Just thought I'd add a couple of bits that I got up to on the parts of the trip I wasn't with Chris....

On the Friday, after giving up on the John O'Groats trip, we decided to drive around Loch Ness, as we had missed it on the way up. We decided not to go down the entire length of it, choosing instead to visit Urquhart Castle, on the banks of the Loch...









The visitors centre was very interesting - complete with a video screening that ended with the curtains unexpectantly opening to reveal a great view of the castle and Loch.

By the evening we were very tired and so decided against a night out. We did still manage to chill in the room with a few cool beers...



As our room was not B&B we decided to get some breakfast when we stopped for fuel on the way down to Edinburgh. Just south of Inverness, a short distance off the A9 is the town of Carrbridge. On seeing the relevant 'local services' sign, we pulled off the main road. Parking our cars at a petrol station, we took a short walk to find an eatery. On the way to the Bakery / Cafe we found, we passed this lovely view...



The food and service were fantastic - the fry up hitting the spot perfectly!



After this we made haste for Edinburgh and to meet up again with Chris, only stopping off once more to take a photo of my car under the Forth Bridge (see photo further up).

At the castle, Gary decided to buy a souvenir jar of marmalade. One of us then suggested hiding the jar in several photos - 'Where's Wally?' style. We did take several shots, with the jar often being easy to find, but some were a bit more difficult. The shot early on in the post of us all in the Hard Rock has the same marmalade jar in it as these photos - see if you can find it ...





The jar will be making an appearance at FITP!

After the Hard Rock cafe me, Lee and Gary went back to our hotel, and then to a local pub. The terrible atmosphere convinced us that a night out was the only way to go - especially as we may never stay in the city again!



We had a great night and, not wanting it to end, decided to get a taxi back to a petrol station near our hotel in the hope we could get some more alcohol. Unfortunately, after the taxi had driven off, we realised the petrol station didn't sell alcohol and, to make things worse, we took a wrong turn on the way back to our hotel that resulted in a 1 hour detour. This would have been worse but for the maps on my mobile! By 4.30am we were in the park, just across from our hotel...



By 8.30 the next morning we were, as Chris pointed out, rather worse for wear! But still we weren't too ill that we couldn't have a great day and were more than well enough for the drive home.

The weather on the way back to Blackpool was superb and we ended up taking an unexprected detour thanks to a conflict in our Sat-Navs! This proved to be the best thing that could've happened as we ended up on an amazing twisty A road before rejoining the M6.

All in all we all had a fantastic time and I'd like to thank Chris for meeting up with us, and for taking all those amazing pictures, together with the great write up. The whole weekend has just made me more excited about FITP!

Oh and it's worth mentioning my trip computer reading by the end - 755 miles!