to the mountains

We knew the drive would  be long and sometimes on winding roads but it was one worth making. When folks asked why Denver? I would respond Mary has never seen the Rockies in person, so we must go and see them together. As plans were being formulated our oldest daughter Ashley would join in as she had never been to this area either even though she had been to many other places in her world travels. Unfortunately, having it be a family affair did not happen as circumstances did not quite work out that way.
Yes, we are retired, so we had time to drive and a relatively new vehicle to do it in. So once that was decided we had to come up with accommodations. We had never booked our own air bnb nor stayed in one although Ashley had experience with them she let me take the lead. I came up with one just 10 minutes outside downtown Denver in Lakewood neighborhood. On website it appeared in a decent area although one review said area around it was questionable even though it appeared there was a park, walking trail right beside the place which was a little bungalow with a cute little patio area outside. perfect for 3. I booked it as the price was right for our budget. Ashley would go along with it. She was excited as she found out Brandi Carlile was playing 3 shoes in a recently opened venue in Denver during our stay. We had all seen her in Boston couple years before and are big fans. Bonus!! Tickets were purchased for Friday night.
September had been a busy month for us and this would end up the month for a projected 9-10 day trip leaving a little leeway time. We headed out early September 24 sunny and a bit warm wanting to get as far as we could on the first leg which we planned for nights on the road.Indiana, Illinois flew by without any bad traffic and we breezed over the Mississippi River and into Iowa in the afternoon. Temp was mid 80's and climbing. Storms were brewing on the horizon.

But we we were lucky and the tornadoes stayed away from us. We did a quick booking from the phone for the night in Council Bluffs, Iowa on the border with Omaha, Nebraska.. After a long 8 hours plus of driving and a scramble to hit the right exit we realized our quick booking was not the best choice as we had a problem even finding an entrance so not liking the vibe we called and were able to cancel and we found a better place nearby. The Missouri River runs through this area and we found out much of traffic is rerouted or roads were still closed from Spring flooding. A nice place for dinner was found nearby and the first night on the road was in the books. Our goal tomorrow Northeast Colorado and less driving?
I rarely sleep well on the road so more often than not I am up and ready to hit the free breakfast before Mary but she did pretty well this trip and we were usually on road by 9:30.We were fortunate again as it was sunny and forecasted to be another day in the 80's. Omaha was in the rearview quickly and we were into the wide open spaces of Nebraska. Haystacks, trucks, farms,cornfields, silos, and cattle repeated over and over as we drove on Interstate 80 west through the occasional small town but literally land as far as an eye can see on a grander scale than most Midwestern states that border Michigan. Our day was going smooth ahead of our loose schedule until we ran into a major backup just before I-76 towards Denver. Then as I saw extent of backup I did something I would not usually do but the median was fairly low and I made a UTurn on median headed back to closest exit where my WAZE map system told me there was a detour to take. That set us on a real back road adventure that not even the GPS had an answer for.The road our detour told us to take back to hi way was blocked by state cop directing us down the road. Soon the narrow state 2 lane we were on going west ws filled in both directions. Of course up ahead of us was a WIDE LOAD caravan too wide for this road kicking up dust and semis coming other way had to go off road to avoid the manufactured  home being towed. This lasted a few miles of slow, vision impaired driving until they pulled over and let others pass. This diversion through some real small towns took us by a historical marker for some wagon trains headed west in the 1800's. We could only imagine those times traveling along the North Platte River with a caravan of hopes and dreams and hardship.  After a hour or so of guessing how to best return to I-76 mainly by using the old technology of our 2006 USA Road Atlas and stopping to ask someone in Sydney, Nebraska we headed south to meet up with I-76. Just before nightfall after another  8 hours of driving we pulled into "historic" Fort Morgan, Colorado.Denver was almost in our sights.

 Fort Morgan is a historic town settled to protect emigrants and supply lines along the Overland Trail headed west. This night I was going to try a "less expensive" room in a mom and pop style motel. . It was small, had cable so we could watch the Country Music doc on PBS, and was close to food and gas.Not many others stayed here that night cept for one little cockroach that surprised me in the middle of the night. Note to self, these types of places are hit and miss, buyer beware.After a restless sleep for me the next day dawned sunny and predicted to be warm again.

long trains that stretch the landscape
night trains moans that tell the story of a place
tracks taking someone something somewhere
across this land your land

