About me (Alison)

Back in May (2024) I was sent an email through the website, it said quite simply "I've got 2 weeks off in August and my mother has Alzheimer's and Dementia so I'd love to join you on part of your journey"; that simple sentence resonated so deeply with us, that I immediately reached out to the sender - Alan Millar - and worked to get him involved with the tour. This led to Alan joining us for most of the Scottish part of the tour. 

At lunchtime on 17th August, I pulled into our (next) designated fuel stop at the Dreadnought Services, Callander where Alan was waiting for us. Unfortunately I was the advance party so he still had a bit longer to wait!  It wasn't long though before the scooters and other van turned up and after a quick refuel we were good to go... 

The weather was a bit grey and grim as we travelled from Callandar northwards, up the A82, stopping at The Green Welly, Tyndrum for our next fuelling. Unfortunately Alan's scooter had developed an issue with his carb that resulted in several 'panel off' moments for him and several photo opportunities for us especially as he was riding the only Vespa on the team.   

We made it to Fort William safely but between the grey, damp weather and the conditions of the roads (still not quite equal to those of Sussex) we hadn't been able to really enjoy the scenery along the way. Still we got to the hotel(s) and got ready for our evening out. Alan embraced the spirit of the tour for our evening in Fort William, donning a grass skirt and bringing back lots and lots of very good memories. 

After a great night and some much needed sleep we set off to wend our way southwards but heading to the west of Scotland. The weather was changeable - varying between driving rain with slippery roads and amazing sunlight through the clouds. We managed to get from Fort William to Baloch and Ayr before Alan decided that discretion was the best part of valour and left our merry band to head home in the daylight in case his carb gave up the ghost. Sadly, we said our goodbyes at the Ayr Pavilion and then headed on to our last Scottish stop at Girvan without Alan.  He continued to support us though, donating monies that he had personally raised and then following up a month or so later with his company matching his collection/donation.  

The tour did exactly what we hoped it would do... reconnecting us with old friends and introducing us to new ones!