Southern Scotland

Scotland is yet another country that I could easily go back to and spend time traveling the back roads...which wouldn't be hard to do since there aren't that many major roads!

This trip took us up to Loch Lomond, the Trossachs, the Scottish Borders and down to the area of Lockerbie. We hit a few places in between, one of them being the Gray Mares Tail, an impressive waterfall in the area of Moffat.

So...what's Scotland without a bagpiper outstanding in his field for the tourists!!?? Taken in Galloway Forest Park, northwest of Dumfries.

The Trossachs is an area dominated by the Great Trossachs Forest National Nature Reserve. It's located in the gentle hills north of Glasgow.

The Trossachs is also known as Rob Roy Country. The gravesite of the famous Scottish folk hero Rob MacGregor, his wife and two sons is located near Callander.

THe Scottish Borders is the area south and east of Glasgow and Edinburgh and extends south to the border with England, hence its name.

Though largely rural, the Scottish Borders is home to four different abbey ruins. This one is Melrose Abbey, founded in 1136.

This waterfall is aptly named the Grey Mares Tail. It falls just short of 200 feet (60 meters) into The water falls from Loch Skeen i and streams into the valley below. It is a feature of the Grey Mares Tail Nature Reserve in Moffat.

The green grass and the cool waters of Moffat Water attract both humans and sheep. Sometimes that's not a great combination.

Pan Am flight 103 had just left London thirty minutes earlier on its way to New York when a bomb packed in a piece of baggage exploded. Eleven people on the ground perished along with all 259 passengers. Lockerbie is located in south Scotland just northeast of Dumfries and very near to the border of England.

Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Monastery was founded in 1967 and was the first Tibetan Buddhist Center to be established in the western world. It is located in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland.