Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Over the mountains and past the cows, to Dunlewey town we go
We were sad to see our time at Fintona end. Our hostess is such a sweet lady and the town is so amazingly quaint! When we stayed there in 2017, we couldn't find a single postcard in the entire town. I asked our hostess and she didn't know but commented that maybe she should get some made herself. Anyway, a couple months ago, I used pictures that we took last time and had some made. The smallest batch I could get done was 50 and I didn't know what I would do with that many but I had an idea. I wrapped the extras in a ribbon and gifted them to our hostess. I also brought a pen that I had made using a branch I picked up at the end of her driveway. Her face was incredible. :) She said she would cherish the pen and was shocked that we had made it with a branch from her place. When I showed her the postcards, she said, "Oh, I remember! You were the ones looking for postcards! I never did have any made, but now I don't need to!" Making her happy made me happy.
We pulled out of the driveway and was headed down the dirt road. Every trip, we have had a sheep in the road at one point or another. This morning, it was a teeny lamb. The house just down the road from where we stayed had a ewe and 2 lambs in their front yard. One had escaped and was happily munching grass on the other side of the road. But when it saw us, he hightailed it back to his fence. But he couldn't find the hole he had escaped through. Mama was on the other side of the fence. I hope he found the way in without too much worry.
After we left, we had some time to kill because we couldn't check into the place we were going until after 3pm so Bill took us all back to Moy so I could mail a box of cut up branches home. I know....it's goofy that I wanted to use that post office, but if you know me, you know why. :) The girl at the post office was such a sweetheart. Now, we just hope that the box makes it to our house without being confiscated by customs. ;) This isn't the picture I was hoping to get. About 10 feet from this sign, there is another that says, "Moy Road, Major's lane" My camera wasn't fast enough (since Bill was driving about 50mph when I tried to take it) Some day, I will get a picture of all the places that are mentioned in the song, "The Village That They Call the Moy."
Bill's next request was for us to stop in a down called Strabane because there was a fishing store there that his guide recommended. (He is going on a guided fishing thing on Thursday) We tried to go to a fishing store yesterday but they were closed for Easter Monday. Well, apparently, the guy who owns this other store decided to extend his Easter vacation for today too. So, my poor hubby is now 0-2 doing what he wanted. We did have a nice lunch in the town though. I do have a silly story about lunch. One of the side dishes was cream potatoes so I got it thinking I was being adventurous. I thought maybe it was potatoes in a cream sauce. Um, nope.....it was just plain old mashed potatoes. Bill chuckled when he saw the bowl. But they tasted good so all's well that ends well.
We once again had about 500 roundabouts on the way here. If we need to get off on the 1st or 2nd exit, it is easy peasy. The 3rd and occasionally 4th, it is more tricky. But I am thankful that my husband is a good driver and gets us where we need to go without too much fuss (and very little being yelled at by other drivers).It is difficult to help him navigate through the roundabouts sometimes, though because they have such cool artwork in the middle.
Once we started getting close to our destination, the landscape started to change. I never realized how big the mountain ranges are in Ireland...or at least in this part of Ireland. I've looked at pictures but it's hard to tell how huge they are from pictures. Most of the mountains here are also a lot of bare rock and at the base of the mountains, there is nearly always a loch. I tell ya, I think this part of Ireland gives Minnesota a run for its money as far as the number of lakes. **Kidding, but still.
We finally made it to our house and it is a beautiful little place. But the view is the most spectacular! Right out the kitchen window, there is a perfect view of Mt.Errigal. I believe this is the most iconic mountain in this entire area. As our hostess was leaving, I plucked up a tiny amount of courage and said, "Go raibh maith agat!" (thank you) She grinned and responded but spoke so fast I couldn't catch what she said. She said several sentences and then was gone. My head spun for a few minutes trying to figure out what she had said. :)
This trip is going far too quickly! And we have things planned for the next couple days so I'm sure it isn't going to slow down. But we are making the most of the time we have!
Monday, April 22, 2019
Easter Monday?
