Day 10--IRL, Kilarney to Blarney to Waterford

Breakfast at the hotel. We were the last to get served—almost everyone was gone by the time we got our food. And it wasn’t even that good—an egg, sausage, black pudding, and Canadian bacon. Departed Kilarney about 8:15am and drove to Blarney. Grandma made it all the way to the top and kissed the Blarney Stone. Did a bit more shopping at the Blarney Woollen Mills and bought gifts for people. Also grabbed lunch while we were there. Headed on to Waterford to tour the Waterford Crystal Factory. Today is a bank holiday, so they are only operating with a skeleton crew—again. It was the same when we were here in November and when Mom and Dad were here in June of 2003. They have also changed the opening presentation and remodeled the work areas. Got to the Tower Hotel at 4:30pm. Took a walk down to John Hearn Ironmongers” since Grandma’s grandpa was John Randolph Hearn. The old man there wasn’t very interested in talking to her. We took her picture in front of the store still. Left at 5:45pm to go to a pub in East Village, outside of Waterford and in the vicinity of Mike and Lisa’s wedding last year. The pub was called “The Cumon Inn,” named for the hurling stick used in the game of hurling. I drank a bit too much Bulmer’s (hard cider), but it was good and I didn’t get sick from it. Back on the coach, the tour director Helen told some long drawn-out jokes which wouldn’t go over as well if we were all sober. We tried to call Mike and Lisa earlier in the day, but they had just left for Limerick for the holiday weekend. Mike is working in Spain right now, so Mom and Dad will likely get to see him when they go back to Italy. Also, at the pub, Marion told us that she got two proposals while there and the glass cutter at Waterford Crystal let her try to cut the glass even though it would cost him money. Anything for attention I guess. Dinner was back at the hotel, then we returned to our room and called Uncle Foy to check on him and Grandpa and to verify the plan for him to pick Grandma up on Monday night. He argued, saying it was Tuesday morning according to the schedule Mom gave him. Apparently Map Quest defaults to a certain time so you can see how long a trip takes. Mom told him to look at the flight times and ignore the other times. She decided he couldn’t handle driving to Dallas and back, so she got Dad to reserve a rental car so we could take Grandma to Durant. She called Foy to apologize for the fight while Grandma was being upset in the bathroom. They decided to meet in McKinney instead, but it is costing Mom about $80 to rent. Grandma said, “Well I’m sorry we’re just too dumb to do this.” Mom blew up a bit since similar stuff happened when they came up for our wedding. Foy forgot the maps they were given, but said that no one gave him any. When mom said “You told me you left the packet we gave you at home,” he said “You’ve pulled this shit on me before!” He also tried to say Mom didn’t give him the maps the night before we left to come here, whereupon Mom walked into the other room with him and pulled them out of the drawer he put them in. Grandma is also still having problems with the ATMS and the phones. The one blow up they have had isn’t too bad for a week together.

Day 9--IRL, Ennis to Tralee to Ring of Kerry to Kilarney

An earlier start today to leave Ennis—Breakfast at 7:00am and depart at 8:00am. Slept until we crossed the River Shannon via ferry (for a whole 20 minutes). Fell asleep again until we arrived in Tralee. Stayed there just long enough to do some shopping. I bought some gifts for Christmas and a birthday. A few things I was awake to learn thus far today: *The average price of a house is Є250,000 in Ireland, Є300,000 in Dublin. *You must pay an 8% stamp duty on any not new house over Є200,000. The solicitor/ lawyer is also paid 1% of the sale price plus whatever fees they want. *There are no longer property taxes. *Sales tax/ Value Added Tax (VAT) is on everything except books, children’s clothes, children’s shoes, and food (other than confectionary). VAT in Ireland is 21% of the net price of the goods or 17.36% of the selling price. Non-EU shoppers can get a Global Refund Form at the time of purchase to get it refunded upon departure. Income Tax is 20% (or 30%---I’m not sure) under Є40,000 and 40% over Є40,000. *Irish students study the Irish language the entire time they are in school. Stopped for a brief lunch at a town along the Ring of Kerry. I crossed the road and took some nice pictures. There were some sheep and goats crossing a creek and I got photos of them (*Note: They were actually cows and my eyesight sucks.) I am currently on photo number 232 and still have 409+ on the 2GB card. Still on the first battery with no recharge too. There are a few digital cameras on the bus, fewer decent digital cameras, a couple of point and shoots, and a majority of disposable cameras. It’s appalling. Got a nice view of Scarriff Bay and took some good pictures. There is just the right amount of sun and clouds. Continued on to drive through Kilarney National Park, which is known for its beautiful lakes. One of the lakes, Muckross, has been recently “discovered” to house the Muckross Monster, cousin to the Loch Ness Monster. Stopped in town where we took a ‘jaunting’ ride (a horse drawn buggy) through Kilarney National Park for 12euro each. I sat up front with the driver/ coachman. We got to see two different breeds of deer, a red deer and a Sitka deer. There are also badgers, hedgehogs, silver salmon, brown trout, and many other animals in the park. There used to be wolves in Ireland, but the last one was killed in the 18th century, leaving only the fox as predator. Found out that the crazy lady I sit next to was an actress named Marian Collier (Neuman) and her husband was a playwright named Peter Jack Neuman. We also think she is an alcoholic—she was hungover all day and smelled like vodka. Ate dinner at the Muckross Park Hotel in Kilarney where we are staying. I sat with Sarah who is 28 or 29, a native of New Zealand (a Kiwi) but has been teaching in London for a few years. She is here with her mom and comes from a wealthy family. She is a tomboy like me, but her mother wants her to be a refined young woman. It was nice for both of us to talk to someone closer to our own age. Re-packed the bags then went back to the bar for some live music. Sat and chatted with Gerry and Rosslyn who are roughly Mom’s age and are from Ontario, just north of Toronto. They are very nice and thought it was great that we have traveled and experienced so much but aren’t stuck up about it. They are from the same area as Peter and Rosemary McConnell (who we met on our Honeymoon) and knew exactly where Oakville was. Had a very nice evening and it was great to talk to some other people. I am looking forward to the Pub Evening tomorrow night.

