Tag Archives: walking holiday

Walking Done … But Not Really

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We woke, did some packing, and went to have breakfast. It’s the first place where all guests sat at the same table. A day or so ago we saw a young woman with a t-shirt that said “California 1991” so we asked if she was from California and she said no, she was from Scotland and bought the t-shirt at a store there. We asked where in Scotland and she said near Inverness and so we mentioned the Great Glen Way walk we took. Then she got more specific with her home because she knew we would have passed right through it: she (and her travel companion) are in Drumnadrochit! We talked about where we ate and of course they knew the places. Small world.

After breakfast we finished our packing, and took our bags up for the bag pick-up, had another cup of coffee, and enjoyed the view one last time.

I took a quick photo of our lodging, and then we walked in the village a bit, just to check it out.

Then it was time to do the descent back to Pinhão. Plus a few climbs just to make it more fun, I guess. The way we went, using the app, was certainly not the fastest way down, but I think the plan was for us to be able to really see more views and a couple of the wineries as well. It was a pleasant walk.

On our way down, very close to Pinhåo, a dog seemed to want to guide us. It was pretty funny … if we stopped he’d wait. Eventually he did go his own way. (Later on we were sitting with Patrizia, Rudy, Peter, and Judith — the latter being people we’d seen but only actually met while sitting together. They, too, were from Switzerland. Turns out the dog also did the same for Peter and Judith! Funny.)

And then the walk ended. But as I titled this entry, “not really” … because of course we will walk every day in every city!

When we reached Pinhão we went to the train station.

We were told our luggage would be at “the house in front of the train station.” Curiously, we saw no house. Before worrying much about that we went inside the station to talk to the man selling tickets. Why? Because the strike is still on, of course! (Because of the strike we did have the insurance of bus tickets which, funnily enough, were more expensive than the train.) He said yes, the train was running. So far. Kind of shrugged and said something about the strike. Earlier, because of the potential of no train, we had opted to get a ride (with Patrizia and Rudy) to Régua because that’s where the bus would depart, so we did plan on doing that in any case. At that point we did see Patrizia and Rudy and they, too, were wondering about luggage. Shortly after that, though, our luggage transport guy drove by and while driving told us not to worry or some such thing. Turns out HE had the luggage in his taxi and he would be the one to drive us to Régua. Okay then.

So off we went. He drove pretty crazily, but we are still alive so whatever.

Getting to the train station in Régua, we sat with the other four new found friends, had some beer, and just enjoyed on another’s company. It was a lovely time.

Then … ta-da!!! … the train showed up. A noisy old thing, but it was a train and it got us to the Campanhã station in Porto. We then jumped on another train to get us to Sao Bento, a really beautiful train station …

… and opted to get ourselves to our hotel without taking a taxi. Not a problem, really, but it was downhill so I’m pretty sure we’ll take a car back to the train station when we leave this city!

Our hotel is fairly new and quite nice.

Below is us a fairly busy street so I’ll be interested to see how the noise is tonight. We have a nice view of some buildings across the street, though.

After we got settled in we went down for our free “welcome port” which was nice …

… and then we went in search of dinner. The first place Dan read about had quite the line, so that was a no. Then we went to an area we ate at the last time we were here but nothing seemed to have room. (Later we could hear music blasting from that street, so we were rather glad not to be there.) Finally I opened up The Fork (like Open Table) and I just searched for restaurants near us and we found a place. It was nice, and we were the only ones eating inside for quite a while. I was surprised so many were eating outside, as it was quite chilly.

We are now back in our room, and I will quickly try to upload photos because I’m rather tired. I think finishing our walking holiday just sort of zapped me. Tomorrow, though, I’m sure my energy will be back, and we are looking forward to more time in Porto.

Ciao!

My Bags Are Packed

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I’m ready to go …

Of course that doesn’t mean I won’t change my mind about something, but the two main bags are packed and locked, so I’m hoping that’s it.

Here is a shot of the clothing I’ll be taking:

In addition to what you see above there are pjs (in carryon in case the checked bag doesn’t arrive) and a raincoat (also in carryon since it looks like we will be encountering rain when we arrive). Not pictured is the one stuff sack of the clothes for our five day walk (hiking pants, shirts, hiking socks, waterproof cap, “bathroom” necessities when you have no bathroom, if you know what I imean!). The outfit on the left — black pants, “Sahara Dust” sweater, and short sleeved blue shirt, will be worn on the plane, along with the scarf The rest has all fit in one compression bag. Well, except for the hat! That’s a foldable hat, and it’s packed as well, since it’s a nuisance to have a hat on the plane.

