Weekend

Saturday, we hiked from Carcihveen (I know I spelled that wrong...) to Waterville. It was one of the more difficult legs we've hiked so far. I think it was only like 22 Km, so it was not the longest leg -  but there was a lot of really tricky terrain over which we had to hike and the weather was really cold, wet, and windy when we started. First, we hiked over several "hills" - it was really rocky in some areas, which was tricky because the rocks are really slippery when it is so wet. We also had to hike through several boggy areas. We really put our waterproof hikingboots to the test - and I am happy to say that they performed very well. Our feet were nice and warm and dry when we arrived at our B&B after 11+ hours of hiking. It cleared nicely later in the day, and it all paid off after we hiked to the top of Coomduff Mountain and were treated to beautiful views of the Atlantic. It was breathtaking, and everywhere we turned - it was just sweeping, majestic vistas.

Sunday, we took the day off and relaxed in Waterville. It is a very pretty little town and our B&B was right across the street from the ocean. Our room had an ocean view. :-)

Monday was a cool but sunny day and was perfect for our short 15 km hike from Waterville to Caherdaniel. Again, beautiful views, and we saw quite a few archeological sites as well...and we had a little run-in with some cattle that were lying in our path and refused to move. We really could not go around them b/c there was a steep hill on one side, and a small brooke on the other...so we freaked out like Billy Crystal on a cattle drive. :-) I finally called my dad (yes, I pulled out a cell phone in the middle of my big hike and called my dad - he used to farm, he knows about cows. LOL) He told me we should just slowly walk around them and they would move - which we did and they did. So, we survived the ferocious cows.

Today it rained, and rained, and rained, and rained. When we got to our B&B, we were soaked to the bone. We wore rain suits over three layers of clothes - we were still SOAKED. Again, our waterproof hiking boots did the job. I have NEVER seen so much water in my life - we hiked through vast amounts of mud and there were points at which we were literally hiking up a stream. (the hiking path had just turned into a small stream. When we arrived at our B&B (after our 7 hour hike in the rain) we were soaked - EXCEPT for our feet. Those boots are awesome. (and the wool socks with liners help too).

No, this is not a brooke, this is the "trail" we hiked today

More Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from our time in Ireland so far...I have to say that I am totally sold on these Bed and Breakfasts in Ireland - they are absolutely awesome. That said, I just spent the evening chatting with the other people staying here and with our hosts, so I don't have a lot of time before I have to turn in. We have a long hike tomorrow, about 16 miles. I am hoping that the rain lets up and that it clears - the views are supposed to be spectacular between here and Waterville.  Today it was a bit cold and VERY windy. It was raining, kind of...more like an aggressive mist. :-)

June 28: between Glenbeigh and Foilmore on the Ring of Kerry

June 28: Ring of Kerry - Walking through the aggressive mountain mist (or "walking in the clouds" as our Dutch friend put it :-) ) 

June 28: Ring of Kerry - crossing (another) stream in the rain / mist 

June 22: Dublin, Ireland - The first place we went after checking in - Butler's Chocolate Cafe - Best Mochas on the planet. 

June 22: Dublin, Ireland - Trinity College, Where we stay when we are in Dublin

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June 23: Howth (by Dublin, Ireland)

June 23: Howth Head (just north of Dublin, Ireland)

Finally, an Internet connection!

I haven't had an opportunity to post anything until now because Trinity College, where we stayed when we arrived, was having problems with their Internet and we only had access to one briefly at the beginning of our hike.  But tonight, we have one - finally :-)  So here are some pictures. I'll write more and post more pictures later (hopefully we will have a connection tomorrow).

Our Summer Vacation

Hello,

We are leaving tomorrow (finally!) to go to Ireland and then to Paris, France. I have created this blog for our friends and family who either may not have Facebook or who want to follow our vacation (because who wouldn't want to follow our vacation, right? LOL ).

I probably will not start posting here until Saturday or Sunday. We leave tomorrow morning and arrive in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday at 9am (that is 1am PST).

Until then, here are some of our "training" pictures...we will be hiking 130 miles around the Ring of Kerry in Ireland (see our hike here: http://www.hillwalkireland.com/kerry-way-11-day-challenging-hike )... and we had to do some serious hiking / walking to prepare over the past few months.

David on our hike up Bernardo Mountain

David on Mt. Woodson (one of our favorites)

At Torrey Pines (another one of our favorites - beautiful!)

Mel at Laguna Coast Wilderness

Arriving at Solana Beach at the end of our 17-mile train walk. 

Mel on Potato Chip Rock near the top of Mt. Woodson

Mel and Dave on Potato Chip Rock