Well that's the view from our bedroom window tonight. We discovered that in Fort William Lidls is happy for vans to overnight in their car park! That'll save us £30 site fees tonight then.
Actually I think Lidls is cocking a snook at the local council. Right next door to Lidls is a council car park with bays especially marked out for both lorries and motorhomes.
How forward thinking of the council, you might think, until you check out the car park and read this
Yep, motorhomes prohibited between 21:00 and 08:00. Brilliant council, well done, provide parking for motorhomes so they can visit the local shops, but let's make sure the local pubs and restaurants don't get any of the trade! For better to have a nice, tidy, empty car park overnight.Anyway, bravo to Lidl's for their two fingered approach. This afternoon's shift manager could not have been more helpful when we spoke to her about the possibility of overnighting.
Today, bright sunshine all the way highlit some stunning scenery. Rather than heading west and following the scenic banks of bonnie Loch Lomond we headed east, away from the loch and up into Callander (We'll do the more scenic W route on the way back). To escape a car in front doing that annoying speed of just too slow but not slow enough to risk overtaking on these twisty potholed unfamiliar roads we decided to stop in Callander for a small mooch.
A surprising amount of tourists for a town I didn't realise was that significant. Perhaps it's because it was the setting for Tannochbrae in Dr Finlay's Casebook (I can almost hear the collective ”What?" from all the readers under the age of 70!). First shop was a really nice bakers so I selected a nice-looking small boule type loaf and proffered my crisp fiver for payment - "No, that'll be £5.50"! £5.50 for a loaf of bread! And a small one at that. Sadly I couldn't find anything with photographing.
Onwards through pleasant but unspectacular scenery to those famous pinchpoints of Tyndrum and Glencoe. As we approach Tyndrum the mountains in the near distance suddenly get much higher and some still have smatterings of snow glistening in the sun.
We passed through Tyndrum some years ago and remember a famous truck stop, sells it all, caff. Yep, it's still there so we stop for a coffee. Anytime else ever stopped at this iconic place?
Perhaps I should include a snap of Liz too (yes fingers on lens should have been cropped out)
As we approach Glencoe the mountains get nearer and more dramatic. Really stunning, whilst the lower ground is studded with rocks and small pools. Sadly I was driving so no pictures, Liz has several through car window snaps, doubtless they'll make her blog. But this is a beautiful drive.
Eventually we start to follow the banks of Loch Linnhe and follow it round to our final destination of the day, First William. After sorting Lidls out we wander into town. First notable item was this statue
Anyway it was the first car (Ford model T, of course) to ascent to the summit of Ben Nevis which took 9 days back in 1911. On the centenary, in 2011 77 folks carried the various components of a 1911 Model T up to the summit where they reassemble it (in a snowstorm). There's some nutters up here, but don't they make the world a better place!
And doesn't Donald Cameron look so very Scottish, especially with the kirk as a backdrop
What do you mean, you've never heard of Donald Cameron - go read his Wikipedia page as a penance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Cameron_of_Lochiel
One purchase in FW was a new 5l jerry can in case water might be short should we wild camp. To fit it in a van locker meant relocating a few cans of beer. In the midst of doing this I thought I could actually smell beer. Was a can leaking? No, worse, the sharp edge on a metal catch had slightly punctured one can and when I lifted it to investigate our van suddenly acquired that luxury item, an indoor fountain. Gosh, don't a can of beer go a long way. And we are cramped in a car park, no access to running water etc. Liz is wonderfully calm in these moments of crisis and apart from an odd few spots and stains that will need treating at home it was all sorted without too many tears.
Don't know why today's route doesn't follow the roads more accurately, perhaps I'll have to resort to the old method and use a separate tracking app rather than just Google Maps Timeline
