Day 7 - Uplawmoor to Carsphairn

A fine day with only two short showers (one of hail). We had a lovely meal at the hotel last night and so couldn't manage a full breakfast this morning - Jan went for porridge and I had an Arbroath Smokie. The countryside was a bit softer but with loads of ups and downs and also more choice of routes, I got lost and then followed a signpost that I subsequently found out was pointing in completely the wrong direction! Anyway, with an extra five miles and an unnecessary climb under my belt I was very happy to see Jan at our lunchtime halt - The Stair Inn. The food was great and we had a pleasant time sitting in the sun. It was hard leaving the pub and a few miles down the road, Jan overtook me for the second time since lunch - she'd got lost (I think her and Navman weren't talking to each other). Incidentally I know all about their affair and I must point out that Navman is a she! The route was now going up (again) and into the Southern Uplands. We were concerned that we might not get a B&B at Carsphairn and we were right - Jan had to travel on down to St. John's Town of Dalry where she found a lovely B&B run by a very sweet lady called Maureen. As this was not on my planned cycle route, I finished the days riding at a place called The High Bridge of Ken and Jan picked me up and took me to the B&B. Tomorrow she'll drive me back out there - hope I can find my bike! Just kidding - it's safely in the boot of the car at the moment. My left ankle continues to feel a bit sore and todays roads didn't help it any - one of the photos shows the kind of surface that's giving me trouble. Whilst I was taking that photo, I heard a 12 bore gunshot on the hill behind me and thought I'd better skedaddle, quick. The photo with a loch in the foreground shows Loch Kendoon and the mountains in the background are the Rhinns of Kells - they're about 2500 feet above sea level. Tomorrow should see us finally enter England as our route takes us out of the Southern Uplands, through Dumfries, Annan, Gretna and on to Longtown, just to the north of Carlisle. Todays stats: Accumulated mileage : 388 miles Todays mileage : 57 miles Average speed : 13.5 mph Maximum speed : 37.3