Day 8--IRL, Ennis to Gallway to Cliffs of Moher to Ennis

Got up at 6:00am and got ready with plenty of time to spare since we didn’t have to bring down our luggage (staying at the hotel in Ennis again tonight). We started our seat rotation today. The idea is logical, but the execution of it is not. Each side of the bus moves 2 rows forward and the front 2 rows move to the back. You are always sitting by the same people (in my case, an older, crazy, over-bearing woman who must always add her 2 cents) and across the aisle from the same people. Right now I am in the first row and Mom and Grandma are in the very back row. We changed the order of the trip for today as there are big horse races in Gallway right now and we would have been caught in traffic. We went to Rathbaun Farm to see a sheep shearing demonstration. We also got to see a border collie/ sheep dog do his work, most of which is instinctual. After seeing the demonstration, some got to bottle feed some lambs that were just a few weeks old. Saw some goats and chickens there too, then went into a thatched roof building (a few rooms of it were 200+ years old) for Tea and scones. The peat burning in the fireplace left a *lovely* smell in my hair and the hint of asthma in my chest. Went to the Connemara Marble Factory. There were about 6 or 7 different kinds of marble, some as old as 600 million years. I bought a silver claddagh ring with a light green marble piece in the heart. Grandma promptly handed me a Є20 after I bought it because she wanted to buy something for me but didn’t know what I would like. Next stop was in Gallway. We did a bit of shopping and a brief drive through city tour, but the traffic was bad still. We talked about the Lynch stone but didn’t even get to see it. At lest I saw it last time. Ate lunch and mailed some post cards from there too. Drove through Lisdovarna, a town that used to be known for its baths and is now known for its Matchmaking Festival every September. Stopped at the Cliffs of Moher. It was clear enough to see well, but it was also very windy. A few things we learned today: *Irish Coffee and Duty Free Shopping originated at the Shannon Airport. *The conception of the submarine began in Ireland. *Only 2-3 Border Collies out of 10-12 will be good working dogs- most of it is instinctual. I’m sure there was a lot more, but it escapes me at the moment. Back at the hotel in Ennis, we paid for our excursions then went to dinner. We waited for nearly a half hour for our food, but it was a good meal. I had curried chicken and rice, Mom had Cordon Bleu, and Grandma had a Banana Split!! And she said they did it wrong—only caramel, no whipped topping, one type of ice cream, no cherries or other toppings. We warned her that it might be different than what she was used to. Not sure if I said it already, but Grandma can’t understand anyone with an accent—not even us sometimes. Returned after dinner and Mom and Grandma both slept for a while before we packed. Then, of course, we all lay awake from having gotten sleep earlier.