I did do the “while we’re on the walk” packing job first today, and everything worked just fine. Then I took everything out and repacked for the flights and the rest of our travels.

Above is the “rest of the stuff” … but since I took that shot things have changed: the black bundle you see on the left was a raincoat I deemed just too bulky, despite my loving it, so a shorter, more casual raincoat took its place. The latter will also work for our walk, so I could delete the really light raincoat I’d packed for that. I also switched out the larger umbrella for a smaller one. Other things there: green compression bag full of unclothes and socks, meds (OH, and I managed to make those smaller as well, as I could peel the label off of one and put it on a tiny bottle), a very small backpack (that small blue ball you see), all my cables, an adapter, and other necessary things for devices in the red bag, my extra pair of shoes stuffed with socks, an electric toothbrush, a puffer jacket stuffed in its own pocket, my toiletry bag, my vitamin and pain med box, and my extra glasses. And gee, writing all this reminded me I hadn’t yet packed my AirPods! So off I go to do that after I post this.

Every ounce counts!

Yep, that’s my motto at the moment.

I have a small Pacsafe purse that contains passport, wallet, credit cards, chapstick, some sanitizing towelettes … exciting, I know.

I neglected to take a photo of my little camera bag (or my purse, for that matter) that fits into my carryon bag. But that camera bag holds my Fuji camera with two lenses – one zoom, one macro, extra batteries and cards … all things photo.

In any case, I’m packed and ready to head out on another adventure. I’m glad to have this distraction: yesterday I was on an audition panel for my replacement — and what a fabulous replacement we have! I’m overjoyed for the winner Adrienne Burg, and I know OSJ will be very pleased to have her. I have been principal oboe of Opera San José for what seems like forever, and this is a huge change. I thought I wouldn’t really react since I opted to move to second oboe for this past season, but I guess the finality of the audition did cause me to pause and ponder a bit. It’s the end of an era for me. I’m trying not to think that it’s the end of me!

Now we wait …

So What’s Next, You Ask?

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Yes, I am already thinking about what we’ll do next. It’s what I do, after all! We are hoping for a walking holiday again, so the spreadsheet has been started. Here’s the top of the first page:

As you can see, we have a long list of country possibilities. We had hoped for the Dolomites, but that might have to wait a year, since it’s best to do that later in the year than we were planning. At the moment I’m sort of focussing on Portugal.

(For some reason it looks like you can’t click on the image of the spreadsheet to see it on its own, in an enlarged format, so here is what I list:
COMPANY – COUNTRY/AREA & LINK TO PAGE – COST PER PERSON – #DAYS, NIGHTS, WALKING – # OF MILES – ACTIVITY LEVEL – LODGING LEVEL – NIGHT LOCATIONS – ITINERARY & NOTES.

This is ridiculously difficult to read, I know, but here is one walk sample. Maybe if you squint or get a magnifying glass you can read it …?


When I look for a company to work with I browse a lot of them, and then check on their reviews and ratings. I found one in the UK that had walks in Portugal, and their reviews looked fine, but in reading the description they state that they use a local company for the Portugal walks. Of course I’d prefer to use a local company myself, so I did a bit of research and I believe I’ve found the company they work with and going directly with that company saves money. No surprise … the same goes for booking a hotel directly most of the time. (When it doesn’t I write to the hotel and they will usually match the price of a service like Expedia.)

But then we also have a wedding to attend on the other side of our own country. It’s in the fall, so it seems only right to look into what else we might do at that end of the US while we are there, right? So of course I have a spreadsheet for that as well.

Can you tell I really love spreadsheets?!

Added Some Videos!

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I had nearly forgotten that on some days I did videos. I shared them somewhere (probably Facebook?) while we were on the trip, but I know not everyone saw them. So for those who are interested, there are now videos up on May 21 and May 23. I’m guessing I have more, but as I wrote, I’m only doing a few days at a time.

UPDATE: Well, I thought I’d posted the videos, but I had neglected to hit the “DONE” button so they hadn’t posted. I think I’ve fixed that now. Hope so!

I continue, as well, to add more photos. I’m guessing that’s not of interest to most readers, but since this is my way of journaling the walk I want to add them.

