Departure and Day 1
August 26-27
Click the thumbnail of any photo to see a larger version.
Departed Ytown around noon on Friday for a 3:20 departure to Newark. Looked out the window on the plane an saw propellers. Propellers? In 2011?! We arrived early into Newark, so I guess they work!
Expected 7:30 departure from Newark to Shannon. Began boarding at 6:45. Sat down, settled in, pulled out my noise-canceling headphones. Tyler had returned these to me a couple of days earlier and I added more batteries and shoved them into my carry-on, without testing them. I turned them on, positioned them over my ears, and realized there was no cord to plug into the port on the seat arm! Oops!! Pulled out extra earbuds (yea for overpreparing) and made note to deduct some points from Ty’s ‘Good Son’ account.
Finally everyone was aboard and strapped in when the attendant came on and said there was a mechanical issue and we would be 10 minutes longer. Ten minutes later he came in again and said 30 more minutes. Ten minute later, he said it would be an hour and we were getting off. Reload carry-ons, grab everything and get off.
Find a seat, plug iPhone unto charger again and take turns going for food, drink and bathroom break. And a “Bluetooth” store, where I was able to buy a cord for the headphones! Made note to add the $20 charge to the business reimbursements Tyler owes me. He can have his Good Son points back if he gives me the money!
Good meal, good music, decent sleep. Arrived in Shannon around 10:00 (instead of ETA of 7:00) after flying over acres of patchwork fields filled with all shades of green. Jas had purchased a bottle of Wild Turkey at duty free in Newark and accidentally left it on the plane. The Continental personnel took it to the ticket counter and they paged him!! I’ve never had THAT happen before!
Bags and whiskey in hand, we headed off to find the Hertz counter.
At the Hertz counter, an agent with a great sense of humor processed our paperwork. Glancing over his shoulder, Jas noticed a Jaguar parked outside. He said to the agent, “Is that our Jaguar out there?”. The agent replied, “No. your car is on the other side of that one. You can’t see it.” sure enough, when we got to the parking lot, we had a tiny vehicle – a red Fiat five-door hatchback. the fact that there were doors for the rear seat made missing the luggage into the car much easier than if it were a 2-door plus hatch.
Jas walked up to the car, key in hand, then turned to me and said, “there’s no place to put the key.” alas, he was on what-over here-is the passenger’s side. We had a good laugh about that, loaded up, and headed out.
Within a mile, Jas had the driving under control. Two days later, I still haven’t sat behind the wheel and have no desire to do so. He’s doing a fabulous job.
I added international features to my iPhone so we would have GPS, and it’s the smartest travel move I’ve ever made! We quickly and easily made the drive to cousin Kerry Hagan’s house in Limerick for an afternoon visit.
Kerry is a delightful young woman (about the age of my boys) who is a musician and geek. We have quite a bit in common. I had met her at Christmas, and enjoyed getting to know her better. She has a doctorate from UCSD, is a composer, and focuses on new and electronic
music and teaches in the computer science department at the University of Limerick.
After fixing us some lunch, Kerry took us on a guided tour of Limerick. We saw King John’s castle, the River Shannon, parks, and then took a stop in a pub for a pint. Delightful visit, then we set off to travel half an hour to our timeshare in East Clare.
I’m sure if I say “how beautiful” one more time, Jas is going to backhand me. Ireland-everywhere I look-is absolutely beautiful. It’s a patchwork quilt of every shade of green you’ve ever seen.
Jas and I travel well together. There is no set itinerary. When driving, if there’s a side road that looks interesting, we take it. We have had the most enjoyable trip.