Today we spent a good part of the day in the car, driving through the countryside from Edinburgh, by Glasgow, and then into the south west of Scotland (Lockerbie, Dumfries). We then re-entered England proper, stopping in Carlisle for lunch. We then drove through the Lake District in the afternoon, stopping at several small villages, and ended up tonight in Ulverston, along the west coast.

The past two days have not been all that interesting. We spent most of Thursday driving from Edinburgh to a little town in the Lake District of England. It took longer than we thought, so almost the whole day was eaten up with driving the loud Land Rover (aka, The Tractor) and listening to the kids fight over what little space was available to them in the back with all the luggage.

The Lake District is really pretty. It’s where Beatrix Potter lived, and all the Peter Rabbit stories take place somewhere in that area. The countryside looks a whole lot like the water color paintings everyone associates with Peter Rabbit illustrations. We stopped at several of the small towns, but they are geared mostly for tourists and have lot of over-priced shops catering to that crowd. I found a couple of art galleries, but was put off by the amount of money they wanted for their paintings, and also skeptical about their authenticity. They had framed “originals” selling for big bucks that were also selling in Paris at Christmastime on the street for way less money. They technically are originals, but are mass-produced in China from a template. I imagine a factory somewhere that has several hundred Chinese women hastily slopping out “originals” all day long of the same Paris street scene. No thanks. Anyway, the gallery had a couple paintings I actually sort of liked, but I was too suspicious of their provenance and not willing to shell out $100+ for something not done by a real artist. I am going to have to continue just buying paintings on the street directly from the people who painted them.

We had booked two rooms at a Bed & Breakfast in Ulverston, but when we arrived, the owner told us that she had had to cancel our reservation. Hadn’t we heard? No, of course we hadn’t. They had a water leak in one of the rooms and a second room was double books. In the end, we got it worked out, but the 5 of us have to share the “Family Room”, with only 3 beds. I was a bit nervous for awhile, since we’re kind of off of the beaten path, but we’re in now, cleaned up, fed up thanks to a local Pub, and we’re settle into a nice sleep. Tomorrow we head south to Liverpool.

Windermere, home of Beatrix Potter. Her Peter Rabbit stories were inspired by the countryside in which she grew up.

Seaside in Ulverston. Very windy! The tide is out when we took our walk this afternoon.

Very friendly horse and pony.

Brenda encountering a swan family.

Brenda being chased away by daddy swan. He finally had enough, got out of the water, and went to battle.

What’s left over of the gate and locks at Ulverston Canal, first constructed in 1793.

The subject of work, and more specifically how I am managing on the road so far, has come up. Actually, things have worked out quite well thanks to modern technology. Usually, the charging of all these electronic toys turns out to be the bigger of problems. With me, I have my laptop, iPhone and also an iPad, and between the 3 I am able to keep up with all incoming emails and orders. Things are pretty quiet until around 2:00pm my time. By the time we get home from our days’ adventures, I can spend some time on my bed, working through emails and order requests. I talk to customers on the telephone who call in without problems. If anything requires more organized attention, I just pick a date and time for a teleconference, and then can get onto SKYPE and make the free calls to anywhere in the world. It is certainly a relief to know that, as we’re wandering about, that more business is coming in and that, for the large part, things aren’t any different than if I was sitting at home and covering everything from my office.

In the mornings, I’m first to get up, and I can get online again and check to see what came through overnight. I get those chores done, clean my docket, and know that I won’t hear from anyone back on the Western Hemisphere until near the end of the day..

Phone coverage here is perfect, and I can use the iPad while we’re in the car to check emails, review maps, use it as an emergency GPS & etc. This is one example where technology has enhance our lives, and we certainly couldn’t do what we’re doing, with me working all along, even 5 years ago with such ease and efficiency.

Chargers are in short supply – we have one UK->US charger/transformer that allows you to plug in any plug and work without difficulties. I can easily keep my stuff going, but then I have 3 kids and a wife with all of their gear. In the end, we have two set up two “shifts” to keep everything charged… With my laptop, I can charge two other USB items using its’ ports. We just have to measure priority by whose battery is the lowest and go from there. So far, so good.