Day 7--IRL, Dublin to Cashel to Limerick to Ennis

Woke up at 6:30 am with a knot in my calf this morning due to a muscle cramp in the middle of the night. Got packed and headed down for breakfast at 7:15am. The breakfast was mostly foods I couldn’t eat and the rest was mostly stuff I didn’t like. I drank some juice and ate some bread, but that was it. Departed Dublin and went to the Irish National Stud Farm in Tully, County Kildare. I learned some interesting things about Thoroughbreds: *When January 1 rolls around, all foals born the previous year (before September I think) become yearling. *Horses on race for a few years when they are young. *To be thoroughbred, they must be natural—no artificial insemination. It can cost thousands of dollars to breed with a stud. “No foal, no fee” is their policy. Many horses get to fly over via jumbo jet. Anyway, the visit was interesting. Continued on to Cashel and saw the Rock of Cashel, but we didn’t get to go up to it this time. We did get to spend some time in Cashel and got lunch at O’Sullivan’s. It’s nice to eat in a pub now that smoking is no longer allowed. Tried to mail a couple post cards, but the Post Office was closed for lunch. Continued on to Ennis, passing Bunratty Castle and also driving through Limerick on the way. Got into the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis and had a bit of time to relax. Walked over to the nearby Dunnes Store and mall, then back to the hotel to depart for the medieval banquet at Knappogue Castle. I liked the food, environment, and show at Bunratty Castle. Knappogue Castle did have an Irish Dancer, which was cool. It was still an enjoyable evening. Got back to the hotel at 10:30pm. Oh- I tried to watch some cricket, but didn’t really understand it. So on the bus I asked a New Zealander (a Kiwi, as I later found out they call themselves) to explain. She explained pretty well, but I need to watch it to figure out better. At dinner, we all sang “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” (a guest “broke a rule” and that was his punishment). A different New Zealander who was sitting across from me said he had never heard it and wanted to know what it was about. I got a feeling for his familiarity with baseball (which was essentially a batter, a ball, and you have to make 4 bases to score) and I explained the game, the tradition, the 7th inning stretch, and its origins to him. He thought baseball was ridiculous, so I asked if cricket was his thing. His eyes lit up and I asked him to explain it. I got a little bit better understanding, but still need to try to watch it to figure it out.

Day 6--IRL, Dublin

Still on the plane to London Heathrow, sleeping poorly and feeling like crap. I woke up and went to the bathroom, then came back and was served breakfast. I didn’t eat it (though I ate dinner before falling asleep). I broke out in a sweat and got to use those nifty barf bags that are always in the backs of the plane seats. I’m pretty sure it was my Crohn’s and it wiped me out energy wise. The attendant came by shortly after and asked “Is that a bag of sick?” before taking it from me. I then got a page to identify myself—apparently I dropped my wallet in the bathroom. Someone turned it in—nothing missing. Arrived in London and made a LONG walk from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1 to catch our flight to Dublin. We made it on time, but the walk was hard on Grandma. The flight was just over an hour long. Went through customs then got our bags (seemed a bit backwards) and met our Tour Director Helen. Our bus driver Anto took some others and us to the Clarion in Dublin. We were in our room by 1:30pm and decided to shower before the Dublin City Tour. Left at 3:00pm and went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the Library. Visited some local shops before boarding the coach for the rest of the tour and the ride back to the hotel. Napped for a while and skipped out on the 7:00pm Welcome Drink. We had dinner at the hotel at 7:30pm. Sat with some Canadians, Michigan natives, and New Zealanders. A few struck up some political conversations. Leave it to the staunch Republicans from Michigan to sound like Jack-Asses. Directed my attention more towards the other end of the table with the Canadians. Retired for the evening to sleep on a lovely fold out bed. Mom and I decided to sleep crossways so the bar wasn’t in our back all night.

Day 5--NY to IRL

Breakfast at Starbucks at 8:00am then walked over to Waldorf Hotel to catch the Gray Line Double Decker Downtown Bus. Got to go all over the downtown area, by Times Square, Central Park, the Neon Signs (Broadway?), then got off at Battery Park where you can embark to see the Stature of Liberty. We opted to buy tickets for the Harbor Tour for $10 because it is not possible to go up in the Statue since 9/11 (*Note: They reopened entry into the base and her calf on August 3rd). The Harbor Tour took us by Ellis Island, the Stature of Liberty, Staten Island, Long Island, under the Brooklyn Bridge, and under the Manhattan Bridge. Lots of good photo ops on the Harbor Tour. Went back to Battery Park and walked about 6 blocks over to Ground Zero/ the Twin Towers site. Walked back to City Hall and caught the bus, which took us back to Battery Park (the midpoint on the tour). Got off our bus and went to the one at the front of the line since it was leaving sooner. Rode back through the Lower East Side, by the UN Building and back to the Waldorf, just a block from the hotel. Ate lunch at Raffle’s (on the ground floor of the Radisson) then went to catch the shuttle to JFK airport. Made it there with plenty of time before our 9:00pm flight. Found a really cool book called 360 degree New York with some great photography. Daniel and I have been buying books on vacations since our Honeymoon. Boarded the plane and managed to stay awake for a while, then slept most of the way to London Heathrow.

