A Long Weekend Trip To Glenfinnan Part 1 - To Bridge of Orchy and Beyond

We've always been a bit envious of those who live their lives travelling in vans. The thought of the freedom to go where ever the notion takes and soaking up as much as we  can en-route has great appeal. It's therefore a rare treat for us when we can extend the weekend and head out in Mowgli (our 20 year old motothome) whilst we leave our worries and cares well behind. We don't really do a great deal of planning for these trips, other than what the final destination will be before we need to start the journey back home - and of course, how many bottles of rum we will need. I should say that I don't condone the excessive use of alcohol, we just like rum.........honest. I am partial to malt whisky, but it's easier to manage if we both drink the same thing 😊. Far too much focus on alcohol in the last couple of sentences, so I'll move on. It was Mamabroon's birthday in March, so we decided that a long weekend was in order and the destination would be Glenfinnan.

First Sighting of Leaky Tank

Some work on the van was required for this trip as we had some trouble with the water heater on a previous trip - the structure holding the water cylinder to the heat inducer had mechanically failed and a large leaking gap had rendered it unusable. Worse than that, it also meant the we had no cold water either as the water pump is  multi-functional and fills the hot water tank as well as pumping the fresh water. If that wasn't bad enough, the electronic gas controller had come out in sympathy with the mechanical parts and that too needed replacing. Oh, and I also had a diesel heater to install due to the van's gas heater becoming somewhat unreliable. These types of jobs have become common place and I have found myself sadly deriving some pleasure from them. I must have gone insane - there is nothing rational about that behaviour. Having little patience and due to the compact nature of the van, being forced to work in small spaces is quite a pain, so I've no idea why I just made the proclamation of derived pleasure. I spent nearly six whole evenings on that confounded water tank practically re-engineering it. It's old and not easy to get spare parts.......and not cheap either. On the other hand, the diesel heater was a doddle - time consuming, but all the hurdles were easily over come.

So, two weeks of solitary confinement and intensive hard labour, coupled with the the hardest of weeks at my day job, Mamabroon and I were most certainly ready for a weekend away where we could bombard each other with our rotten patter and see some of Scotland's fantastic scenery (and enjoy the occasional rum).

Our plan, if you can call it a plan, was to leave on the Thursday evening after work, but two things prevented that from happening and the schedule was compromised right from the off. First of all, I was still trying to repair the water heater and secondly the clutch on my car decided it was getting less attention than the van, so in a fit of what can only be assumed to be mechanical envy, it decided it had had enough and ended it's days without notice. We would have shed tears if it hadn't been for the fact that on  the Wednesday, we found a deal for two bottles of Captain Morgans at around the same price as we would pay in our local supermarket. It wasn't actually Captain Morgans, but rather a cheaper equivalent that turned out to be a tasty beverage.

We awoke on the Friday morning, well Mamabroon did - she rises at ridiculously early hours. I on the other hand had been grafting away on the Thursday evening and was woken - well before lunching hours - by a rather impatient and excited wife. My first port of call was to go and test the water heater that had been consuming my every spare hour and was resealed, a third time, the evening before. Mamabroon filled the fresh water tank in preparation whilst I cleared away my entire tool collection ( don't just use a set of spanners when you can use a drill, power screw driver, hammer, ratchet sets......). A few finishing touches to the water heater assembly and it was time to test and all the while the new diesel heater was pumping out ferocious temperatures. Fresh water tank now filled I listened for the gurgling sound of the hot water cylinder filling - all good so far. Quick check for leaks - all good. Turn on the gas valve and ignite the water heater - all good. We were like two kids at Christmas tears of joy and hugs all round. I was a hero for ten minutes. A great feeling. A few minutes later and it was time to turn on the hot water tap in the hope of warm water. It was piping hot. Damn, it was as if it were actually a good hot water system. Whoops of joy and  and some silly dad dance moves were quite enough celebration. It was time to throw our stuff into the van and head off. It was 4:30pm after all and time and tide wait for no man.

View from the Van Bride of Orchy

Our loosely drawn up plan was to drive part of the way and stop over night. Glenfinnan is three and a half to four hours away (Mowgli isn't very fast) so stopping for an overnight made good sense. It didn't take us long to plan that surprisingly enough. Setting off up the scenic A82 we were soon passing Loch Lomond's bonny banks. When we are travelling up the west cost of Scotland, Loch Lomond is marker that we have made our escape from the concrete jungle and the beauty of nature is in every visible direction. The road at the north of the loch becomes a bit narrower with frequent sharp bends. It's also the most scenic part so a bit more focus is required. The A82 is a fantastically scenic road that opens up to some of Scotland most dramatic vista's the further north you travel on it. For us, it's one of the most enjoyable roads to travel when heading to the Scottish Highlands. We had looked at the route before hand and had nominated a couple of areas that would be suitable for an over night stop and after much deliberation decided to stop in Bridge of Orchy. Well, it was more like;
"where are we"?
"Bridge of Orchy"
"Let's stop here then"
"OK"
We quickly found a place - we usually wild camp and use a great app called Park4Night which is great for finding areas to stay. We have used it in France too and it has never let us down, but this is the point where we normally have a bit of a tiff if it's me who's doing the driving.
"The sat nav said turn left"
"I didn't hear it"
"I've been telling you for the past ten minutes"
"I couldn't hear because you had the music up too loud"

A Rather Dirty Looking Mowgli

However, the gods were with us on this occasion and Mamabroon had got bored of her music and I was free to listen to the instructions of the sat nav. Actually, the truth is that it was getting dark and I was paying attention. My senses were heightened like someone who can tel butter from one of those 'I can't believe it's not butter' alternatives. We were eventually directed to an empty car park off a single track road. It was quiet and there was the sound of a river flowing just behind us. It was dark and we couldn't see, but the relaxing sound of the river on a quiet night told us we were in a nice spot. Mamabroon has a great routine of going for a smoke and turning the gas on for a first brew while I give myself a pat on the back for being an excellent driver. She assures me that the gas is turned on and the gas locker closed before she lights up her cigarette. I am eternally grateful for that. And for the fact that she can rustle up a tasty bite to eat and two coffees in half the time it takes me to even think about what needs to be done. When she does the driving we are usually half starved before I have anything prepared.

We like to get a small colander fire going and enjoy a small libation after we have digested our food, but it started to rain, so with the cosy warmth of the new diesel heater, we settled down to a couple of rums before bed. We kept the measures small and few and had an early night to ensure we were good to drive the following day.

After a ten hour sleep (it's amazing how well we sleep in the van) I was awoke by the excited Mamabroon clog dancing, or at least it sounded like that as she clattered around the van, as is her wont of a morning, making the breakfast in an exceptionally successful scam that get's me out of bed without fuss. It was a fresh morning and the river behind us was furiously delivering vast quantities of water from the mountains above to where ever it's final destination was. We had a loosely scheduled timetable to keep, so I didn't have time to check what river it was or to where it flowed - it was nice to wake up with it in the background, but the clock was ticking. Not really, we have a very casual approach, but I thought I'd add that for dramatic effect. The next leg of the journey takes us to Glenfinnan via Fort William. See you there.