Ireland: Act One

Western Way

Six months after this trip I am finally ready to rehash what happened! I waited so long to see what memories would stand out so I could focus on the highlights for y’all. I’m going to divide this trip into two parts: part one will be before the hospital and part two will be after. And yes, we had a hospital visit, but all is fine now!

Quick overview of our trip first. 

Our group consisted of my dad (Dr. Dad), stepmom (DD), brother (Bro), sister-in-law (Curgz), stepbrother (CC), half-sister (Elf), Hubs and myself. We hiked for 5 days along the Western Way from outside Galway to Westport. We hiked carrying our day packs and all of our luggage was transported ahead of time by the company.

Act One

• Galway to Oughterard

The first leg of our trip we flew into Shannon and then hopped a bus to Galway. Galway was a cool town; it had the right amount of tourist kitschiness where the city felt alive and welcoming, but not so much to be patronizing. With our belongings were safely stored away at our AirBnB, half of us went out and about and the other half stayed behind and napped. While gallivanting around we had a Guinness at a pub called The Skeff. Starting here and moving forward, every single person we met and socialized with was the kindest, chattiest person. I mean, I’m a Georgia girl and I know Southern hospitality, but the Irishmen put us to shame! Hubs at this point said he felt ill so he slept, or tried to, most of our Galway experience. Poor man, he had a nasty infection in his finger and was on antibiotics for it. Then he started feeling feverish so Dr. Dad started him alternating ibuprofen and Tylenol thinking Hubs was reacting to the antibiotics and long travel. Unfortunately, we were very wrong.

Dr. Dad in the streets of Galway

sisters who love street art

We took a bus from Galway to Oughterard. Oughterard would be our jumping off point the next morning. That evening Hubs became so feverish the owner of our bed and breakfast offered to call her doctor but we declined thinking he would recover during the night. Again, we were wrong.

• Day 1 Hike

Hubs, Bro, and I being ourselves

After a delicious traditional Irish breakfast we were dropped off at the trailhead and commenced our beautiful first day of hiking. We trekked from Oughterard to Cornamona. Bro was in charge of making sure we stayed on course. Whenever we asked him how much farther it was always, “Just two more kilometers.” He said this for, I don’t know many kilometers, but at least 4 or more miles. (Two km is actually equal to about 1.25 mi.) The hike ended at the doorstop of a local pub. A ride provided by the tour company came and picked us up after we had our celebratory Guinness. On the way to our bed and breakfast we got to drive past Pirate Queen Grace O’Malley’s castle.

"how much farther?" "only about 2 km"

• Day 2 Hike

perfection in a picture

The second day was the toughest day. (From my experience at least; apparently day four was very strenuous but I did not hike past day three.) We hiked from Cornamona to Connemara.  The trail wound through some local farms and then went up a steep hill to St. Patrick’s shrine called Mám Éan. CC, Hubs, and I took our sweet time on this hike. CC and I like to look at everything and take pictures and sweet Hubs was having major fever chills and aches. We made our way down the hill and to our next bed and breakfast. That was a little farm in Connemara. Hubs immediately showered, ate, and went to bed. My siblings and I lingered at the cozy lodge/restaurant/pub down the road for way too long. We closed the place down. Word to the wise: be wary of a drink The Skeff staff called “fluffy duck”; it’s two parts Baileys and one part Hennessy. 

Dr. Dad and DD at  Mám Éan

the siblings about to close this place down

love love love and wine

• Day 3 Hike

here we go!

This third day Hubs and Elf rode straight ahead with our luggage to the next bed and breakfast in order to sleep. Hubs still felt terrible and Elf had had too much fun the night before to enjoy a day along the Western Way. (By the way, that bed and breakfast was haunted, I swear. In the middle of the night I awoke with the feeling I was being watched. I rolled over and saw two dark figures on the wall. I blinked hard and looked to see what would cause the shadow. When I looked back, they were still there. I blinked again and they were gone.) The others and I hiked from Connemara to Leenane.  Ireland reminded me so much of Iceland with its green rolling hills, the rocky landscape, and the numerous amounts of sheep. After a day of hiking we went to a pub for some delicious local mussels. We even walked past the mussel farm from which they came! And yes, we did make plenty of "muscle" farm jokes. Poor Hubs didn't get to eat with us, but I did bring him back a "toasty" (a toasted ham sandwich) and some mussels. At the end of this day he was so incapacitated that the next morning he and I went to the hospital.

