Stirling University...

While Ashlynn hung out with Naomi in Aberdeen, we went to an Open Day at Stirling University. It was a lovely fall day and we enjoyed walking next to the scenic lake separating the classrooms from the dorms.

There was also an excellent view from campus of the Wallace Monument, a tower built in 1869 in honor of 13th century hero Sir William Wallace. Although we were impressed with the campus, Veronica decided that the course wasn’t a good match for her.

Stirling Castle...

While Veronica was off visiting Lois, Jimmy and I headed to Stirling Castle where we had a late lunch before touring the castle. Built in 1503, the great hall was the largest banqueting hall built in medieval Scotland. In the 1800s, it was used as military barracks.

The Royal Palace was built in 1542 to celebrate James V’s wedding and consisted of his and hers apartments. This outer hall was quite impressive with colorful replicas of the Stirling Heads.

While the tapestries were all reproductions, they were lovely; I especially liked the unicorns.

The majority of the surviving buildings were built between 1490 and 1600.

Afterwards, we went to a pub for dinner and Veronica joined us for dessert. We couldn’t stay in the pub past 9 p.m. since Veronica’s under 18, so we missed the Halloween party. On our walk back to our inn, I saw this sign for the Dog Fouling Act: is that guy actually waiting with a scooper for his dog to poop?

The Falkirk Wheel...

The other site that Veronica visited was the Falkirk Wheel, the world’s only rotating boat lift.

There wasn’t time to take a boat ride to experience the lift, but she enjoyed seeing this engineering marvel.

Their visit was short and sweet. Next, they’re hoping to go camping together in Scotland this June.

The Kelpies...

The next morning, Jimmy had a blast behind the wheel as we drove through Galloway Forest Park with its amazing scenery. When we arrived in Stirling, we went to the train station to drop off the girls so they could visit their Scottish friends. Ashlynn boarded a train to Aberdeen to spend two nights with Naomi, and Veronica took a train to Falkirk to meet up with Lois, who she met at Outward Bound.

In addition to having dinner at Lois’ house, Veronica got to see Falkirk’s famous sites. These two 100-foot tall steel horses are called The Kelpies; the mythological creatures have the strength of ten horses. Scotland’s largest public artwork opened to the public in April 2014.

Heading North...

The following day we took a train to Lancaster, where we rented a car and then headed to the university for an open afternoon. We were especially impressed with the brand new environmental science facilities. We had dinner that night at our B&B just outside of town.

The next morning we set off for Scotland. We took a short detour to Gretna Green, famous as the first spot over the border where minors could get married.

The Old Blacksmith’s Shop opened in 1712 and has been a popular wedding spot ever since.

That night we stayed in the small town of Newton Stewart so that we could be near the Galloway Dark Park in the hopes of seeing an amazing night sky. Unfortunately, it was totally cloudy so instead of driving into the park, we hung at the hotel and participated in a trivia game. We were rubbish, but it was good fun anyways.

On Location in London...

After another visit to IMG for new polaroids, Ashlynn and I set off for some lunch and shopping. Unfortunately, I missed a message that another test shoot had been arranged, so we had to scramble to get to the eastern edge of London. Luckily the photographer, Ines Zele, newly relocated from Australia, was understanding. Unfortunately, after dragging clothes around unnecessarily to other shoots, we didn’t have a change of clothes with us. This was a good lesson that models often don’t have a lot of advance notice and should always be prepared. As you can see, this shoot was very urban.

Ashlynn’s definitely good at showing some attitude!

A Shoot with Veronica...

On our last day in London, Veronica wanted to take some photos of Ashlynn. After enjoying a breakfast at an old-fashioned diner, we found an iconic phone booth near the train station, the perfect setting to capture some cool shots.