Yesterday, when we were at church, there was a notice in the bulletin about a kids' fun day being hosted by Moy's local Gaelic football club today. Since we are always on the lookout for fun free things to do, we decided to swing back to Moy again - it's only a half an hour drive after all. 😉
As we got to Moy, I told Bill where to turn. He looked confused. "Oh, we're parking at the church?" I just grinned and told him that the park where the event was being held was down the same road. His response to that was, "I forgot. You've google street viewed the town so much that you know it better than Westford." That's not entirely true, but he does have a point. 😃
It was obvious, as we rounded the corner, that we were new to the whole thing. We saw a group of kiddos at a craft table so we headed that way. A very sweet lady (Colleen, I believe her name was) showed the kids what crafts they had....color pages and some Easter bunny ears as well as Styrofoam eggs. The boys dove into decorating the bunny ears but it took some convincing to get Katie to color. All the newness and excitement had her nervous. When she is nervous, she rocks back and forth from foot to foot. Two little girls came over and asked why she was doing that. I explained, but they didn't get it. (I wonder if part of the problem was they had a hard time understanding my accent) They both told me their names and laughed at me because I couldn't say them right, Zara and Clara....I really am sorry. Once again, I was the dumb American. We were rescued after a few minutes when a girl came around and announced they were having a "cross country" run. Katie got excited and wanted to run. The run consisted of running around the perimeter of a field. Katie was late to the starting gate but didn't let that hold her back. The stinker ran through the field to catch the other kids...thankfully, the other kids didn't call her out for cheating. 😐 All the kids got to have the flag waved for them as they crossed the finish line and Katie was psyched about that.
When the race was done and the boys were done with their bunny ears, a sweet lady came over and handed me candy for the kids. The boys each got a Mars bar chocolate egg thing and Katie got a chocolate bunny. They were all pleased as punch! Then they brought out some Gaelic footballs and the kids spent a while kicking the ball around with Daddy. I think Bill regretted started the game because the kids wore him out! It was fun hanging around the football park.
When it was time to go, we ventured back to the town square for lunch. There were 2 places that I had found that looked interested but both were closed. Apparently, the day after Easter is a bank holiday called Easter Monday. I think more businesses were closed today than were closed yesterday, but we did finally find a place for lunch. We had been to the Ryandale restaurant before but today they had kind of a buffet thing. Well, actually I'm not sure you call it a buffet but more like a cafeteria line. There was a line of food but you had to order what you wanted as you went down the line. When we went before, it was just a regular sit down place....I'm guessing it was different due to the holiday. Either way, the food was delicious.
Since we were all full, a walk sounded like a good idea. We decided to just walk down the street to see what we could see. We saw a restaurant that had 6 different cuisines. I don't think I've ever seen a restaurant "specialize" in that many. There was also a very pretty Methodist church and a chemist shop (which was also closed). We ended up walking down into a cul-de-sac to see a beautiful field that was behind. The kids were excited to see a couple horses (it's like they've never seen horses before)
Our original plan was to drive to Templepatrick today to visit the wood turning shop that we found in 2017. Once again, however, Easter Monday got in the way and they were closed. But we did find several branches that we think will work well for pens. 😛
Tomorrow we head to Co Donegal. We've been told that the people in that area are 1) difficult to understand and 2) unlike any other people in the country. I can't wait to find out what that means! I wonder if I will be brave enough to use my Irish language.....
As we got to Moy, I told Bill where to turn. He looked confused. "Oh, we're parking at the church?" I just grinned and told him that the park where the event was being held was down the same road. His response to that was, "I forgot. You've google street viewed the town so much that you know it better than Westford." That's not entirely true, but he does have a point. 😃
It was obvious, as we rounded the corner, that we were new to the whole thing. We saw a group of kiddos at a craft table so we headed that way. A very sweet lady (Colleen, I believe her name was) showed the kids what crafts they had....color pages and some Easter bunny ears as well as Styrofoam eggs. The boys dove into decorating the bunny ears but it took some convincing to get Katie to color. All the newness and excitement had her nervous. When she is nervous, she rocks back and forth from foot to foot. Two little girls came over and asked why she was doing that. I explained, but they didn't get it. (I wonder if part of the problem was they had a hard time understanding my accent) They both told me their names and laughed at me because I couldn't say them right, Zara and Clara....I really am sorry. Once again, I was the dumb American. We were rescued after a few minutes when a girl came around and announced they were having a "cross country" run. Katie got excited and wanted to run. The run consisted of running around the perimeter of a field. Katie was late to the starting gate but didn't let that hold her back. The stinker ran through the field to catch the other kids...thankfully, the other kids didn't call her out for cheating. 😐 All the kids got to have the flag waved for them as they crossed the finish line and Katie was psyched about that.