I don't typically like mussels but I devoured these

That ends the first act and leads us into the second act of this saga. I will pick up on that next post.

-Sarah-

Bonus Pics! 

Connemaras in Connemara!

buckskin stallion

his mare was grazing with their colt and sheep

Ireland Bound!

Y’all, in two weeks I am headed to Ireland!

As part of my sister’s college graduation, she’s the last one of us to graduate, my dad and stepmom have put together a family trip to Ireland. My dad, stepmom, my brother and his wife, my younger brother and sister, Hubs and myself are the travel party. My dad and stepmom have done this trip twice before, but it’s been about 20 years. They fully expect this third time to live up to their memories of their previous trips.

The plan is for us to fly to Shannon and then hike in Galway. The trip is a hiking trip! But, it’s the best kind! It’s the kind where your belongings are sent ahead and you hike through the Irish countryside, stopping for a picnic, then hike to the bed and breakfast. You get to bed and breakfast for teatime and then you have a few hours to clean up and relax in your room where your things are waiting for you. Then you head to the a local pub for dinner and a Guinness. Off to bed and then do it again the next day!

We will hike about 7-11 miles, about 4-6 hours, each day. We will do this for five days. Hubs and I are excited because we have been wanting to do a hiking trip like this since Machu Picchu. This one will be nice because we have learned a lot since then and we won’t have to carry so much. And bonus: no stairs! The Inca roads and stairs were amazing, but even now five years later my knees ache thinking about them.

I’ll be sure to post once we get back with some awesome stories and gorgeous pictures.

What are y’all doing this summer? Let me know in the comments below!
Whatever you do, please be safe and have fun!

-Sarah

Trailer Trash

This semester has been all go, go, go! I now have 3 jobs. I tutor a group of kids through the local tennis organization and I teach English online to kids in China. On top of that, Hubs and I have quite a few new projects happening. We have: the never-ending master bathroom remodel, the new 15 acre property we want to build on (and I mean WE build, more on that later), and lastly the 25 foot 2008 Pioneer camper.

This camper. Hubs found it on Facebook marketplace and texted me about it. I replied, “Cute!” He replied, “I’m going to buy it,” about 45 minutes later. He didn't mean eventually, he might he was on his way. It was for sale for $2,500 and looked to be a good shape. The owner said it had previous water damage but they fixed it. When I first walked inside it smelled a little musty, but everything has a fresh new coat of paint and was pretty clean. Hubs showed me in the bedroom where the water had leaked in causing the ceiling to bow a bit. That’s easy enough to replace. 

A few days later Hubs decides to tear out the warped piece of ceiling. Previous damage my butt! The insulation was soaked from the prior day’s rain. He ripped down more, soaked, Ripped down the wall to find rotted wood frame and dripping insulation. Following the dripping water we found water pooled under the flooring. Great. We rip it all out and find the source of the leak. It’s where it had been “fixed” along the front roof edge. 

Finding out it was not old damage

Water pooled under the floor

Over the course of the past few weeks Hubs has, with very little help from me or anyone else, reframed the floor, wall, and ceiling, replaced the front roof piece, insulated most of the flooring, and stripped the old, deteriorated sealant off the roof. I’m sure there has been a lot more work gone into this project, but i’m not really a detail person. My dad has been kind enough to allow us to park and renovate this trailer outside his barn.

Two roofers hard at work

Why even buy a camper? Well, we wanted something to travel in and take the dogs. The van trip from 2017 was a little cramped with all four of us. Our puppers are getting older and we want to explore places with them while we can. The main reason was to park on our new property so we had somewhere comfortable to stay for the weekend while we prepped the land for building and farming. It’s not a far drive, but we’d get a lot more accomplished by staying there. And a camper would be much easier than a tent with the dogs. 

Hello!

Our little piece of paradise

I'll keep you all updated on the camper's progress. In the meantime I'll see if Hubs and I can come up with a name for it (her?).  Until then!

-Sarah-