Logistics

There were the early stages of a plan to go to Vienna with Rich and Bob, but then the former couldn't find dates that worked and so the latter suggested that the two of us go to Edinburgh, and once we'd finalised all that, we invited Ash along at the last minute.

So far so good. But then the Minx's mum's birthday lunch was arranged for today, and I didn't want to miss that, so in the in end it was a good but hectic day.

German lesson, first thing, then the MInx and I drove to Buckshaw Village for the lunch, which was lovely, and from there I was able to get the train to Preston, thence to Carlisle, where I embraced the horror of the replacement coach service.

We were some way up the M74 when I noted that we didn't seem to be going as fast as I would have expected. And then, on a long hill, we slowed to maybe forty miles an hour, and eventually moved to the hard shoulder and stopped.

The driver said nothing and we sat in mild suspense for a couple of minutes until he turned the engine and set off again. There was never any explanation, and thus the remainder of the journey was spent in a state of heightened awareness of the coach's speed and behaviour.

In the end, though, we arrived just twenty minutes late, so I dropped my bag at the hotel and went to meet Ash and Bob at the Scottish Malt Whisky Society. 

Whenever we go on these jaunts, Bob always has a list of pubs to visit and a route worked out between them, so we rarely stay anywhere for too long, but as Ash is a huge whisky fan, we did stay for a couple of drams before moving on.

Today's Blip captures the boys marvelling that it was still light after ten o'clock.