The weather had been holding for most of our final day, but
as we made our way to the mountain roads the heavens decided to open. The rain
began to fall and aggressively block our path. Despite this, I decided to keep
my speed steadily at 40mph, sadly other people on the road decided not to,
which meant a few nervy moments for Pete.
When you’re driving, you tend to see the road differently
than the person in the passenger seat. I felt quite comfortably like I had the
situation under control, but Pete disagreed and actively implored me to slow
down, which I dutifully did. Thankfully, the rain did eventually subside and
people started driving to the speed limit once more.
It was around this period that we started to think about
stopping for food and also a rest break. Once we were clearly out of the
mountains, we decided to stop by in a pub in Perth. The pub itself was, I think, quite
near to St Johnstone’s McDiarmid
Park stadium. I say this
because there were signs for a football ground and St Johnstone are one of the
big local sides in Perth.
Had we had more time, I would have investigated the matter, but I was sharing
the car with three hungry non-football fans, and came to the conclusion that
they likely wouldn’t be as interested to follow this up as I would.
I’m afraid I can’t remember the actual name of the pub. It
was off a roundabout on the outskirts of town. The pub itself was very nice and
was one of those pubs where every table had its own television. We pulled up a
chair and ordered some food. Seeing as it was going to be my last meal in Scotland, I
decided to order Haggis with Neeps and Tatties. The dish itself came with some
biscuits and a very tasty whiskey sauce. I was very satisfied with the meal and
it wasn’t as heavy as you’d think.
With our bellies full and our bladders emptied, we hit the
road once more. Pete loaded up The Ricky Gervais Show on one of our I-Pods and we
began the arduous journey along the motorway back to England. The traffic itself was
moving along well enough, but we were still looking at something like 4-5 hours
between here and home.
Eventually, the car needed to be refuelled and I also needed
to refuel with an energy drink. We stopped at a services and I ventured in.
Pete offered to take over the driving duties, but I turned him down, the
journey now becoming some perverse challenge to me. This, lads and ladies, was
the action of a fool. It’s never smart to drive when you’re tired. Granted, I
was hardly close to falling asleep at the wheel, but I was also in dire need of
energy to keep my head in the game.
It was at this time that I decided to also eat my Scotch
Pie. Despite it now being cold, I enjoyed it quite a lot. The meat was lightly
spiced and the pastry had a pleasing texture. Pete took an investigatory bite
into his pie and his face was a rich tapestry of emotion. There was a mixture
of disgust, confusion, remorse and surprise. I don’t think he even swallowed
the piece of offending pie that he placed in his mouth. Pete offered the remaining
pie to me, but I was full after mine, so he placed it in the side glove box. I
found the remains of the pie a couple of days later. I didn’t eat it.
But yes dear reader, it was foolish of me to continue on
driving despite my fatigue. It is not something I would condone for others to
try. Ultimately, I felt compelled to keep going and that was the reason I
continued to drive rather than delegating the duties elsewhere. As it was, the
energy drink perked me up and I managed the remainder of the journey home with
little bother.
I can’t remember the exact order in which everyone was
dropped off, other than recalling that Adam was the last one. We pulled up
outside his house and he gathered his luggage together. It was a sad moment in
a lot of ways, the trip was now officially over and we’d have to return to the
hustle and bustle of regular life. Adam collected the remainder of his
possessions and entered his house.
I sat silently in the car for a few moments before sighing
and starting up the engine once more. The streets of Stockport
were now deserted, being that it was late at night. We had done much during our
short time away, and there was still more that we could have done that we just
hadn’t got around to. I felt both fulfilled and also keenly aware that there
was still more to offer in Inverness.
In my opinion, the best holiday is one that makes you feel
like you made the most of your destination but also makes you think that there
were still areas which were left unexplored. Inverness
certainly left that impression on me.
But the trip away had been more than just a jolly jaunt to
The Highlands. It had been an opportunity to get the four of us together again,
if only for a week. Will we ever take such a trip together again? I cannot say.
All I can say is that if such a situation to go away again were to present
itself, my response would be a hearty “yes”.
Thanks for reading
Peace Out
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