The unexpectedly late airport shuttle in San Francisco was but a portent of things to come. We arrived a little early in New York for our quick layover before flying to Dublin. We got to the gate with plenty of time to spare, and sat around waiting for them to call our flight. Eventually, they did, and we got all situated on the plane, ready for our overnight flight. At around 7:30pm (our flight was supposed to depart at 6:45pm), an announcement came over the speakers saying that there was some mechanical issue, and at 8pm, they would be making the call whether we would have to deplane, or if they would be able to resolve the issue. 8 comes around, and sure enough - "Please gather your belongings and exit the plane." I hadn't even had enough time to build up a head of steam by the time we exited the plane - and before we even made it to the terminal, an employee was telling everyone, the part was being installed presently, and we would probably be re-boarding in 15 minutes. True to her word, when I was taking my turn to visit the head, I got a helpful notification on my Apple Watch - "we're boarding now!".

Back on the plane, we got re-situated to prepare for our imminent departure. Not so fast, my young padawan, After already being 2 hours late leaving, we did not actually take flight for another 2 hours. 2 hours sitting on the plane, moving a plane-length forward every 15 minutes. When we did finally slip the surly bonds of earth, a spontaneous cheer erupted from the peanut gallery.

We did finally make landfall nearly 3 hours late (I guess the pilots did use some of their magic skills to erase over an hour shortage). The warmth I felt when we pierced the cloud cover to see the patchwork of greens and blues welcoming us back was enough to bring me back from the foggy, groggy, not-really-slept-at-all-for-way-too-many-hours state I was in.

After landing, we stood in a forever line to pick up our rental car. Once the initial oddness of driving on the wrong side of the road, and all that entails, the drive was easy. We went from Dublin to Bray (to pick up some Irish SIM cards for our phones), then down to Wexford for the night. We did drive through some neat towns that we'd like to see in a future visit (Enniscorthy, we're looking at you), but due to the fact that I did not want to reenact the Vacation asleep at the wheel scene, and for a time, I was the only one awake in the car, we decided to check in and get a nap before dinner. We walked around Wexford, and had a nice dinner (and my first pint of Bulmers!!). We're back at the B&B, and Carrie is zonked out. I wanted to get this online tonight, so I'm hard at work finalizing it. Thanks to all those following us.

I really love this place. We're here!