not particularly camera-shy.

Yes, the sky really was that blue!

Cuckooflower