At Last

We landed. Around 10:45 a.m. our plane touched down. We were about two hours later than expected but incredibly grateful that we made it. Overnight there were a "few bumps" as we slept but overall it was a fairly easy and smooth 6.5 hours.

Both girls slept on me but I was so tired that I hardly felt their weight. Just so grateful.

We deplaned outside and no one but Jay and I had done that before. We remembered deplaning outside on our

honeymoon to Grand Cayman Island.

Mom's Amazon water bottle has the name brand "Elvira" and the grandkids all love keeping track of it for her.

"Hey [grandkid], go get Elvira for me, please!"

Well, Elvira is kinda big so she had to go in Mom and Dad's checked suitcase. We were pretty sure we'd never see Elvira again after all the horror stories we've been hearing about checked bags not making it to destinations.

So as we made our way to baggage claim, we had little faith that we'd actually have luggage there after our delaying nightmares.

We were standing in baggage claim, and a friend we'd made who had the same plight as us came up to chat while we waited. At about the same time, she and mom looked over at a pile of luggage that was off on the side of the claim area....

"ELVIRA!!"

We ran over to the pile and couldn't believe that our bags had made it even before we did! I can see how there are so many piles of unclaimed luggage laying all around the airport. It was pure Irish luck that we glanced over at that pile and saw our bags.

Exiting the airport, we called Uber taxis and headed to the train station to try to catch the train we had prebooked to take us to Carlow....back when we'd been optimistic that we would actually get to Ireland and sleep in the cute boutique hotel a couple of blocks from the train station.

Well, even though our driver Anthony (who's son had toured with Jon Bon Jovi, apparently) told us we wouldn't make it in time, we tried to pretend like surely we wouldn't miss another connection.

We missed it.

So we ate at one of what I figure is Ireland's "fast food" establishments at the train station (a delicious meal of lattes and pastries and Guinness pie, and sandwiches) and Jay and Chapin wandered around Dublin a little bit. Gwen found a piano and had to play a tune and then we found our train and headed to Carlow to pick up our rental cars.

Car rental in Ireland is expensive and complicated right now because there aren't all that many cars to rent. Dad and I wanted to be sure we actually got cars, so we booked tiny little cars and paid extra for automatic transmission (because what American wants to shift with their wrong hand while sitting and driving on the wrong side too?) But then we got a tip from one of the girls'

teachers that Toyota dealers in Ireland have started to rent cars. I checked it out and sure enough, the cars through the rental companies at the airport were a lot more hassle and a LOT more expensive (double the price!) plus we would have had to drive in Dublin. So we decided to cancel those reservations and book in Carlow at the Toyota dealer.

We had a bit of a walk hauling our luggage to the Toyota

dealer after a lovely train ride but the actual collection process for the cars was the easiest thing we have done on this trip. And we have fabulous new Toyota hybrids to zip around Ireland in!

Then the real fun began as we tried to find a phone store to get new SIM cards for our phones. Chapin and Dad have International plans but the rest of us all decided to swap out our SIMS while we're here based on the recommendation of lots of folks who have been to Ireland before.

Despite a printed Google map by the lady at the desk at the Toyota dealer, we couldn't find the store before they closed.

But we found an Aldi. And now I want European Aldi at home. It was amazing. The girls ooohed and aahhhhhed over all of the funny names and different foods that were similar to back home but not quite the same, Mom marvelled over the prices and selection, and Gwen was thrilled that everything she had read about Aldi in Europe having yarn was true. And Jay found GF food he can eat and we wondered over an American culture that puts eggs so old out for their customers that they have to be refrigerated.

After Aldi things got really, um,

interesting.

When we headed on our way, Dad had fun zipping around the little roads in his little hybrid Toyota on the way to the Airbnb with Chapin as his wingman...but Jay was SUPER tired and nervous about driving so he wasn't quite as zippy. And we didn't have cell service...so we fell behind and Dad lost us. And we didn't see him turn and we kept going.

So here we were separated on tiny little Irish country roads. Dad and Chapin had cell service and GPS but I had the Airbnb check in information and no GPS. Not the best plan...

Well they looked for us a little bit but then decided that we were scrappy and we'd find our way somehow. Meanwhile, we backtracked our trail of breadcrumbs and I got us to Myshall based on some descriptive directions from our Airbnb host that I had screenshot.

We parked by an old cemetery and church and I got out and went to find help.

Jay and the girls stayed in the car and he took a little nap (and the girls can't stop giggling over him mumbling in his sleep "mommy? Where's mommy? She needs to come back!")

And found my new friend, Vincent. He owns a tiny little convenience store in the beautiful tiny village of Myshall and when I explained my plight and he looked at my phone he said, "Letitia? You're going to Letitia's place?!?"

Yep. Please God, get me to Letitia's place so I can shower, eat, and collapse.

He chuckled and brought me into his shop to draw me a

map and asked if I can follow a hand drawn map.

Please, Vincent. I grew up in Southern Illinois where hand drawn maps were the norm with directions like "turn at the old silo and then make a right at the old quarry." I can follow your hand drawn map.

After a little chat about the Fleadh and Vincent also being a musician (have I met anyone in Ireland yet who doesn't claim to be a musician?) I took a selfie with him to show Letitia and thanked him profusely.

Back in the car and confident we were just a few miles from our house, we drove to the wrong house. But they pointed us in the right direction too with a grin and a wave.

And when we pulled up at Letitia's, we didn't see Mom and Dad's car and I got very worried. I knocked on Letitia's door and she was so relieved we had found her, but also worried about my folks after I told her the story. We got me on wifi and I tried to call and text them but they didn't answer. So Letitia's husband, Pat, went out to tell Jay and the girls to head inside the guest house ...and discovered that Mom, Dad, and Chapin had parked on the other side, just let themselves in, unloaded all the groceries and luggage, and were already making dinner!

Just another story to laugh about...

Letitia's place is stunning. It's everything I had ever dreamed an Irish countryside cottage would be. The scenery feels unreal. And the weather is cool. It's not 103 degrees Fahrenheit like St. Louis was when we left. We

needed blankets to enjoy our Aldi spaghetti outside at 9:30 while the sun was barely showing signs of setting.

I'm so relieved we made it. And so humbled and grateful we have the privilege to take a trip like this.

We're gonna make the most of it. Already it's been something we'll never, ever forget and we're just getting started.