"But they will never take our FREE-DOM!"

Well we got up early this morning, re-packed all of our bags, had some brekkie with Gran & Grandpa - made our plans to be back on tomorrow for dinner and headed out for a long-ish day of driving and touring.

Our first stop was Sterling, we took a drive around the historic town and castle, and then followed the road down to William Wallace's monument. We parked at the bottom of the hill and hiked up the steep incline. It was a beautiful hike, and a clear warm day so you could see for miles and miles around. When we reached the monument we suddenly realize how big it was. It was beautiful, there is nothing surrounding it other than forest trees, as it is the only thing on the hill. As we walked around the outside we noticed a shuttle bus that drops you off at the front door instead of having to climb up the hour hiking path - it made us laugh, but I guess that's what happens when you don't stop in the tourist info. center first! As it turned out the hike was much more enjoyable though so we were glad we did it. The monument was quite expensive to tour so Geoff went in and I stayed outside to explore. He climbed the 246 steps to the top, and went through the information rooms. William Wallace's original sword was housed inside which was pretty amazing to see, but other than that it was just a history gallery. When we were done we hiked back down to the car and headed out.

Loch Lomond was beautiful, the was miles upon miles of rippling water surrounded by mountains and forests. We got out at several points to go down to the waters edge and see the views of the loch and waterfalls. It was a fun and very scenic drive, we took it all the way to the end, and continued on through the mountain range past Ben Nevis and on to Inverness.

We stopped for the night at 'The Old North Inn' a B&B just a few miles from Loch Ness, had a lovely dinner and now we are just re-capping before catching some Zs since it has been a long day!