Saturday was Tarbert to Ballybunion - in a nut shell- wind head on, up & down hills, shorter but harder; Stayed with Noreen in Olde Attic B&B that night.
Bfast started with porridge with cinnamon and raisens, our 2nd Irish B-fast, very much like the 1st but we were introduced to "black pudding", a type of sausage that other of our hostesses typically serve to their Irish guests. Then packing out and sweet goodbyes & pics with Bernadette and Patrick in their backyard where laundry was hung to dry & a blanket of little daisy flowers covered the lawn which were mowed as we packed the bikes. As we headed out south from Tarbert, it started to rain hard but just for a minute. Charlie & Skye stopped just outside of town to speak to John, and we had our 1st long Irish conversation. With an easy Irish hospitality that we'd experienced repeatedly , he offered for us to stay on his land but that would have been a very short day! He was quite a historian and told us about the nearby Abbey & Carrigafoyle (Rock of the hole)Castle probably built in the 1400's and destroyed by th British in the 1580's. He was a descendant of the O'Conner 's who had made their fortune from control of a toll bridge past the castle over the river. During the discussion some talk of the Irish perspective of US folks were shared. We learned that the Irish inquire about your interests and not about your job in that short list of common "get to know you" questions. I saw a description of the Irish a few days later that seemed to describe John to a tee- "this Ireland that presents many faces, loving, teasing, inscrutable, wise..." We then went to the Abbey which is now a cemetery and the family names were very interesting. The castle in the distance seemed to be a tall blokish ruin and I wasn't expecting much. However, we had found a prize. There were the usual arches in the walls but most impressive was the intact stone arched ceiling which consisted of relatively thin stones laid together like pieces of paper. The ceiling was 5 stories up and a stone spiral staircase in the back corner accessed the remaining back section with the 6th story overlooking the countryside. Amazing! I noted no safety features on the climb up so just be careful. Several other folks were visiting too. We proceeded on & it was hilly which we expected and windy which I hadn't counted on. I guess the 1st 2 days had taken their toil as this was a short day but challenging. We arrived into Ballybunion and easily found The Olde Attic B&B on the main street, run by Noreen and her family. We had a great seafood dinner at the hotel restaurant next door. Enjoyed watching a 2 yr old and she enjoyed giving all of us a hi 5's (actually low sweet hand slaps) as she left. We were pretty much comatose after dinner and only Mark heard the 3am singing from the bar downstairs. Noreen was not impressed the next morning that those "hooligans" had taken her flowers out of their containers, but she had already fixed things back. -Joyce
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To start our day, we had a wonderful Irish breakfast prepared by Moira. We then had our first day of gear re-packing (something we will all get tired of). This was followed by some quick bike tuning due to some gear shifting issues we noticed on the ride out of Ennis. Once loaded up, we took a photo with Moira and hit the road.
We then headed south leaving town on an Irish 'N' road that would run us along the Northern side of the Shannon river. Half way to our final destination, we made our way onto a less busy 'L' rode that took us through a hilly and beautiful country side looking out onto the Shannon river at a distance. After a few other roads we made it to the Shannon River ferry which took us across to Tarbert. The morning started out with a light rain which would occasionally progress to heavier showers with brisk winds. These systems moved very quickly; none would last for that long. This allowed the ride and the touring of the country side to be very enjoyable even with the light rain; I would say that the rain did not dampen anyone's spirits. Needless to say, by the time we got to Tarbert we were soaked. Luckily for us, after the 30 minute ferry ride, we entered Tarbert to immediately see a B&B named Keldun House (we were ready to be out of the rain). Dad (Mark) knocked on the door with the hopes of a warm bed. From his knock, a sweet face emerged from behind the door to greet us with joy and excitement; Bernadette! Along with her husband (Patrick) they were incredibly accommodating. They assisted us in hanging all of our wet items in their boiler room and kicked on the boiler for its wonderful thermal heat, which also heated the radiators in our room...(that might be a little backwards)! From there we had our meal at the local eating place, Enright's, which was manned and chefed by the owner Mr. Enright. It was a delectable and cost effective Irish dinner. We then went to the pub, Swankies, to enjoy a pint. The group of local men were watching the (horse) races. We joined in, occasionally letting our conversation get to loud. The bartender would simply crank the volume whenever this happened. It was an effective tactic. I appreciated it, as it let me know we were near the sprint of the race. From there it was time to go enjoy the bed and pass out. The rainy day with rolling views of the Shannon river and its surrounding country side was a wonderful beginning to the days ahead. -C After leaving the airport in Atlanta we flew to JFK in New York. As we glided in we could see ships sailing off into the Atlantic during sunset. We got on board the flight to Shannon around 11:00 p.m. The crew served us dinner and we all attempted to get as much sleep as possible. The flight was only five hours long but we were arriving into a different time zone, so at 10 a.m. (Ireland time) we arrived in Shannon and began our first day with about three hours of sleep.
