A Mini Road Trip And A Night In The Forest

Last week my friend and I decided to go on a mini trip. It wasn't the sort of spontaneity that drives a person to take risks, or to do something crazy or out of character. But it was unorganised and unexpected and for someone who does not do spontaneity (aka me) it was nothing short of a miracle that just three days after a discussion about camping, a quick trip to Argos to buy a tent and a detour in the pet store next to Argos to squeal at hamsters and we were set. Off West we went in my little yellow car to camp for the night in the Trossachs National Park.

By some sort of rookie road trip magic we didn't get lost and only had to use google maps for about twenty minutes when things got confusing in Stirling. There was a minor moment of panic caused by a complacent pheasant, which caused both myself and Lauren to scream and duck simultaneously, as if our positions inside the car had any correlation to the glass screen on the outside. The silly bird flew so close that I briefly thought I'd have to window wipe it's dead body off the glass.

In hour two Lauren went mildly insane and convinced herself that the black sheep she'd seen in a passing field was actually a tiny cow, until we drove back past the next day and it turned out to have been a sheep all along. I blame Brandon Flowers.

We got to camp by the river, swimming was banned, and for good reason since the water was fast flowing, pitch black and terrifying. Although no one told the family in the gigantic tent next to us apparently, since they sent their three kids down with inflatables. Or maybe they were hoping for a quick and easy disposal?

After a meal of pasta salad that I'd thrown together that morning in a panic of plum tomatoes and herbs de provence, we went on a mini adventure through the forest which turned into an eco mission to collect all the plastic and rubbish we found along the way. There was so much that I ended up carrying a half melted water bottle and a crushed Irn Bru can on sticks. Poor show Scotland.

Other things of note, we saw a tree man and I found out that slugs have breathing holes, which just made me want to stare at them for a really long time but that's not socially acceptable when you're on an evening woodland walk with company so I didn't.

A night of sleeping on nothing but a yoga mat and slightly soggy grass was far less painful than one might expect and instead of walking around Loch Lomond we ended up spending all afternoon in Sea Life, touching star fish and watching black tipped sharks and Asian otters getting fed and then having stingrays stick their weird little snouts out the water at us. It was a battle to get past all the children, but they're fairly light and therefore easy to push out of the way. JOKES, sort of...

Somehow we accidentally timed our day perfectly and walked straight onto a boat tour of the Loch which was beautiful and well worth sitting up top and getting chilly for. Even though I think we missed a lot of information about all the wealthy people who had built hauntingly beautiful mansions/ castles around the waters edge. It didn't matter anyway as we were deeply caught up in a fantasy centred around owning an island and flying seaplanes. Ain't nature grand.