Back to the we(s)t

We set off from Edinburgh mid-morning in glorious sunshine, which continued all the way along the M9. The autumn colours were superb - I was tempted to stop on the hard shoulder for a Blip!
 
Leaving the motorway we continued on through the village of Doune and popped into the car park at Doune Castle - one of the locations for ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ - but it was overfull and we couldn’t stop. I was keen to get a Blip before the sun disappeared - clouds were building up to the west - so we turned into the road leading to Doune Ponds as we’d not been there before. A lovely loch surrounded by woodland and obviously a popular dog-walking spot, but most of the birches had lost their leaves so it was not as good as it might have been a week ago. Still it’s an attractive place and a local Nature Reserve.
 
Driving on through Callander we lost the sun and stopped later for lunch at the Golden Larches, a small roadside restaurant at Balquidder Station. From there onwards it became damp, then wet and we arrived home in the rain. Still we’d enjoyed some sunny days in Edinburgh so we couldn’t complain!