First, we headed down to claim our baggage and gear. Once we got everything outside, Charlie and Mark worked on assembling the bikes. While they did that, I organized the gear and and made as much as I could fit into the b.o.b bag. Joyce had already left for Ennis to rent a bike from a shop owner a friend suggested. Once we were done gearing up the bikes we headed her way. We made it safely into town, and when we had Joyce situated on her rented bike we headed to a Bed and Breakfast that she booked for the four of us. We locked all the bikes up into a garage and went to dinner on foot. Sitting at the dinner table I realized it was the first time we had all stopped moving since we got off of the plane. My body started preparing itself for sleep and my eyes were already closing before my clam chowder arrived. We all made it through dinner without dozing off, but when we made it back to the house our 'food comas' knocked us out around seven. Charlie and I woke up around midnight and knocked out some things such as updating the map page, checking emails, updating facebook, laundry, and writing in our journals. Then we fell back to sleep, waking up this morning to an Irish breakfast from our Irish host. It has been a wonderful start thus far. Thanks for tuning in, -Skye I am sitting in a tap room in Hartsfield-Jackson airport sucking some juice (electricity) out of their wall. We started our day in Gainsville GA in order to visit and give hugs to granny before the trip. It, secondarily, is an ideal location for us to get to the airport. Due to our odd baggage, we have played it safe by arriving to the airport with oogles of time to spare. All of our gear has entered the 'magic' doors without a hitch. They do open and inspect most 'oversized' 'special' items so hopefully everything will be waiting for us on the other side. I am at the point where I think I have knocked out all of the home based tasks....though the reaching sensation that I am forgetting something is nagging; we will handle that problem when I figure out what it is. I am amazed with how many of you have donated beer already! I have the desire to spread them out over the trip - so I think we will systematically go through our bought beers by the order received. If you have a specific time or place you would like us to enjoy our beer, let us know! Once we get through our current (awesomely) long list, we will definitely start screaming through the internet for more! I can't express to everyone how epic it is for all the beer you all have gotten for us so far. THANKS SO MUCH! We have the long night of travel, layover, and arrival in a differing time zone ahead of us. We will pop out of Shannon, Ireland airport around 11am (6 est) tomorrow the 19th. Mom will head to Ennis to figure out her rented bike. We will assemble our gear and begin heading that way to meet her. From there, our general plan is to head south to the County Kerry over the next few days. We look forward to sharing the route with you as it develops! We may play with different methods of sharing things (photos, stories, news, etc.) through the internet so if we have a method you prefer or a method that stinks let us know. Feedback is highly desired! Thanks for all coming with us on our little journey! -C The Bike:
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The Home:
Hey there family and friends!
Thanks for all of your support thus far. We will be leaving for Europe in six more days, and are very anxious to see what awaits us once we arrive! Make sure to check in via our webpage to see daily updates and photos. Please bare with us as we get the hang of posting pictures, map pings, and blogs. BIG SHOUT OUT: Thank you Bob Jackson, Terry Best-Rennahan, Bill Rayfield, and Claud Badau for purchasing our first rounds of beer. We will be taking photos with our beer that is bought by our family, friends, and followers! Any individual who gets the group beverages will have their name written on something (maybe someone), and a photo of us enjoying our free calories will appear on the feed as our way of thanking you. Plane reservations...check
bike boxes...check google earth...check osmand plus...check whats app...check verizon international...$$$$..ouch..check begin to prepare bicycle..check BOB trailer...how to pack? Joyce reassured..check packing for long camping journey through many different climates, YIKES..check, I hope. |