Loch Lomond Shores - Spring Break 2017

Our first full day in Scotland was a General Conference Sunday so there weren't any regular church meetings. There was a church building in a nearby town but they weren't broadcasting conference and we didn't have wifi at our hotel which meant there was no way for us to watch Conference. I have to admit, that was a bummer. We didn't have anything on the agenda besides sleeping in and looking for something low-key to keep us occupied so we headed out to see what we could see.

The closest town to our hotel was Aberfoyle, which is a small little town with one main street, a gas station, a small grocery store, and a couple of restaurants. The only other things in town are a woolen mill shop and a park. Sunday afternoon was spent just kind of seeing what there was to do in Aberfoyle. The park was fun because it had a double zip line. We took turns racing each other back and forth on the zip line and just generally being silly at the park. Then we headed over to the Scottish Wool Center for the afternoon Dog and Duck show where Swift, a border collie, put on an impressive show and herded a trio of ducks around and through several structures before getting them back into their duck "hotel". Swift was a small dog but well-named, because she was definitely fast as she ran back and forth around the field. It almost, almost, made me want to get a border collie.


We piled back in the car and headed to Balloch Country Park next. Our goal was to find Loch Lomond, which we hadn't actually seen yet. It looked like this park was on the shores of the Loch and, as a bonus, there was a castle there! The castle was closed so we couldn't go inside but it was still pretty cool to see this beautiful structure sitting high on the hill above the lake. The weather was perfect with sunny blue skies and it was just warm enough that we almost didn't need our jackets. 



Our aim was to find Loch Lomond and we did just that, along with what felt like half of the population of Balloch. We made our way to the edge of the lake and it was a happy sort of busy and crowded. People were playing fetch with their dogs, walking along the water's edge, or even wading out into the cold lake. Natalie was the only Moran brave enough to test the waters and they were definitely COLD!


We decided to follow the path that ran parallel to the water for a while and along the way we found a mini beach just big enough for the six of us. We scrambled down the rocks and tree roots to the beach and Jared taught the girls how to skip rocks while Natalie and I searched for beach glass. We were excited every time we found a piece of smooth, soft glass among the rocks on the shore. I loved this little beach and the time we spent there laughing and playing together.




This may have been my favorite day of spring break. It was so relaxed and fun. There was no pressure to go anywhere and do anything specific so we were able to just enjoy ourselves and take things as they came. If we saw something interesting we went for it! One thing that makes travel as a family so special is the way it refocuses our priorities back to family and reinforces our love for each other. It was definitely magic on the bonny, bonny banks that Sunday afternoon.

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