Connor Pass

Going up through Connor's Pass was one of the most scary AND awesome feelings! It is a one lane ride up the mountain to get to the town of Dingle. Now, this is not the only way to go, but we decided to go this anxiety-filled passage way due to so many encouragements from the Irish folk. At first glance it does not seem bad at all. I couldn't help but think, "What was everyone so worried about?". Then, I see why. The road begins to narrow even more (Crazy, I know) and we begin to move up higher and higher up the mountain. There is only room for one car. You look down below and see a steep cliff and jagged rocks at the end. Then, panic sets in....another car is in front of us! I'm so scared at this point that I can't even turn on the camera because I'm digging my nails into the seat in front of me. Emily even said that she stopped breathing at this point. The car is completely silent while we move past the other cars. Luckily, we are in this big, blue beast and if anyone is going to get by, well, it is us. We move safely to the stopping point and look around. It is the most magnificent and majestic view of Dingle town and the Irish coast. Was it worth the temporary fear? ABSOLUTELY! Would I do it again? YOU BET I WOULD! It was a once in a lifetime experience and this was one not to be missed! Here is a video from the top (again, I was too scared to catch the ride but I do show you the road where we came up :0)

Hurling

One of the most memorable experiences I had from the trip was to see a Hurling match between Galway and Clare. Hurling is an Irish amateur sport where teams take a baseball-like ball and a hurley stick and try to make goals. It's a mixture of soccer, cricket, football, basketball, golf and baseball all rolled into one!  There are two types of goals: one is worth 1 point and looks like a field goal in football. The other is like a soccer goal that sits below the field goal and is worth 3 points. Each set of goals sits on the ends of the field. Players take the hurley, a stick mixed between a golf club and a bat, and hit the ball to other players or try to make a goal. They have to run with the ball on their hurley or hit the ball. They can catch the ball with their hand but can only run with the ball in their hand for 3 steps. The game consists of 2 35-minute halves with a half-time break in between. During half-time, children in the audience are invited to the field to practice their Hurling skills! It is such an amazing sport and I would love to learn more about it! Here are some videos of the game. Please excuse the videography....it's not very good! But, you can get a pretty good feeling about the game and how it works.

Dunguaire Castle and Cliffs of Mohr

One of our first stops along the way was to view Dunguaire Castle. The castle was smaller inside than I had imagined, but it was definitely cool to see! We actually met some people from Austin! It really goes to show that it is a small world--where you can see someone in a foreign country that lives near you!

One of my favorite adventures in Ireland was traveling to the Cliffs of Mohr and the Burren. My absolute favorite were the cliffs! They are so magnificent and interesting. There were two paths to enter the cliffs: one path led to the right which reached a high peak with a look at O'Brien's Tower. The other path led to the more "daring" side of the cliffs. We decided to take the path to the left and make the hike up the cliffs. The signs along the way kept telling us to be careful and to basically make wise decisions while we were up there. To help remind us, they had a monument set up in remembrance for all of those who had not made wise decisions to stay away from the edge. As we ascended to about the top, we stopped and took in it's beauty. It is an amazing view and it was my favorite landmark of the whole trip! Here is the view from the top...Don't Look Down!!!!

Touchdown in Ireland!

After Wendy's heart stopped beating quickly and we boarded the plane, we took a 5 hour flight to Shannon, Ireland. We then were able to pick up our transportation: a big, blue, 9 passenger BEAST of a van! Not only did Bill have to drive this beast on the left side of the road and right side of the car, it was also a standard! We ventured out for our journey to Galway, our first stop on our week long tour of the Irish coast. We stopped in Galway to explore the city and ran into this very nice Irishman. He told us about an Irish sport called Hurling and "if we wanted a real treat", that we should try to see the match between Galway and Clare the following day (More about hurling coming up). We first explored downtown Galway where the streets are filled with old buildings decorated so lively and quaint that you feel like you're in a fairytale. People pulled out their banjos, guitars, and singing voices to serenade the town with their wonderful Irish music. You almost feel at home and peaceful in such a town.

We roamed the streets to find McDonough's restaurant where we tried some fresh seafood. There was seafood chowder, fried cod, ray, and hake at the table and everyone enjoyed it very much! We then decided to go to the Castlegate Hotel in a small, nearby town called Athenry to get ourselves rested before hitting some pubs and exploring The Burren, The Cliffs of Mohr, and the hurling match!

Ireland: The Surprise Unveiled!

Gavin and I were so lucky to have travled to Ireland with Bill, Wendy, Emily, and Brett for Bill and Wendy's 40th Anniversary! Bill had been planning this trip for 1 whole year and to everyone's amazement, the surprise was never leaked! It was definitely hard keeping a surprise of this magnitude a secret but we just couldn't wait to see Wendy's face at the airport when we all showed up! She didn't know she was going to Ireland until that morning. Bill told her they were going to Bar Harbor for their anniversary. Little did she know that she was going to get yet another wonderful surprise waiting for her at the airport!

Welcome to our family blog!

This is the first post on our blog! We hope this will help our family stay in touch since we all live so far away from each other. We will post pictures, videos and news about our family as it grows and we hope that you all will join us for the amazing ride!
(When videos are posted, please remember that I am an amateur and still trying to get my "videographer" boots on! So please bear with me!)