We woke up at about 7:20 and got ready to leave at 7:50. We thought we had to catch a bus at 8:06 but we weren't sure where we were going. We were lost for a few seconds but we finally figured it out. We took the bus to the Galway city square and got off there to meet our tour bus for the day. We had a few minutes so we grabbed some breakfast at cafe neros. I got a lemon muffin. We walked to the tour place and then found our bus. We took the tour bus to doolin. It was about an hour and a half drive. Through tiny bumpy Ireland roads and hills. Not the smoothest drive. Some other people from our Freed group were on the same tour so that was fun to meet up with them again. The drive was scenic. A lot of rock walls in place of fences. The hills are spotted with squares because of how many stone walls they have. We got on a boat to the Aran islands. The boat ride was gorgeous. The water is a green blue and the sun was out. I was expecting a grey rainy day and we got a sunny hot day with blue skies and minimal wind. It was perfect. The boat is a little awkward because it's not meant for people I don't think, it was just like a typical ocean fishing boat. The island reminds me of what a colonial town would've looked like on the east coast back in the day. There are only a handful of houses scattered around and lots of the rocks walls, grazing land for cows, dirt roads only, and old stone buildings. When we made it to the island, we hiked up to a small castle like building. It was on top of a hill and had a great view of the island and the ocean. The water was much bluer than I was expecting. It had about three different colors of blue. 2 colors were right next to the beach and then a darker flat blue laid across the rest of the ocean. We took some pictures and then walked over to a cemetery on a hill. It included just a few family names and was very old. There wasn't much rhyme or reason to the layout or style of headstones and that made it unique and interesting to me. It gave it a certain look that most cemeteries lack now. We then marched to the beach and climbed on some small rock cliffs and sat and enjoyed the view. We walked along the beach towards the boat and we saw some divers swimming near the beach. That's when we saw her! Dusty the dolphin! Dusty is their local dolphin and she visits frequently. If she wants you to tickle her, she will lay on her back and show you her stomach. If she wants to be left alone, she will flap her tail. Dusty was very playful today and was letting the three swimmers pet her and swim with her. It was the most joyful thing ever. I wished to swim with her but I wasn't very prepared for that ha. We were searching for a small snack and found a little trailer selling ice cream. The island also has a lot of loose dogs running around and there was a social one by the ice cream so we spent some time loving on it. We see soooooooo many dogs on this trip. Probably 20 a day, but we never get to pet any of them and it kills us. It was nice to actually interact with one finally. After we got ice cream, we went to board the boat. When we boarded, we went to the bottom deck and in the back (where we were on the trip there). While we were waiting, guess who showed up? Dusty!! She swam right up to the back of the boat and was just putting on a show for us. She was the sweetest thing ever and I love her and she is cute and I can't believe I was like a foot away from a wild dolphin. Whew, sorry about that sentence. I am just excited. Can you tell? We took the boat ride back towards the Cliffs of Moher and it went along the bottom of them so we could get a view of all of them at once. It was majestic for sure. The colors and lines and textures were a work of art. It finally came back to the dock, after the longest boat ride ever. We boarded the bus and he drove us to the top of the Cliffs of Moher. We walked alongside one trail for a bit but didn't really like the view so we turned and went the other direction. The sun was setting behind them so you couldn't see as much detail looking to the left but when you looked to the right, the sun accentuated the greens and browns of the cliffs and the blues of the ocean. We took some pictures and took in the view for a bit but we had to go back and grab some food before the bus left. We took the bus back to Galway, and it took about 2 hours. He drove past some rock hills and along the coastal line. On one side was the ocean in all its beauty, on the other side were these huge rocked hills and prairie land below with cows grazing. He stopped by some mini cliffs and you walk on uneven rocks to see them. They were pretty amazing too. The Cliffs of Moher had some competition. We made it back to Galway at 7 and we went into a touristy shop and then walked around. We had to figure out dinner and a bus back to salthill. Once we got a bus schedule, we found some cheap dinner (supermacs again. Don't worry, we will eat some real Irish food tomorrow) after we ate and used their wifi, we got on a bus. We got off at a location farther away from our place than we thought it would go, but it wasn't that long of a walk. We walked back on the windy coast and collapsed after a very exhausting day. We saw A LOT of amazing things today in one big whirlwind.

Fun facts: Annah's ice cream cone was falling so she caught it with her hand, her hand was a bit (no, a lot) sticky but she saved her ice cream from doom! Our Irish tour guide was a very proud Citizen of Ireland. He told us a thousand things about Ireland, which was very interesting, but none of which were slightly bad. So, apparently, Ireland is perfect. They know three languages, a ton of sports, can sing and dance, practice loyalty, friendship, and peace, have no police force, have free education, 50% income taxes and outrageous taxes on every other item they sell, and are a big jolly happy community that help each other out. I am not so sure I buy the picture he painted for us, but hey, it may work for them, I don't know.

Shoutout: this is a big one! Kristin, Taylor, Sara, Hannah, Logan, Jeremy, Seaver, Amelia, Lucas, Sarah Ruth, Lori Beth, Caitlin, Robbie, Joel, Richard, Micah, and Jagger for helping me out and celebrating Ben's birthday early! It meant the world to me! Y'all are the best!