Brenda’s writing:  I have given up on the stupid blog. I spent so much time fighting the formatting and trying to upload pictures that I wasn’t getting any writing done, and several times I just lost HOURS worth of work because the internet timed out on me. Experiment fail — maybe I’ll put it together once I get home, but for now I’ll just do the writing in email and Adam can send selected pictures when we have chances. [edit: August and back at home, this is exactly what I did.]

Adam already mentioned that I had to drive the rental car (Puke Mobile) from Hartlepool to Newcastle, which is about an hour drive. I was terrified about doing this, mostly because the car was a stick shift. I’ve never been skilled at stick shift, and the last time I drove one at all was more than 12 years ago. So, facing an unfamiliar car, with everything on the wrong side AND having to navigate new and unfamiliar road configurations, had me developing ulcers. The roads aren’t even simple mirror images of American roads, either … they have these weird roundabouts and no traffic lights, so the traffic rules are unfamiliar as well.

As we left Colin’s parking lot, I managed to kill the engine three times in about 30 seconds. As it turns out, I was missing 1st gear and trying to start directly from 3rd, which made a horrible grinding noise and then stalled out the engine. One of Colin’s guys was in the parking lot wincing and I wanted to open the window and explain myself (“I haven’t driven a stick in 12 years, and now everything is on the wrong side! I’m not normally this inept!”) but I couldn’t find the window button.

I did manage to get the hang of it, though. During some of the more stressful maneuvers, like stopping and starting, my instincts would kick in and I’d start grabbing levers with my right hand, which in this particular car happened to be the windshield wiper control. What’s worse than not being able to find the correct gear? Having the windshield wipers suddenly start flapping back and forth when it’s not raining. Chaos. I somehow turned on the rear window’s wiper, too, and never did figure out how to turn it off. I decided to ignore it and it wiped all the way to Newcastle airport.

But, all’s well that ends well. Mission accomplished!

When Colin showed us the the Land Rover he had to lend us for the next few days, he mentioned it was “a bit rougher than your car” and “more of an agricultural vehicle” meant for hauling a horse trailer. He wasn’t kidding. It sounds exactly like a tractor when you turn it on and it’s so loud it’s virtually impossible to have a conversation while driving. The windows have hand cranks to open and close, and that old style windshield wiper that stops in whatever position it happens to be in when you hit the off switch. You’re likely to have it stop right in your line of sight. I vaguely remember my dad’s old Bronco having windshield wipers like that, back in the early 1970s. I’d forgotten they even existed. But in spite of all these sins, this car smells like horses and Christmas-tree-shaped air freshener instead of puke, so I’m in love with it.

The back has two bench seats and not much room, so the kids are really cramped back there. The luggage is piled up in the middle, which makes a nice barrier between Kid #1 and Kids #2 & #3, but every time we take a corner the backpacks avalanche down on either side and smack the kids in the head. Depending on which way the turn is, either one kid is laughing hysterically at the other two getting buried, or two of them are hee-hawing at the unfortunate one. It’s causing more than a few fights, so I’ll be glad to get our Land Rover, which is a whole lot bigger. It won’t necessarily solve the fighting problem, but it will at least solve the fighting over luggage problem.

Adam’s writing:  After breakfast, we loaded up and headed off to the west into the wilds of Northumbria. This is beautiful countryside, and we are enjoying staying off the highways and taking the windier paths that meander through one village after another.

Today we took a long hike up to see a portion of Hadrian’s Wall– something I’ve wanted to see in person since I read about it as a kid. The weather behaved and we had a great time treading through cow and sheep pastures, treading around cow and sheep pies, and walking along a portion of the wall. It still looks great and unchanged almost 1900 years after it was first constructed by the Romans.

After the hike, a nice lunch in a small pub, and then we made the drive North into Scotland, stopping at Edinburgh for the next two nights.

Our loaner vehicle over the next few days.

Gorgeous countryside at every turn.

None of which the kids can see, cramped into the back of the car.

A portion of the wall near Hexham, Northumbria. We took off into the fields and made our hike.

Isabella, standing on a portion of Hadrian’s Wall.

Steep and dangerous climb to the top, just the kind of excitement the kids love.

Holden taking a break.

View into the valley below.

Kids doing what kids do best; enjoying every moment of freedom that comes their way.

On the way back down. This was a much steeper, more dangerous climb than you’d guess by looking at the photos. This made for two nervous parents and three kids who didn’t have enough sense to be worried about anything.