The Tour is Named!

Ok, bloggers... this is it. We have officially named the tour. We're calling it the (drumroll please!!!!) "Triple D Tour: Dublin to Dingle to Donegal". So, join us on this adventure and post your thoughts and comments right along with us!

We leave in 12 days!

Until later... Dawn & John

To wake up in Ireland

It's hard to believe, but two weeks from today, we will awaken in Ireland for the first morning. Now, I know this is a technicality as, Lord willing, we'll wake up on that Aer Lingus flight from Chicago on Friday the 10th, but two weeks from today we'll wake up IN A BED! A bed, with real pillows and sheets and blankets and all those glorious amenities, counts for something. We will wake up after spending the better part of the day and all of the night in and around Dublin. Sounds pretty good to me.

I'm anxious to see what Clontarf Castle Hotel is really like. If you're interested in learning more, visit their website at http://www.clontarfcastle.ie/travel.htm. While it's an ancient site, important in Ireland's history, this is a hotel attached to a later castle. Oh, well... it's castle enough for me!

We've started laying things out in preparation for tomorrow's session of "practice packing". We'll see what fits and what doesn't and know if we have more room or less room than we need. It will, at the very least, be very interesting so... stay tuned and we'll keep you informed!

Until later... Dawn

Two weeks and counting!

Well... it's hard to believe, but in two weeks, we'll be enroute and (hopefully) snoozing on the plane! I do need to check out the food situation. Seems like these days, they charge extra for all that. It will be easy to grab salads and snacks for when we board, but breakfast the next morning would be very nice. John and I are fortunate that sleeping on a plane is pretty natural for us. My usual routine has me asleep before we finish taxiing down the runway! We'll see how it goes. Ideally, since it's a 7 hour flight, we should get to sleep as soon as we can so that we wake refreshed for our 7:30 a.m. landing in Dublin.

Now, after that early morning landing in Dublin, we'll head (via taxi) for our hotel, Clontarf Castle Hotel, where we won't be able to check in until probably mid afternoon. So, we'll store our luggage at the hotel, see when we CAN check in, and then head out. I suspect our first stop will be Trinity College, home to the Book of Kells.

John has a great idea... he found a site that has live webcams from Dublin. He wants to share the link, pick an appointed time and stand there and wave for the cameras so people can see us in Dublin. So... as of now, we're "thinking" we'll be "available" at http://www.nci.ie/ispy/cam3.yp around 11:00 - 11:30 Eastern Standard Time, 10:00 - 10:30 Central Standard Time. (If you're on the left coast, figure it out.) Oh... the plan is for Friday, March 10th. So... bookmark it and we hope to "see ya" online from Ireland!

We have a list of internet cafes, so we will be checking email and blogging from the road. That's our best bet to get the real news out to everyone. We will be sending postcards. (You might want to email me to make sure I have your street address!) The blog, however, if our major plan for keeping in touch.

I still haven't solved the riddle of keeping my pictures safe and stored enroute. Anybody have an idea?????? I'm open to all suggestions... but will only consider those that aren't high priced! So, bring 'em on!

Well, now.. .it's Olympics time, so I'm outta here.

Dawn