snow was to pull off in 2nd gear, so I managed to find a gap in traffic and pull out slowly enough not to spin the wheels, but fast enough not to cause an accident. On the road again.
Now looking forward to Perth to stop for lunch and refuel the car, all seemed uneventful and our son was very settled. Maybe he was making up for the broken sleep he had the night before.
We arrived in Perth and decided to stop at the supermarket next to the Mighty Football Arena of MacDiarmid Park.
Changing facilities used and humans and car refuelled. Now for the part of the journey I was least looking forward to: The A9. Patchy duel carriageway and the possibility of snow at the Drumochter Summit. Now it seemed that baby had had enough of being in the car and decided that he was most unhappy.
We pulled in at one of the many laybys on the road and got him out of his car seat to let him have a bit of a break. When he was settled we put him back in his car seat and set off again.
10 minutes later, grumpy baby started again. Having just changed him and ensured he was all OK, we continued with him angrily crying. This was when I remembered that white noise soothes babies, so we switched the radio to MW and- hey presto!- white noise. Eventually he settled just in time, as it was now the tricky bit. Looking out for the snow there was a bit of a dusting by the side but nothing over the top. Part of me was disappointed that there was no blizzard, but most of me was happy.
The journey continued past Kingussie, Newtonmore and Aviemore then on to Inverness. I remember thinking,“ We have made it”.
We certainly learned a few things: Expect all timetables to go out the window when you are traveling with children. Buy a bigger car as children are like women: they travel with too much stuff!
Mike is a married 30 something-old with two children – a son who is nearly five and a daughter who is two.
He works full time but loves spending his weekends with the family, either out and about on adventures or just being at home.
NCT Newbury & District 25