"We've got a problem."
Those were the first words I heard from Bill after "sleeping in" at our ecopod on Inis Mor Aran Island.
"What's that?" I asked, wiping away the extra sleep from my eyes.
"No water," he said.
Suddenly, "glamping" was not seeming like so much fun, regardless of the fact that we had spend the night in a cozy, spotless, earth-friendly, efficient ecopod.
The place had been so quiet that only high-pitched utterings of seagulls and rolling ocean waves had disturbed the silence.
Within seconds, however, we were both plotting ways to overcome this water outage.
The water bottle in my backpack was more than half full. That would work for brushing teeth and maybe even a spot bath. Bill also observed that enough water remained in the coffee maker that would could have our morning shot of caffeine.
"We won't have to wash dishes," he quipped, looking at the positive side of the situation.
Bill also threw on some outside clothes and walked over to the ecopod complex shower house.
Water was working.
Problem solved.
This minor setback was soon forgotten as we continued enjoying the pod for breakfast and for shelter from the morning rain.
This had been our second stay at the fairly new pod complex on the Aran Island, and if we ever come back again, we'll take the glamping route for sure.
The pods sit just off the ocean to the right of where visitors walk off the ferry to be greeted by van drivers, horse carriages, tour buses and bicycle rental shops.
A short walk, and there's the world famous Aran Sweater Shop.
For pod dwellers, there's plenty of walking to and from the pods, along the ocean shoreline, and there's always an opportunity to meet other pedestrians with their suitcases or backpacks.
During our overnight stay on the island, we met more locals, more travelers and a host of cows, horses, dogs, seagulls and other birds.
We visited places we'd seen before, like The Bar, the sweater shop, Spar's Grocers, a church on a hilltop dating back hundreds and hundreds of years. I lit a candle at another church in town.
It rained on the island, and let's just say, the rain is wet, kinda like the guy on the ferry said when Bill asked him how the ocean water was.
"Wet," he said.
Like all parts of Ireland, folks travel with layers of clothing. One minute, we'd be experiencing drenching rain; a few minutes later brilliant sunshine.
All tolled, this trip netted a full day's worth of sunshine over two days we were there, so that wasn't bad.
One of our highlights on the island came because of the rain. When we stood near a building to escape the wetness, we could hear something, like pounding, going on inside.
Bill said the building was the community center, so I guessed that someone was playing pingpong.
We walked through an open door into a dark hallway and when we opened another door, we saw half a dozen young ladies with an instructor.
It was their weekly Irish dancing lesson on the island. I sat with one mom, Gina, who told me her daughter has been dancing since she was 4.
These girls do very well in competitions, she told me, even though those on the mainland get three lessons each week.
We felt very fortunate to have happened on to yet another glimpse of Irish culture.
That's kinda how our trip has gone. We've had a general plan, but when an unforeseen opportunity arises, we embrace it.
Even having no water for a short period yesterday morning meant an opportunity in basic improvisation in the midst of "glamorous camping aka glamping."
We passed the test and got on with the business of fully enjoying every minute of our visit to Inis Mor.
God willing, we'll come back again some day.
Today, we leave Sharamore House for the last time. We'll say good bye to our wonderful and helpful hosts Sue and John----and those to die for homemade pancakes.
Again, God willing, much like the greeting we received from Sue upon returning to the B and B last night, "the kids WILL be back."
Thank you, Sue and John, and thanks to all the nice folks we've met on this segment of our Irish adventure, which today takes us to the northernmost point of the Emerald Isle, Malin Head.
It's a beautiful Sunday, so we're excited.
Happy Sunday to all. Enjoy the photos.
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