Catching Up

June 23

So today Ron and I spent the whole day biking from Rathdrum to Kilkenny - about 65 miles total. The view was amazing the whole way and of course we passed thru countless cute villages. In fact, one gentleman came outside to shake our hands since we were the first people he had ever met from CA. And in Tullow, while waiting for Ron, a friendly bar owner came out to hand me a glass of juice. The people in Ireland are all beyond friendly and everyone boasts about how friendly their small town is. LOL

My famous last words today were: "Please, I don't need sunscreen! That Irish sun can't touch my California skin." Needless to say I am now red as a lobster and in tons of pain - whoops. At least the weather here has been gorgeous!



My view for most of today!


Cute planters!


Ron and I at the meeting of the waters - immortalized by the poet Thomas Moore.





June 22

It's pretty easy to talk us into doing things, since we don't have any plans, so for Monday we got talked into staying at the campground for one more night, leaving our gear behind, and heading off to explore the 2nd most visited site in Ireland - Glendalough and the bogs around it. The roads were amazing and quiet and endlessly up hill - well at least to the top of Sally Gap. On the way up we passed the original house of the Guiness family and saw amazing bogs - some of where Braveheart was filmed. Before heading back to the campground, we hiked around the Monastic City and cemetery in Glandalough - now just a bunch of impressive looking ruins. The real highlight of the day though, was while picnicing in the park for dinner - there was a group of local boys launching their bicycles and themselves into this small, yet deep, lake in the middle of the park. It was better than TV! Hilarious. 46 miles today.



At the Monastic City at Glendalough.

At the top of Sally Gap - what a lot of climbing!




Cute house and yard on our way up to Sally Gap.




June 21

Now I know everyone told me to practice riding my fully loaded bike first, but I decided it would be much more exciting if I didn't practice riding until I was in the busy city of Dublin where I could easily be hit by a car from one wrong mistake! And I feel my plan worked out successfully as I quickly learned how to be a capable bike tour rider! As you can clearly see, Ron's bike made it to Dublin and we set off around noon depsite the slight drizzle. We headed down the coast passing thru all sorts of cute small towns and then turned inland where we eventually found a campsite in the town of Rathmund. We biked about 45 miles, but with all the weight we definitely move at a slower pace. That and we stop all along the way!



At out first camp ground - Hidden Valley.



Ron and I at a pier in Don Laughlin.



Ron and I infront of our Dublin hostel Avalon House, getting ready to head out for my first time ever riding the fully loaded bike.







June 20th

Ron and I were planning on spending the day walking around Dublin, but we didn't get out of Merrian Square. Luck behold - we stumbled upon the 2009 Street Performers Wolrd Championship! And what fun! We spent the entire day watching free street performers from Betty Braun - the world's strongest lady to magicians to break dancers to comedians and more! The performers came from all over the world and put on multiple shows at different times and through out the sqaure. By the time we left it was 8 at night, and of course still totally light out, so we headed back to the hostel to see if Ron's bike had arrived and to make dinner.




Ron and I at St. Stephan's Green in Dublin - the only other place we visited other than the Street Fair. lol





Here's Ron and I drinking tea at the Street Performer's World Championship 2009.