When the race was done and the boys were done with their bunny ears, a sweet lady came over and handed me candy for the kids. The boys each got a Mars bar chocolate egg thing and Katie got a chocolate bunny. They were all pleased as punch! Then they brought out some Gaelic footballs and the kids spent a while kicking the ball around with Daddy. I think Bill regretted started the game because the kids wore him out! It was fun hanging around the football park.
When it was time to go, we ventured back to the town square for lunch. There were 2 places that I had found that looked interested but both were closed. Apparently, the day after Easter is a bank holiday called Easter Monday. I think more businesses were closed today than were closed yesterday, but we did finally find a place for lunch. We had been to the Ryandale restaurant before but today they had kind of a buffet thing. Well, actually I'm not sure you call it a buffet but more like a cafeteria line. There was a line of food but you had to order what you wanted as you went down the line. When we went before, it was just a regular sit down place....I'm guessing it was different due to the holiday. Either way, the food was delicious.
Since we were all full, a walk sounded like a good idea. We decided to just walk down the street to see what we could see. We saw a restaurant that had 6 different cuisines. I don't think I've ever seen a restaurant "specialize" in that many. There was also a very pretty Methodist church and a chemist shop (which was also closed). We ended up walking down into a cul-de-sac to see a beautiful field that was behind. The kids were excited to see a couple horses (it's like they've never seen horses before)
Our original plan was to drive to Templepatrick today to visit the wood turning shop that we found in 2017. Once again, however, Easter Monday got in the way and they were closed. But we did find several branches that we think will work well for pens. 😛
Tomorrow we head to Co Donegal. We've been told that the people in that area are 1) difficult to understand and 2) unlike any other people in the country. I can't wait to find out what that means! I wonder if I will be brave enough to use my Irish language.....
Sunday, April 21, 2019
County Tyrone at its finest
First off, let me say I hope you had a happy and blessed Easter! Although, with Easter being what it is, how can you be anything but blessed?!
I was quite pleased when Bill was first planning our trip because I realized we would be here on Easter. We were all excited at the prospect of going to Easter mass in Ireland. When we got up this morning, I do have to admit that I was stressed and therefore a bit grumpy. My poor family is quite forgiving and I am thankful for that. We managed to get ready and out the door on time and the drive was uneventful.
We arrived at the church 35 minutes early which was what we were hoping for. We only waited a few minutes before other people started arriving so we went in. I'm glad we got there early because the church was absolutely full once it was time for the mass to begin. People were lined up all along the back wall and even up the stairs to the balcony. There were so many more people than when we were there in 2016 but that is understandable since it was Easter.
Today was a special day at the church. All of the special music was performed by the kids' choir. Listening to a group of children raising their voices in song to their Savior was incredible! The readings for mass were also done by children...most of which seemed to be 9-10 years old. Even though I didn't know the kids, I was quite proud of how well they did! I know adults that would be terrified to read in front of that many people.