And So It Ends

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But let’s start from the beginning of the day, yes?

We started with packing (although I’d done my suitcase packing last night: Dan gets some of what I can’t fit in the smaller case, and we add the final stuff after changing into our walking clothes and brushing teeth and all). I have decided (and feel the need to be helpful for others planning trips) that suitcases “grow” things … as we go along it gets harder and harder to fit things into them!

Then we had yet another lovely breakfast at Woodlands. (I need to go back and make sure I link to the other places we stayed, but maybe not tonight.) We said our goodbyes, and got in the van. It turned out to be full van, but with only two that we had met before.

Some people were dropped off where we were dropped off yesterday. This included one of “our” people … she wanted to walk on the road up to where the trail began to get to Inverness. This meant two miles of tarmac. No thank you! We’ve added enough to our walk already due to various things (and stay tuned: we’ll add more!) and didn’t feel the need to do those two extra miles.

I thought today would be about 7.5 miles. Not bad. And I’d read it was all easy.

So we got out at our starting spot (Blackfold) and headed out on the trail. It was just fine. Cloudy and cold, but okay. Better cloudy than too much sun!

We walked up on the moor (or is it moors) for a bit, and then reached some trees. Going through a gate there were smaller trees … maybe reforesting? I’m not sure.

Some spots were a bit muddy, but we are used to that, of course. Another walker, from a few years back, wrote about the stone wall that went on for some time, and we did reach that. What a chore to build those walls. (Or should I call it a fence? Hm.)

We again ran into the sisters we’ve chatted with a few times. They had stopped at a perfect spot for coffee (yes, they had a thermos with them). They said it seemed a good place to stop since it wasn’t yet raining. Smart people! They were already dressed in rain gear.

We plodded on. I knew they’d catch up with us, and of course they did. Dan and I aren’t speedy walkers. Especially now. He still has hip and back issues, and my left hip and my toes are a bit pesky. So it goes. Eventually you don’t notice the hurt so much.

And then … well … drip drip drip … little sprinkles began. Dan was behind me at that point, having stopped to do some photography, and he texted that he might be packing things up if the rain continued.

And it did.

So he packed up, as did I.

The rain, though, started to get a bit heavier. We were then walking together when we decided that we needed to add our rain pants to the mix (we wore rain jackets from the start). Reaching a spot that had tree cover we got the pants on (they have side zippers both at the top and bottom so you don’t have to deal with taking off shoes) … I first put mine on backwards. Argh! It’s hard enough to stand and get the darn things on, but then I had to take them off and start over. But I managed and on we went.

And then glimpses of Inverness!

The rain was quite persistent. It rained as we descended into Inverness. The first place we left the nice trail we were in an area with a lot of buildings — maybe apartments or something. I couldn’t really tell. We walked a sidewalk, we walked past a playground. We managed to lose the GGW signs, but found them again, and on we went.

We reached a tunnel and went through (yes the GGW sign said to do that).

After that things got weird. Somewhere we missed a sign. We ended up walking and walking and not finding signs. I finally put our destination (Inverness Castle) in to Google and in a roundabout way we were taken there, but we definitely went at least a mile further than we should and perhaps longer.

This bridge, before reaching the castle (crossing the River Ness) is one strange and very bouncy bridge!

The castle itself is disappointing, but I’d read about it already so I expected that. It’s being fixed up, and it’s surrounded by scaffolding and the like. There IS a big monument or whatever it’s called for the walkers, so we did the obligatory photo. First we did one for the two runners who did the GGW in two days! That’s 40 miles a day. Yikes!

And then it was to the Castle Tavern for our beers and lunch. I’d been told we could get certificates there, but I didn’t ask and they didn’t offer (although I thought it was pretty clear we looked like drenched GGW walkers!).

After our late lunch we headed to our B&B.

We showered, changed into to normal clothes, and went to dinner at a nice place. Crossing another bouncy bridge.

And now it’s over. Mission accomplished.

Tomorrow we go back to normal travel mode: a train to the next village we are visiting (stay tuned), and I hope less eating, since we won’t be burning nearly as many calories.

I’m so glad we did the walk. Yes, it could be challenging, but I think challenging one’s self is a good thing, and at our age maybe even better than good. We met some lovely people.

And now we rest!

