100_1647Tuesday was a mellow day in the UK for us, with a simple drive into the meaty part of North York Moors National Park and the Park’s museum and visitors center in Danby.

And now we know what a Moor is! And it turns out the moors we are visiting were actually man-made, or at least man-created. Most moors in Egland seem to be the result of heavy deforestation 10,000 years ago by hunter gatherers and early agricultural societies. The destruction of old forests and subsequent over-farming of the soil resulted in barren landscapes covered with un-decomposed peat and hard soils.

And the playground at the park headquarters was pretty special, too (but you’ll have to wait for the video). After visiting what Jocelyn called “the coolest playground in the world,” we drove across the Moor toward Hutton-le-Hole and stopped at Ralph’s Cross, the iconic symbol of this particular national park.

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And now you really can follow along with the rest of the trip on Twitter! Through the magic of technology — and the unlocked (non-iPhone) goodness of a Palm Pre smartphone — I have procured free texts and a hefty quantity of internet data access from local UK Orange cell phone provider.