Journey to Pitlochry.

Turning off from the Daviot road we travelled south down the A9 on our way to Pitlochry. We were surprised to see that either side of the A9 was still heaped with thick snow and that the hillsides were still deeply covered. Strange to think that just a couple of weeks ago lorries were nose to tail on this very stretch of road with drivers sleeping in their cabs during a terrific blizzard which hit the east coast of the Highlands of Scotland very badly. We passed the turn off to the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig on the A9 and thought of Mercedes the polar bear, the latest permanent resident of the Park now enjoying his retirement from Edinburgh Zoo. He must have really be in his element in this recent long cold spell of weather.......so at least someone is very happy. The 90 mile journey down the A9 was smooth and very picuresque with very little traffic and the snow near the road ceased only about 10 miles from Pitlochry. We make a twice yearly pilgrimage to MacDonalds Butcher's where we can be assured of good quality Aberdeen Angus beef as well as superb lamb and bacon, although you can order online. While waiting for our order to be processed we drove up near the golf course above the village and had our sandwiches and coffee by the side of the pond. Surprisingly the pond was still thickly frozen except for one tiny gap and the ducks seemed very glad of the food I had saved up for them...another happy lot.