Made It To The Starting Line!!

On Our Way!

After about 17 hours of travelling we are finally sitting in our little hotel room in Pitlochry - the town where this whole Scottish obsession started in 2012. That was the time I met my dad here prior to a work conference in Aberdeen. We chose to come here based on a guess, and it turned out to be a life changing experience, which has led to SNT 2015 (Kirk Yetholm to Pitlochry - JM and Ben), followed by SNT 2017 (Plockton to Scurdie Ness Lighthouse in Montrose - JM and Mandy), followed now by SNT 2019 (Pitlochry to Cape Wrath - JM, Ben, and Zach), and soon to be followed by TGOC 2019 (Oban to Dunnattor Castle - Mandy and Kirsten). Did I not say it was an obsession???No major snags on the way here, we made it to Edinburgh in time for 30 minutes of groceries, and 30 minutes to find our train to Pitlochry. For Ben and I there was lots of snoozing along the way, and for Zach there was six minutes. What???? It’s the truth. I don’t know how he’s even still awake. Although the way he was drooling during those six minutes, they were probably a very restful six minutes.

Not Tired Zach

After checking in to our room we hit the main street to find food. There seemed to be lots of busy pubs, but most of the food places were closed. We thought we hit the jackpot when we walked into a fish and chip place but they turned us back - it was 9:59. Dang!! So in the end we settled for another Scottish delicacy: Khan Baba’s. Donairs, pizzas, burgers, kebabs, wraps, and ice cream - everything a few Canadians looking for a Scottish experience could ever hope for...

We are now back in the room, full, showered, and ready for some rest before our big start tomorrow. Moira, Joyce, and Martin will be meeting us at 8:00 to help us with the first leg. This is the type of Scottish hospitality that continues to amaze me. As mentioned briefly in a previous post we met these three amazing people on Mandy’s and mine last trip, and despite the fact that we only spent a few hours with them, they are going to get up early tomorrow morning to get here and walk with us. What a great way for us to start the trip. Thank you so much guys!!!!

Next post will likely be in 5 days but feel free to check back in case we locate some signal on top of a Scottish hill. Thanks for reading, and thanks for all of the moral support.

As the Scots are fond of saying - Bonne Nuit!!