Variety

... is the spice of life. We chose to leave extraordinarily early this morning to allow for possible delays to our journey due to snow and related issues (aka road 'incidents'). And, of course, have had one of the easiest trips up.
The downside has been that our usual pit stops have still been firmly closed: no Tebay coffee or dog wander; no breakfast at Bankfoot and we didn't fancy the only outlet open in Pitlochry (but a pretty clock in the centre) and at least we could take a brisk turn around the loch at Faskally, still a little icy; too early for lunch at The Storehouse ... So we're feasting instead on stunning scenery with not too much traffic and a nice potter up the top of the A9 with a chance to look at the views (is that yet another wind farm?).
Now we are in Wick, source of cheap(er) fuel and supplies for tomorrow's breakfast. 2 hrs early for the ferry but I'm not complaining. And tonight we'll crank up the heating and maybe raise a glass (we may have accidentally visited a certain distillery as we drifted past ...!).