Day 5...rest

We're about to be 5/7th of the way through our walk...about to be. 19 miles looms ahead large! Yesterday was tough, Eric's cold is worse, and my feet issues are not getting better. The thought of 19 miles is not appealing. As if we were being looked out for we awoke to sleet and snow. Thank you, Lord!! We decided to forego our walk today and instead explore the village (Tyndrum) and the Bridge of Orchy Hotel.

In all fairness we were conflicted about not walking. We had come all this way. What would people at home think? Would they judge us? Would we care? In the end we talked to enough other people who had skipped sections, we examined how we were feeling, and we felt justified. In retrospect it was the right decision! One day off put us back in fighting condition - both mental and physical - and left us ready for day 6.

After a delicious breakfast at Glengarry House B&B Jeff did decide to walk on his own. He set out in the sleet and snow questioning his decision. Within an hour the weather cleared and Jeff was glad he had gone.

Eric, Cathy, and I walked along the road into the village. We shopped for an hour at The Green Welly Stop and made time for tea while we were there. Somehow Cathy managed to pick up gifts for about 8 people while we were there. Eric and I managed to buy a couple things...for ourselves. =)

We caught the bus...thank you even rural Scotland for having a regular bus route...(why can we barely make this happen in the city's in the US??) and headed to Bridge of Orchy Hotel. We had a 4 hour layover there to get a stamp and have lunch before heading on to Kingshouse Hotel. Thanks to the hotel for having free wifi. It's become a precious commodity out here.

We waited our four hours and then headed to the bus stop. We stood there about 10 minutes before seeing the bus heading our way. Wait, wait, wait why isn't the bus stopping? There it goes!! Apparently the hotel is not an "official" stop...uhm, it's on the brochure...and the bus wont stop unless you flag it down. WTF?!?!? Eric and Cathy were kind enough to "Morillo" me as if this was my fault for not knowing (Morillo is where Eric Morey and Cathy Carillo jointly judge you). Now we're stuck in the middle of nowhere with no clear way to get to Kingshouse. We had the hotel phone a taxi who told us they'd be there in 'about' 30 minutes.

Over 60 minutes later the taxi still wasn't there but we had met some nice German's and were having beers with them. We had actually seen them several times on the trail but had never shared more than a polite hello. It's amazing how much friendlier people get as you approach the end of the Way.

Eventually the taxi showed - the Germans judged them harshly for not being efficiently ontime - and we headed the 15 minutes down the road to the Kingshouse (in operation since the 1600s). Jeff had been there 2-3 hours at that point. We all decided to get adventurous for dinner. Jeff and I can honestly say we have no need to try "haggis with neeps and tatties" ever again. Feel free to look that one up.

Tried myself a Glenfarclas 15 tonight. It was quite delicious. We're all refreshed and looking forward to the walk tomorrow!