Saturday, September 20, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Introducing William Butterworth
Will was born this morning (September 18th 2008) at 8:23am, weighing in at 7 lbs 2 oz and 18.5 inches. You can call him William, Will, Wills or Booie (not sure how you would spell it but this is what Lane called him.)
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Finally Back Online
My computer crashed the day before we left England, and I haven't been able to get any photos posted until now. So finally, here are some pictures of our two-week camping adventure through Scotland. We started in the Lake District, then went on to Linlithgow, Edinburgh, and Stirling, up through Inverness and Loch Ness to Gairloch, and then back down through the Trossachs, with a stop through the Stirling Highland Games. It was really one of the best trips of our lives.
The Lake District
Before we actually made it across the border into Scotland, we visited the Lake District, which is famous for its connection to the Romantic Poets (I never really liked any of the Romantic Poets - too long-winded. But I learned to appreciate them while there.)
Setting up camp. It would be days before we saw this kind of sunshine again.
On the boardwalk at Lake Windermere.
A very cute swan...
...that later attacked me for my fish and chips.
Strawberries and cream at sunset.
View from the tent, towards Lake Windermere.
Andrew at Dove Cottage, one of Wordsworth's former homes. Lane screamed here, too.
Setting up camp. It would be days before we saw this kind of sunshine again.
On the boardwalk at Lake Windermere.
A very cute swan...
...that later attacked me for my fish and chips.
Strawberries and cream at sunset.
View from the tent, towards Lake Windermere.
Andrew at Dove Cottage, one of Wordsworth's former homes. Lane screamed here, too.
Edinburgh and Stirling
We camped in a town called Linlithgow (where Mary Queen of Scots was born), a little ways outside of Edinburgh. We set up camp, had lunch, and then left to explore the town. Since there are no bears or other life-threatening wildlife on Great Britain, I wasn't too concerned about safeguarding our food. Which was a mistake. When we got back to the tent, we discovered that a man-eating squirrel had chewed its way through our window and attacked our leftovers. Hana was traumatized, since it ate through her side of the tent. We wound up cutting off one of the mesh pockets inside and sewing it over the hole for her. But the whole rest of the trip, she kept one eye trained on the window as she fell asleep.
Cooking in the rain, again.
Walking up to Edinburgh Castle.
This claymore is about as tall as Andrew is.
Hana and Andrew watching the One o'Clock Gun at Edinburgh Castle. In the past, this is how the city would measure their time and synchronize their watches. Why 1:00 p.m. and not something more logical, like noon? Why waste 12 rounds of ammunition when you can wait an hour later and use only 1.
Hana and Lane found this hut in the woods by our tent.
Falkirk is right on the way from Edinburgh to Stirling, so we thought we'd swing by to visit this very famous battlefield (i.e. William Wallace, Braveheart). First, we wandered for an hour following the signs to the Falkirk Wheel, which seemed like it might be neat enough. Then we got suckered into following the signs to the Falkirk Mariners' Centre (I thought it would be a museum honoring some sort of Scottish maritime tradition - it was just a rec center). But we had absolutely, positively no luck finding signs to the battlefield at Falkirk. In fact, no resident of Falkirk seemed to have the foggiest idea what we were talking about. Finally, Andrew came across a man in a park who gave us a few sketchy directions towards some sort of monument to the battle. At long last, we found the elusive marker, which quite decisively reads "the Battle of Falkirk was Fought Around Here...." Brilliant.
Cromwellian soldiers. The school kids on their field trip thought the stories of piking people through the eye were great. Hana wasn't so sure.
The William Wallace Monument in the distance.
One of the courtyards at Stirling Castle - which is considered by some to be the most haunted castle in the world.
Gardens at Stirling Castle. I don't know why we even pretend we can have a real garden like this out West. It's totally futile.
Cooking in the rain, again.
Walking up to Edinburgh Castle.
This claymore is about as tall as Andrew is.
Hana and Andrew watching the One o'Clock Gun at Edinburgh Castle. In the past, this is how the city would measure their time and synchronize their watches. Why 1:00 p.m. and not something more logical, like noon? Why waste 12 rounds of ammunition when you can wait an hour later and use only 1.
Hana and Lane found this hut in the woods by our tent.
Falkirk is right on the way from Edinburgh to Stirling, so we thought we'd swing by to visit this very famous battlefield (i.e. William Wallace, Braveheart). First, we wandered for an hour following the signs to the Falkirk Wheel, which seemed like it might be neat enough. Then we got suckered into following the signs to the Falkirk Mariners' Centre (I thought it would be a museum honoring some sort of Scottish maritime tradition - it was just a rec center). But we had absolutely, positively no luck finding signs to the battlefield at Falkirk. In fact, no resident of Falkirk seemed to have the foggiest idea what we were talking about. Finally, Andrew came across a man in a park who gave us a few sketchy directions towards some sort of monument to the battle. At long last, we found the elusive marker, which quite decisively reads "the Battle of Falkirk was Fought Around Here...." Brilliant.
