Ring Around the Kerry

Yesterday we circled the Ring of Kerry. Just when we thought that it couldn't get anymore beautiful…. It did. What we saw today was breathtaking. Just gorgeous. The “Ring of Kerry” is a peninsula just out of Killarney. We were so lucky, today was full of sunshine, not warmth, just sunlight. The sun shown down on everything so that our view of the sea and the mountains was so very clear. I think that thus far I have taken almost 400 pictures. I am defiantly going to need a few extra jobs if I plan on getting them printed. After our morning/afternoon drive around we headed back to town for our lunch/dinner. We had our first steaming bowl of Irish stew. I got to have lamb for the first time since we’ve been here. It was delicious and so very warm. That was a good thing because as we were driving back into town the weather took a very unwanted turn. It was extremely cold and pouring rain. Lynda and I both wore our thongs (flip flops) and of coarse short sleeve shirts with our capri pants. We are so smart. It looked like the rain had stopped so we headed out to explore the town. We walked a couple of blocks and well… It started to pour down rain again. So, we marched right back to the pub we had lunch in to start drinking. I get why the Irish drink like they do now! About half way through our first beer, Lynda was talking with a little Irish man (with a very cute Irish hat!) and he ended up buying us our second round! Good on ‘em! About that time our waiter came to chat with us. He told us we were very obvious with our “people watching”. It turns out that we were in a bar where you watch and bet on horses, he explained how to do it and where to place our bets. So for the next couple of hours we drank beer… and bet on horses! After the races and when our waiter got off work he came over to sit with us and have one more beer. The good news is we didn’t leave broke, we left 50cents up! We rock.


Today is July 4th! So... Happy 4th of July to everyone. I hope you see some great fireworks! For our 4th celebration we woke up..put our bags in the hall for the porter... had breakfast with our peeps... and then we were off! Today we dove to Blarney. Can anyone guess what we did there?? That's right. We kissed the Blarney Stone!! That was a lot of fun. Even though I am not a big fan of heights, hanging from this castle was no big deal. Now we should have the gift of eloquence. The castle and grounds were really beautiful as well. Then we went to the local grocery and bought sandwiches and water and then headed off to have a picnic. We then drove on to Youghal.. This is pronounced Ya'll. Today Lynda and I sat behind our driver. He likes us so we talked all day. When he announced over the loudspeaker that we were in Youghal he mentioned that he had heard the word being pronounced over and over by these loud girls sitting behind him. He had to give us a hard time and it gave everybody on the bus a good laugh. Peter, the guide, had so many hilarious stories. I thought teachers told the best stories, no, it's tour guides. Here's one for you. Peter and his group were on a ferry from England to Ireland. While on the boat a man said to him.. "how far above sea level are we"... Peter said..... "about 14 feet"...The man said again, no... how far above sea level are we... Peter said.. Let me make this simple for you.. WE ARE ON A BOAT!! IN THE SEA!! .....And you thought your job was hard!

Lynda and I are both getting certificates of authenticity from Peter. He is declaring us true Irish. He said we have covered all of the bases. We drink daily... and we are true gambllers. We drove a lot more and finally got to Waterford. We visited the Waterford crystal factory. Lynda and I both purchased chandeliers for our dinning rooms. They should be delivered by the time we are home. Waterford is sending some of their master craftsmen over to Round Rock for a few weeks to install them properly. Anyhow now we are in Tramore for the night. We are about to head down for dinner and then hit the local pub for some after dinner drinks.

Shout out to Jackie Link for doing the Pflugerville Triathlon. Go Girl. Yes, next year I will be right beside you. Can’t Wait!!!