last bit of the car tour - Speyside

We spent the last two nights of our road tour in the valley that surrounds the River Spey. Like half the distilleries in Scotland are based here - we only had time to visit one (Cragganmore - because they have a cool-shaped still that Patrick wanted to check out).  Speyside was nice, and it was a great place to poke around. We got a lovely walk in - filled with lambs and flowers.

We also got to tour Speyside Cooperage - where they repair and make wine/whiskey casks. It's one of those arts that can't be done by machines... and it was just really neat to learn about and watch the artisans who keep the coopering craft alive.

We also had dinner at a pub called the Wash Tun where we met a really neat couple, Graeme and Lyn, from Queensland, Australia and had fun swapping traveling stories for the hour or so before the kitchen opened. We hope to visit them when we get to Australia - or have them visit us in Colorado!

More photos from Speyside: here.