The town of Bushmills, N. Ireland to Dublin, Ireland to Holyhead, Scotland This is day 100 of our trip... and after much discussion, today we begin our trip back to the US. This has been a amazing adventure, with many challenges, wonderful people, memories, and experiences, but for Kel (Maureen) it is time to Go Home. Not to bore you, our "subscribers"-- that have followed us on this trip, but we want to let you know how we managed to find our way home. It will take some doing, but we plan to store the Bothan in Leese, Germany. Bob worked [View Full Entry]

---

---

County Antrim, Northern Ireland This area of Northern Ireland is beautiful with its coastal views and greenery everywhere. This campground has the local bus stop right at the reception office, so we hopped on and got a special "Hop on Hop Off" ticket for the day. The Giant Causeway was our first stop, and this is a fascinating area of ancient rocks. The scientific explanation is...the over 40,000 interlocking basalt columns are the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is both a World Heritage Site and a National Nature Reserve. The tops of the columns form stepping stones tha [View Full Entry]

---

---

July 15, 2008, Tuesday Derry into Londonderry (or Derry), on to Bushmills, Northern Ireland Ballyness Caravan Caravan Park We shared a taxi, the first one this trip, with our fellow campers into Derry/Londonderry(?). A walking tour of this historic walled city was our first introduction. Martin, our guide, although fast talking, was very knowledgeable about the city and its history. The "ups and downs" of Derry read like the NY stock market. There has been lots of blood shed, and lots of anger and violence over the centuries; English lords and poor Irish farmers, catholic and [View Full Entry]

---

---

July 14, 2008, Monday Castlebar, County Mayo Republic of Ireland to Sligo, to Londonderry, N. Ireland Sligo was our first stop, this is the place W. B. Yeats, Ireland's best know poet, was born into a prominent local family. Strolling around the town we came across the metal sculpture of WM Yeats. ( The road today was very do-able and a big improvement) It was a long drive today from Castlebar to Londonderry, Northern Ireland. ( I hope my Aunt Mildred isn't turning over in her grave, Maureen in N. Ireland??) The only campground in Londonderry is a part of [View Full Entry]

---

---

July 13, 2008 Galway to Connemara to Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland Oscar Wilde described Connemara as a "savage beauty", and its patchwork of lakes, rugged mountains and windswept bogs certainly give a sense of splendid isolation. Ireland, but especially NW Ireland is a fisherman's delight. This is for you Dave Geis, you would love the fishing... the lakes, the rivers and the ocean fishing is incredible...from trout to salmon and many others in between. Irish is the everyday language in this area, folks send their children here to learn Irish (Gaelic) in the summer. Many [View Full Entry]

---

---

July 12, 2008 Galway, Ireland The internet "dongle" is working! What you might ask is a "dongle"? It is a broadband connection that we purchased in England and sometimes it works and sometimes...NO. When it works.... we try to get emails and blogs going. The Internet Cafe system gets old... quick. So for a while this morning we are trying to catch up on news. Getting into Galway, once you know the roads, is easy, so off we go. It is Saturday and a farmers market is bustling. This is Ireland, so it is raining again, and we decide to go [View Full Entry]

---

---

July 10, 2008 Killarney to Cliffs of Moher to Doolin, County Clare, Ireland Leaving Killarney, we begin out trek north to the Cliffs of Moher. The roads are again narrow and have either rock walls or hedges instead of a shoulder. There are signs everywhere Road Improvement funded by European Union...what was it like before?? Which brings us to Ireland's economy...which is quite good. Everything ...and I mean everything is expensive. Meats, produce, wine/beer, baked goods, etc. is double as compared to the continent, except for Italy and Switzerland. To be honest England and Wale [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Gap of Dunloe Killarney National Park, Ireland The Gap of Dunloe is our destination today and rather than take a tour, we opted to bike to the Reen Pier and have the boat transport us and the bikes across the three lakes of Killarney: the Lough Leane, the Muckross Lake, and the Upper Lake... to Lord Brandon's Cottage. As we stood on the pier waiting (Ireland time is different from real time!) we saw some Americans..."Hey where are you from?" we asked. The response was "PITTSBURGH"! "No way!" we said, "We live in Shaler", they lived in McCandles the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Sunday July 6, 2008 Kilkenny to Cahir to Killarney, Ireland Flemings White Bridge C&C Park We found our way out of Kilkenny and on to Cahir (pronounced "care") and took a walk to the Cahir Castle. The castle was build on a rock island in the River Suir, and is a well preserved fortress. Since we are now members of the Heritage Sites of Ireland, meaning we purchased a pass to many, many historic and natural sites in Ireland, this should be a savings in the long haul. A young energetic gal took us on a guided tour and provided wonderful [View Full Entry]

---

---

July 5, 2008, Saturday Lady's Island, to Kllkenny, Ireland Tree Grove Caravan and Camping Park During the night there was a torrential rain and wind storm, but we were safe and snug in our little cocoon. By morning there was sunshine so we took a walk to the beach and the Irish Sea. Today we are headed to Kilkenny and we started on a find road N25, and thought we would save time by taking R704. It was another...ROAD FROM HELL, winding and twisting with buses and trucks that just shouldn't fit on this narrow path, yet somehow they do! We [View Full Entry]

---

---