We could not afford to linger too long, however: I had a train to catch, and Andy had a bus to catch, and we were still some way from Spean Bridge. So we pressed on, and the path returned us to the road a little above Gairlochy. Here, at last, I was able to get a mobile signal. So I phoned Kathy and we chatted at some length ... and arranged that instead of me going to the Union dinner after the AGM, she would catch a train into London and we would go to dinner together somewhere nice. Just the two of us.
The old refreshment room at Gairlochy is no longer there. This is a shame. When I passed this way in 2000 I stopped and enjoyed an ice cream. I couldn't enjoy an ice cream nowadays, of course - but I'm sure the refreshment room, had it been open, would have had something I could enjoy. But it wasn't and it didn't.
We crossed the Caledonian Canal and then, as we threaded our way round the S bend, we heard a throaty engine note behind us so we stepped onto the grass verge to let whatever it was past. And as it did so I reached for my camera, because it was a truly beautiful vintage open-topped Rolls Royce, carrying some sort of rally plate. But alas, by the time I had the camera ready to take a photograph, it had gone. So I put my camera away again ... with the result that when a second fine classic vehicle came trundling past us, I missed my chance to photograph that one, too!
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