8am EST - packed and ready to go. Goeff should be getting ready to board his flight in Salt Lake City, Brian if probably still asleep in North Carolina!! Should be a beautiful day for flying - 66 degrees and partly sunny in Detroit, sunny and 72 degrees in Philadelphia. Weather in Dublin tomorrow will be 62 and sunny!! I have a few more things to do for work this morning, then I can head off to the airport.... read more

With only four weeks to go, travel preparations are picking up!! I bought my bike helmet and daypack for the trip yesterday. Still need a good rain suit...poncho just isn't going to cut it if we get caught in seasonal rains. It's a pretty nice day in Michigan today, so I plan on dusting off the bike and taking it for a spin today. The next few weeks I will need to get moving with that type of exercise. Geoff narrowly avoided disaster with our itenirary, following the rediculous fallout of a government shutdown...he almost had to return to Alaska from his temporary placement in Utah...which is where the journey is supposed to start for him. I'm glad things worked out and he gets to stay in Utah a little longer...gotta love our congressional heros... Brian ... read more

With little over seven weeks to go, thoughts of this journey are starting to consume every waking minute. Each night I'm searching the internet for more ideas and excursions. The lastest interest is hiking through Connemara National Park (http://www.connemaranationalpark.ie/index.html). There are also some great spots near Kerry. Just emailed Geoff and Brian to see if they are up for such a trek. With St. Patricks day coming (and going) there have been many TV shows centered on irish food, travel, and entertainment, and I have enjoyed watching each episode I could find with mounting enthusiasm. Bobby Flay's Ireland show on the food network was especially good, as he showed us a few local places to go for some excellent irish chow. I also learned a lot about the change in the culinary treats ireland has to ... read more

Ten weeks and counting! The biking portion of our trip is booked through Cycling Safaris (http://www.cyclingsafaris.com) on their Clare & the Burren tour. We will be starting at Ennis (Co. Clare), riding to Doolin (33m), then to Ballyvaughan (31m), then back to Ennis (28m). Each day we will be riding toward and along the coast line, stopping at various places along the way. I understand that many music festivals occur in this region during May, so I hope we can see and hear a lot of local musicians. Am also hoping we see spring in full bloom as we ride. During the weeks leading up to this trip we will be deciding where we want to go after the bike trip. ... read more