10 days on Loch Lomond - Part One

We usually are very good at getting our holidays, but somehow this year we managed to get all the way to the end of August without one. So come the 21 August we were brimming with excitement and the car was literally bulging at the seams, full of all of the camping equipment necessary (and quite a bit unnecessary) for a 10 day stay in Scotland.
As a Hill Camp set up takes about 5 hours, we had decided to do a stopover, picking something cheap and predictable we had booked into the Travelodge at Glasgow Airport and an uneventful journey got us there for late afternoon. After partially unpacking the car, we decided to head off to find something to eat, we googled a Bella Italia, put it in the sat nav and set off. This small task set us on a wild goose chase that had us visiting the airport and driving along the same 2 junction stretch of the M8 back and forth past our hotel a ridiculous amount of times, only to end up back in the place we first went to, where we found an array of restaurants just a bit more hidden away than we were expecting! We ate at Bella Italia, I decided to try something new and had a frito mixto, little bits of seafood and fish fried in batter, served with chips. I wasn't  impressed and will be back to Penne Marco Polo next time...way too much fried food, although I should have guessed that was a sign of things to come in Scotland!
The next morning we had paid for a cooked breakfast knowing it would be evening before we ate again. We already realised this wasn't one of the better Travelodge's we had stayed in, but when our breakfast came with beans like bullets and mouldy toast we knew for sure and we got out of there.

Camp Hill

By contrast Luss Camping and Caravanning Club Camp Site was a sight for sore eyes. We had a friendly welcome and were shown to our pitch, large but at the narrow end of the site sandwiched between Loch Lomond and the A82, beautiful scenery to the front, thundering traffic to the back. We had a good explore, the toilets all looked really clean, nice indoor pot washing areas, a handy laundry (that I had no intention of using), a tiny play area and plenty of space. No shop, except reception did sell the obligatory Avon Skin So Soft, legendary midge preventer! As Luss shop  was only a few minutes walk away, then the lack of a shop wasn't a problem.
We got the tent up (no mean feat at 6.2 x 5.35 metres!) in record time and I left Tony and Lauren pumping up beds and went off to find a supermarket, Asda in Dumbarton programmed into the sat nav. I was overcome with pathetic excitement when I arrived at a roundabout to find not only Asda, but Morrison's and more importantly an M&S Simply food, no prizes for guessing where I went!

The view

Back at the campsite it was too late and we were too tired to start cooking, so we went off to find the local chippy, which turned out to be The Inn@Inverbeg, but I will tell you all about that in another blog...the takeaway fish and chips were delicious and eaten overlooking Loch Lomond...the perfect end to a very long day.