On Tuesday morning (Day 5), our first adventure was seeing a Castle located by Loch Ness---Urquhart Castle. We had gotten up relatively early to go there, since going there prior to breakfast was what worked best with the rest of our busy schedule. Due to the fact that it was quite early, the gate down to the castle was closed. So we just parked in the parking lot, and started climbing on walls in order to see it/take some pictures. We probably broke some laws by doing such. In fact I know we did, since there were signs telling us to stay off of the walls. Kate and I had already broken the law by trespassing in Ireland, so really were just staying consistent. :) Anyway, Urquhart is a beautiful castle. The sun was hitting the lake directly by the castle though, so it made for some interesting pictures.
After visiting the castle, we went back to our hotel for a traditional Scottish breakfast. That meant haggis. You didn't necessarily have to eat haggis (it was just an option)....but "when in Rome", right? It was very interesting. I didn't really know exactly what to expect. All I had heard was that it takes getting used to. Well, I didn't love it. It was fine (the taste was somewhat like spiced sausage), but I don't feel an overwhelming need to ever eat it again. However, if my new dream of one day randomly ending up in Scotland to live, I might give haggis another go.
Once we had everything packed up, we headed to the most northern point of Scotland you can get to by train or car. The land of my McKay {MacKay} heritage---Thurso. Thurso is located in the very, very, very, VERY, northwest part of Scotland. It is quite the drive to get there, but absolutely fascinating. I honestly don't know if I have ever been anywhere as lovely as Scotland. It has beaches, it has mountains, it has trees for days, and it is just lovely. I know logically that there are other places like that, but Scotland just has a special feeling to it. Anyway, I digress. On my mom's side, I have McKay ancestry, and my great-great grandpa McKay was born in Thurso, and lived there until his family immigrated to the United States. We have some family friends who were serving in the Ireland/Scotland mission, who happen to also have McKay heritage, who had met a lady who kindly showed them where all of the McKay sites pertain to David McKay's family were located. However, I did not have enough foresight to ask them in advance where those sites would be. So finding the house where David McKay was born did not seem possible. We knew of a great-great-great (probably one more great) grandma who had been buried in Thurso in 1863, so our goal was to find her grave site.
When we pulled into Thurso, we saw a sign for a cemetery and headed that direction. After probably an hour looking around, we were having no success. Finally we found a groundskeeper and he told us that we were not at the right cemetery. Our best bet of finding Isabel Sutherland would be at an old Church graveyard.We went to that cemetery, but we couldn't find her headstone. Most headstones were quite worn down, and hard to read. But even though we didn't find her headstone, we're 99% positive we were at the right cemetery. The old graveyard was located near a harbor, and it was just beautiful. Thurso is a very lovely town.
Once we were finished with our family history adventure, we headed south (that was the only direction to go), to see the Eilean Donan Castle. We got there past it's closing time, but we were still able to go walk around the grounds. Also, there is a webcam there, which is cool. ....So some of our family in the States, and Cheryl's family in England, got to watch us on the webcam for a bit. Eilean Donan Castle is super cool, and we had a lot of fun walking (and dancing) around the grounds there.
Then we headed to our hotel for the night----I believe the town was called Dumbarton. It was a nice drive down. On our way from Thurso to the Eilean Donan Castle, we had some super scary roads. Thankfully the drive after the castle was not as stressful. As we drove into Dumbarton, we started seeing the beautiful Loch Lomond. However, it was getting dark and so we didn't get to fully appreciate it. ....that wouldn't happen until Day 6. Spoiler alert.
Urquhart Castle
Cheryl climbing on the wall to get a better picture of the castle. We all did this, but it was too good of a picture to pass up since the sign was right there. 
A lovely castle we passed on our way to Thurso. We regretted our choice to not stop at it. It looked amazing. 
Driving into Thurso.
Thurso from the harbor.
Eilean Donan Castle.
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