It’s Always Longer Than We Expect

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A friend (Hi Kevin!) said he and his wife add 2 miles to the listed mileage on walks. Indeed, it appears to be what we are told and the reality of a walk is usually a bit different. Sometimes it’s due to getting off the trail and walking to our lodging, and sometimes due to a diversion. Sometimes, though, I wonder if they simply didn’t measure correctly!

Today we woke and had a fabulous breakfast. For once I didn’t order salmon and eggs (which, by the way, has been served in a different way at each B&B), but had a cheese, meat, and fruit plate. It was lovely, but so much more than I could eat.

The B&B owners (Isabelle and Robert here at Woodlands in Lewiston) packaged what I had left up and put it in the wonderful prepared lunch we had purchased. Getting back from the walk we still had food left!

We were picked up by a driver (the same company that hauls our luggage) because we were taking to our starting spot and walking back (as I believe I mentioned yesterday — I’m too lazy to verify that!). He picked up four other walkers … all of whom we had met on the trail! What fun! Our driver (I really should have gotten his name) was super, talking about the area and pointing out a variety of things. So the ride was pleasant AND he then stopped at a spot and said, “Now I could go on for 2 miles where your walk starts, but you’d be walking two miles on a narrow road so if you want to start here that’s fine,” (maybe not those exact words, of course). Our company had told us he would do that, but the others were surprised. I had expected everyone else to decline the offer, preferring to do the entire (painful) walk, but they enthusiastically wanted to start at this spot as well.

When we exited the car we all agreed we wanted a photo, so group photo it was!

We started at a place that advertised food and camp sites. Dan and I had seen this place on one of the videos we watched, and I’d also read about it. The woman doesn’t quote a price for anything, saying she “isn’t sure” and then, so we’ve heard, charges a crazy high amount. It might still be fun for the experience of it all, but since all of us were just beginning we didn’t walk over.


The walk started easily enough. And it was lovely.

The driver had told us there was a “nursery school” on our walk. I don’t think it means exactly what we refer to as nursery school, but I don’t know for sure. They had created sweet painted, wooden birds that were on posts, and then we reached the lovely spot where they do crafts and a variety of things. Really nice!

From there we reached a place where we could take the high route or the low route. Of course we went for high!

There was definitely a climb, but it wasn’t killer and, to be honest, going up is so much easier for me than going down. (With a bad right big toe and a left toe that isn’t much better, going down is somewhat painful now.) We reached one high spot and two of the people who had been in the van with us (sisters, from Belgium) were there so we took photos of them on their phone and then they took photos of us.

Then more uphill. I reached a spot before Dan so I enjoyed a little rest on a seat there.

Continuing up we ran into two women we’d connected with the past few days who were going the opposite way and heading all the way to Inverness. That’s at least twenty miles. No thank you. Plus the climb out of Drumnadrochit is crazy hard. (But going down is rotten on my toes!)

The wind came up, and then we ended up at a viewpoint that was gorgeous but so cold and windy. We didn’t last long there.

More walking, much of it easy. We again ran into the sisters. We puzzled over it … they had been ahead of us! It turned out they went the wrong way at one point, which took them on a longer route and added at least a mile to their walk. Oops!

Another meet up with the sisters … another photo!

And then there was a ton of downhill stuff. I’ve always despised downhill, and with a couple of problematic toes I hate it even more. But if I wanted to do the walk, and wanted to get back to our B&B what choice did I have? At least there was a lot of beauty to be admired, and I figure it’s not worth crying over … what I have to do just has to be done!

We did see lovely views. We saw sheep (which, close up, are pretty darn filthy sometimes). We saw, from a distance, some highland cows. (I want to see them closer so I can get a photo, but I suspect that chance of that is gone now.)


And then there was the road. And over 2.5 miles. On these roads in Scotland it is a bit scary sometimes. Cars are SO close there are even signs telling pedestrians to beware of things that might hit is. (I can’t remember how they phrased it … maybe something about “overhead”.) Dan and I had to walk single file just to be on the safe side.

Eventually we were “home” … lovely heather and all …

but it was much later than we had expected, allowing time for showers and the start of writing this but nothing more. We had thought we might even have a nap time. Nope!

And, finally, dinner at the Loch Ness Inn. And it was yummy. No photos, though: I mostly take food photos these days just so I remember what I ate, but they usually aren’t worth sharing. (But as you can see, I thought breakfast was worth posting.)

