Day 5

0930 GMT - Yes. I slept in again, as did the boys. It is becoming a habit. Amy was up early. It is a BEAUTIFUL, clear day, and she has already been out for a walk and pictures. We move through the early morning motions and are ready to go. I have no sore throat this morning, I think the few "wee drams" from the Deanston single malt have cured it. Nothing like a little local folk medicine. I check the guide book and I see that our trip for the day looks like a long one...about an hour and a half at least to get there. Amy insists that it is closer...even after I show her the map. She mentioned doing a lake drive today since it is so nice, and I worry that she won't get the chance. We get in the car and she tells me she wants to take a different route. I say that's fine and renavigate via the maps.

1130 GMT - Boy did Amy make a great choice on the route. We drive up steep hills in low gear and are stunned by the views as we drive through the Queen Elizabeth National Forest in the Trossachs. This is definitely the "scenic" route. After we cross the first hills and several Lochs and hiking trails we are surprised by a small castle in the middle of nowhere on a Loch.



After a wee bit of driving we are on one of those narrow roads with a Loch on one side, separated by a stone wall, and a pasture of cows on the other, separated by a wire fence.



We make a few small stops along the way, including this little turn-off on the shore of one Loch.



1300 GMT - Connor is nearing time to nurse, so we stop in a very cute little town and pick up some meat pies and sausage rolls for a snack, and have some coffee. There is a cute older building converted into a hotel and restaurant.



1530 GMT - Despite the gorgeous scenery, and cute little towns along the way. The 1 1/2 hour trip has now taken almost 4 hours. Connor has been screaming for the last 35 minutes when we finally pull in to the distillery. Amy chose the smallest distillery in Scotland, the Edradour.



Don't be fooled by the sign. In the winter it closes at 1600, we have just made the last tour. A very nice Scottish gentleman greets us and starts us off on our own private tour. We have a taster and watch a short film. Both Amy and I agree that it is our favourite single malt yet. He then walks us around and tells us quite a bit about the process of making whiskey and the value of their particular product. They are so small that they produce as much whiskey in a year as a large distillery produces in one week. Every output from the process is reused. The liquid is used by the farmers to fertilize their crops and the solids are used to feed their cattle.



We stroll back to make some purchases at the store, where they are quite helpful in explaining the "best" choices. We pick up a bottle of the "Special" which unlike the standard whiskey is not chill filtered. If water or ice is added to it the beverage becomes quite cloudy, thus it should be consumed at room temperature.

1630 GMT - We decide to head back on the larger main A9 back to Aberfoyle, rather than take the scenic route in the dark. It only takes an hour and a half, but about 20 minutes from the hotel Connor awakes and begins to scream once more. We stop for dinner, strangely enough at the same The Lion and the Unicorn as yesterday. We head back into the car only to learn that Connor was not screaming because he was hungry, but rather, he was entirely sick of being in the car. He screams the remaining 20 minutes without pause.

2100 GMT - Connor is long since asleep, but Eamon has no interest in sleeping after his hour long nap in the car. He instead plays Arabian Knight with Amy's scarf and one of his swords bought in Stirling.



0130 GMT - I make the mistake of logging on to my work email. I spend far too long answering things I should be ignoring. I do a little work on the blog and off to sleep after a "wee dram." We are hoping to hit Edinburgh tomorrow.