Day 4--OK to TX to NY

Got an early start today to drive down to Dallas. Left at about 6:45am, got breakfast, then I slept the rest of the way down. Returned the rental car and took the shuttle back to the terminal. Flew first class to New York LaGuardia (also all the way down to DFW). Mom told me she thought the woman sitting in front of Grandma was ‘Helouise’ (actually her daughter) of “Hints from Helouise.” I had no idea who she was talking about, so Mom had to explain. I slept through most of the flight, only waking for food and the landing. I did overhear the woman sitting next to Helouise ask her about her connection with “The View” which was written on her folder as well as some radio show information. She explained whom she was and that she was going to be on “The View” talking about odors. When we landed, I handed her bag to her (it was in front of mine in the overhead bin.). She stopped us in the terminal when we got off and said to my mom “Is this your daughter?” “Yes.” “I just want to tell you that you have raised her well. Very polite.” “Thanks, are you Helouise?” “Yes, I am” “Thank you.” It made Mom’s day to get a compliment about me from Helouise. Got our luggage then struggled to find our “New York Airport Service” Shuttle. It took nearly an hour after boarding the shuttle to arrive at Grand Central Station where we transferred to a local shuttle for hotels. I think the driver was Eastern European. It was very trying to get him to understand that we were going to the Lexington Radisson and not the Madison. The room was nice with a great view of 48th and Lexington. Got settled in then walked to find dinner. Ended up at T.G.I.Fridays on 5th and 48th. Talked to Dad and Erik and they said there was a web cam cache nearby. It ended up being in the corner of a second floor wind at 5th and 4th. The refresh rate was slow on the web cam, so it took a bit of waiting and “Do you see us now?” ‘s, but Dad finally captured us. Continued walking another 8 or 10 blocks to go to the Empire State Building to see the New York Lights. Waited in line to get tickets, then went up an escalator and waited in line to get on the elevator to the 80th floor, forced to wait in line to get a picture taken that we didn’t want, then waited in line to get on the elevator to the 86th floor, where we were sent through the gift shop to go outside. I was glad I brought my pocket tripod with me, as I was able to get some good night lights pictures. Waited in line to buy something at the gift shop before making our way down, waited in line to take the elevator to the 80th floor, forced to wait in line for a chance to buy the picture we didn’t want in the first place (which was interestingly enough on film and not digital), then waited in line to go to the ground floor. It was nearly midnight when we got out (2 ½ hours since we entered the building). We crossed the street and I got to hail a cab to go back to the hotel. It was only about $5, very reasonable. Got everything ready to go, then showered, so it was about 1:30am when we finally got to bed.

Onward Ho!

Day 3--OK

Everyone stayed the night at Grandma and Grandpa’s last night, except Nita and Vernon who stayed at a hotel. In the evening, I was craving a Sonic Coney, so Mom, Sue, and I went into town, but not before Grandpa had a chance to steal Mom’s keys. She finally bargained with him and got the keys back in exchange for a burger from Sonic. On the way back, we stopped at “Goober Peas” (GC1EFO virtual) and had Sue take our photo to post for the cache. It began raining, but we decided to try one more cache since we had travel bugs to place. We made two approaches to “Freedom!” (GCJGA7 traditional), but we gave up due to the high grass, the rain, and the possibility of rattle snakes. And I even had the perfect key chain for the travel bug, an Uncle Sam PEZ Flashlight. When we got back to the house, Mom, Sue, Nita, and Grandma sang Found a Peanut” to me since I was unfamiliar with it. Grandpa kept interjecting with “Ouch, Ouch, Ouch!” Apparently his caretaker had recently set him up to say “ouch!” every time the nurse’s touched him. I think he knew he would get laughs. At an earlier time, he put his feet up on the dinner table and got in trouble, so I offered him my chare to put his feet on. Grandma said, “Well say ‘thank you’ honey.” And he said “Thank you honey” with a grin on his face. The first night we were here, Grandpa stared at the clock for ten minutes until 10:00pm when her raised his right hand in the air. Mom and I went with the flow and put our hands in the air too. Grandma and Foy were getting annoyed, saying “What are you looking at?’ “What are you doing?” It’s sad because I know that there’s something going on in his head, but he doesn’t communicate. Sue and Bill and Netta and the kids went home this evening. Donya was supposed to come down to get Cora, but she called in the afternoon and said she couldn’t afford it, so we didn’t get to see them.

