After another delicious and filling breakfast we reluctantly said goodbye to Pippa and John of Heathbank B&B and packed up the car to drive south to the Lake District.
We took the ferry over Loch Linnhe again and managed to get straight on as there wasn't much of a queue this morning. Once over the stretch of water we headed south on the A82 towards Glencoe and Loch Lomond.
Keith was driving this morning and the traffic was heavy, but even busier going north with numerous caravans, camper vans and coaches. Glencoe was bathed in sunshine for a change and the car parks along the side of the road were jammed with vehicles as people got out to take photos.
We caught up with two slow cars and a coach and Keith overtook them all much to my dismay! We had a bit of an argument about that, I can tell you!
It wasn't long before we reached the shores of Loch Lomond but in the small town of Tarbet we ground to a halt and didn't move. Thinking it was traffic lights we waited patiently but as we crawled further into the town we realised there'd been an accident and the road south was closed.
I looked at the map and told Keith there was an alternative route via the A814 which linked up with the A82 further south. As there were so many vehicles on the road and huge numbers of them were using the A82 the towns of Tarbet and Arrochar quickly became gridlocked. Everyone else had the same idea about the A814 and very soon this too ground to a halt with several cars in front of us turning around and heading back to Arrochar.
We spoke to a man in a snazzy sports car who told us that he'd heard the road was blocked so we turned around and called into a pub to try and decide what to do. Luckily they had wifi so I used my Hudl to research a ferry from Dunoon to Gourock which was very close to where we stayed on Tuesday night. It meant taking a different route and was a bit of a detour, but after more arguing Keith agreed to the plan and we set off. It was certainly better than going back onto the A82, heading north in a huge loop and then finding another route south! Outside the pub the road was jammed with cars and one woman was shouting angrily at her husband, no doubt hugely frustrated by the delays.
The man in the snazzy sports car was also parked in the pub car park but he looked like he was staying put for a while. We whizzed off onto the A83 and then turned off onto the A815 which was a beautiful road. There were hardly any cars on the road and the route skirted Loch Fyne. Before very long we were at Dunoon and we noticed the man in the little sports car behind us! As he was Scottish we felt we'd made the right decision!
(We later learnt that a motorcyclist had been very sadly killed on the A82 after a collision with a van and the road had been closed for five hours. All the traffic had been diverted north in a huge 60 mile detour so we felt we did well escaping the mayhem and choosing the route we did).
The ferry from Dunoon to Gourock was very busy and we just about managed to get on. We sat in the car and the crossing was a bit choppy! Once in Gourock the traffic was slow but as soon as we reached the A8 and then the motorway we were able to speed up a bit.
The rest of the journey to Penrith was uneventful and the weather became warmer and sunnier the further south we went. We arrived at our B&B, The Llamas Pyjamas, for the night at around 4pm which was a lot better than we'd anticipated given the problems on the roads. We were shown to our room for the night which had been decorated with an Inca theme and was very pink!
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| The doors leading into our room |
All three of us were in the same room tonight and Sophie had a daybed to sleep on. We had a beautiful bathroom (wet room) and a coffee machine as well as a mini fridge.
We asked the girl in charge about possible pubs for our evening meal and she told us to head back towards Penrith and then take the road to Shap. There were several villages on this road and we liked the look of a pub called The George and Dragon in Clifton. We called in for a quick drink, had a look at the menu and booked a table for 8.30pm.
Back at the B&B we hurriedly showered and changed and I sat outside for a little while watching the traffic streaming along the very busy A66. The place wasn't how I imagined it at all as I thought we would be in a very quiet position in the middle of the countryside, but it was still very pleasant even though there was an absence of llamas!
We had a very enjoyable evening at The George and Dragon and after having a relaxing drink in the bar we moved to a cosy little table just off the main entrance. Keith and I both chose lamb steak with chips and veggies while Sophie opted for the Teriyaki beef. The dishes were a bit more expensive than we would normally pay for a pub meal but the quality of the food was very good and all sourced locally.
We arrived back at the B&B and settled in for a night's sleep...always a bit difficult when there were three of us sharing a room!
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