Scotland Trip Report--Day 5--Edinburgh to Dumfries

I reset my alarm to 9:30 because I didn’t feel like getting up. Found a sunny day, which was a nice surprise. After dropping off my small suitcase at the Concierge for storage, I splurged on breakfast in the hotel--adding eggs and sausage to my menu from the other day. Then I checked out of my room and grabbed a taxi to the Avis place.
My car is a Peugeot. It’s OK, nothing fancy, but it IS automatic. I programmed the GPS for Moffat, prayed hard, and headed out. Driving through Edinburgh was actually fun and quite interesting. I saw lots of cool buildings--I just love the old style architecture.
Once I was outside of town, I had to drive a little faster, of course, but managed to do just fine. Driving through the countryside, I once again noticed all the cows laying down! As I drove south it started to rain. Near Moffat, I turned onto a tiny little road, single lane, and just went from one of these to another. Fortunately I passed no other traffic--until I came to the bottom of a hill. A truck was turning, and was kind enough to back up and let me come down the hill. It was a UPS truck!!
Then the roads got even narrower, and I seemed to be driving on a farm--it was like the back roads at Glenbogle. Obviously, I was lost. I pulled over and reprogrammed the GPS, this time just asking for the center of town. I backtracked several miles on these cattle roads, and then finally turned onto a 2 lane road again. Once in town, I made a wrong turn that turned out to be the right turn! It brought me right where I wanted to go--the Moffat Woolen Mills, where we had stopped last year for lunch and shopping.
I had a nice light lunch of tomato soup and bread, along with some juice. Then I walked around the shop. The section I really wanted, which had all the cool clan stuff, was gone. Bummer. Not much else there interested me, but I did buy a pair of dishtowels with the flag of Scotland on them.
From there I drove north out of town, into the Devil’s Beeftub. This is where the Johnstons used to hide the cattle and sheep they had stolen! After that I headed down to Dumfries. I was a bit early to check in (had to be after 4), so I drove around town a bit, and stopped at a grocery store to buy water. By then it was about 4:30, so I went to the B&B to check in. The place is quite nice, similar to where we stayed last year. The owner, Suzy, was very nice and helpful in giving me directions into town and recommending a good place for dinner. The room is also very nice, and there is free WiFi! (It doesn’t work in my room for some reason, but it works great in the dining room downstairs, which is fine with me). My stupid cell phone won’t charge for some reason, and is down to 2 bars on the battery. I will have to either replace the battery or get a new phone tomorrow, but Suzy assured me that every cellular carrier in Scotland has a shop in downtown Dumfries!
I set off in the rain to find Caben’s Arms pub, which was Suzy’s recommendation for dinner. The walk was longer than I expected, but not difficult despite the rain. There was a 15 minute wait, but Suzy had said this was the best place in town, so I waited. I had Steak Pie again, and a “jacket potato” (baked potato). The food was great, the service, not so much. Yes, they were busy, but I began to think I was invisible! I had no silverware until AFTER my food came. No one ever offered me a drink or even brought me a glass of water! I waited 25 minutes for my check! I was NOT impressed.
I walked back in the rain, and it had really gotten windy. The large umbrella I had borrowed from the B&B ( I figured it was better than my little one) was blowing all over the place. I was very happy to get back without being drenched. Derek (Mr. Owner, who is as nice as his wife) came up and showed me how to work the TV. Then I went and sat in the dining room on the computer, and Suzy came in a couple times to offer me tea or a snack. I was still full from dinner, so I will stick to just water tonite.
I have come to the conclusion that an entire week of “me time” is a bit too much. Four days in and I am longing for a familiar voice. Of course, not having the use of my phone is not helping, nor is the gloomy weather. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.