Home Again

Okay, we have been home over a week now and my sleep schedule is finally returning to normal.

On Sunday (9 May) we drove north from Limerick to Athlone and then to Longford (the middle of Ireland). We decided that driving all the way to the northern part of Northern Ireland would be a bit much so we toured the interior. We ended up in Carrick on Shannon and found a B&B and then went into the town to find a pub and something to eat.

On Monday (10 May) we headed east towards Drogheda. We decided to go to the Valley of the Boyne and check that out. We wanted to tour the passage tomb of Newgrange and the mounds of Knowth and Dowth. The tombs are supposedly 5,000 years old with their swirling rock art. As we drove we saw lots of stacked stones/rocks in the fields.

When we arrived at the Vallye of the Boyne, we were told we needed to go to their Visitor Center on the other side of the river and get a tour bus to see the grounds. It was about a 20 minute drive and then another 45 minutes to wait for the next tour. The tour itself was about 1 and a half hours. Since it was late mid afternoon, we decided to head back to Dublin.

As we neared Dublin, we decided to stay close to the airport so that when we turned the car in, it wouldn't be too expensive to get a cab to the airport. After checking in Richard and I found out that there were some pubs about a 15 minute walk so we decided to walk. At the suggestion of the hotel clerk we went to the Old Boro where we were able to tip a few and relax before walking back to the hotel.

On Tuesday, Richard, Bertha Dale and I took a bus into Dublin to do some more shopping. We were only gone a few hours. Then in the evening we drove over to the Old Boro for our last meal in Dublin (at least on this trip). We all enjoyed the food and beer. We dropped Bertha Dale & Ollie back at the hotel then drove to the airport to return the car. While we were at the airport we checked on our Wednesday flight and everything was "A OK". It turns out Tuesday's flight had been canceled, but Wednesday's flight was okay.

When we got to the airport on Wednesday, we found out the airlines had to bring in another bigger airplane to accommodate more people and also to be able to fly higher (over the ash from the Icelandic volcano). Therefore everyone had to "recheck in" and get new seat assignments. Because of all these changes the flight was an hour and a half late leaving Dublin. We soon figured out we would not be able to make our connecting flight. If we hadn't had to go through customs in Chicago, we might have had a chance. After we made it through customs and got seats on another flight to Dallas, we called Shannon (our taxi) and informed her that we wouldn't be getting to Dallas until about 8:30pm (2 hours later than planned).

Shannon picked us up and we visited with her for awhile then headed back to east Texas. I insisted on driving because I figured since Richard had been driving on the opposite side, I needed to give him some time off to readjust. I drove most of the way, but finally let Richard drive the last 45 minutes. We go home about 12:30am. We only brought in what we ABSOLUTELY needed.

On Thursday, we emptied out the luggage and I began washing clothes. Over the next few days we managed to get back into our routine (whatever that is) except for my sleep schedule. I think I finally am back on track. Richard didn't have as much readjustment as I did.

Thanks for following and I hope it wasn't too boring.