Chasing Shiny Pennies

We’re pulling the rip cord. The end is nigh.

Whatever creeping crud I had……It’s baaack!!!! (reference?)

We spent the morning doing laundry and the afternoon at the community center (on the 11th [I’m aware it belongs in the previous post….it’s the straight line writing problem again]). They have wifi. We canceled some stuff. We scheduled some stuff.

We’re not locked on everything yet but we’ll drive to Inverness tomorrow, spend the night, fly to London on Wednesday (on British Airways….how stupid are we?), and spend 2 nights.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to negotiate with Delta, get our tickets changed, pay a king’s ransom, and get us a flight back on Saturday.

That’s the plan.

I’ve got contingency plans. Maybe I won’t need them.

I’m disappointed, Liz is disappointed. But logic rules and this is best.

We will close with a few memories……(not necessarily in order, but as they come to mind).

Mine…..

The drive to Ballyliffin. The soda bread at Ballyliffin. The one lane roads. Malin Head. Faeries and gnomes living together in peace. The magical Pub concert we were lucky enough to witness. The Lucinda Williams concert. Giving my phone to a random stranger. The kindness and presence of the three doctors I’ve seen here. The corkscrew. “…take the second exit.””. The Cliffs of Moher (don’t visit during the high season). Wandering around ruins with Liz. The hike on Neist Point. The people we’ve met..Rosemarie, Margaret, Tina, Ron, the bartender in the tiniest pub, the waitress in Killibegs. Wandering in the woods with a wood nymph. Seeing the Loch Ness monster. The age and beauty of the buildings. Grandma Maxwell. The Battlefield of Culloden…and today. The fun. The Airbnb host in Inverness (Graeme), who told me to ship my hearing aid parts to him and he’d get them to me. The ocean. Drying our laundry in the car as we drove to our next stay. Doing our laundry outside…at a gas station. The political discussions we had with strangers. Urquhart Castle. The hike on Neist Point (I know…it’s a repeat. It was really good though). Driving at night on a one lane road. The IPAs in Ireland. How little I know about Scotch. What a fun traveling companion Liz is. Haggis.

While we were packing and taking care of check out chores this morning in Glendale, there was a knock at the door. It was Ron, our host (he lives up the hill). He had come over on our second night to see if we needed anything, we invited him in and we talked for over an hour with him. At some point in the conversation, Liz got to talking about my cooking and mentioned my curry. Ron got excited and said he had a friend (who he was seeing that night) who made great curries. So anyway, Ron shows up on our doorstep this morning and he’s got a book. A recipe book for curries. His friend Joe had given it to him to give to me after Ron told him about me making curry.

There are many, many more……

Liz’s…..

The amusing road signs. They have signs telling you if you go over the bridge, you’ll be consumed by an octopus, to watch out for otters and of course “old” people crossing over to the cemetery. You don’t believe me? Check it out on google. The pot holes which were determined to get us, while meandering sheep expertly step around them.

The people, yes, we got to meet some fantastic people. Thomas named a few but there were many others . Like the guy at the town hall where we had to go for WiFi, simply pointing towards the toilets. And not so fantastic ones (that means you, pickpocketer ). We got to experience health care in a foreign country. Loved Dr. Lee in Dublin. Got to pet some great dogs, even a real live sheep herding dog, see birds we’ve never seen, (no puffins at Puffin Lodge but we will be back) and watch very, very pregnant sheep climb straight up a cliff.

I was introduced to some new wines and drank some interesting beer. The food, I can officially say I have gills. I’ve eaten so much fish. Top of the line was squid ink paella. Looks awful but it’s amazing. I’ve also grown fond of mashed peas, also looks awful but not bad. (every time I eat it I’m reminded of my little sister complaining about little green balls. Fran, they don’t even resemble balls when they are mushed). I am eager to get home and have a good cup of coffee, they only seem to have instant stuff. Maybe we missed the memo, but the double cream we buy at the grocery store, makes up for it. I will miss the ice cream and butter. Gotta love those cows, who have rich grasses to graze on.

The roundabouts, roundabouts, roundabouts; deciding if we are to take the first, second or fourth exit. Did you know you can spend an entire afternoon just going around the same roundabout? Very entertaining. I will actually miss them and our battling GPSs. Mine is named Bernard. Thomas of course hasn’t even given his female voice a name. That’s why Bernard will always be my go to guy. The miles and miles spent seeing new landscape, when I wasn’t holding on for dear life or denting the floor board of the rental with my imaginary break pedal. Go Mall means Go Slow! The miles of ocean and magnificent cliffs. All a very spiritual and humbling experience.

I leave with the knowledge that Thomas and I can do just about anything, and actually enjoy the adventure, if we do it together.