Where's that last puzzle piece????

Oh... it's right here! Yes, the last piece of the puzzle is about to fall into place. We've made contact with all of the B&B folks and have one more reservation to confirm (via Visa) and that part of the itinerary... a VERY important piece of the itinerary... will be complete. (I've posted a map of Ireland, highlighting where we're headed. You can click on the map and it will enlarge.)

And so... now we have to take the itinerary, complete with accommodations, and put it all in order and try to figure out how long things will take (it will be a VERY rough estimate, we know) and when we can sorta, kinda, maybe expect to arrive in places. (Folks do need to know what time, roughly, we'll be arriving. It's not the Hilton, you know, and boy, are we glad!)

Starting this coming week, we'll lay out the suitcases and start practice packing to get a sense of how much room we have, how lightly we can pack and how much space we'll have for all those presents for everyone back home. (Ahh... I can see your eyes sparkling now!)

We also need to consider a little something to take to our hosts that says, "Thank you for your kind hospitality." I have a few ideas going around in my head. We'll see what we come up with.

Well, now... all B&Bs are now confirmed. (I started this posting earlier this a.m., before making this last call to Ireland.) So, barring any unforeseen issues, we have a place to lay our head each and every night. Now, I need to go back and get each of the names, addresses, directions, and phone numbers put into some organized fashion so they are readily at hand in case of emergency.

I love it when a plan comes together. Amazingly enough, all but two of our original selections are available.

Now, then... what comes next? Guess we'd better get our thinking caps on as we're actually THERE in three weeks. Seems like just yesterday that in answer to the, "How long before you leave?" question, we were saying, "Seven weeks." Now it's down to less than three. And lots to do between now and then as I've a sermon to prepare for next Sunday and then we're heading to Columbus on the 4th for the Irish Tenors in concert. Whew... so much to do, so little time!

Ok... more later... Stay tuned.

Dawn

Placing the Puzzle Pieces

Saol fada chugat!*

Long life to you!

Well, last night we took the itinerary and sent off emails to the 8 B&Bs we're hoping to stay in. We heard back from 6. Not bad. An immediate return rate of 75%. Interestingly enough, we're hearing back from the single night folks. We heard from one of the double nighters, Greta Doyle in Killarney. She has no availability for our planned time there. That's understandable. Killarney is a good size town, quite popular with tourists and our stay there has us arriving on St. Patrick's Day. So... we poured through the books and found a place we have high hopes for. It's set right in the Gap of Dunloe... well, on the edge, with views from the house. Now, the Gap of Dunloe is one of my favorite spots in Ireland so this just might be a "meant to be" thing. Fingers are crossed that we hear back tomorrow from the O'Sullivans with a favorable response. And, fingers are crossed that we hear back from our Sligo contact and the contact near Waterford. The sooner we get this itinerary nailed down, the sooner we can move on to other tasks.

(Not sure what all those tasks are, but I know they're there!)

Alex is coming for the weekend tomorrow, so the planning will probably slow down for a few days. It will be great to have him here. We will miss him like crazy while we're gone. Our hope is that I can connect with some of his staff who have email and I can use email as one way to keep in touch. We're also taking John's phone (it's supposed to work fine from Ireland) and will call Alex every few days. I think we'll be better off to try to reach him in the early morning. Our usual 8:30 p.m. evening chats (well, sorta... Alex usually starts calling about 5:00 p.m. and calls several times before that 8:30 magic hour!) won't work because 8:30 in Indiana will be 1:30 a.m. in Ireland. My plan is to be well into dreamland by 1:30!

I'm still struggling with the whole idea of how to ensure that my pictures are safe during our travels, without purchasing a bazillion 1GB flash cards. I had my eye on a Delkin BurnAway on ebay, but lost track of the time and missed the end of that auction. I have my fingers crossed that the seller has more and will relist. Keep your fingers crossed, too.

Now... time for bed! Stay tuned!

Dawn

*Sail fod/ah cu/gut

Progress... YEAH!

Well, we've done it. The tentative itinerary has been hammered out just far enough to make it a (semi-)final itinerary! We've made the lists, identified B&Bs that go with our stopping points and emailed them to see if they're available. Keep your fingers crossed. One unavailability can probably be dealt with. A lot will mean the itinerary goes back to the drawing board. I expect to hear from many of the places in the next day or so. Surely they'll check that email daily!

Ok... so the graphic says, "St. Patrick's Day" and it's not really St. Patrick's Day... but March 17th is included in this itinerary, so I thought I'd include it. What the heck!

