June 23rd: Inverness to Loch Ness

I woke up pretty early on the 23rd, something like 6:30 AM. This is usual for me and it is an indication that my body has more or less adjusted to the local time - I wake up at that time no matter where I am or what's going on. I made coffee and enjoyed the view.

One thing I don't really understand about Scotland is the numbers. The “second national drink” (after whisky) is Irn-Bru, a soft drink that tastes a little bit like classic bubblegum flavor. Wikipedia indicates that they sell 20 cans per second (it also points out that it was originally called Iron Brew, but in the 1940s they had to change the name as it neither contains iron nor is brewed). My computer brain knows how many seconds are in a day (86,400) and times two that's 1.7 million cans a day. There are only 5.4 million people in Scotland. Similarly, the chocolate caramel cookie candy thing from Tunnock’s claims (on the packaging) that they make 7 million a week. Who is eating all these chocolate wafers? I had two (they come in four packs) and I have to say: that was a lifetime supply for me. They're fine but I'm not going to be shipping them home or anything.

The road signs are also quite something. There will be, on the way out of town, a sign noting that the speed limit is now 60, but then another sign like right next to it warning that oncoming traffic will be in the center of the road and you should probably slow down. Staying under the speed limit is not a problem. Most of the highways are just a two lane road, no divider, and of we pass a truck going in the other direction it's a white knuckler hoping there's no slippage in the curve, even at like 20 under the limit. Everyone seems pretty philosophical about this though- I rarely get overtaken (happened maybe twice) while driving, although I pull over to let people by sometimes. Even the few dual carriageways (divided highways) can only go a mile or two between full on roundabouts. Small country, and a full cloverleaf interchange takes up more space than a country village, so I understand why they use the more efficient roundabouts.

It wasn't just sleeping in- I think I've really started to relax and lean into the vacation. The only reason I know the day of the week is because my morning pill collection has a day on it. Today at the end of the day, I had to go on my work laptop to file an expense report that wasn't ready when I was leaving but needed to be done before the end of the month, and it was like 1pm back in California. People were working, and I was just sitting there in a campground trying to catch some wifi and go on concur. Quite something.