Friday Sept. 14th

It felt great to wake up from a good night's sleep!  We enjoyed a nice breakfast in the hotel's dining room this morning, buffet style.  I tried blood sausage for the first time in my life!  I ate it, but I can safely say I'll probably never have it again! It is called pudding here in Ireland.  They had brown pudding and white pudding.

8:30 A.M.
We departed from the Dunboyne Castle Hotel, and headed west across the island of Ireland.  It was a narrow, winding road, with many roundabouts (traffic circles), for awhile until we merged onto the M-4 and then onto the M-6 toward the town of Galway, which is on the eastern coast of Ireland.  The "M" stands for Motorway, which is like our freeways in the States.

Our first excursion tody was to Clonmacnoise, an early Christian site, founded by St. Ciaran in the 6th century, situated on the banks of the River Shannon.  There were literally 100's of extremely old tombstones and tombslabs; along with the remains of a couple of old Cathedrals, all perched on a beautiful hillside overlooking the River Shannon.  Wonder of wonder, the sun is actually shining momentarily!

While we were there on our Narrated Tour of this amazing site, a Riverboat Cruise Tour came gliding down the River Shannon. loaded with tourists who were viewing Clonmacnoise from the water!

Glad I  packed my warm clothing because it was quite breezy and cool today while standing on that hillside above the river!

Afterward, we made it to the town of Athlone, which is said to be the center of Ireland, where we stopped for a break.  We walked a few blocks to Cafe Mama to have lunch.  There were ten of us: Lou & Travis, Polly & son Steven Green, Albert Gary & daughter Brook Brown, John & daughter Marilynn Gallagher, and Norma and me.  Polly & Steven live in Liberty City; John lives in San Antonio and Marylynn in Longview.  Getting to know more of our fellow guests each day!

We continued west along the M-6, passing thru lush farmland, with fresian(holstein)cattle, lots of sheep, horses and peat bogs. The Irish harvest the peat, compress it into bricks, dry it, and use for heating fuel.

Here are little "teepees" of peat bricks drying.

Noel, our Irish driver/guide, grew up in Ireland, so he is very knowledgeable about the history and culture of Ireland.  We love to hear him talk!  The Irish do not pronounce the "th" sound in words; they drop the "h" and pronounce a "t" or "d" sound!  "tink" for think, "mudder" for mother, "tree" for three.  "Kil" at the beginning of a word means "church of" as in Kilkenny, church of Kenis.

Next, we stopped at Rathbaun Farm, where we were served fresh homemade scones with tea or coffee.  Wonderful hospitality!  We experienced a glimpse into the daily workings of an active sheep farm; even watched the owner, Fenner, shear a sheep (very fast) after his border collie, Ted, rounded up the sheep into a pen.  We saw a ewe with twin lambs.  Lou and Kristina volunteered to bottle feed a couple of 7-week old lambs!

 

 

6:15 P.M.

We arrived in Galway and Noel made a circle around Eyre Square (right downtown), where there is a John F. Kennedy Memorial on the exact spot where he stood to make a speech to the people of Ireland in 1963.  We then made it to our hotel, the Radisson BLU Hotel, where we will stay for two nights.  We did not have any time to relax before going downstairs to the Marina Restaurant for dinner at 7:00 p.m..  Our dinner tonight was buffet style, once again excellent food.

 

I had no luck logging on to the computer in the lobby to email home, or using my AT&T calling card to call home.  Tomorrow, I'll try buying a local calling card here in Galway.

 

9:00 P.M.

To our room, shower, and to bed!

 

BooBoo says she can get use to these fancy hotels with great views of the water!  I love hotels that have windows that actually open! 

Thursday Sept. 13

6:30 A.M.  Dublin Time (12:30 a.m. @ home!)
We are still in flight over the Atlantic Ocean.  The breakfast cart is on the way!  What a rough night!  The bumpiest flight I've ever been on!  Sometimes it felt like we were on a rough, county backroad!   Bumpy, Bumpy!  I napped sporadically, but it is very difficult to get very comfortable on a plane, and it is hard to nap when it feels like we may ditch at any time, so I prayed a lot!

Dinner was served to us a couple hours into our flight.  I've never had a full meal like that on a plane!  It was quite good and very filling!  B.B.Q. Chicken, mashed potatos, green beans, garden salad, Biscuit w/butter, crackers w/cream cheese, and a snickerdoodle cookie!

Norma and I are so ready to get off this plane!  Even though we walked around in the airport to get some exercise, we have been sitting for much too long!  This plane has rows of two seats on either side with rows of three seats each down the middle, but it's still a plane!   Crowded!

Yea!! A safe landing at the Dublin Airport!!  When we get inside, we immediately go thru Customs.  Only today, that turned into a long ordeal!  There were 4 or 5 International flights arriving this morning, one right after the other.  To say they were not prepared for us would be a huge understatement!  There were hundreds of passengers, lined up in 10 serpentine que lines, and the line continued out of the que lines, down the hallway and around the corner, back toward the arrival gates!  At first the line rarely moved, because there were only a couple af agents working, however they eventually staffed severaly more windows w/agents, and we finally made it to a window to see an immigration agent!  This process took well over an hour!

We made to the Baggage Claim area to retrieve our checked bag, and I saw mine right away and grabbed it.  But Norma's bag never showed up, so I walked down to the end to see where they were coming up from below.  I heard someone saying "Where's Norma?"   It was Carol K., our tour guide!  She was on the other side of the Baggage Claim area, pulling bags off the moving belt, if she saw a yellow Holiday Vacations luggage tag on them!  What a relief to find she had pulled Norma's bag off the belt!  We then headed out to the big "golden pretzel", a large art sculpture, which was our designated meeting place.

Well, our Tour Director, Carol, headed out there as well; with Judy's (a fellow guest) suitcase, which Carol  had pulled off the moving Baggage Claim belt!  Guess what!  Judy and her friend, Barb, never showed up at our meeting place!  Several of us suggested to Carol that Judy and Barb were probably still at Baggage Claim looking for Judy's bag! (which Carol was holding on her own cart!)  We were already out of the "secure area", and could not go back to where Baggage Claim was.  So finally, Carol had the Airport page Judy and Barb twice before they heard the page.  And sure enough, here they come, just a little frustrated with Carol for not letting all of us know that she was pulling some of our bags off the carousel.

Norma with our luggage exiting the airport in Dublin.

Boarding the Motorcoach for a city tour of Dublin.

It was a little past 10:00 a.m. by the time we were all on the bus, and met our Irish driver/guide, Noel.  Noel is from the village of Kilkenny, and is very knowledgeble about Ireland, and is a very trim, attractive gentleman with a great sense of humor!

We traveled through the three mile long tunnel that goes under Dublin's Seaport, and connects the Airport to Dublin's City Center.  We saw a variety of interesting bridges that span the River Liffy, which flows right thru the middle of Dublin.

  

The "puzzle bldg" is a childhood learning center!

We viewed Phoenix Park and Grafton Street, and the famous Georgian Doors.

I was fascinated by the doorknobs on many doors which were placed in the middle of the door!

We also toured St. Patricks Cathedral, which is  several hundred years old.  So much history here, and very intricate, beautiful architecture.  St. Patrick is said to have baptised converts to Christianity at a well that once existed in the park alongside the Cathedral.

  We enjoyed lunch in downtown Dublin on Nassau Street.  I went to the "toilet" before we sat down to lunch, and laid my camera on top of the tissue holder, and left it there!  Norma and I ejoyed our lunch with Lou and Travis, and when we were done snd started to leave, I missed my camera!  Oh no!  I ran back to the toilet to look, No Camera!  Norma and I immediately asked an employee of the cafe if it had been turned in, and she asked the Manager and he said "Yes!  Can you describe the camera for me?"  I replied "I sure can"!  I did so and he went into the office and retrieved it for me!  Thank the Lord!  I would have been devastated if I would have lost my camera on the very first day of my trip!  It was a very good lesson for me!  I was much more aware of my surroundings and much more careful following this incident.

Dublin is a bustling city!  Lots of traffic, but even more bikers and pedestrians!  Driving is done on the left side of the road, with the vehicle's steering wheel on the right.  Lots of very old buildings dated all the back to the 1100's!  That's so much older than our country is!  We kept noticing that the doorknob on many frontdoors was in the middle of the door, so we asked Noel about it and he said he did not know the reason for this.  I guess when your grow up there, it doesn't seem unusual!

3:00 P.M.
We arrived at Dunboyne Castle Hotel, which by the way, is not a castle!

  However, it felt like heaven to us, since by this time, we had been awake so long, we were all like "walking zombies"!  Norma and I went straight to our room and immediately laid down on our beds!  Oh sweet heaven to be horizontal!  Our luggage was soon brought to our door, we grabbed it, and laid back down and slept till 5:30 p.m.  We jumped up, showered, dressed for dinner, and went to the Lobby for our planned "Meet & Greet".  When we arrived at the Lobby, there were many folks there talking and laughing, and they all had "Holiday Vacations"  name tags on, however we did not recognize anyone!  Could they have changed there looks that much since we got off the motorcoach?  Well, we did not know there was another Holiday Vacations Tour Group at the Hotel, who were celebrating there final night of their tour!  Our group had moved down one floor to a quieter venue.  By the time we found them, they had already started, going around the room with each guest telling a little about themselves.  Since we missed most of each one's "story", we decided to make a point of sitting with different one's each night at dinner, so we could learn more about our fellow guests.

We (all 31 guests on our tour) were served a delicious dinner together in the Hotel's restaurant.  It reminded me of dining on a Cruise Ship.  Excellent food and great service!  Tonight we sat across from the family from South Dakota.  Gerie Sorenson(81 yr.), her daughter, Julene Pike, & grandaughter, Kristina Pike(12 yr.).  Also Angela Sorrenson, from O'Fallon, Mo. who is married to Julene's brother.  It was such a pleasure to get to know them a little better.

9:00P.M.
We are exhausted but happy to be on this adventure in Ireland!  I must say I am really enjoying the luxury of sleeping in a 5-Star Hotel!  Wow, I feel spoiled!  I love all the comfort this far from home.  Now it's time for a wonderful night's sleep in this luxurious bed!

Wednesday, Sept. 12th

Well, the day has finally arrived!  Norma and I have been planning this trip to Ireland for more than six months!  However, it is definitely anti-climatic.  We have such heavy hearts today, because our sister, Donna, lost her husband, Rod, suddenly on Monday evening.  What a shock this is to our family!  An apparent heart attack  just days before his 55th birthday.  I am so sad thinking about Donna and her children and grandchildren. I'm sad that Norma and I can't be there with her.  We know she understands and really wants us to continue on with this trip.

I am so thankful for my Sweetie, Tom!  Today is his regular day off, so he is driving me to Tyler, where we will pick up Norma, and then he is taking us both to the Holiday Inn , where we will board our motorcoach for the trip to DFW.  I'm glad we do not have to leave our car parked at this Hotel for 10 days while we are gone, since Tom is coming back on Friday night, Sept. 21st to pick up Norma and me.

8:30 A.M
We are on the motorcoach, on our way to DFW!  There are 25 excited guests on this bus, all anxiously anticipating our adventure in Ireland!  Carol K., our Tour Director, warned us not to do any "bonding" with our fellow guests until we reach Chicago and meet the rest of our group!  Too late, Carol!  We are already getting acquainted with our fellow guests!  Lou and Travis Rankin, from Lufkin, are a couple that are members of Norma's and Mom's R.V. Camping group.

10:00 A.M.
We are leaving our little "pit stop" here at the Terrell Travel Center.  It felt really good to walk, stretch, and get an ice-cold Mountain Dew!  We are a very diverse group of people on this Tour.  We seem to be a fun, lighthearted bunch!

Here we are at DFW Airport!

1:30 P.M. 
 Here we sit, awaiting the boarding of our flight to Chicago.  Norma and I just realized that our assigned seats are 10 rows from each other!  We approached the gate agent, and he switched our seating so we could sit together.  We called our sister, Ginny, and they have made it to Fort Collins, Colo. on their way to Cody, Wy. to be with Donna and her family at this most difficult time, following Rod's sudden death.  Ginny had just talked to Donna and Rod's funeral will be held Saturday.  Our Mom seems to handling the long drive to Cody, Wy. alright.  She is such an inspiration to all of our family!

Today is probably the most difficult day of our trip.  Traveling.  Hurry up and wait.  Sitting.  We have gotten in a fair amount of walking, between looking for a place to get a "hot sandwich" in the airport, and suddenly having our departure gate changed from A-20 to A-39!  Although, I much prefer to be walking than to be sitting!

3:00 P.M.
We are flying @ 33,000 ft. altitude, a very smooth ride to Chicago.  Besides meeting Lou and Travis Rankin, we've also met Bob Brackeen, the  NBC Today Show host on KETK Channel 56 in Tyler.  KETK promoted this trip and sent Bob as our host.  We met Albert Gary, a pharmacist w/Super 1 Food Stores in Tyler, and his "20 something" daughter, Brook Brown, who is vacationing with her Dad for the first time.  Albert and his wife had booked this tour together, however she had double knee surgery recently and was unable to go, so he called Brook, who lives in Louisville, Ky., and invited her to come along.  Brook is very pretty, bubbly, vivacious, and so happy to be on this trip with her Dad!

Also, one lady in our group, Barb, had a slight mishap, right after we exited the motorcoach at DFW, and were on the up escalator, heading up to be checked in.  She said her carry-on bag's wheels got caught on the escalator and pulled her over backwards!  Norma and I were just ahead of her on the escalator, and when I looked back, she was layed over backwards onto the passengers behind her and was desperately hanging on to the rail with only one hand, so I grabbed the handle of her carry-on bag so she could use both her hands on the rail to try to pull herself back into an upright position.  With a lot of help from the folks behind her, pushing her up from behind, she finnally righted herself just as we reached the top of the escalator!  First time I've ever seen anyone pulled right out of their shoes on an escalator!  She was wearing open-heeled clogs!

7:00 P.M.
We are boarded and ready for take-off in the largest plane I've ever flown in-a 767!  A very full flight!  Some stand-by folks could not board!  Norma and I are already tired from this long day of travel!  This should ba 7 1/2 hour flight from Chicago to Dublin.  When we arrive in
Dublin it will already be 8:00 a.m., Thursday morning, which is six hours ahead of our Central Time.  I hope to get a good nap on this flight!  While in O'Hare Airport, we met a young gal from Belfast, Ireland, who has been in the U.S. for three months working and visiting friends.  I called my Sweetie while we were waiting for this flight and was disappointed to get the recorder, and not get to hear his voice before I left the U.S.

   My sister, Donna and me, when she came to Texas for a visit in March. ( I think we favor one another! ) That is my brother, Don, in the background, as we were in his Dry Cleaners shop in Huntsville, Tx. 

Mon., Sept. 10th 3:30 p.m.-Wed.Sept.12th

I had retrieved my suitcases a week ago and packed most everything I thought I would need for my trip to Ireland.  However, after the cool front came thru over the weekend, and I experienced what 55 degrees felt like, I decided that maybe I should take more warm layers of clothing to Ireland.  So today, I exploded my previously packed suitcases and repacked them, switching out a few things as I went along.  Instead of the large suitcase and small suitcase and my day pack, I now have everything in one large suitcase (39 lbs.) and my day pack plus my small "book bag".

Our tour company, Holiday Vacations, will cover the transfer/tips of one bag per guest at each of our Hotels, from the Motorcoach to our room each night. (Pleasant surprise at the airports-no charge for our checked bag w/American Airlines!)

Carol Karsten, our Holiday Vacations Tour Director, called me today to say "Welcome" and to inquire if I have any questions or concerns.  She said there will be 31 guests on this Tour, 25 of us from East Texas area;   two guys from Fargo, N.Dakota and three gals from Souix Falls, S.Dakota and one gal from O'Fallon, Missouri will meet us in Chicago at O'Hare International Airport.  We will exchange our dollars for Euros at the Dublin Airport.  Our Holiday Vacations Tour Director, Carol K. has hosted two previous Tours to Ireland, but it has been several years ago.

I am so excited!  One more day to work: 8:30-5:30 tomorrow, and then Tom and I will get up early Wednesday morning and head to Tyler to pick up Norma and go to our rendezvoux point at the Holiday Inn on So. Broadway in Tyler, to meet our Central West of Texas motorcoach/driver for the transfer to DFW Airport.  Our flight is at 2:15 p.m. to Chicago; we will then have a 2 1/2 hour layover, before we depart @ 6:50 p.m. (Chicago time) to arrive in Dublin, Ireland @ 8:00 a.m. (Dublin time).{That is 2:00 a.m. Edgewood time!}

BooBoo is so excited about her upcoming adventure in the Emerald Isle!

Me, Carol Karsten (Holiday Vacations Tour Director), Norma about to board the motorcoach!

 

We are on our way!

Painting Finished/Now Ireland!

I finally finished painting our house!  Yippee!!  I was determined to get it done before I left for my trip to Ireland, however I barely made it!  Next to Thru-Hiking the A.T., painting our house was probably the most challenging task I have ever attempted.  I learned a lot as I went along about scraping old paint, caulking and filling in cracks and holes, priming and painting!  I am enjoying being semi-retired and having the extra time at home to tackle such tasks!  Here are a few of the before pictures:

I took these photos on April 11th, the day the Construction Crew arrived to begin our carport addition.  You can really tell it is early Spring in Texas!

This morning, I went out and took the following  photos of how our house looks today!

We will have to ignore the "date stamp" on these photos!  Today is really 09/10/2012!  I was using our litlle Sanyo camera, since I have already packed our Canon camera, and I didn't know the date would even show on a photo!  We are planning on what kind of "pad" we want to put down under our carport.  Probably some kind of Pavestone.

Yesterday, Tom and I made the 7-hour (roundtrip) road trip to Rosevine Cemetery to honor my daughter Candace, on the second anniversary of her death, by placing new flowers on her grave.  The weather was absolutely perfect for a road trip!  The morning began at 56 degrees, for our two-mile walk, then we attended our Sunday School/Bible Study class, and then headed for Rosevine around 10:45 a.m. with gorgeous sunshine and mild temperatures. 

I had retrieved my luggage a week ago, and packed for Ireland, however when the cool front came thru over the weedend and I was reminded what 56 degrees felt like, I "exploded"  my packed suitcase today, and reevaluated my clothing for Ireland!  Switched out a few items, and now I think I am ready for my trip!  I am so excited!  I've never been "across the pond", so I'm looking forward to this adventure with my sister, Norma!  There are 31 people on this Tour, 25 of whom are from the East Texas area.  Only 36 hours from now we will be on our way to DFW Airport to begin the first leg of our journey to the Emerald Isle!  I will be journaling each day and plan to update this blog upon my return.

Awesome August Rain!

I should be painting today, but we received 2 1/2 inches of rain during the night last night and there is a good chance of more rain today.  The thunder and lightning was so loud it woke me up during the night, and the wind was howling also!  It reminded me of some of the times it stormed just like that last year while I was on my hike and I was in my tent, praying that I would not get blown of the top of the mountains!  Last night I was so thankful to be indoors!

Yesterday, a year ago, I met these two happy guys up in New Hampshire!

