Slowly But Surely, One Goes a Long Way

So it has been a bit since we last updated the blog so there is plenty to write about. Our actual travels have taken us in a fairly different direction than our plans were supposed to...which may mean that our travels are going exactly as planned....oh man, this paradox could continue forever, forever, f o r e v e r...(credit must be given to 'Squints' on that one, and if you don't know what I'm talking about all I have to say is 'You're killing me Smalls!') So, we ended up taking the aforementioned tour a day late as the bus was full once it got to our hostel, but the wait was well worth it and we were able to see some amazing Irish countryside and coastline. (This is about where a picture should be placed but I seem to have left the memory card usb at the hostel...plans anyone?...) We then found out that you can camp wherever you like in Scotland as they have an open access law tha permits such activity, within reason. We caught the ferry into Stranraer, Scotland and made our way inland. We had a conversation, if it can be called such, with an ederly Scottish man, of which we understood about a third of everything....but man could the guy laugh and that made it all the better. We borded the bus to Sandhead, which I called Sandy-head and was laughed at by the driver and the rest...the Scots have a very good sense of humor and are extremely friendly. He dropped us off at the entrance to a camping site in the middle of darkness, asked if we had a flashligh and drove off laughing. We got our bearings and G promptly said 'We gotta be nuts'. Apparently the camping sign post was put up facing the wrong direction and we ended up not being able to find anything but a mud soaked path and decided to head into town. We found a man in a bar that called the campsite and it had been closed due to the freezing weather (seems we have stumbled into the UK during the coldest winter since 1963) and he told of us of a place down the road to camp. As it was extremely windy, pitch black and freezing we decided to hunker down in the only Inn in town, luckily Mary and Joseph had already checked out and there was still room. the next day we found a beachfront property with our tent and set up camp... it was a great time and we had a lot of fun. As it was a small town, most of the residents knew about the Americans sleeping in a tent down by the beach and most asked us if we were insane, thus confirming G's earlier statement. We then decided to walk to the next town over and a woman by the name of Marion pulled alongside us about 30 minutes into the hike. This kind soul gave us a ride and lodging for the night. She then sent us on our way with several connections across the UK. Our next stop found us in an amazing little town Newton-Stewart, Scotland. We camped for a night there, but it was fridged and our clothes were wet from attempting to wash and dry them. The only thing that worked was the washing, the dryer only gave a weak effort and left us with wet thermals. We awoke to find that the water on the rain fly had turned to ice and decided we would wait on camping the next night. (We had originally planned to spend a few days in the Galloway national forest, but have elected to do so on the return journey when it is a bit warmer.) We then spent three days with a man named Keith in England in the small town of Kirbymoorside. It was a truly great experience. He was well into his sixties and took us around town to the ruins of an Abbey, his local watering hole, great old churches and showed us plenty of places to walk around during the day. We spent nearly 6 hours just walking the country side. He then took us to another friend's farm where we spent another four days with them. They were an amazing family that showed us how the dairy farm worked and let us help with some of the farmwork. They ended up brining us to York and tomorrow we will head to London and from there into the Netherlands and across Eastern Europe but.....plans......you know. So that is really the quick and dirty version of what we have been up to. All is well and we are excited to see where this journey keeps taking us...hopefully to the warm beaches of the Mediterranean....Bahamanation!....Until the next post...

What Are Plans for Anyways?

Well, like is the case with any good trip, the aforementioned plans were not the course that we ended up taking. Rather than head south through Ireland, we hopped a bus to Belfast in Northern Ireland. We spent a good two hours walking the city and looking for hostels in a wind that about knocked us over...all while laughing...which was fun. We ended up finding a hostel across town (should've turned right instead of left when leaving the bus station) and have decided that our new plan is look ahead and see where about hostels are located. We spent the day hiking around town and looking at the murals strewn about the city. Apparently Belfast has more political murals than any other city in the world. The murals were divided according to which side of the town they were on: you have the Loyalist and Republican sides. Although this division does not officially exist any more, this division is still evident on the walls. The city has a very turbulent past, even up until fairly recent times. Yet, as always, the people have been great, extremely helpful and friendly. Tomorrow we are heading further north on a bus tour to see Giants Causeway and Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. Nice thing is that we want to head up this same coastline to camp, as everyone has said the coast is amazing, and the tour is free because we booked two consecutive nights with our hostel. So, we are going to take the tour and get off the bus after the sights and not return to Belfast, thus saving us the cost of a tour and the cost of a bus fare...yee haw! The plan is to camp on the coast, yet, as we are out of season, many of the sights are closed for official camping. So, now the unknown variable will be how easily we can find a farm, more specifically a farm with an owner nice enough to let us camp on his property. According to the 'unofficial' advice of the tourist bureau agent it should be quite easy. Wish us luck everybody and, once again, we will get pictures up at some point. Until the next internet connection.....maybe it will be a nice farmer with WI-FI...Ha!

The Eagle Has Landed!!!

Well folks...we made it to Dublin! So far everything is going great...a bit jet lagged...well "a bit" might be an understatement...we slept from 4:30 p.m. til this morning, somewhere in range of 12 hours. Spent the day walking around Dublin and took a tour of the Guinness store house. Crazy thing about that place is that 250 years ago Sir Arthur Guinness purhased the four acres for the factory for 100£ and signed a 9000 year lease on the property and a direct line into the spring water, a 9000 year lease that ensures that the owneres of Guinness only pay 45£ per year on the orignal four acres for the term of the lease. Not a bad deal! Another cool thing about the tour is that the bar at the end of it all is surrounded by glass and overlooks all of Dublin. It has quotes from books like "Finnegan's Wake" and "Ulyssess" posted on the glass,which coincide with landmarks (buildings and parks) that the quotes mention or describe. Currently we don't have a usb cord to connect our camera to the computer, but once we do we will get some pictures up. Today we are going to visit my ancestor's gravesite in Tullamore and then are going to find a place to camp for the night. We will keep everybody posted and hope everyone is doing well....Stay Classy San Diego...(which loosely translated means whale's...whoa, this is a family blog...I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree!)

Well, we are already ahead of schedule...yet a day behind at the same time!

So, apparently I had misread our itinerary a while back and we do not leave tonight at midnight as I had originally thought. We will, in fact, be leaving tomorrow at 7 p.m. on an overnight flight to Dublin, where we will arrive at 6:30 a.m. local time. Maybe it's just me, but this sure seems like a presage of events to come during our travels. Catching a flight in the United States is one thing, just wait until we are trying to catch a Turkish bus....ha...good times shall be had by all. We that would be the first "trip related" update. Onward and outward.