TGO Challenge 2014- Day 6 Kingussie

Vicky's leg really started to hurt her the previous evening, very swollen, and today she stayed in bed most of the day taking the pain medicine and Naproxen for the swelling. I would also went to the local Co-Op and bought a big bag of ice and would fill up a ziplock bag with ice to put on her knee to help with the swelling.

With Vicky resting it gave me the day to just wonder around town. I was hoping to run into some Challengers to chat with, but we were now about a half day ahead of everyone going in our direction and they wouldn't be getting into town until later tonight. It was a very isolating feeling to be "trapped" in a spot with no real idea of how to move forward.

Kingussie is a lovely small town and I wondered around most of the streets over a couple of hours


 Stream going through the center of town.(above)
 the Tipsy Laird Bunkhouse has a full kitchen and showers for hikers and cyclist that stay there the most.
I had a large resupply package sent to us in Kingussie and because we didn't know if we were going to hike on beyond this point I set it out on the table and shared it with anyone that needed snacks and food. I didn't notice most people coming and going today, but by evening the box was pretty much empty.

Vicky did get up later in the day and I made her food in the kitchen. I wasn't really sure about the protocol in the bunkhouse kitchen. the refrigerator was full of food and so were the pantries, but there was no one around, certainly not enough people to belong to all this food. I wasn't sure if it was available to eat or if I should get my own... in the end I went across to the Co-Op and bought our own food and made sure to leave the place cleaner than the way I found it. 


Were else to go for the evening but the Bar again. it was a Wednesday so we had the place mostly to ourselves during the day and by the time people started to come in, Vicky was tired so we had gone back to our room.
However we did hatch a plan. At this point I think Vicky was sure that her Challenge was over, so we had some decisions to make. She had even called into Challenge Control and spoken to John Manning. We still had reservations in Braemar for Saturday and Sunday and of course reservations in Montrose at the end of the week. We were determined to make these and keep up with our journey across Scotland even if we were not walking. So while sitting in the Bar we decided that for the next 2 days we would go to Aviemore. The medical clinic was there and we remembered that Tweed, a Ceilidh band was played at the Cairngorms Hotel on Thursday nights. So I got online and found the hotel was booked but the Cairgorms Guest House B&B had rooms. Then with some help from the train station attendant I learned I could get a train from Aviemore to Inverness, and then Inverness to Aberdeen and then catch a bus from Aberdeen (the bus and trains are in the same station) to Braemar on Saturday. WEW!
Above you see me working out the route, reservations, and train tickets for all the travel from today, which is Wednesday, to Monday.

Day 6
no mileage except around town.

1 comment:

  1. A very positive plan, Craig, given how Vicky must have been feeling. Well done, Sir.
    :-)

    ReplyDelete

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