The first day of our Scottish tour got off to a flying start. Amazingly the car was packed first time without the need to reduce the number of bags and we were ready ahead of schedule to depart!
This day was all about getting up to Scotland so there’s not a lot to report (thankfully!) other than to say it was a long drive, 374 miles and just under eight hours including stops, but the traffic was light with no major delays. Even the weather was kind, we had the roof down as we cruised the final few miles along the shore of Loch Lomond to our B&B in Arrochar arriving just before 5:00pm. And what a gem of a place! Matt, the not-so-Scottish owner, welcomed us to our room with views over Loch Long, and even provided a welcoming dram of whiskey and local cheese.
Dinner was a short walk up the road to The Village Inn, a traditional pub with a wide selection of cocktails, her Ladyship starting with a ‘Pornstar Martini’, let your imagination run wild with that one!
Contrary to popular opinion, all the locals we met on our evening stroll were really friendly, one stopping to explain the derelict buildings across the loch were the remains of a Royal Navy torpedo testing station; more than 12,000 torpedoes were fired down the loch in 1944. It closed in 1986.
Fingers crossed for the weather tomorrow for our journey along Loch Ness to Inverness, and the official start point of the North Coast 500.
THE LAST WORD: (by Angela)
I have fewer bags than Andy! The journey was only 3 hours (I slept the remaining 5). No pornstars arrived with the cocktail. My hair was frizzy and looked awful when we set off but half an hour with the Boxster blow dry option and I was red carpet ready. I ate the best ever Haggis, tatties and neeps with whiskey sauce for dinner. We didn’t get to see or stop at the Tunnocks Teacake factory but there are two in the room, well there were but one seems to have disappeared! Fantastic view, so quiet and smells of seaside.
Andy's and Angela's Summer Tour 2019 