Yes, to confirm, the second of our Days Inn hotel experiences is as lovely as the first. This is our exceptional bedroom window view (through the crack) to the car park.

Lovely huh?

The MacDonalds for supper, even better as I now know what a “sourdough-style” bap looks like. It doesn’t look like sourdough. It also doesn’t taste of anything so I can’t help you there either.

Despite being the same brand as the hotel we stayed in last night just 27 miles up the road, we were slightly surprised at being charged on arrival, which did not happen last night, or in all of the 20 previous hotels. That was it, mildly perturbed that we had an extra step to complete before we could put our feet up after walking for 43.8kms, a solid mile longer than a full marathon. The world did keep turning though. In return though, we had a lengthy explanation from the receptionist, about how payment absolutely could not be taken by booking.com in advance of us checking in, that would be beyond all technological possibility, even if they phoned them up and asked. She then repeated this, presumably because Days Inn’s “vibrant hospitality” needed to shine even brighter on us than a single explanation would have done.

She finished by asking for our car registration, despite Mark putting n/a on her form and then told us that all the Days Inn hotels are run completely differently from each other, which, lo and behold, we already knew by then. Mark let her know, again, that we didn’t have a car as we had walked from John O Groats and I suggested that as the brand is the same across all of the Days Inn hotels, to the customer, a different check in process is not a good thing. She just smiled, “like the sun” and we moved on to the topic of the “energising breakfast”.

On a more positive note, again in contrast to the last Days Inn, we could buy a £10 breakfast voucher for £7.50 valid at all food establishments for breakfast the following morning. As we need to leave at 7am, this means Macdonald’s, Costa coffee, or – open 24/7 – WHSmiths (although WHSmiths don’t sell coffee, or breakfast food). To be honest the only other establishments here, food selling or not are the Cornish Bakery and Chozen Noodles (I could not make this s**t up). We’ve already cleared Cornish Bakery out of snacks for tomorrow when they reduced all their prices just before they closed at 6pm today. Chozen Noodles’ curry sauces and deep fried beige things looked rather too gelatinous under their heat lamps for my liking.

Before tonight, I cannot physically recall when I last chose to eat at Macdonald’s. I can remember my phone number at the house I lived in between the ages of 7 and 11. So I’m not ready to entertain the idea of a second meal in as many days at McDonald’s tomorrow. I don’t care if the breakfast wrap containing a potato rosti and cheese as well as most of the ingredients for a cooked breakfast at 666kCal is the most energising breakfast I will ever have, I’m not tempted.

Spoiler alert: in a week that has included a total eclipse, I look forward to Days Inn’s vibrant hospitality fuelling my mind and body, “just like the sun” at Costa Coffee tomorrow morning.

Anyway, you all wanted to know how the 43.8km / 27.3 miles went today on the glorious cycle track that the internet has reassured us goes all the way to the Scottish border a further 23 miles away from here.

It was ok.

Some lorry drivers are very kind and use a whole lane they may not have needed to pass us.

Others less so…..

Just when we thought the view was going to look like this all day….

We saw this:

I’ve googled and found details of a paraplegic guy who is doing Lands End to John O Groats and back in not much more time than it is taking us to go one way and so I thought it might be him, just to rub it in about how slowly we were going. It turns out he broke his shoulder hitting a pot hole a couple of months back so he’s recovering back at home now. So we may never know why someone decided to wheelchair uphill on this relentless road.

The only other thing worthy of any mention is my supernatural ability to control the weather. At the moment a wet wind turns into proper rain I reach for my backpack. I unzip the compartment with my neon orange poncho and then take said poncho out of its little neon orange bag. I unfold it, poke my head through the middle and then have a small argument with it to find the top edge where my arms go through. I then put my backpack back on and have another small wrestle with the poncho to tame it around my backpack. This is all I need to do to stop the rain.

The flowers love it.

Distance – 43.8km, not as far as Thursday will be, wish us luck.