Tomorrow we again take the van to a starting point, but this time we also bring our luggage with us and the van will deliver it to our final B&B, in Inverness, on the Great Glen Walk. My understanding is that this walk will be fairly easy and not all that long, and perhaps a bit boring, but at this point I figure we’ll know when we know!

This all has gone by quickly. I’m glad we did it, and I wouldn’t mind doing another, but I think I’d like to move to a new area … maybe something in England. Time will tell if we have the money, inclination, and health to allow for any more of these, though!

Longest Day

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This is a quick post, and will be updated when I have more time and energy.

UPDATE: Updated on June 14, with a ton of photos since it’s now so much easier to post them.

Today was the day I was most worried about. We were told the walk was 14.5 miles and that there were some steep climbs. In addition, my right big toe took a beating and currently looks rather bad: I can see it’s been bleeding underneath the toenail and, having experienced this before, I know I’ll eventually lose that toenail. (Darn! No sandals this summer.)

UPDATE: The nail has NOT fallen off. It’s still looking crummy, but I guess I’m keeping it!

We started off with a nice breakfast at our B&B in Invermoriston. Then we packed up and headed out.

The wrong way.

THIS time it wasn’t my error, but that other guy walking with me. Hah!

Once we turned around we headed to the GGW post and went up – up – up. It really wasn’t bad, going up a road and all. Early in the day a road isn’t as hard on the feet as it is later.

We finally saw the sign for the high route, which is what we opted to take to the next destination.

There were easy bits, there were steep bits. But nothing really was tough when we reached what is called the View Catcher. I was actually rather surprised, as I’d read another walker’s post about how hard it was to get there.

From there we headed up and down and through a dark forest. Every so often we heard a cuckoo. When I pulled out my camera to record it the darn thing stopped! This happened several times, in fact.

Well, we then hit a much harder climb. I think that might have been the one the writer had really been referring to and just got the timing off. (It’s easy to do on a long walk.) It was a tough one, but, to be honest, not nearly as bad as I had anticipated.

When we reached a stone structure (after the one pictured above) with a bench we stopped for lunch.

Oh … one thing I’ve not written about are midges. Those are tiny flies that you can barely see that bite! We were prepared and had put in insect repellent. But we saw things in the air that we assumed might be the critters. They are worse later in the month and for June and July. I’m glad we are here when they aren’t out in abundance. I’ve seen photos of people with bites and it looks quite frightening.

UPDATE: We never did get any bites at all!

Okay … back to the walk: we continued on. There was really nothing terribly strenuous, but it was relentless. When we reached a forest service road it was so muddy and mucky and not fun at all. Plod, plod, plod.

From there we headed out on a road for a bit and then another trail through a bunch of meadows. A long way. And then we finally ended up on a road. It seemed to go on an awfully long way, at one point veering on to the narrowest trail (I guess to avoid the car problem since it was a one lane road).

FINALLY, a cuckoo!


We were then directly to go through a gate and take a trail again. Ah … we felt like the end was in sight.

It wasn’t.


We went on for at least two more miles.

But we DID make it to our B&B (with a beautiful yard!), and we DID get showers.

Sadly no naps though because it turned out yours truly made reservations for a restaurant that was almost a mile away. Argh! More walking?

But walk we did. And eat … well YES we certainly did eat. And had dessert as well, thank you very much.

Now we are back in our room and we are exhausted. Tomorrow we get driven to a place about 11 miles away and walk back to this B&B. The nice thing about that is we don’t have to pack! (The next day we get driven back to the place 11 miles away and walk the other direction, reaching our final goal of Inverness.)

I was terribly worried, as I wrote above, about this day. We survived. We LOVED the views, and we are glad we don’t have another long day like this! Some of our fellow walkers (yes, we meet and get to know other people) are walking all the way to Inverness tomorrow. I’m thankful that we aren’t!

This was what we saw on our walk back to our lodging:



Goodnight!

Day Two, May 21

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We began today with breakfast at Distant Hills B&B. It’s a great way to start a walk, really. The owners here, Dani and Cameron, are delightful, and I will have to share photos of the flowers growing in the yard at some point: they are amazing!

After breakfast Cameron drove us to our starting spot for today’s walk, and off we went.


Starting out at the locks we headed up on a road. Now roads in Scotland are pretty darn narrow, so I frequently heard Dan yell out (he was behind me) “Car back!” to warn me of a car coming up the road. I nearly always step further aside and turn around so the driver can see that I know he/she is there. Nearly everyone waves.