This is Jerryatric and Peppermint!  Jerryatric lives in Ft.Worth, Tx. and Peppermint lives in Nashville, Tn. and they are both college professors.  Jerryatric began his thru-hike six years ago and has been back each year since then to do another section in his attempt to complete it.  He made it to Katahdin last year and summited  the day after I did!  Peppermint fell, just before the Kennebec River in Maine, and broke his ankle and had to be rescued and had surgery, so he still lacks a little finishing his hike.  I could not keep up with these two guys, however I would catch up with them sometimes at shelters or in towns.  Tom and I have met up with Jerryatric and his wife , Jane, for dinner a couple of times since our hike.

 I think I have eaten my weight in watermelon this summer!  They have been so sweet and juicy and delicious!  On a hot day, there is not a better snack that a big slice of  ice cold watermelon!  My horse, Tex, loves the watermelon rinds, once we've eaten all we want out of it!

Mary Ann and I are still meeting twice a week for a 7+mile walk, and yes, BooBoo is enjoying walking again!

Had lunch with my Saddlebag women friends on Thursday.  There were 13 of us at lunch!  Do you think maybe because we were all talking at one time, it got a little loud??!!

Evie and Mary W. apparently think so!!   What great fun and fellowship it is with these gals!

Wow! Only 24 more days to get ready for Ireland!

"Dog Days" of Summer!

We are experiencing the "Dog Days" of Summer in Texas!  When I first wake up in the morning, it is so nice to open the doors and enjoy the remnants of the cooler night air, but by late morning, when the sun gets higher in the sky, and the muggy heat begins to creep into the house, I close the doors and turn on the A/C.  Such is life in Texas, following the wonderful, wet Spring we had this year!

My friend Mary Ann and I are still meeting twice a week to walk seven (or more) miles together, and Tom and I are trying to go for shorter walks on the days in between .  It is very warm, and we sweat a lot, but I suppose that is part of getting fit and staying in shape.  I tell myself when I sweat profusely, I am sweating out the impurities in my system!  Ha!  

My house painting project is nearing completion!  Yippee!! After applying lots of caulk and a coat of Kilz Primer, the back of the house is ready for the layer of color.  After that, I just have a lot of little "touch-up" areas, doors and screendoors, a few more plces to caulk and and then repaint, and call it finished.  I had no idea when I began this project in late April, that it would take me this long, or that it would be so labor intensive!  Also, my fear of heights, while working on the three "peak areas", slowed me down more than I thought it would.

I am beginning to get excited about my trip to Ireland in September!  Only five more weeks, and my sister, Norma, and I will be on our way to the Emerald Isle!  I look forward to vacationing with Norma and also going "across the pond" for the first time in my life!  What a great opportunity this is for me!

Tom has a week of vacation coming up in October, and since it has been five years since we went on a Cruise together, we decided to book a Cruise!  I emailed Tom's brother, Tim, and asked if he and his wife, Kathy, would like to go also.  What a wonderful surprise, they said "SURE"!  So, the four of us will set sail from New Orleans, La. for a 7-day Carnival Cruise, with Ports-of-Call in Isla Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.  I am so excited that they are going with us on this vacation!  Several years ago, the four of us met in San Juan, Puerto Rico and went on a Royal Carribean Cruise to Aruba, Curacao, St.Marteen, and St.Thomas, and that was so much fun having Tim & Kathy vacation with us!

I enjoyed Sue's pool again last week when several of my Saddlebag women friends and I met there for a shared covered dish lunch and a swim.  Mary Ann brought her two daughters, Jill & Ellie; Pam brought her four granddaughters, Metchie, Crystal, Lexie, & Ginny; and of course Sue's son, Alex, was there.  It was so much fun watching all the teens & preteens have so much fun in the pool!  Poor Alex was so outnumbered by those six pretty girls, I'm sure it was overwheming for him!

                                          Betty, Mary Ann, Pam, Gillian, & Sue, enjoying the shade!

                                          "The Girls" and Alex doing a group "jump"!

                                          A neat gate I saw on my way home from the pool!

I left BooBoo "home alone", and this is how I found her when I returned!  Silly monkey!