So... here's the itinerary as of today:
Thursday, 3/9: Depart Indy for Chicago; Depart Chicago for Dublin; Overnight on board
Friday, 3/10: Arrive Dublin for three days; Overnighting at Clontarf Castle
Saturday, 3/11 and Sunday, 3/12: See the sights in and around Dublin
Monday, 3/13: Depart Dublin; Head north and visit Newgrange, Monasterboice, then head west toward Mullingar, visiting Fore Abbey; Overnight in Mullingar
Tuesday, 3/14: Depart Mullingar, heading south visiting Belvedere House, Rock of Dunamase, through Kilkenny, visiting Jerpoint Abbey; Overnighting in Carrick-on-Suir (near Waterford)
Wednesday, 3/15: Head west, toward Tipperary, visiting Clonmel, Cahir and Tipperary, circling back through Cashel and visiting the Rock of Cashel, going back west toward Waterford; visit Waterford; Overnighting again in Carrick-on-Suir
Thursday, 3/16: Depart Carrick-on-Suir heading west along the coastal road along the Celtic Sea; visit Ardmore, Cork and Cobh, Kinsale, Timoleauge Abbey; Overnighting in Clonikilty
Friday, 3/17: Depart Clonikilty, heading west along the coastal road, visiting Skibbereen, Glengariff, Kenmare and driving a fraction of the Ring of Kerry; Overnighting in Killarney (With a little St. Patrick's Day celebrating thrown in for good measure!)
Saturday, 3/18: The Ring of Kerry; Overnighting again in Killarney
Sunday, 3/19: Depart Killarney, heading northeast, visiting Abbeyfeale, Limerick, dough Derg, the Slieve Mountains and Clocmacnoise; Overnighting in Cloghan.
Monday, 3/20: Depart Cloghan, heading north toward Sligo, visiting Lough Ree, Roscommon, Boyle; Overnighting in Sligo
Tuesday, 3/21: Visiting in and around Sligo; heading northeast to Donegal and back to Sligo; Overnighting again in Sligo
Wednesday, 3/22: Depart Sligo along the Atlantic Ocean road, heading west, visiting Ceide Fields, Ballina, then south toward Westport, Connemara National Park and Cong Abbey; Overnighting in Oughterard
Thursday, 3/23: Depart Oughterard heading southeast through Galway then southwest through Ballyvaughan, Lisdoonvarna, Doolin and visiting the (magnificent) Cliffs of Moher; Overnighting in Limerick
Friday, 3/24: Depart Limerick for Shannon Airport and head back toward Chicago and then Indy and then (maybe) HOME!

Whew.... Wonder how true that will all be!

Stay tuned... the blogging will continue!

... Dawn

Where's my magic wand?

Well, if only I could get my magic wand out of the shop, I could turn the 11 days that we HAVE on the road throughout Ireland into the 31 days we NEED. If only!

We took the notes from the really big paper map and transferred them (along with possible B&Bs) to a smaller, more manageable map. (Smaller and more manageable means you don't have to stand up reading the map tacked to the back of the door. It means you can sit, comfortably, on the couch and look at the map!) Then we started through the map, sketching a tentative itinerary. We got through the first week (March 13 - 17) and only hit those sights along the northern most part of the Republic. YIKES.... that would leave one week to hit the 4000 other sights in the west, south and east.... I don't think so.

And so... it's back to the drawing board! Or rather, the keyboard where I can find drive times between Point A and Point B; where we can record the VERY tentative itinerary and easily delete and add as whim (and travel time) dictate; and where we can look more info up via Google.

One thing I can mark off the list is Slieve League. Now, these are 900 foot cliffs, with a sheer drop to the Atlantic Ocean and that sounds incredibly spectacular to me, BUT, one website described the very narrow roads, winding up and down where at some point, one should not be concerned that they can't see the road in front of them, but instead only the horizon (what, are we airborn????) and another that talked about the sheer cliffs to one side of the road and the sheer drop (right into the Atlantic) on the other side of the road. I seemed to have driven a road something along those lines in Colorado once and that once was more than enough for my tastes. I'm not faint of heart when it comes to driving, but I'm not stupid either. So.... we'll save that sight for the next trip, go later in the spring and take a boat out to see it from the bottom up. It would make a better picture anyway, don't you think?

Time for supper. Gotta get the strength to tackle the tentative itinerary. (Maybe this is the Tentative Tour!)

More later.... Dawn