If you each carried a multi socket power board it might help. Also no need for multiple plug converters. Those EU ones are huge!

Good thing you didn’t try to completely wait out the rain, you would be stuck in Ayr for a very long time. We lived in Glasgow from August 1989 through February 1991. It was raining when we got to Glasgow and did not stop until April of 1990. Seriously. Glasgow has changed immensely since then (there was zero bike infrastructure for example) but it was a great place to live albeit a pretty rough place to visit. A lot of my snooty English colleagues used to (derisively) comment that ‘yogurt had more culture than Glasgow,’ but they chose not to see the magic of the place. As the Scots always say, Glasgow is for the Scots, Edinburgh is for the tourists! Hope you enjoy your time there, keep your Gortex handy.

Have enjoyed very much the detail of your Irish adventure, Jill and Dave. Although we’re not so much into tubs, many of your other reflections ring true. I’m interested that you’re using Komoot and that it works reasonably for you because we hope to continue our using it with a Garmin for the first time on a trip later in the year. We’ve only used it on phones up till now. Looking forward to reading more of your travels.

What’s with the crocs? Kids are kids, I guess.;)

Most Canadians (from B.C., anyway, like me) use the French pronunciation of the word but the French word for bicycle panniers is sacoches.

We’ve been in France for over 4 weeks now and the only Americans we’ve encountered were our fellow CycleBlazers in Pont-en-Royans. All English speakers we have heard have had UK or Irish accents. It might be different when we get to the Mediterranean coast in a few days.

Those lads behind the bar don’t seem old enough to drink ( legally)…
What is the age in Ireland anyway?

A Heineken beer mirror in an Irish pub? 😬

Maybe the leprechaun and rainbow will bring you better luck! 🍀

I had the same problem in the Netherlands, Jill. The finger tipped gloves never function when you want them to, and taking a photo is next to impossible. I have OR rain gloves which are a “two-fer” ; a heavier glove on the hand itself with a “rain jacket’ cover which protects the gloved hand from getting soaked.
With regards to your helmet and hood on your rain jacket, I wear a Smart Wool headband to keep my ears warm, then don the rain jacket hood (Patagonia) and then the helmet. I never had a wet head in all of those days with rain AND headwinds. For my feet, I wear socks, then a plastic sandwich bag, and then my Keen sandals. Rarely do my feet get wet, either. I hope some of these adaptations help for the future!

Carrot and coriander soup sounds delicious..

What a cutie!

I carry a charging hub. It has 6 USB outlets and needs only one wall plug and adapter. My second adapter is for my camera battery charger, which doesn’t use USB.

I was going to say what Steve said. Hood under helmet! My Showers Pass jacket has an attachable hood which I never bother with anymore as it just doesn’t fit me. I go with a light wool toque under my helmet and carry a rain hat to wear with my jacket for off the bike.

Now that’s decadent!