Pt. 2 First Time From Afar: St. Patrick's Day A Little Deeper Now

It has taken me a while to get back "on the bus" so to speak on writing about our trip to Ireland for a variety of reasons but we're back on board and on the road again.As St. Patricks Day approaches I have a new found appreciation for the day itself as well as The Emerald Isle having stood on the ground Patrick did roam in the 5th century.  As we left Galway, its Bay  its swans and sailing vessels behind, The Burren and The Cliffs of Mohers's breathtaking natural beauty would stay with us on our way into Limerick, even sharing and creating some limericks on the coach on our way there with our touring group.We spent a night in Limerick having a bite and a drink while under the moon we got lost making our way back to the hotel but the river Shannon led us back to our bed for the night.
On the next day we were up at em early again after our hearty Irish breakfast we would be on the coach headed for the Wild Atlantic Way, the South West of Ireland, where Tralee, the Dingle Peninsula and Killarney awaited us. It is near  there in Scartaglen where Mary knew her Cullinane clan had roots and a little adventure would unfold for us.
County Kerry holds many a twist and turn on the narrow roads and peninsulas that jut out into the Atlantic.. We would make a quick stop in lovely little Tralee where Liz our guide is from and a matchmaking festival is held annually that is broadcast all over Ireland to find The Rose of Tralee, also a beloved Irish ballad. From there we would move on to Dingle Peninsula where the quaint town of Dingle is found. We would have some fish and chips, shop and sight see here. We had put it in Liz's ear that we would like to go off tour if possible for a few hours to seek out some evidence of Mary's ancestors. She would not disappoint as she soon came back and had a connection for a driver to take us on our quest into the countryside.
Before that would happen we spent much of day learning taking in the splendid seaside scenery of Dingle and the peninsula it sits on. It was on this leg that we learned about Irish author/storyteller Peig Sayers and Kerryman and South Pole explorer Tom Crean whose stories I  read on our return and are of  incredible feats of hardship and survival. We would end up the day in Killarney where we would spend 2 nights.

Our excursion the next morning would take us to

Killarney National Park by way of horse and buggy. Beautiful park and castle located here.We would spend the afternoon back in Killarney shopping and taking in a pub with our new BFF's from Massachusetts who we met on our bus and we were surprised by our guide Liz who popped into the pub for an Irish coffee while we having a pint of the black.

The 

next day we toured around the Ring o Kerry which hugs the seashore with many twists and turns, reminded me of Pacific Coast Hwy. 1 in California. There were the Skellig Islands, Waterville, home of a Charlie Chaplin mansion ,several amazing golf courses and back to Killarney where Mary and I had a driver waiting for us to search for grave sites.

Liz had arranged for a driver from the area to take us into the countryside, his name Patrick O'Leary. Mary knew that Scartaglen was where her great-great grandparents were born. So we wanted to see if anything could be found about the O'Keefes or Cullinane' clans. To keep this story short I will just say that Patrick was perfect for our late afternoon quest.

He grew up in this area and knew the back roads that Mary and I alone would of had terrible time to maneuver.He knew the  Churches and cemeteries. We had a name of someone at a gas station in Scartaglen to ask for instead we met up with a young woman willing to take us  to her house where her mother knew who was buried where. All of  the Irish hospitality was on display here as they took us into their home offered us tea and told us where to look. One of the church cemeteries no longer existed but another cemetery in nearby Kilarscon they knew had OKeefes and Cullinanes. I swear they were burning the turf in their woodstove as Patrick and the 75 year old grandmother spoke Irish (Gaelic) to one another. so we thanked them and off we went to the cemetery.Patrick even helped us search and we found O'Keefes and Cullinnanes but not any Mary recognized as those more directly linked ancestors we were looking for.We headed back with a good story and  a sense we had walked in areas that Mary's ancestors lived and roamed. As the sun set and Patrick telling us stories of his growing up and of local landmarks it was well worth time and money spent. We had dinner that evening in Killarney across the street from our hotel at a place Patrick recommended where we had a good meal and conversation with a couple from Cork about our US political situation and rock and roll. On our return to our hotel our BFF's were in the lobby having a cocktail and wanted to heat all about our trip to Scartaglen.
The next morning we woke to torrential rain as we all loaded in the bus after breakfast, only two days left of touring, We would begin the journey back to Dublin along the southern and east coastline. From here I am going to give  brief tidbits of our last two days.

• Getting to play Warren Zevon's song McGillacuddy's Reeks as we passed the hills they are named for on the coach from my Ipod.
• Stopped at Blarney Castle but we chose coffee and rolls and shopping over kissing the stone.
• Tour of Waterford Crystal facility in Waterford.
• Our group had its own cozy  little concert in a 300 year old pub, Aggie's, in Dunsmore a seaside  town, by a local musician. Had a Jameson and a pint of Beamish, one of the "other stouts" of Ireland.
• Night after dinner in Tramore we took a walk down to the seashore drinking wine with our BFF's and an Irish couple. The 80 year old Irish gent and I were singing Tom Dooley as the men dodged the waves as the tide was coming in and a hazy moon was rising above the Irish sea.
• On our Rocky Road to Dublin we toured a 300 plus year old woolens mill in Avoca, kind of a fitting end route after all the sheep we'd seen along the way.We had to at least get ourselves some scarves..

On our return to Dublin where we would spend our last night we had our first all day rain. Besides a cup of chowder and an Irish coffee for Mary searched for a pub my niece had told us about that her newlywed Irish husband said poured the best pint in Dublin.We found it! Cheers Erin and Jody!

 As we dodged colorful umbrellas in  the rain I felt the humanity of the city and a vibrancy with the schoolkids standing on corners in their uniforms, tourists and Dubliners going about their business.All around us was historic Trinity College campus and the many museums and churches.

Our Irish adventure was coming to a close as we had just been establishing relationships with our coach mates from around the world.Our guide told of us a word "craic" that in Irish means fun. We had us some "craic" both on the bus singing Irish songs and off walking along the Ireland coastline.We will remember our time together far and away as we''d ever been, the kindness of the people, a deeper understanding of the melancholy but hopeful spirit of the Celtic sensibility that seems to be part of our American soul.