DAY 289

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Typical.

The truck stop outside of Perth was serviceable and as always we were glad to have a restroom nearby first thing in the morning. We bought coffee and Charles fixed the glove box then off we went to the Tay Forest where a famous battle had taken place and a soldier leaped across a gorge at Killcrankie. With intermittent showers and sun we headed towards the Dalwhinnie Distillery where we became members of Friends of the Classic Malts Club. This meant that after tasting three whiskeys (Nicole and Dian were not very enamored but Charles liked them), we were given “passports” listing about 10 other distilleries in Scotland – mostly in the north – where we could go for FREE tours and tastings. We also got a nifty pin and certificate.

Some enjoyed the tasting more than others.

 

We stopped at the information center just outside of Inverness and met John, a very helpful and knowledgeable attendant. He gave us an idea of what the weather up north would be like as well as calling the camp we wanted to stay at to make sure they had Internet.

Nicole commented, “You know what? I like the weather.”And it was a good thing since the storm had left Inverness drenched. The campsite we pulled into was under water and Darryl at the gate said there were only a couple of places that were safe to pull into. (He was from San Francisco!!!)  So we parked on a scruffy patch of gravel and hunkered down for the afternoon. After awhile the desire to catch up with family by Google Voice prompted us to walk a quarter of a mile to the Beefeater Restaurant where we used their free WiFi to call home. We caught up with Grandmother and Grandad then Charles worked with the credit card company on a false alarm while Dian and Nicole went back to shower and fix dinner.

As usual Mr. Andrews was eager to EXPLORE the town so he and Mrs. Andrews bundled up for a foray into the "Capitol of the Highlands." Leaving Nicole to have some time alone was a good idea and Charles and Dian hit the jackpot with their musical search.

With umbrellas of no use in the gale Charles and Dian noticed almost all the locals were hatless, umbrellaless and even jacketless. Meanwhile the six layers they had on presented a problem after entering the Hootenany Pub since they  had to stand in the warm room with no place to set all the layers. They shared a beer with a nice gal named Rose who told them about another pub with music and since the trio of two fiddles and an accordion were slightly underwhelming they headed to The Sellions for good traditional Scottish music.

Inverness

With a voice like a booming angel Charles and Dian had the pleasure of listening to Kenny Jameson play his guitar with his backing band of accordion, drums and bagpipes. The pub was packed and a nattily dressed octogenarian sat in the front row playing along on the boudhran (drum). After being whisked onto the dance floor a couple of times for some promenading and do-si-doeing, Dian was asked to sing. She pulled out an old girl scout favorite called "Wah Saw The 42^ND" and lo and behold Kenny knew it! Suffice it to say the response was good and even the older gal patted Dian approvingly. Staying till last call they had a nice chat with the drummer before heading out into the cold to catch a taxi back to camp.

We've spotted 'er!