After church, our plan was to go to a park close by called Peatlands Park. Since we were dressed up for church, I brought my tripod to get a few family pictures. We looked around for a while to try to find a spot for the pictures. Right by the water on a small boardwalk type thing seemed perfect. Sometimes it takes forever to get a good picture....having 3 kids means several takes to get everyone looking and smiling. :) Today, however, it didn't take long at all and I was thankful. :)
The park has literally miles of trails. I probably should have thought of bringing clothes for us to change into after our pictures, but sadly I didn't. That being said, we still managed to walk a couple miles. I'm sure we were once again dubbed "crazy Americans" for choosing to do a nature walk in dress shoes. :)
I had packed us all lunch, so after we were done walking around the peat bogs, ponds, and nature trails, we had a picnic. Why is it that sandwiches and chips taste so much better when you eat them at a picnic table? About half way through lunch, an ice cream truck drove down the lane and parked right by us. Bill was a trooper and walked back to the parking lot to get our cash. You see, ice cream here is like nothing I have ever eaten in the US. The boys each got a cone and Katie and I shared a chocolate sundae (well, Bill ate some too) and the cost was only £5 which I didn't find bad at all. *I should mention that the boys got their ice cream at the same time and these pictures were taken seconds from each other. Fuad likes to savor his food...Vladan, not so much. And I had to fight Katie to get some. :)
We did more before 1:30 than we typically do on vacation. But I tell ya, we did have fun! Once again, we got a giggle out of some of their signs. When we explained what a "loo" was to Vladan, he thought there was an actual bathroom for dogs. LOL!
I was quite pleased when Bill was first planning our trip because I realized we would be here on Easter. We were all excited at the prospect of going to Easter mass in Ireland. When we got up this morning, I do have to admit that I was stressed and therefore a bit grumpy. My poor family is quite forgiving and I am thankful for that. We managed to get ready and out the door on time and the drive was uneventful.
We arrived at the church 35 minutes early which was what we were hoping for. We only waited a few minutes before other people started arriving so we went in. I'm glad we got there early because the church was absolutely full once it was time for the mass to begin. People were lined up all along the back wall and even up the stairs to the balcony. There were so many more people than when we were there in 2016 but that is understandable since it was Easter.
Today was a special day at the church. All of the special music was performed by the kids' choir. Listening to a group of children raising their voices in song to their Savior was incredible! The readings for mass were also done by children...most of which seemed to be 9-10 years old. Even though I didn't know the kids, I was quite proud of how well they did! I know adults that would be terrified to read in front of that many people.
After church, our plan was to go to a park close by called Peatlands Park. Since we were dressed up for church, I brought my tripod to get a few family pictures. We looked around for a while to try to find a spot for the pictures. Right by the water on a small boardwalk type thing seemed perfect. Sometimes it takes forever to get a good picture....having 3 kids means several takes to get everyone looking and smiling. :) Today, however, it didn't take long at all and I was thankful. :)
The park has literally miles of trails. I probably should have thought of bringing clothes for us to change into after our pictures, but sadly I didn't. That being said, we still managed to walk a couple miles. I'm sure we were once again dubbed "crazy Americans" for choosing to do a nature walk in dress shoes. :)
I had packed us all lunch, so after we were done walking around the peat bogs, ponds, and nature trails, we had a picnic. Why is it that sandwiches and chips taste so much better when you eat them at a picnic table? About half way through lunch, an ice cream truck drove down the lane and parked right by us. Bill was a trooper and walked back to the parking lot to get our cash. You see, ice cream here is like nothing I have ever eaten in the US. The boys each got a cone and Katie and I shared a chocolate sundae (well, Bill ate some too) and the cost was only £5 which I didn't find bad at all. *I should mention that the boys got their ice cream at the same time and these pictures were taken seconds from each other. Fuad likes to savor his food...Vladan, not so much. And I had to fight Katie to get some. :)
We did more before 1:30 than we typically do on vacation. But I tell ya, we did have fun! Once again, we got a giggle out of some of their signs. When we explained what a "loo" was to Vladan, he thought there was an actual bathroom for dogs. LOL!
Monday, August 21, 2017
Over the river and through the woods...to County Cork we go
How did our time in County Kerry go so quickly? Yes, I know we tried to pack as much into our days as possible, but still!
As we packed up, it was with a little sadness. Tuosist is such a nice little place.
