Despite our bodies' protests, we somehow dragged ourselves out of bed, had breakfast, and were on the road for Oban by 7:30 - only a few minutes behind schedule.  To reach Oban, we headed north out of Glasgow along one of the most beautiful drives in Scotland, up the coast of Loch Lomand.  It was sometimes difficult to restrain ourselves from all of the "Kodak Moments" as we came upon beautiful view after beautiful view, with mountain slopes shooting straight up into the clouds and while small waterfalls gently cascaded back down the slopes.  What was most dramatic may have been the fact that the mountains' grassy slopes all looked as though they had been manicured like a golf course!

After several of these Kodak Moments, some scary near-misses with on-coming lorries (trucks) along narrow roads and at least one missed turn, we made it to where the Scottish West Highlands meets the sea, and the town of Oban.  This was important as it is where the northern Cathedral for the Diocese of Argyll & The Isles is, and where we were expected for Sunday services.  Our presence was especially important as we needed to be there so Anna could co-celebrate the Eucharist with Father McCallum, the Provost of the Cathedral, and preach the Sermon.  She shared with the congregation at St. John's about the J2A program and our pilgrimage, but most importantly how closely tied our two diocese were, emphasizing how the songs and prayers of the day's services were identical to what we would have done had we been in Wilmington that morning.  The impact of the sermon and how our kids carried themselves during church had an amazing impact on the parishioners.  When we first entered the church, they knew to expect us, but looked a little concerned about a group of American teenagers coming into their church.  After services, however, a number of them came up and greeted us quite warmly!

After services were over, we followed Father McCallum back to his house (high on the hills overlooking Oban and the bay), where his wife had laid out quite a lunch for us.  We received an additional surprise when Bishop Douglas Cameron and his wife joined us.  All four of hour hosts (especially Bishop Douglas) very quickly won us over with their hospitality and humor.  We especially enjoyed that Bishop Douglas was clad in his formal kilt as they would be making their way to a formal function after lunch.  A very memorable afternoon.

After lunch was over, Father McCallum escorted us down to the docks where we caught the ferry that would bring us out to the Isle of Mull.  The 45-minute ride provided us with some beautiful (but quite frigid) views of the Scottish West Highlands and the surrounding isles.  Upon reaching the Isle of Mull, we made our way to Torosay Castle, a 19^th century estate.  After a brief visit where Anna began her practice of naming the sheep and highland cows (hee-land coos), we decided we would be better off spending our time at Duart Castle, a castle originally built in the 13^th century and was the ancestral home of the McClain Clan.  The first castle most of our group had ever seen, Duart did not disappoint!  The tours of the dungeons, the show held in the courtyard (where James learned first-hand whether or not Scots wore anything under their kilts!), and the walks on the grounds around the castle (where Caitlin and Kelley saw dolphins dancing on the waves) provided a remarkable visit.

We left Duart Castle and then made our way twenty-five miles to the west across the Isle of Mull to the village of Bunnessan, where our hotel, the Argyll Arms, was.  This drive was hardly the interstate!  A one-lane road, it was an adventure just driving it.  Add to it the "plethora" of Kodak Moments to capture the beautiful scenery and the first of what would become THOUSANDS of sheep, this drive ended up taking us almost 90 minutes to make!  Upon checking in, we met up in the hotel's pub for dinner and a fun (if not slightly loud) evening together.  One of the neatest things here was the fact that the sun didn't completely go down until 11:30 at night, allowing us to go for a late-night walk during broad daylight!