Day 2--OK

Sue and Bill and Aidyn, Nita and Vernon, and Netta, Trey, Tori, Tia and Cora came into town today. I was feeling ill, so I slept for a bit on the couch. Got to do some visiting, but that was it for today.

Day 1--PDX to TX/ OK

Got about 3-4 hours of sleep last night. Dad took us to the PDX airport to catch our 6:15am flight to Salt Lake City. I slept the whole way and Mom dozed a bit. Had a 1 hour 15 minutes layover and caught the 10:15 am flight to DFW. I was awake this time and mom dozed. Got our bags and took the rental car shuttle to pick up our car. Made it out to Hertz at about 2:30 and picked up a Mercury Sable with just 800 miles on it. Powered up the GPSr and spiraled our way into “Smack the Ground (GC15B4 virtual). The site was cool because they had a radio feed from the flight control tower. The planes heading to one of the runways came right by too. Got the required info and will email the owner to log the cache. Down the road a bit to another cache, “Harrington’s Hollow” (GCA9D2 traditional). Walked across the park of dead grass in the intense heat. The GPSr kept pointing us into a “dry” creek bed. The path down was steep and I was wearing flip-flops, so Mom took the lead while I looked around up above. The GPSr led her through the creek bed and up to her ankles in mud, then pointed her back out of the creek bed. I finally spotted the cache and left yet another PEZ. Back to the car and on the road north again. One more cache to do in the Dallas area, this time near the Grapevine Mills Mall. We decided to stop at the Outdoor Store/ Bass Pro Shop just cuz. It was neat. I bet Ray, Ralph, & Daniel would have a blast and could spend plenty of money there. Went to What-a-Burger for a quick meal, then off to find “Grapevine Mills- Drive In Shopping Cache” (GCJPY8 traditional). The cache was supposed to be in an ammo can, but when we found it, it was in a Tupperware container. We decided it was a “redneck ammo can.” Continued on through traffic, made a few stops at Toys R Us to try to find some key chain PEZ for a travel bug, but to no avail. Continued north and finally arrived in Durant in the evening. Stayed with Grandma, Grandpa, and Foy while we were in Durant.

2 Weeks Since My Last Post??!!

OK--so if you haven't guessed I have been really busy. I started my Graduate Assistant (GA) position at the beginning of the month and I put in 20+ hours a week there (I am working for the Athletics Department @ PSU in Marketing). Also still working some at the camera store--ideally 1 day a week, but they got in a crunch so I worked 6 days over the last 2 weeks, making it 12 days in a row between the two jobs. I am commuting more than 2 hours a day, but I try to take public transportation as much as I can to save gas and money. We have decided at this point not to move downtown. For a decent apartment, we were looking at $800-$850 a month for a 1 bedroom. We decided that we could save that money, deal with the commute for a year, and be that much closer to buying a house when I graduate. We are living in the addition on my parent's property, but there are still a few things to do to make it work for us. The 2 biggest projects are building the kitchen cabinets and building a mud room outside the front door. Those will both be expensive builds, plus we need to buy a refrigerator, pay for my trip to Ireland (less than 2 weeks now), pay for my school related trip to Asia (going in Feb/March), and did I mention that we just bought a digital camera and a laptop too? We really aren't made of money, but we are good money managers and will MANAGE to afford it all. They are all justifiable/ necessary expenses. We just may be using the TINY fridge for a bit while we pay for these other things. We decided the camera would be a good idea to get now. I have been wanting it for quite a while and wanted to easily document my 85 year-old grandmother's first trip abroad (her grandfather immigrated from Ireland and she has always wanted to go there). I probably won't ever need to buy another digital camera as long as this one lasts. It's a 6.0 megapixel Nikon D70 SLR. Very cool camera. Dad also got a new camera, a Nikon Coolpix 5400. I think he's pretty happy with it so far. We went up to Cascade Locks on the 4th for tamales. The fireworks have almost become secondary. We finally found out where the tamale people work the rest of the year and may even go buy several dozen of the tamales to freeze for later. Erik's Blazer got hit by someone who ran a red light. No one was hurt and I think the impact was fairly low speed. The damage isn't too bad, but most of the front end (exterior--on the body only) and the grill gaurd will have to be replaced. Helped my parent's with minor builds (fencing) up at their house earlier this week. Spent many hours re-organizing, sorting, cleaning up, etc. at our place the last few days. It looks nice, but I get burnt out on doing it. The Men's team lost both of their games on Friday, but won both games the prior week. We have a coed game tonight at Delta Park. Didn't play last week because of the holiday. I guess that's about all now. Been too busy to have many newsworthy things going on. Lets see if I can make the next post in less than 2 weeks... And I'll try to get some pictures posted on my photo site soon, too.