We were thankful, however, that the drive to Kinsale was not nearly as long as the trip from Fintona. It would have been even shorter if we didn't run into construction, closed roads and one road that we somehow managed to get on even though it should have been blocked off. They were paving the road and there was no getting around them. The construction worker we encountered seemed quite confused that we managed to get on the road in the first place and kindly sent us back the way we came. *Our GPS sent us on a cow path road because another road was closed* We kind of giggled because as we passed by the cow path road (we wanted to stay on the secondary road) there was another car coming that way. The poor road worker had to deal with someone else.
About half way through the trip, we saw the sign "Welcome to County Cork" and since I had missed all the welcome signs, I quickly grabbed my camera to take a picture of it. Bill said, "It's cool that you got a picture of the 'Gaeltacht' sign." I was confused....I didn't see that sign. I was sure he was wrong. Oh, Missy of little faith. *A Gaeltacht is a town where Irish is spoken on a daily basis by at least 67% of the population. Looking around at the next town we came to revealed signs in Irish only. In most towns, the signs have Irish at the top and English on the bottom. In this town, most signs were in Irish only. Even the words painted on the road were Irish only. "Go Mall" means slowly. When we got here and I downloaded my pictures, I was shocked to find that when I took the County Cork picture, the Gaeltacht sign was in the background (although they have it spelled Ghaeltacht). Bill said the next time we are in Ireland, we will actually have to stop in a Gaeltacht since we've passed through one on both of our trips here.
Bill laughed at me when I took a picture of the stop sign at a road work stop. I just found it funny that they have "stop" and "go" signs when we have "stop" and "slow." Silly little differences like this are amusing to me.
We finally got to Kinsale. It was strange because we came into town the opposite way from last time...which made sense since we came from the West this time and East last time. As soon as we were in town (we saw the grocery store where we shopped last time), we were able to turn off the GPS because we knew where we were. 😁
We are staying in the flat below the one we stayed in last year. The view from here seems to be a bit better which is pretty cool. This flat is quite a bit smaller than the other one, but it is still lovely.
Walking around town was cool because, once again, we knew where stuff was. We didn't even have to look at the town map. The kids had fun playing at the playground where they played last year. Katie only asked a time or two to be carried. She stopped asking when Daddy told her that she should carry me since my legs were sore from my race. 😮 I think she thought he was serious.
We ended up having a late dinner because we walked around so long. The kids were happy with leftovers. For Bill, I got creative and make him pasta with a butter sauce and sliced rashers. I'm not sure what it is when we are in another country, but my cooking gets more creative. I guess I have no choice than to use what I have here because....well, because that's what we have. At home, we always have food for at least a dozen different meals. Here, not so much.
Fog is starting to roll in. Bill said that it's starting to look like Maine. 🙂 We haven't figured out what we are doing tomorrow. Cobh isn't too far, nor is Cork. There is also a beautiful beach not far from here. Excitement is always close at hand.
As we packed up, it was with a little sadness. Tuosist is such a nice little place.
We were thankful, however, that the drive to Kinsale was not nearly as long as the trip from Fintona. It would have been even shorter if we didn't run into construction, closed roads and one road that we somehow managed to get on even though it should have been blocked off. They were paving the road and there was no getting around them. The construction worker we encountered seemed quite confused that we managed to get on the road in the first place and kindly sent us back the way we came. *Our GPS sent us on a cow path road because another road was closed* We kind of giggled because as we passed by the cow path road (we wanted to stay on the secondary road) there was another car coming that way. The poor road worker had to deal with someone else.
We are staying in the flat below the one we stayed in last year. The view from here seems to be a bit better which is pretty cool. This flat is quite a bit smaller than the other one, but it is still lovely.
Walking around town was cool because, once again, we knew where stuff was. We didn't even have to look at the town map. The kids had fun playing at the playground where they played last year. Katie only asked a time or two to be carried. She stopped asking when Daddy told her that she should carry me since my legs were sore from my race. 😮 I think she thought he was serious.
Fog is starting to roll in. Bill said that it's starting to look like Maine. 🙂 We haven't figured out what we are doing tomorrow. Cobh isn't too far, nor is Cork. There is also a beautiful beach not far from here. Excitement is always close at hand.
