The Journey

When faced with a 7 hour break between church services, what does one normally do? Hang around after the first church service to talk to people. Fix a friend's computer just before the second service. And go for a 4.5 hour drive. OK, it was more like 4 hours if you take into account a couple of macca's breaks.
The hardest part has to be deciding where to go. For me, the decision was between seeing how far down the M5 I could get, and heading out to Blackheath to purchase some of the exquisite apple juice sold from Logan Brae Apple Orchard.
Despite my desire to explore the mysteries held by mysterious M5, and with the prospect of delicious apple juice, I decided on Blackheath, only to be greeted with a locked gate and a sign informing me that I had missed the 1-hour window of opportunity (11am-12pm) to make purchases that day. Seeing that I had left home at 12:30, I was quick to resent the lack of information about the orchard on the internet.

Yet despite all this, I still came back feeling more refreshed than I have in a long time, as I managed to achieve what I had set out to do. Enjoy time alone. Enjoying my time. Cruising down the highway with the wind rushing through my hair and sun shining on my face, the music disturbed only by the revving of my engine and the soulful strains of my own voice.
Despite the apparent fruitlessness of my journey, I realised that sometimes the advertising campaigns of airlines get it right - it's not where you're going, it's how you get there. It's the journey. This isn't true for all things, but it certainly was in this case.
I think I'll have to visit that orchard again.