Ireland in Summer 2018

Thursday, June 14, 2018 through Saturday, June 16, 2018--Last venture to Ireland--Summer 2015. Planned to go to England and Ireland in 2016, but that didn't happen. Good to be going back! School ended June 7th, my Corolla turned 100k, and I polished my boots for the adventure:-) Early morning on the 14th, I left Porterville for San Ysidro, CA to interview for my "Global Entry" card for Ireland. Arrived early, so I ate at Panda Express and walked the shopping center--Outlets @ The Border and the border station between the US and Mexico. Completed my interview and got back on the freeway. Lots of traffic driving from there to North Tustin and Deb/Greg's home. Friday--Knott's Berry Farm, Saturday--video shoot. As you read, (I) is a link to additional information and (v) is a link to a video. Irish culture is different than US/California culture--give a listen to two who have moved from elsewhere to Ireland; thanks to  Chinyere Osuafor & Corey Miller & family/click for sharing. Pictures taken by Steve, Kristen, Greg, & Deb Reynolds.

Sunday, June 17, 2018--early morning drive to LAX with flights to Chicago and Dublin. From LAX to Chicago, we flew over Salina, KS--where my parents grew up and my uncle still lives. Flight was so tight getting into Chicago that the airline booked us to London. Deb's bag went there and our flights home were cancelled because we didn't show up at  Heathrow (LHR)  in  London (v)! 

Monday, 18 June through Wednesday, 20 June 2018--Dublin to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Is there an accent in Republic of Ireland? In Northern Ireland? Picked up our car at Dan Dooley/Enterprise--a Skoda Octavia; nice car! Set up our Garmin GPS to help with Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland roadways & WI-FI hub for phone use in the car. Refreshed my driving on the left-hand side of the road & road information (v). Took us a couple of hours to drive the M1/N1 from Dublin past Drogheda (v) to Belfast. Checked in at the Europa Hotel, ate & relaxed. Cannot just plug in 110 v appliances! Tuesday, purchased tickets for the Belfast Hop-On Hop-Off bus & toured the city (stops)--Stormont is the government building and grounds. Guide gave us a good overview of "The Troubles" from 1968 to 1998, Queen's University,  neighborhoods (I), walls, & murals. Many locals take bicycles to get around. The Falls Road and Shankill Road--two tribes? Wednesday--Titanic Experience, SS Nomadic, Samson and Goliath, Salmon of Knowledge, and more...Video? CLICK for Rick Steves' Northern Ireland.

Thursday, June 21 and Friday, June 22, 2018--Derry, Northern Ireland. Drove the NE portion of the island--Causeway Coastal Route, stopped for lunch at Giant's Causeway (v1*v2*v3) then drove on to Derry, the Everglades Hotel, our own inside-the-wall tour and dinner at Granny Annies. Friday--back to Giant's Causeway and lunch at the hotel. There's a train that runs from the Causeway to Bushmills (v) but it wasn't yet running during the week:-( Northern Ireland video.

Saturday, June 23, 2018--Lough Erne Resort, Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. Long drive today. Breakfast at the Everglades, then drove to Glenveagh National Park and Glenveagh Castle; beautiful! Countryside, villages, windmill, Harvey's Point Resort were further down the road; Lough Erne, and Lough Erne Resort for dinner and lodging. Here's a link to Rick Steves' Western Ireland. 

Sunday, June 24, 2018--Travel from Enniskillen (video) to Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Breakfast at Lough Erne, then road trip past a windmill, an Irish home, through Roscommon County and Roscommon town, other towns, almost made it to Galway, close to the Cliffs of Moher, then Bunratty Castle and Folk Park near Shannon. After the tour, we drove past King John's Castle and ate dinner at Marco Polo in Limerick. After dinner, we took the M7 to Moneygall/Barak Obama Plaza and Dublin. Our lodging for the next three nights was at the Ashling Hotel. Here's a link to Rick Steves' Dublin.

Monday, June 25, 2018--Our longest travel day! Breakfast in Dublin at the Ashling, then got in the car for our trip to Waterford. Here's a sample of driving on secondary roads in Ireland. We missed the Stradbally RR (I) between Dublin and Cork. We toured the House of Waterford. Then back in the car for the drive to County Kerry & Killarney--national park, tunnel, Ladies View (P*P*P),  Muckross House, and the city--walking tour and dinner.  In 2015, Kristen and I started our Ring of Kerry journey (v) here (with ice cream enroute) but we didn't have time for the Ring or ice cream this trip. At 9:30 P.M, we got back back in the car for the 3.5 hour drive back to Dublin. Garmin didn't take us past Tralee and the Bayview House B&B where Kristen and I stayed in 2015. Discovered signs aren't lit nor are there any street/motorway lights 'till you get to the city. Turn on brights, see what's ahead, turn them off and drive in the dark. Why? Saves money. Here's a link to Rick Steves' South Ireland. 

Tuesday, June 26, 2018--Hop-on Hop-off bus in Dublin, Republic of Ireland--good overview of downtown Dublin. Included stops at Christ Church, Phoenix Park, Guinness Storehouse, and Burger King on Grafton Street. Click on GPS My City/River Liffey for pictures and descriptions of points-of-interest. Multiple bridges cross the Liffey River (Wiki).  I just discovered there are/were two canals that connected Dublin with Shannon--the Grand Canal and the Royal Canal. Video review w/  Rick Steves' Dublin.

Wednesday, June 27, 2018--Flew from Dublin, Republic of Ireland to Los Angeles, CA USA and taxi ride to North Tustin--our last breakfast at the Ashling, drove through traffic to the Dublin airport, left the car @ Dan Dooley/Enterprise, hopped through Irish and USA security and customs, flight to Philadelphia with a brief layover, second flight to LAX, luggage pick-up, and taxi ride to North Tustin.  Up in Dublin at 6AM--to bed in North Tustin by 10PM. Add 8 hours for the time difference and our travel day took about 24 hours--sunlight for all but the last hour!

28 and 29 June/Thursday and Friday, we adjusted to being home. Thursday--Disneyland and Friday--Biola University then home. I was a student at Biola and Talbot from 1970 to 1977. Changes have happened since I left--new science building, enlarged cafeteria and new name for the New Men's Dorm--Hart Hall!

Saturday, June 30 and following--back home and getting my ducks in a row--birthday celebrations for Elias and Jacen, Jaina, & Zane, sorting mail and paying bills, visit to the Fresno Zoo, Orange Works Cafe, viewing the Mr. Rogers movie (v*v*v), appointments, and more... John Sutter, CNN reporter made the Ireland loop in 10-days; read his story. 

July to August 2018--

--Paperwork & "to-do" items...

--7/20/18--Replaced smoke alarms.

--End of July--trip to Oregon &

Washington to visit Emily, Botts,

Humbles, Judith, and Tim.

Back to school on the 3rd of August...