Heading South on the A82!

 

   

Inverness 

As Charis had recovered from her vomiting bug, we thought we'd drive down to Oban to my parents on Friday. As usual, I was late picking Andrew up from work, so we never left until 6pm 'ish .... however we got to the Inshes roundabout and had to go right round it and back into the carpark at Tesco - Charis was bawling! Took her out of her seat and she asked to be fed .... and as usual I gave in and fed her! So, back on the road 20 minutes later and we finally got out of Inverness!

Urquart Castle, Loch Ness, Inverness © SM Simpson

 The A82 was pretty quiet - the weather took a real turn and it was drizzly and cloudy.

Charis dropped off somewhere along Loch Ness side thankfully! We picked up Ness Radio as we got closer to Fort William - they were broadcasting from the Skye Music Festival .... but were extremely ticked off because the press officer was messing them about and they were not getting access to the bands they wanted to or to broadcast the acts live! It was most amusing listening to them bitching about the organisation of the festival! I hear that it was wet and midge infested too!! 

© SM Simpson

We stopped off at the Commando Memorial to take some photos. There was a couple of tractors there (photos to follow!) that are doing Lands End to John O'Groats for charity. We decided to stop at Spean Bridge for something to eat. Bored of the Little Chef, we drove up the hill to the Old Station Restaurant - it looked lovely but was a bit expensive for just a stop off, so we'll visit it another time.

The Spean Bridge Hotel now has a fish & chip shop, so we thought we'd get a takeaway - fish for Andrew and macaroni for me. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT go there!!! It was like eating pasta straight from its pan of water! Andrew said the fish was fine, but I didn't rate the chips and most of mine ended up in the river, which we were sitting above. A cute wee mouse charmed us by popping in and out of the grasses by the path.

Commando Memorial, Spean Bridge 

Back on the road (after another Charis bawling incident!) we continued south. There was amazing low cloud base the rest of the way, totally obscuring the hills round Fort William and there was a constant drizzle by now! The rhododendrons were in full bloom and looked spectacular lining the road as we crossed the boundary from Highland to Argyll and Bute. But the drizzle and harr stayed with us all the way .... as did Charis's girning!

As soon as we arrived at Mum and Dad's, Charis was all smiles! We were so relieved to have arrived ... babies crying really frazzles the nerves! It was such a joy to sit and relax after a journey made longer by a girning baby!