Speaking of that, I must say that people here are quite friendly: nearly every walker and cyclist greets us as we pass by. I love it.

From the road we were taken to a path for walkers and we stayed on that a bit, crossing the road at one point, and then heading down to Loch Lochy. We then were going to spend a whole lot of time walking either near the loch or a bit above it. We went through lovely forested areas. We also went through an area that had new plantings of trees. (I really can’t remember the exact order of things, so I very well may get some things out of order.)

And we also ended up on a road again. Another narrow — and later narrower — road, but I may be getting things out of order. How is one’s brain supposed to function after nearly 13 miles?!

At one point there was a long slog through a forested area that wasn’t all too exciting. But not every inch of a walk can be exciting, right?


We stopped for our lunches, prepared by Dani at Distant Hills. Dan hung his pack on a log that was sticking out. I foolishly set my pack and camera back on the ground. We took a bit of time for lunch and headed out again. I’m not sure when I looked at my right wrist, but there was Mr. Tick, just trying to burrow in. Thankfully I saw it before he did get in there, and got him off completely. I’m guessing I’m just fine because of quickly doing that, but I’ll be watching that part of my wrist for a while. Lesson learned: don’t set things down near plant life.

The GGW had a diversion somewhat close to the end of our walk, where we had switchbacks along a trail that honestly wasn’t difficult as it gained altitude rather slowly. There were signs along the way … um … I think they are called interpretive? Anyway, we had the most lovely expansive views on this part of the walk.



And then it was just walk, walk, walk. Not quite as exciting although there were pretty moments, and even in those that aren’t amazing are just pleasant.

My only problem, and it was minimal, was that my feet swell as I walk and my smaller toes aren’t always happy. I suspect after this trip I will dismiss these shoes and get something with a larger to box. I had worn these on walks at home and thought they were fine, but I think for longer walks I can use that more generous toe box … if I can find something that fits! (I have very large feet and finding shoes isn’t always easy.)

Eventually we ended up at the Laggan Lochs and I called our driver to see how we were to meet up. Despite the somewhat difficult connection and my inability to understand him all the time I did figure out what we were to do so we waited for him to arrive, which he did after maybe fifteen or twenty minutes. We will see him, Al, tomorrow as well. He’s a character, and at first I thought he was angry at us but I think I just didn’t catch on to his personality at first.

So then it was a bit of time to relax before dinner. Our feet and muscles could certainly use that! For dinner we revisited last night’s restaurant: we have no choice as it’s the only restaurant in town!

Tomorrow we get picked up by Al at about 9:45 or so and head to Laggan Lochs again. He will then transport our luggage to our destination as we walk to Fort Augustus. I doubt we’ll have to worry about the luggage arriving since he takes it right there, but time will tell.**

**NO! I was wrong about Al taking our luggage. I’m not sure where I got the idea he would deal with it!

First Ten … Done!

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And only 69 to go, if it really is 79 miles. What with our mistakes as we walk the Great Glen Way who knows how many miles we will really go?!

We began today with the hotel breakfast. I won’t miss them, to be honest, but since I normally don’t even eat breakfast does it really matter that they were sort of ho-hum? Probably not!

We first went to the starting point of the walk to take a photo. A woman eating at the picnic table right in front of us offered to take a photo of us. She was clearly American, but we didn’t really chat so I have no clue where she is from. She, too, was doing the GGW, but she was on her own. I suggested we’d see her on the trail but she said she was a very slow walker.


And then it began. The first mile (plus a little) was what I’d already done, but the rest was new. At Soldier’s Bridge the woman who said she was a slow walker passed us. We never saw here again. Some of the walk was now just walking through the town of Caol (pronounced “Cool”), as cars drove by.

Eventually we did come across the fairly well known beached boat and of course I had to take a photo.

Then it was on to the village of Corpach. It was there, at the Corpach Sea Lock Office, that we could purchase a key that would get us into a few compost toilets on the GGW. Well … so much for that! The sign said they were understaffed and no one was there. Ah well.

At that point we were at the Caledonian Canal and that was to be our companion for the entire rest of the day. That and just a lovely view, beautiful flowers, and an easy going walk for the most part. Because we were on an unpaved road it wasn’t as easy on our feet as, say, a forest path would be, but really it wasn’t bad, and there really was no climb to speak of.