Sunday, August 20, 2017
I am not a runner
This title is true....I am not a runner! That being said, I am so proud to say that I finished my 10k. I have done several 5k races and I knew that 10k was "only 6 miles or so" so I thought it would be fine. I researched races here in Ireland and found one that wasn't far from where we were staying. I kept telling myself that I would start walking every day to get ready. I told myself that nearly time and time again and never did anything about it. I kind of regret that part....I don't regret doing the race, but I really should have put some time into training. 😅
We had to get up rather early because the race was about 1.5 hours from our rental. I guess I was full of nerves because I couldn't get to sleep until about 1am and had to get up at 6am. The number pick up was from 9-10 and we got there right about 9. We were incredibly happy to find a parking spot right by the hotel (the Ashe hotel was where we had to pick up numbers). The guy there told me that if I found a spot there, "Don't let that one go!" The 10k is part of a festival there called the Rose Festival. They have a beauty pageant and the winner is the "Rose of Tralee." Parking is never easy to find...especially here, but during a festival, it is even harder! The end of the race was also just a couple blocks from this hotel as well which made it an even better spot. The guy who gave me my number gave me a map of the city (that didn't have street names listed on it) and kind of showed me where to go. We went in the general vacinity (the Aqua Dome) and asked a guy working in the parking lot if he knew where the "Wetlands park" was. He told me it was easy, "Just go down that road and you'll run right into it." Well, we walked and walked and walked. Did I mention the fact that it was pouring rain? I mean raining cats and dogs...water was running down my hair and I think my sweatshirt weighed 10 extra pounds. Anyway, after walking for probably 1/2 a mile and not finding the place, we turned around. I went into an office and asked the girl at the desk and she drew me a small map. The park was across the street from the Aqua Dome.....I could see it from the parking lot where we asked the guy. GRRRRR!!
We were the first ones at the park (well, the first for the race). We went inside to get out of the rain and Katie started crying. We finally got out of her why she was crying...."I don't want to run a race." Apparently, she thought that all of us were doing the race. LOL! Once we informed her that it was only me, she was good. The rain finally decided to stop about a half hour before the race started. I got in the mix of runners and tried to stay near the back. I am not a runner...did I say that already? I started to jog the race. Most people flew past me and I was cool with that. There were these 2 ladies who were walking and I jogged past them (and overheard them say that they would be last). I ran the way I was supposed to go and they took a short cut...and got in front of me! This kind of bugged me but they just laughed when I called them cheaters. The three of us became friends during the race, Dierdre, Caroline and me. 🙂 It wasn't long before I started walking. *If you remember from the beginning, I didn't train. The three of us walked most of the race and I think they knew everything about me by the end. They were very interested in this crazy American woman who took a day of her holiday to run (well, walk) in a race.
About 5 miles into the race, my feet (well, toes to be more precise) really started to hurt. I am thankful for my new friends because they kept me going. Right around the time we reached 5.5 miles, Dierdre's husband joined us. He had finished the race and came to find his wife so he could finish again with her. I thought it was adorable! I was telling him about the guy who sent me in the wrong direction and he just shook his head. "He likely sent you wrong because he thought it would be great craic!" I just laughed and said it was my fault for not knowing where to go. He had different thoughts on the subject though. "You might be some at fault, but it is young people not having respect." I almost think he was insinuating I was old, but I'm not sure. 😉
We got near the finish line so I started jogging. Doesn't everyone who walked most of a race jog at the end? I thought my friends were going to join me, but they just shouted, "Go, Missy! You take this!" I crossed the line to my kids and husband (and a couple other random people) cheering. It was kind of cool.
