The day starts out pretty much as it ended last night, cold & overcast, but it dosen`t matter what the weather is doing really when your away on a trip as long as you have something to look forward to. We fill up in Ullapool and head off towards the A835. The first 20 miles or so are cold and it starts to snow again, not too heavy and weve` learnt that at this time of year it rarely settles on the roads ( Hopefully! )
We stop at Gairloch post office for whats become a tradition every time we pass, and buy a lottery ticket. But as Al said in one of last years blogs it did us bugger all good again! Further down the road the clouds break and the sun creeps through and all of a sudden it`s a different world. We stop for some photo`s then double back a bit to return to a cafe weve` just passed,
Maggies this time. Steve settles for a mug of coffee and Nige goes for a salmon and cream cheese sandwich in wholemeal bread with a side salad, very nice it is too. Apparently Maggie ( If that's her real name? ) is originally from Manchester but has lived here for the last 16 years and built up the business, she says she could never go back and I can see why, one look out from the tea room window over the loch says it all.
suitably fed and watered we continue on and have a good ride into Plockton. We had planned to ride over Applecross but looking up at it from where we are there`s little point the whole top half of Bealach na Bà to give it its proper name is covered in dense fog so we give it a miss.
Tonight we are in a little B&B just by the Plockton Hotel right on the front. Picture postcard place this is, the sun is out and all is well.
The rooms a tad on the small side for two chaps on bikes and all their gear but it`s clean, warm and has a good bathroom so that`l do. Once spruced up we get a beer and take in the view on the front from the beer garden. Nige gets talking to an American woman who has come to Plockton with her family from California for an 8 day break! Seems that's all they could manage together but they were all enjoying the vacation so good luck to them. Another family staying in the actual hotel itself have 3 generations all on bikes, they have been coming to Plockton for the last 20 years and love the place. Steve seems to have fallen for the guys 1200RT, don`t do it, It`ll take more cleaning than the GS. I have what is probably one of the nicest meals Iv`e had for a while whilst away which is shin beef on a bed of mustard mash, lovely.
After a few beers we head off up the road to the other pub where it seems there are quite a few sailor types in, the funny thing is they sit in their bright yellow & orange waterproof gear all night all zipped up, maybe their all naked underneath or maybe it`s a fetish club?? Steve finds this funny and starts his Leslie Phillips "Ding Dong routine" I nearly choke on my Guinness. A bit later our landlady comes in looking for me and asks for my key to her house! Someone has locked the front door and she cant get in....
Back at the other pub we speak to a couple who we met earlier, Peter and his wife, he`s retiring next Friday so there on a bit of a jolly for the weekend, well Peter`s wife is, as by now and several G&T`s later she has trouble standing and goes by us at 45 degrees whilst we chew the cud with Peter and a guy on a 1000 Suzuki, he`s spent a fair bit of money on the bike to make it even lighter and more powerful.
As it`s quite late when we get back to the digs and Nige is the last man in, he drops the latch on the front door.... and locks the landlady out for the second time...............It wasn`t me the first time honest!
So another good day and another good night. Lets see what tomorrow brings.
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