We’ve completed four days, and this one was the nicest yet, at the very least from the perspective of weather. It dawned overcast, as usual, but before we’d even finished breakfast, the mist was burning off, and by mid-day there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Our hosts at the B&B, Graham and Hilary, had very nicely offered to give Sue a ride to Melrose (today’s destination) around 1 o’clock, on their way to a car rally near there. So she planned on going for a walk on a nearby nature trail after we took off on our bikes.
Our route choices for the day were about 18 miles or almost 36. We quickly decided on the 18, because we wanted to make sure we met up with Sue as soon as we could, so we could spend time with her in Melrose! Once on the road, we just couldn’t stop talking about how much of a bluebird day it was:
At one point, we had taken a short side detour recommended on our map, but it actually inspired us to create our own detour in the other direction, just to see what some of the smaller side roads looked like. Back on the regular route, we came to Scott’s View:
That’s a small iPhone panorama, with the town of Melrose in the valley in the far background, to the right of the Eildon Hills. What a view, eh?
As we wound our way into Melrose a short while later, I took this shot of a very contented rider:
Not long after that, we took a long footbridge over the River Tweed, to get to city center:
On the other side of the bridge stood a beautiful stone structure, and I couldn’t resist this detail of the stonework:
As usual, we easily found our B&B a few minutes later, and Sue was enjoying a cuppa in the sun out front. The riders got settled as well, and then we explored town a bit, eventually settling on a quiet little pub for dinner. We didn’t even let the fact that they’d run out of fish (!?!) discourage us, so the boys had burgers, Sue had Mac & Cheese, and Mal had Soup & Sandwich. Of course, we all had some local ales as well.
When we returned to Braidwood Guest House after dinner, I had to take this shot of their beautiful roses.
Now I’m ready for sleep. It’s on to Innerleithen tomorrow, via one of four route options. After figuring out the logistics of Sue’s transport (and entertainment) over breakfast, we’ll have to peruse the route details, in order to decide which one to take.
