Pancakes for breakfast and then it was time to settle the bill and make our way back to Glasgow for our last night of the trip. Four weeks gone in a flash! We were booked in at the Braehead Travelodge as this is nice and convenient to the airport and as a one-night stop is more than adequate, although a huge come-down from Howe Keld.

It was raining as we packed up the car and left Keswick but the forecast for all points north was for fine weather so we left the wet weather for the hikers and set off for Scotland.

We took a very scenic route, first through Cockermouth and then onto the coast road through Maryport and Silloth before turning inland and stopping at Gretna to visit the outlet shopping centre there. We pottered around there for a while visiting the Cadbury shop, Berghaus, M & S, The Body Shop, The Gift Company and The Whisky Shop, and also taking advantage of the toilets while we were there. We didn't actually buy a great sdeal however in spite of there being 50 shops on site. Alex bought chocolate from Cadbury and I found something for pending-first-grandchild in M & S.

As we weren't due at the Travelodge until after 3pm we were in no particular hurry and after leaving Gretna Gateway we meandered up through Dumfries and along lesser-known roads to Ayr. On previous visits we had approached from the South through Girvan but this time we ended up in the heart of the town, which we had never seen before, and it became quite a challenge to find the way out and to the seafront. It was quite chilly down by the water although it wasn't raining so we went for a short walk as Alex had been driving for a few hours and needed a break and a comfort stop.

Soon we were on our way again after deciding that Ayr was just a wee bit seedy in places and soon we were through Kilmarnock and heading into the outskirts of Glasgow. Soon we were back in familiar territory and the Braehead Arena was in sight and we were driving along Kings Inch Road towards the Travelodge.

We checked in and, for the first time ever, the extra bed in the family room was actually made up! (Top marks there for the staff on duty). We dumped the bags (two trips as we had to haul everything we had out of the boot so that we could pack it up ready for the next day - always fun. Do five bags go into two?). Fortunately the room was on the ground floor so it wasn't as onerous a task as it might have been. After that, we headed straight out again, informing Reception that there was no remote control in the room for the TV on our way through.

As it was starting to rain we drove the car over the road to Braehead Xscape (which is now apparently intu Braehead) although it would have been easy enough to walk. There's a lot of choice for eating out at Braehead but after a quick look round we chose the tried and true Pizza Express.

While Alex never tires off pizza, I was just about pizza-ed out and chose a sald instead. We decided to forego dessert as the last thing we needed for a long plane trip was to overload with food the night before and soon we were back at the Travelodge and contemplating the loathesome task of packing. Even leaving my hiking boots behind I judged that my case would be over the 23kg allowed by KLM, especially as I was replaing the boots with a 2.5kg laptop. I made a start but left the final touches for the next day.

As soon as Alex could we checked in online only to find that on the last leg of the journey we had been seated 10 rows apart! As KLM offer support 24/7 via Twitter Alex got straight onto them. About an hour later they responded and changed the seats - but instead of together they had put us in the same row but both in aisle seats. Once again Alex took to Twitter to explain we actually wanted to sit together. This time the response took longer and although Alex stayed awake long after I'd stuck my head under the covers and gone to sleep, there was no answer till morning.

The Tweet suggested that it had now been fixed and we had been allocated the seats we wanted. So we set about showering, dressing and packing without that particular stressor hanging over us. Having squeezed everything into two suitcases and an additional single piece of hand luggage we were set and after checking out, went over to Braehead shopping centre to find some breakfast and generally waste some time.

There's nothing worse than trying to find something to do to fill the time before being able to check in for a flight. The holiday, to all intents and purposes, is over and it's just marking time waiting to get on a plane.

We drifted in and out of shops, spent some time in Waterstones and WH Smiths, until finally at about 11am we started looking for somewhere to have lunch as we had ended up missing breakfast entirely. As we perused the menu of the Handmade Burger Company we were invited inside and decided that it was as good an option as any. I'm glad we only ordered the small burgers - and we could have shared a serve of chips between us - but it was good. The staff were nice too and that always goes towards a positive experience. Satisfactorily fed and watered we decided it was late enough to fill the car with fuel and take it back and so begin the final stretch of our journey.