6 August

Our landlords took us back to the bakery for more cookie bars, then gave us a lift to Castle Douglas, and we caught a bus from there to Dumfries. We were told that exact change for the bus might be needed, so I went to a Bank of Scotland branch for change. I presented two twenty-pound notes to the teller and was informed that they couldn't be changed unless I had an account there because they were Bank of Ulster notes. I had read that Irish pounds could be confusing outside of Northern Ireland, so I dug in my pocket and produced a Scottish 20. That was also no good, since it was a Clydesdale Bank note. Apparently, every bank prints its own money. It can be spent anywhere, but the other banks must not like the competition. It's like if Wells Fargo wouldn't take bills from Chase. It's possible that I just encountered an idiot teller, but I ended up buying a candy bar so I could get change.

The bus we were on didn't go to the train station, but the driver took it out of service after his last stop and dropped us off just a few blocks from the station. Now that's service! We took a train to Glasgow, using our BritRail passes for the first time. We were advised to travel to Largs for the night, but just missed the connecting train in Glasgow. We sought further input while waiting for the next train and decided to go to Loch Lomond. The small town of Balloch is quite lovely, with a great park area around the local castle. It ranks high on the list for prettiest places we've been. We walked the grounds through huge trees, and followed the shore of the loch back to town. So far, we think we prefer Scotland to Ireland. It's less crowded, with great scenery, many more trees, and very nice people. We have a little more trouble understanding folks, but it's not a huge problem. Our weather luck continues to hold; it rained most of the time we were traveling, but stopped when we arrived at our destination.

Dumfries train station

Dumfries Fountain

bus to Glasgow

George Square in Glasgow

Loch Lomond

huge trees

Balloch Castle

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond

Rosebay Willowherb (a.k.a. Fireweed)

the shores of Loch Lomond

Cameron House on far shore	"dancing snake"	European rabbit
Loch Lomond	PSA: Please do not feed bread to the ducks.