We hike mountains after work.

Exactly one week after my birthday I was in Scotland, toasting and eating wonderful food in a cozy log cabin with a group of new friends. Half of the group spoke mainly German so we exchanged the few words we knew, ate Haribou gummy bears, and ended the evening watching My Best Friends Wedding. We were re-celebrating my birthday, since they learned I didn't have a party and would hear nothing of it.

I've been in Scotland for nine days but its only taken two to fall in love with it. Our cabin is on a loch and surrounded by dozens of beautiful mountains. I work alongside two sweet girls, Kelly from Tennessee and Paulina from Berlin. There is no weeding (legal or otherwise), 19 hours of sunlight, and a half dozen rickety old boats we can use at any time. Did I mention there are NINETEEN hours of daylight?! Imagine that there are enough hours in a day to do everything you want. Now add mountains and boats. BOOM.

During the day we are elbows deep in grime and mouse poop, working to restore this beautiful old hotel after 42 pipes burst this last winter, destroying almost everything. The work is hard and we've all gotten to see our fair share of dead mice and ticks but its so rewarding to see the place get cleaned up. The program I'm here with, called WorkAway, is just like WWOOFING except isn't limited to just farming. Nick, our host, is a 50 something bachelor from England who can't. sit. still. and we've been razzing each other since I arrived. He's new to Scotland and getting a tour from him is a lot like following a little boy around his playroom while he shows you all his new legos and transformers. You would be the same way though, this place is like Harry Potter land on steroids.

Loch Maree, where we live!

My girls! Kelly on the left, Paulina on the right.

Kelly is awesome.

We stopped for tea on our roadtrip, overlooking this.

Hippies everywhere

Obsessed with mountains

Generalization: Polish hippies love roadtripping in Scotland

Castle in Inverness (Loch Ness Monster land)

Giving a boat tour. That mountain will (hopefully) be climbed tomorrow!

Smiling, because we have no idea how lost we will get

We found the trail (but we lose it again later)

At the Highland Games kids sit on logs and clobber each other with pillows!

Then, kilted Scottish men throw the logs

At the beach, happy to see the Atlantic!

Kelly and I shipwrecked our boat, so poor Nick had to rescue us!

Hiking with Kelly, in the highlands

That little sliver of gold is the Atlantic