So this day was our day. Fashion and I got to sit at the front of the bus. By now I already had a nickname given to me by Pat. It was "trouble." I can't win for losing. Anyway, I think Pat was pretty nervous to have us in front... not because we would cause any actual trouble, but I think keeping up with us was a daunting task... especially while navigating a giant bus down those teeny tiny roads. Now aside from us being the fun girls there were two other outstanding personalities that Pat was forced to put up with. There was Alan - the tail -chasing radio DJ from Australia and the Spunky... teensy bit perverted and HILARIOUSLY funny Betty, or as I liked to refer to her as "future me." (Betty was traveling with Cathy who was "future Fashion" and as a pair we lovingly referred to them as "future us.") Betty is about 75 and reminds me a lot of Betty White with her sense of humor. There's a story about Betty that occurred on this day, but I'll get to that in a minute...
The morning began with a group picture. Of course, Fashion has it so it'll have to go on that last blog of "lost and found photos." The photographer was telling all the girls to get down in front as we prepped for this photo of 48 people. As I was standing and trying to figure out placement the photographer said directly to me, "excuse me, can you go down?" To which I replied, "well now that seems like a loaded question... I guess it depends on who you ask." The group got it... the photographer either didn't get it, or didn't think it was funny. I like to think he didn't get it. We then ran around and grabbed some "photo shots" before we were on our way to the destinations of the day.
Here's Fashion with one of the unknowns directly behind her... how did we miss them!?
Here's Brittany and her mom who were our adopted family on the trip. This picture cracked me up, so I thought I'd include it.
Here's Fashion posing as the captain to the sunken boat... and with the sense of direction she exhibited on the trip, I'm guessing she sunk the ship going the wrong way to sea.
Then we were off through the town of Killorgran, I believe. Not sure what the significance was, but they do have a goat for a Mayor... but then again... don't we all?
This was a part of our journey around the Ring of Kerry. There was also a St. Patty's day poster featuring the global celebrity Homer Simpson. It has Willy looking like a leprechaun, but I'm pretty sure he's a Scot on the show. I took a pic of that, too. You get to see so much when you're on the front of the bus!
There was also this castle structure that I obviously took a picture of, but couldn't tell you what it is. Random? Perhaps. I will tell you one thing, though - I will take notes next time!
Next stop - a sheep dog herding demonstration. This was pretty cool! It was just like Babe, but with dogs. He even said, "That'll do." He was an incredibly nice man and we took a picture of him that you'll see... later. The relationship with his dogs was pretty amazing... he could get them to go and stop in different directions by just whistling different ways or using different commands. I broke out the big lens this day so I could get some close-ups. The animals were so far away. Here's some of what I got:
On the way back to the bus a few of us stopped to pet the dogs. Such beautiful creatures. Alan, who was quite boisterous all trip had stooped down to pet one of the dogs after asking if the dog was friendly. Just as he was about to touch the dog Fashion made a very loud noise and grabbed and shook him!! He jumped so fast I thought he was going to come straight out of his pants. Totally embarrassed, he swore revenge, but there was nothing that could have topped it. After that it was time to introduce ourselves... which seemed silly because by now everyone knew us, but we did anyway. We had actually sat up all night planning what we would say. We were going to go with the NPR skit from Saturday Night Live with the really dull hosts that say "Yeah, that's great. Really neat. Yeah." And we laughed ourselves to sleep that night, but then we told too many people our plan and weren't sure that the rest of 'em would get it, so we just went with a simple introduction followed by a little down-home verse of Rocky Top. It was nothing short of SPECTACULAR.
After that we headed out to the Skellig Michael, but made some stops for "photo shots" along the way...
Here's the view from the front seat of the bus
Here's one of many random animals in the road - they were all either dogs or sheep
Then a stop to view the Ocean waters that glance upon the Skellig Michael - a treacherous island made up of almost purely rocky, mountainous terrain. The life of hardship and solitary was thought by Monks to bring them closer to God, so they made the Skelling Michael their home where they lived off fish and birds. They carved stairways into the stone and made that island their home where they were attacked by the ocean, elements and vikings regularly. It's an unbelievable story!
Here's Fashion with the Atlantic behind her
Here I am being all brave laying near the place that would be near the edge of the cliff... that is brave for me.
Here you can see the islands in the Atlantic - the pointy one way off in the distance to the right is the Skellig Michael
We stopped and had lunch... either before the Skellig exhibit or after... I forget. It was a cute place!
We sat with Brittany and Marilynne
and had fish and chips and then Marilynne (our trip mom... if she'd had kids in high school) treated us to lunch. How freakin' sweet is that!? I love them.
Here's another Murphy shot I found
Being that we were all friends now on the bus and there was a lot of banter back and forth between all of us (we couldn't have ordered a cooler group of people to travel with), Pat thought it would be okay to play a practical joke on Betty - our favorite. The last person on the bus would sometimes be made to perform as punishment for being late. "Strip, sing or tell a joke, " Pat would say. This time, he decided as Betty was the last straggler, to start the bus and act like he was pulling away without her. Betty IMMEDIATELY started screaming and chasing the bus in hysterics!! "PATRICK, WAIT! DON'T LEAVE!" Meanwhile we're all laughing hysterically. He went about 10 feet and stopped. When Better got back on the bus she tried to put Pat's hand on her heart to feel it pounding, but he thought she was trying to put it on her breast and he was fighting her, trying to pull away. I laughed until tears! Pat turned bright red and I don't think ever recovered. He keeps a journal of his trips... I would love to read the pages he wrote about Betty.
Here he is after the almost molestation:
Then we were back on track... stopping for my "photo shots" along the way. There was a magical moment where the sun peeked out through the clouds and shone on the water. The pictures don't do it justice...
I don't remember where this was...
Then - last stop of the day! The Japanese gardens, only nothing was in bloom yet because of the unusually long, sever winter. The house was amazing, though.
Even without the flowers, the grounds were beautiful! Here are a few shots
That evening... if I remember correctly, was the night we went out to The Grand in Killarney. We finally got to see an Irish band... that played American music. Go figure. They were pretty awesome though! Called the Deuce's Wild they played everything from Michael Jackson to ACDC and they were great fun - or great craic, as they say in Ireland. Craic, pronounced "Crack" is the Irish word for fun... keep that in mind for Part 5 - the last day of the tour - I'll also cover our last leg of the trip then and Part 6 will be the missing pictures. Soooo....
To be continued...
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