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!