The weather gods were acting pretty fickle yesterday.
Rain and wind teamed up to cause our much-anticipated ocean fishing trip to be scrapped.
We held a couple of "board" meetings with John, the boat owner and captain, throughout the day, but finally agreed it was not worth the risk or the misery to give the excursion a try.
Fortunately, we are all adults who have been there, done that with weather behavior so, yes, we were disappointed, but, no, we did not allow the situation to ruin our day.
John has worked for years with ocean rescue missions and with charter fishing, and we knew fully well that his assessment of the situation was about as expert as it gets.
The good side of this not-so-great story: we'll have to come back to Ireland to make it happen.
That could be next year sometime.
Yesterday after the final final decision, we immediately pivoted into a few mini-plans, including having a very fine lunch at O'Dowd's in a cute little seaside village called Round Stone, just outside of Clifden.
The tourism experts call it Ireland's most picturesque village. Although our experience in traveling this emerald isle tells us there's stiff competition virtually everywhere, I would agree with the published assessment.
We also had a blast driving down a road where every half mile or so beautiful sheep were grazing on either side of the car. So, of course, we stopped several times for photo ops.
We drove a high road on the way back to Sharamore House, which offers a few breath-taking views of fields and oceans.
While there, I visited with Mark Hill from Sydney, Australia. We had seen him in Manion's Restaurant the night before.
Mark is a retired accountant (retired at 49, no less) who picks a different place in the world each year and spends several weeks there.
He's in his sixth week of visiting Ireland, and, like so many who travel up this way from Australia, he figures the time spent flying and the expense make it well worthwhile to spend some quality time.
I guess you'd call Mark our new friend of the day, as it seems every day has brought us in contact with interesting and fun folks from around the world.
These experiences renew my belief that all students, at sometime in their lives should spend a few months or a year traveling to faraway places to experience and appreciate the culture and the people.
If only this idealistic notion were to be put into practice, I believe we would reduce the conflicts and create some genuine understanding and respect among peoples.
Travel, though sometimes difficult with the logistics, reaps so many lifelong benefits.
Today is bittersweet. We say good bye to Willie and Debbie as they head back toward Dublin where they fly out tomorrow.
Bill and I have enjoyed this different twist of this particular travel, spending it in two new countries with our Annie and in Ireland with Willie and Debbie. It has truly been a most cherished gift and meaningful experience.
We'll also say good bye to John and Sue, who, like our other hosts, have become good friends over the years.
After saying the good bye's and enjoying one more Sharamore breakfast, we'll head north to Malin Head, the Republic of Ireland's northernmost spot.
Sadly, the owners Michael and Caitriona will not be there, as they planned to be in Florida, but maybe we'll see Maura and Lauren who have always been fun friends.
Malin Head is in County Donegal, home to my mother's roots and, again home to miles and miles and miles of breath-taking beauty.
It should be a couple of fun days with nights spent in our perennial Unit No. 3.
I don't know how great today's drive will be because even more rain than yesterday's is forecast. But the rain is what makes Ireland the Emerald Isle, so we won't complain.
Happy Saturday. Enjoy the photos, taken in and around beautiful Clifden.
I paid my annual quick visit to the staff at Des Moran's Butcher Shop yesterday. It was a busy day so not much time for talking.
Always time to snap a few photos, though.
Roundstone is celebrating 200 years of family ownership this year, as is Stanley's Clothing Store in Clifden, always a must stop for Bill.
So, we all spent a few minutes there, and while visiting with the owner, he pointed to some of the store's early books which were stacked on a shelf above the clothing displays.
What a treasure trove of information those books must possess!
I have no idea what this collection of mug shots represents.
I saw it on a store front window in Clifden and thought it provided a nice sampling of Irish faces.
Clifden has hosted the National Connemara Pony Show for years. The annual show brings in both money and visitors.
This year, two days of the show classes were cancelled and rescheduled in Athenry at a later time because of predicted bad weather and concerns for conditions of the grounds.
All Coach Love needed was a ball.
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