Cromwellian soldiers. The school kids on their field trip thought the stories of piking people through the eye were great. Hana wasn't so sure.
The William Wallace Monument in the distance.
One of the courtyards at Stirling Castle - which is considered by some to be the most haunted castle in the world.
Gardens at Stirling Castle. I don't know why we even pretend we can have a real garden like this out West. It's totally futile.
Inverness to Gairloch
After we left Edinburgh, we took a quick stop at Culloden's Field (sort of like Gettysburg - equally depressing), and then followed the route past Loch Ness to Gairloch.
Lane eating hula hoops at Culloden Visitors Centre. Shorly after this, we dragged her screaming through the exhibit and across Culloden's field.
The monument at Culloden.
Andrew (with the help of a local shopkeeper) traced his Simpson family line back to the Clan Fraser.
Dad, Hana, Lane, and the Loch Ness monster.
We stopped in at Urquart Castle, which is on the banks of Loch Ness.
Loch Ness in the background - see anything in the water?
Loch Maree in the distance, the prettiest loch we saw in all of Scotland.
Views around Gairloch - the home of the best bacon and porridge oats in the world.
After days of tent camping in the rain, we were relieved to have a hut to call our own.
Crossing the dunes between our wigwam and the beach.
We need to live closer to the beach. It took us a while to convince Hana that it was okay to sit on the sand.
Andrew cooking some very fresh Langoustines we bought of the back of a local fisherman's truck. Are you supposed to eat that kind of food when you're pregnant?
Lane eating hula hoops at Culloden Visitors Centre. Shorly after this, we dragged her screaming through the exhibit and across Culloden's field.
The monument at Culloden.
Andrew (with the help of a local shopkeeper) traced his Simpson family line back to the Clan Fraser.
Dad, Hana, Lane, and the Loch Ness monster.
We stopped in at Urquart Castle, which is on the banks of Loch Ness.
Loch Ness in the background - see anything in the water?
Loch Maree in the distance, the prettiest loch we saw in all of Scotland.
Views around Gairloch - the home of the best bacon and porridge oats in the world.
After days of tent camping in the rain, we were relieved to have a hut to call our own.
Crossing the dunes between our wigwam and the beach.
We need to live closer to the beach. It took us a while to convince Hana that it was okay to sit on the sand.
Andrew cooking some very fresh Langoustines we bought of the back of a local fisherman's truck. Are you supposed to eat that kind of food when you're pregnant?
Skye and the Trossachs
When Andrew was little, his dad used to sing him "Speed Bonny Boat", a song about Bonny Prince Charlie's escape to the Isle of Skye (ask Andrew about the Scots and their brilliant marketing acumen). Now, Andrew sings it to the girls. So, of course, we had to take them to Skye.
Andrew and Hana in Portree on Skye. What we thought would be a quick day trip turned into a three-hour one way adventure over single track roads through the most remote part of the highlands.
And they mean single track - only room enough for one car. If you meet oncoming traffic, one of you is supposed to pull off the road to let the other pass. These aren't just back country tracks, either. In most cases, they are the main and only way into a town, which means more often than not you're meeting semi trucks and the like. Oh, and the speed limit on them is 70 MPH.
Hana and Lane got very cozy with each other during our long driving days.
Andrew said he wouldn't be satisfied with his trip to Scotland unless we found a lone piper standing on a hill. I thought he was crazy. But lo and behold, as we came over a rise on our way to the Trossachs, he found his lone piper - who was even a member of the famous Black Watch.
Andrew and Hana in Portree on Skye. What we thought would be a quick day trip turned into a three-hour one way adventure over single track roads through the most remote part of the highlands.
And they mean single track - only room enough for one car. If you meet oncoming traffic, one of you is supposed to pull off the road to let the other pass. These aren't just back country tracks, either. In most cases, they are the main and only way into a town, which means more often than not you're meeting semi trucks and the like. Oh, and the speed limit on them is 70 MPH.
Hana and Lane got very cozy with each other during our long driving days.
Andrew said he wouldn't be satisfied with his trip to Scotland unless we found a lone piper standing on a hill. I thought he was crazy. But lo and behold, as we came over a rise on our way to the Trossachs, he found his lone piper - who was even a member of the famous Black Watch.
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