Our amazing free vacation

Last week was our long-awaited radio prize holiday at Lochgoilhead, and it was fabulous.  How did we win a holiday on the radio?  Earlier this year, I heard about a contest that Real Radio Scotland were running which was basically an essay competition in which entrants wrote in and explained what is it about Scotland that makes them proud.  I told my Scottish husband that he should write an essay explaining that he has a foreign wife and that it makes him proud to show me everything that's great about Scotland and how nice it is to be able to rediscover his own country through my fresh eyes...or something like that.  Sure enough, my super husband wrote the winning entry and they gave us a week at Drimsynie Estate at Lochgoilhead as a prize!  We've been waiting for this week to come since we heard the news in January and last week was finally our time.  We didn't really know what to expect, so we were pleasantly surprised to find such comprehensive facilities and a great range of organized activities - it was almost like being on a cruise.  We had an unforgettable week of swimming, bowling, ice skating, table tennis, badminton, miniature golf, nature walks and good food.  Here are a few pictures...

The village across from the estate where we stayed.

Fallen leaf on the beach.  The colors were gorgeous at this time of year!

It was a wonderful and much-needed break in so many ways.

We tracked a seal at the head of the loch for quite a while until I got this shot.  Hello, Mr. Seal!

No holiday is complete without two cats.  Alvin has been overgrooming, so he spent most of the time in his cone, poor fellow.

Gorgeous hydrangeas 

Alvin had a little un-coned moment to take in the misty morning air. 

Loch Lomond

The day after we got back, it was just me and my husband again and we didn't want that holiday feeling to end, so we drove up to walk to the top of a hill we'd never climbed before.  It's called Duncryne and though it's steep, it's not a long climb and there's this fabulous view of the southernmost bit of Loch Lomond to be had at the top.

Now it's back to the regular old rhythm of life and though I'd much rather be back up at Drimsynie, it feels great to have been able to enjoy an entire week of relaxation and unforgettable scenery.  We'd all like to go back next year.  Guess we'd better start listening to the radio again...