Home, Brimming with Memories

It's been a short night.  We arrived home just before midnight and spent the last hour of our 26-hour day loving our doggies.

Twas good to be home where Elisabeth took care of the place and the beloveds with her usual dedication and love.

Twas also nice to know that that we left an upcoming week of rain in Ireland behind and can welcome an upcoming week of the best of fall weather here in North Idaho. 

We still have to unpack most of our luggage but horses have gone to pasture, and I've even had a chance to read the highlights in this morning's paper.

This afternoon we'll go over to my sisters' where they have prepared a celebration for this past season's horse achievements.  

They call it an "open barn," and they invite anyone who's interested to drop by their farm just north of Woods Meats on HWY 95 to pet and admire their herd of horses.  Festivities begin at 1 p.m.

During my short night of sleeping, I awakened several times and each time I had to focus on just where I was.  

No, it's not in the bed at Lawcus Farms or Sharamore House or the Inismore or Spiddel or the Rose Garden B and B in Kenmare or at Frank and Catherine's lovely private apartment near St. Dominic's Park in Drogheda. 

No.  I was home at the Lovestead, and, yes, I could sleep for another hour or two before returning to my morning routine of drinking coffee, surfing the web and feeding horses.  

So, off to sleep for another stint, only to wake up again, wondering just where I was and then realizing that all those other places had become memories, forever etched in my mind with their charm and with the wonderful people we met at each venue and its surrounding area. 

We made the most of our last day in Ireland, walking around Drogheda, home of Bill's ancestors and located on the River Boyne north of Dublin. 

Many of us who watched the mini series The Thornbirds several years ago would enjoy pronouncing it "DRO-GEED-A," but the Irish call it "DRO-HA-DA."  We've been practicing. 

It's a lovely old town with a huge gateway and its own share of church steeples, some of which reach to the sky from St. Peter's in downtown, the resting place for the head of St. Oliver Plunkett, who was found guilty of high treason for promoting the Roman faith back in the 1600s. 

His is a fascinating story of a courageous personal journey toward eventual sainthood. 

Bill asked if I'd like to go inside the church.  When he opened the door, he saw that the morning mass was about to begin.  So, we attended the brief service and admired the church's interior while doing so. 

We enjoyed breakfast as a bakery we had frequented during our brief family visit four years ago and then walked back to our B and B to say good bye to its owners Frank and Catherine.

It was sad to take those last footsteps on the ground of Ireland, but before doing so, we experienced another small world moment while turning in the rental car.

A gentleman at the counter had been involved in a fender bender before reaching the rental center.  He was working out the details with a staff member.  She asked him for his email address.  

Bill and I both heard him say "camp bay" in the address and perked up.  

A few seconds later, Bill was over introducing himself to Jim Green, a client of Inland Forest Management with whom Bill has talked with over the phone. 

Don't know what else to say about that except the "small world" reaction. 

Flights home were, of course, long and one involved one of the few complications on our trip.  

Aer Lingus would not check our suitcases all the way to Spokane, so we had to scoot around in Seattle to reclaim them, re-send them, get our boarding passes and go through security once more. 

It all worked out as did the entire trip.  Have I used the phrase "beyond our wildest expectations"?  

That's the only way to describe it.  Ironically, Bill read an interesting obituary this morning in one of the Daily Bee's from the past two weeks. 

It was about a man who had discovered Ireland years and years ago, fell in love and returned 15 times afterward.  

On our trip, we met another gentleman from Maine who has visited 31 times and plans to continue doing so.

Well, Bill and I are up to No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, and it looks like we've got some catching up to do. 

Neither of us will mind that challenge. 

I won't itemize the money spent on this trip, but I will definitely say that it matches the Mastercard slogan. 

Priceless!

Happy Saturday.  Enjoy the photos.  

Catherine and Frank provided us with a beautiful small, private apartment, which is part of their home (pictured below) for our last night in Ireland.

Many thanks to you two.  We enjoyed meeting you.