More Exploring in Killarney

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Up and out of bed around 10am for another relaxing day. I didn’t get much sleep last night thinking about Kara being in labor and having my first nephew without me. We don’t get any cell phone coverage here at the house so there is no way of checking in on them. We headed to Killarney this morning with plans to see the Ross Castle and hit a couple geocaches.

I called Autum as soon as I got cell service. Kara had baby Justin had 1:30pm yesterday and he was 18.5 inches long and 5.8 lbs. On our way to the internet café, I stopped in an auto parts store and ordered a personalized license plate that models the Ireland plates and it says “Justin-06” to mark the occasion and his aunt being far away. Autum told me to check my email so I did and there were pictures of my newest little baby nephew. He looks like a little old gnome, lol. Since everyone else was still sleeping due to it being 4am back home, we printed off some new geocache details and set off for more exploring of our local area.

First target was the Ninestar006 located not far from our parking area. It had been moved three times due to Muggle activity but traffic was light today due to it being Monday and the off-season. I actually found this one by wandering around down by the riverbank. The hint was that it was located in an old dead tree stump so while I was inspecting one, I was wandering why somebody would leave a nice walking stick set in a bush against a stump. Then duh! I moved the stick and there was the plastic container. I snagged the “Lonely Texan 15” travel bug and signed the log. We’ll take him around to see a few sights before we drop him off somewhere around here. He’s from the USA so we don’t want to bring him home so soon.

The Ross Castle was our next stop and it was quite interesting. We hadn’t gotten to take a guided tour of a castle yet and our guide was very informative. She explained the history of the castle, the different owners and their remodeling, how the castle was renovated according to its original design and materials, and how it came to be owned by the Irish Government. No photos are allowed to be taken though, dammit all. Don’t these people understand scrapping?? Another recommendation to travelers: Purchase the National Parks Heritage pass for €21 as it will give you free passage to over 70 different locations and the government controls the majority of the historical and heritage sites. Here is a little tidbit of information. In a castle, the toilet, or garderobe, was basically a shelf in the corner of the castle where you conducted your business and it would fall down a chute to the ground below. This chute wasn’t ever cleaned and as such, the odor would become quite strong during the summer months. The residents in the castle would hang their garments in the corridor leading to the garderobe and the ammonium gasses rising from the chute would kill off any lice, fleas, or vermin that might be on the clothing. Such a warm, fuzzy thought to mull as you throw your clothes in the washer.

We zipped back up the Gap of Dunloe to grab that damn Dutch 4 cache that we couldn’t find yesterday. It kills me to put a lot of effort into something and come away empty handed. We picked up a geocoin, a first for us, It’s Not Another Micro Geocoin. I will drop it off in another cache here too. We plan on hitting a few more during our final week here.

Dinner was a simple meal. I picked up some prepared meat roulands from the butcher shop and we baked them up in the oven. It’s cheaper than eating out and we get to relax in the parlor and play Phase 10. So until the next time, cheers and say a toast for my newest little nephew Justin!

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Photos

Cathedral in Killarney
I haven't caught the name of this one yet but it's a gorgeous cathedral located here in Killarney.

Ninestar Cache
Robert posing with the Ninestar cache located in Killarney National Park.

Ross Castle
Lots of history and interesting stories in this castle. No photos allowed of the inside.

The Mountain Roads
There are the mountain roads leading up through the Gap of Dunloe.

Dutch 4 Cache
This damn cache took us two tries, we are here with Erin the Bear and Lonely Texan travel bugs.

Comments

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Congratulations
Congratulations on the newest member of the family. Love the momentos you're picking up to mark the occasion of his birth. I thought the geocaching in Ireland sounded so fun so thought I'd see how many geocaches we could get in Mexico during our vacation. Ummm...darned few. Not a big activity while you're exploring mayan ruins it seems. Guess I can't use that as an excuse to buy a GPS unit yet. Heading to the coast today - without the boys so I can get some scrapping done! I'm taking pictures to scrap from our last trip. G-