I am so glad that I did it! I have my medal from a race in Ireland. Because my friends chose to not run, I did not come in last place. And, because I didn't have my shoes laced tightly enough, I believe I am going to lose both my big toe nails. It was rather an exciting day. 😀
We had to get up rather early because the race was about 1.5 hours from our rental. I guess I was full of nerves because I couldn't get to sleep until about 1am and had to get up at 6am. The number pick up was from 9-10 and we got there right about 9. We were incredibly happy to find a parking spot right by the hotel (the Ashe hotel was where we had to pick up numbers). The guy there told me that if I found a spot there, "Don't let that one go!" The 10k is part of a festival there called the Rose Festival. They have a beauty pageant and the winner is the "Rose of Tralee." Parking is never easy to find...especially here, but during a festival, it is even harder! The end of the race was also just a couple blocks from this hotel as well which made it an even better spot. The guy who gave me my number gave me a map of the city (that didn't have street names listed on it) and kind of showed me where to go. We went in the general vacinity (the Aqua Dome) and asked a guy working in the parking lot if he knew where the "Wetlands park" was. He told me it was easy, "Just go down that road and you'll run right into it." Well, we walked and walked and walked. Did I mention the fact that it was pouring rain? I mean raining cats and dogs...water was running down my hair and I think my sweatshirt weighed 10 extra pounds. Anyway, after walking for probably 1/2 a mile and not finding the place, we turned around. I went into an office and asked the girl at the desk and she drew me a small map. The park was across the street from the Aqua Dome.....I could see it from the parking lot where we asked the guy. GRRRRR!!
We were the first ones at the park (well, the first for the race). We went inside to get out of the rain and Katie started crying. We finally got out of her why she was crying...."I don't want to run a race." Apparently, she thought that all of us were doing the race. LOL! Once we informed her that it was only me, she was good. The rain finally decided to stop about a half hour before the race started. I got in the mix of runners and tried to stay near the back. I am not a runner...did I say that already? I started to jog the race. Most people flew past me and I was cool with that. There were these 2 ladies who were walking and I jogged past them (and overheard them say that they would be last). I ran the way I was supposed to go and they took a short cut...and got in front of me! This kind of bugged me but they just laughed when I called them cheaters. The three of us became friends during the race, Dierdre, Caroline and me. 🙂 It wasn't long before I started walking. *If you remember from the beginning, I didn't train. The three of us walked most of the race and I think they knew everything about me by the end. They were very interested in this crazy American woman who took a day of her holiday to run (well, walk) in a race.
About 5 miles into the race, my feet (well, toes to be more precise) really started to hurt. I am thankful for my new friends because they kept me going. Right around the time we reached 5.5 miles, Dierdre's husband joined us. He had finished the race and came to find his wife so he could finish again with her. I thought it was adorable! I was telling him about the guy who sent me in the wrong direction and he just shook his head. "He likely sent you wrong because he thought it would be great craic!" I just laughed and said it was my fault for not knowing where to go. He had different thoughts on the subject though. "You might be some at fault, but it is young people not having respect." I almost think he was insinuating I was old, but I'm not sure. 😉
We got near the finish line so I started jogging. Doesn't everyone who walked most of a race jog at the end? I thought my friends were going to join me, but they just shouted, "Go, Missy! You take this!" I crossed the line to my kids and husband (and a couple other random people) cheering. It was kind of cool.
I am so glad that I did it! I have my medal from a race in Ireland. Because my friends chose to not run, I did not come in last place. And, because I didn't have my shoes laced tightly enough, I believe I am going to lose both my big toe nails. It was rather an exciting day. 😀
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Bucket list item checked off
Several years ago, someone asked me, "What is something you would like to do but doubt it will ever happen?" Mine was the activity listed above. Today, I experienced my toes in the water....the very cold water....of Ireland's coast. Although we went close to the water last year, I wasn't able to put my feet in. I know it sounds weird, but it made my heart leap! Once again, I am so thankful for how blessed I am!
When I went to Colm Keegan's show a few weeks ago, I bought one of his new EP CDs. The CD is full of Irish songs, many of which I had never heard before. One of the songs is called, "The Cliffs of Dooneen." Today, as we were driving up the mountain, we passed a small sign that said, "Dooneen." My mouth dropped open in shock because I didn't even know that it was on this peninsula. There was a pull-off just a hundred or so meters away from the sign so I asked Bill to stop. I was able to get a few pictures of the cliffs. It was so cool to see it....I ended up humming the song to myself all day with a big smile on my face.
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