Been awake since 0530 listening to the sound of tyres outside sloshing through the sodden road - get the feeling that several coops of the same colour, Gungeio A9, will be arriving to greet jimboy this afternoon

All except DG of course who has been up an hour before this polishing

Ach, can't believe the weather...

Bad luck about your alternator Jim.

Not actually raining here in Inverness at the moment...

I'm still finalising some things......

See you later....Jim...

Actually I do believe I'm a bit nervous. I really need to get out more.....

Inverness meetup to Beauly for lunch-

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzvqQMLZC0ddWVNNOUxIWjJ3REU/view?usp=drivesdk

Roadside stop



Carpark doubles



Carpark at Poolewe (minus Lego)



The battle for the most musical exhaust reaches new heights...



Eat your peas, Bern...

Well the end of day 1 has finally released us from our "playtime" (jimboy) on these wonderful roads whose views are breathtaking and whose cambers take one by surprise the further north you go

Lovely to meet the coopsters far away north from us "Central Belters" and to have so much time to enjoy their company not just driving but over a relaxed evening wining and dining

The very start this morning was a near disaster when Barney found gearbox oil all over the floor under his electric blue beast - the thought of him having to pull out after all the preparation was vigorously repelled and through some judicious local advice he was eventually able to catch up with Rosso and myself at Blair Atholl.

Dante Giacosa on the other hand seemed to have hatched a dodgy alternator having arrived in Inverness the day before - a photo of the low-reading voltmeter well spotted by GrahamL - but it might hopefully turn out to be a dial problem (loose terminals at rear?) as after today's run the reading was fine.

A quick thanks to Joe at FCSS who's been really helpful over the last day or two

I think there's a trombone in my room.......

Ok, some rolling pics of the last couple of days- sorry- we have been out of reception!

Nice to see you started with seven coupes and finished with seven... Must be a lucky number or something!

On the way to, and lined up for the ferry at Armadale...

I'm loving the pics and the commentary on this trip. But this pic is outstanding. I've never thought of the Coupe as Long bonnet, short arse until now.

As a Coupe and mountain lover, I want both more than ever.
Enjoy the moment

The pictures are giving me itchy feet, thank-you for sharing with us. I haven`t been through Scotland for 33 years, back when trains had those single carriages...

Mòrar to Glenfinnan through Arisaig-

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzvqQMLZC0ddbTBjclpKejBGUlE

Thank you for the positive feedback, team-

I can assure you: this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of footage! I'm sure everyone who has attended will plough through it all when we get back and update the best stuff in a couple of days...

Golden rule for coopsters, wherever you are (Poolewe in this case)



Looking after our environment....


The brass band ....has returned tonight after a night off.....






Plenty more footage to come indeed, in danger of overheating the site I would think, but every inch a treasure for us all with spirited and great not to mention and

No trip to the gas station,



Goes without a trip to the beach...






More mountains & Coupes

This time, the fabled descent of the Applecross pass: 'not recommended for inexperienced drivers' as the signage alludes...

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzvqQMLZC0ddMmhkNl96YW9lRFE

Well team, that's me home. I'm both physically & emotionally drained. It was fantastic meeting every one. I'm not going to blether much on here at the moment as I'm pooped & my hearing has been impaired by the open window noise. I'll relate to the forum some stories later... Dianne & paul are popping in for a visit......

Glad you got back OK Jimboy.
Wow what a trip!!! We had Coupés, the best possible weather and endless breathtakingly beautiful views. Every meal was delicious, there were loads of laughs and everyone got on tremendously.
Will upload some photos soon. Sadly my 1080P dashcam footage is severely marred by strong reflections. Too much sunshine, who would have thought that possible?!

We are in Inverness for the night, tired but happy. What a fantastic trip. I have posted some pics on the club Facebook page.

Well done Dianne

And Thankyou everybody for making it the adventure it was!!

I think I'm going to be talking about it for days...

I'm awake, Lovely to introduce both Dianne & Paul to my family. I did exactly 330 miles in my Coop, the furthest I've pushed her. My Coop is pretty much standard & not as pretty as the others, but I'm so chuffed selfishly for myself on how my toy performed, never missed a beat & there were a fair few spirited runs.....

She did drink a bit of oil, but hey ho all seems fine. I think each & every one of us brought something to the table & we all got on famously, really good I can now put a face to a name now. I did feel like a naughty school boy & admit that I became a bit over enthusiastic at times that was down to the good people & the Coops, the views/roads/lovely food just seemed to go on & on & it really was a blast. A huge thankyou to everybody.........

It was great to meet you, Jim!

Thanks for coming out!

It might have lashed with rain from Crianlarich home but these four days' feast of memories have been fuelled by incredible openness, camaraderie and generosity of spirit from everyone I encountered, whether 'kent' or 'no kent', and all of which are the essence of this FCCUK forum.

I'm not complaining about the rain because nothing could replace that brilliant sun-filled Saturday, even a lot of the day before when our initial drive north had started so fatedly with Barney nearly out of the game and DG's alternator apparently threatening suicide, all under grey wet skies.

Wee moments, just to mention a couple..

Barney getting up early to drive to Fort William and fill a 5-litre can of fuel for Lego who only just made it to Glenfinnan the previous evening, crawling to save running out...

The chap in Glenfinnan carpark who offered not only to move his car out of sight of our photoshoot but also took some group pics

Dante G for his filming moments..

Dianne and Paul for helping us so generously to celebrate our last meal yesterday evening

And to everyone concerned who reassured and assisted a worrying senior moment from moi in Crianlarich when I thought I'd left my wallet the other side of Glencoe, either in Ft William or worse, in Glenfinnan
Thanks again chaps

Will now try and sort a bunch of Go Pro footage.....
Sorry to hear about the reflection issue Barney

It's really myself that should be thanking you Jim & every one else. You really have no idea how I felt when you all said that I should lead the Coop convoy out of Beauly & at other stages through our journey. My secrets out now I supose on how excited & emotional I get at times such as this. It sounds a bit soft, but I really was trying to keep it together when at the helm.

There was lot of male bonding going on, the banter was great & the comedy japes just seem to be thrown back & forth in a good way. I was happily trumped on several occasions....

Even I'm short on words at the moment. Great times, I genuinely hope that there will be repeat road trip next year.

'Hear hear' to all of that..

The chap in the carpark did us proud actually- if anybody objects to appearing publicly please let me know and I'll pull it..

Think I ate too much. Sure I wasn't that fat when we set off! Great picture Jim.
I'm about to post up a bunch of images and am assuming the same. Will happily remove on request.

Just a few pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Rogie Falls




View of Loch Maree on approach to Kinlochewe


Poolewe



Second stop to view Loch Maree, this time with sunshine!


Then onto the A896 to take up the coastal route to Applecross















Lunch in the Applecross Inn





Then Bealach and onto Plockton...



















Plockton










Isle of Skye










Ferry over to Mallaig

Camusdarach beach





Glenfinnan Hotel

Excellent pictures right enough. I'm going to make a big effort to loosing some weight.....

Terrific pictures Bernard. I especially like the headless man at the pub on Skye. Perhaps that's why the guy was so grumpy, the place was haunted. (The last pic in the Skye set, scary )

Well, we are up for one last breakfast before heading back to the isles. Two ferries to go and back on Stronsay by 6pm tonight. Will be good to be back home with some wonderful memories of a great trip and new friends.

That's brilliant, never noticed. Probably Jim's head was firmly buried in his hands while Steppenwolf played out inside the pub.