Prior to the eight locks of Neptune’s Staircase the GGW marker told us to take a left. We ignored it because we wanted to first see Neptune’s Staircase. When we went back we saw a different sign for the GGW and took that instead. It took us in a circle, really. Turned out that turning left bit was merely to avoid crossing train tracks (or so we think). We should have just kept walking when we first arrived at Neptune’s Staircase! (Is this confusing? I’m not sure I’m writing clearly, but I am so exhausted my brain isn’t working all that well! Of course it also wasn’t working well when we walked in a circle. Hah!)


Close to the top of the Staircase we saw a place to get lunch, so we stopped, had bowls of lentil soup, and enjoyed sitting for a time.

Then it was back to walking the canal.

I’ve read people complain about the day due to walking the road and “just” being by the canal, but honestly it was just so pretty and I was happy to be there.

We walked by another swing bridge and eventually ended up at the Gairlochy locks and swing bridge.

Then I merely had to learn how to make a phone call to our night’s lodging’s owners. It took a while, but I eventually figured it out (011 44 are required, but the 0 that’s listed before the given phone number should be removed. Who knew? Definitely not this phoneaphobic person!)

Cameron showed up quickly, and drove us to our place. It is just fine and the yard is beautiful! But our luggage transport hadn’t shown up with our luggage. Uh-oh! I called Mickledore and was told they’d get on it right away. Then I remembered our AirTags! I could easily see the luggage never left the place we stayed last night. When Mickledore got back to me they said there had been a “hiccup” and I said I knew that the luggage was still at our hotel. Gotta love those AirTags! It took a bit of time, but the luggage did show up. Whew!

We walked to dinner. I ate too much.

We walked back to our lodging …

We showered. And now I’m fried which is why you are reading the “rest of the story” in one quick paragraph.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a thirteen mile day and is supposed to be a bit harder. I hope we are up for it!

Planning for Two Trips

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Okay, so really the trip to the UK is just one trip — and what feels like a short one at that! But it also feels like we have to plan for two trips: obviously there’s the Walking Portion, and then there’s the Rest ‘o The days.

While we are on the walk we have to be prepared for, as one person put it, all four seasons in one day. I doubt very much that will actually happen, but certainly we have to be well prepared for rain. Sadly we also have to prepare for midges. Those are pesky tiny flies that bite. They don’t carry diseases like the mosquito, but I hear they are a terrible nuisance. I’m hoping they hatch later this year and maybe we’ll avoid them, since May is only the start of their pesky lives. We also have to bring trekking poles.

Guess what isn’t allowed in carryon luggage?!

Yep, no poles.

Now some people on various message boards have said they brought them on the plane with no problem at all. Fine. But what if there is a problem and the confiscate them? We are out some rather expensive poles. Others said they ordered cheap poles from Amazon and had them delivered to their first hotel prior to the walk. We are attempting (though not always succeeding) in avoiding Amazon if possible, as so many local stores are failing and I’m pretty darn sure Amazon is part of the reason. In addition, there’s a possibility that the order doesn’t arrive. Who needs that worry? So we will have to check a bag this time. But so it goes. It’s not a huge deal, although we do have a plane transfer so any vital stuff will be in our carryon bags.

We are also doing things that require clothing that is a bit less “rugged”. I already have one reservation for a restaurant in London that does require nicer dressing. So while we have to walking clothes we do have to think about being presentable at places like this restaurant … and maybe a concert if I can find one we want to attend. Time will tell. My hope is that I can still get away with just my boots for the walk and one other pair of shoes. I think it’s possible, but we’ll see.

I’ve already started my mental packing, but I will probably start a written list soon. I use Numbers for all of this: the itinerary, reservations and all pertinent information, possible things to do in each city, and of course the packing list. A couple I follow online both at their website and on YouTube said it’s very handy to have the itinerary and reservations easily accessible so that when you go through customs and are asked for an address you can easily find the first hotel. I’d not thought of that before, but I’ve always had my spreadsheets in any case.

About the Retirement Travelers: They, John and Bev, are such fun to follow, by the way: they sold everything and are doing the full time traveling bit while they are able. I think that sounds absolutely fantastic! And yes, they only do carryon as well. Check ‘em out!

No pictures yet … I’ll post them when we get closer to the trip to show what I have decided to pack. (Not that I won’t change my mind seconds before we head out the door!) We still have a whopping 108 days before our departure date, and I have three symphony sets, two opera runs, and a movie to play, along with teaching my students.