And we've continued to explore this beautiful country and the surrounding region. Here are some snapshots from the photo album.
The cliffs near the village of Howth, north of Dublin.
Bethany and Jordan in the town of Trim.
Trim Castle.
Jordan teeing off on Kingsbarns Golf Links outside of St. Andrews, Scotland.
The University of St. Andrews, the oldest university in Scotland, and, more importantly, where the future king of England met Kate Middleton.
Jordan, Bethany and Sandy in the middle of the 18th fairway of the Old Course.
St. Andrews.
The Irish countryside between Galway and Clifden.
Outside Ballynahinch Castle.
Along the Bog Road near Roundstone, Ireland.
And now one quick story from our most recent trip. We were on our way to Ballynahinch on the far west side of Ireland, driving along very narrow, rough country roads. Shying away from an oncoming car, I (Steve) drifted off the left side of the road. This caused the inside of the left front tire to rub against the edge of the asphalt, damaging the sidewall and causing a flat. Fortunately we were only a mile from the hotel and we were able to limp in through the entrance gate. It was still a half mile to the hotel itself, so we called the front desk and they sent out a maintenance man to help. He very kindly jacked up the car in the gravel, took off the tire and put on the spare. When we told him where the flat had occurred he said, "Yeah, I know jest the spot; happens all ta time." He then told us there was a place in the nearby town of Clifden where we could get the tire replaced.
So the next morning we drove to Clifden, following the instructions from the hotel staff. I was worried about how long it would take; whether we would have to spend the whole day there, disrupting our sightseeing plans. But we had no choice, and sure enough, we found the place - the Clifden Tyre Center.
I pulled up to the garage and parked. It was clearly a one-man operation, and the owner was out front talking to someone. After a couple minutes he came over, looked at my tire, grunted a couple times, and went back into the shop. He walked back out with a hand-operated jack, and 15 minutes later we were on the road again. It was fantastic. In the course of this transaction I also noticed for the first time that I have four different tires on my 3 year-old car. Two are brands I have never heard of. I'm getting the idea that Ireland is a bit rough on tires. I mean tyres.
One more quick story. After surviving the tire escapade we were in the town of Clifden doing some shopping. Sandy found a purse she liked, and emptied out the contents of her current one to see if they would fit in the new one. She spent a few minutes stuffing items in the purse in different arrangements, but in the end decided the new purse wasn't large enough for what she needed. We left the store and wandered around a bit more. We stopped at a cafe for lunch, made another loop around the small downtown, and headed for the car. As we approached, Sandy began rummaging around her purse for the keys. They weren't there. She dug around some more and then stopped on the sidewalk with alarm on her face. She took everything out of her purse - no keys. She searched her coat - no keys. We checked our pockets - nothing. And then she turned, wide-eyed, and said: "The purse in the store!" And took off running like Usain Bolt. She disappeared around a corner, and when I got there a minute later, expecting to see her down the block, she was nowhere in sight. I paused with Dennis and Kay at the car, and then continued down the street. When I got around the next corner, there she was coming back toward me, waving her keys triumphantly in the air. Sure enough, they had been in the purse she had been looking at in the gift shop. And one more traveling disaster was averted.
