Oh my goodness, I am still smiling from ear to ear! Get ready to be blown away.
My birthday has just passed, and I had been sharing all the excitement right here on the blog. But before I tell you about the actual trip, let me tell you how Loch Katrine ended up becoming my birthday destination in the first place.
I was on my phone in early June when a BBC News notification popped up on my screen. It was about a stunning Scottish loch that is much less crowded than Loch Lomond, despite being only a short distance away. Of course, I was curious, so I opened the article right away. As soon as I saw the photos and read more about it, I knew I wanted to visit.
The loch was Loch Katrine, and I remember thinking, "Wow, this is perfect timing!" If you know me, you'll know that I absolutely love spending my birthdays immersed in nature. It felt as though that article had appeared at exactly the right moment.
I kept it open on my phone, completely captivated by what I was seeing, and before long I turned to my partner and said, "We're definitely going here for my birthday!"
Fast forward to my birthday, and I was absolutely buzzing with excitement. My partner surprised me with some lovely gifts first thing in the morning, and I was already imagining our drive to Loch Katrine later that day. The plan was simple: he was only working a half day, and since I was off, we would head out as soon as he got home.
Well, that was the plan.
When he finally walked through the door, one look at him told me everything I needed to know. He looked completely exhausted. Even though he insisted, "Let me just eat something and we'll go," I could see he was running on empty.
I laughed and said, "Absolutely not. You look like you're ready to fall asleep! I know it's my birthday, and I really want to go, but you're not driving anywhere when you're this tired."
As much as I had been looking forward to it, I knew it was the sensible thing to do. So we made the executive decision to postpone our Loch Katrine adventure until the Sunday of my birthday weekend.
Looking back now, I am actually glad we did.
That finally brought us to Sunday, June 14, the day we had been waiting for.
My partner headed off to church that morning while I stayed home playing packing fairy. I had already been to Tesco on the 13th to pick up ingredients for my favourite banana bread recipe (which I am still ridiculously excited about!), and while I was there, I also stocked up on plenty of picnic goodies for our trip.
So while he was at church, I was happily fluttering around the house, packing snacks, sorting things out, double-checking that we had everything we needed, and getting myself ready for the day ahead.
By the time he got back from church, I was dressed, bags packed, and ready to hit the open road! All that was left to do was jump in the car and finally set off for Loch Katrine.