Taking a break
This time tomorrow, with a fair wind, no hold-ups and not too much rain, I should be in Scotland, still with some way to go, but getting there. I will be setting off at about five o'clock in the morning and heading north, north and a bit more north. That way I should miss all the traffic that builds up around Birmingham from about seven in the morning.
I'm meeting Rebekka and Philippe and their hired old VW campervan at Loch Lomond and I should be there between two and three in the afternoon, well over 700 kilometres after setting out. We're going to be spending a few days travelling up the west coast. When we get to Oban I'm going to have to turn around and come back but they will go on, right round the coast of Scotland winding up back at Edinburgh, where they have picked up the van today.
I'm really looking forward to seeing them again, and having a break in a part of the world, I'm ashamed to say, I have never visited before. I know the borders and the Edinburgh area but have never been to the west, so it's an all-new adventure. As far as I can tell, the weather doesn't promise to be very good for the next few days, but that doesn't matter as much as having some of the best company in the world.
I'm all prepared. I have a car, a tent, a magic self-inflating mattress, a picnic basket, a chair, some cider, Guinness, beer, a purple bear, a copy of Ivanhoe (a book I'm ashamed to say I've never read either), a map, a wind-up torch, lots of CDs, my cameras, batteries, sunglasses - just in case, waterproof coat (for the certainty) and insect repellent. So, I'm sorted.
I'll see you all again in a few days. Take care.