The drive from Waterford to Cobh took about 2 hours and once again the roads were narrow and curvy.  But the beautiful thing about traveling these country roads is not knowing what you’re going to see next.

We knew with each new bend in the road we were going to be treated to something gorgeous, scenic, quaint and breathtaking.

Cow pastures and sheep farms were standard. The grass is so green and lush.

This picture is a scene we saw over and over again but it never got old.

We found our way (thanks to the GPS) to Cobh after a taking a few very tight figure-8 style curves we found their father’s birthplace.  

Mike and Dee found the house and took a few photos in front of it. People were living in it so it was a pretty short visit but it was pretty cool that the home was still standing and they could visualize what their father’s life must have been like.

From there we went into downtown Cobh. Although it is a small town, pretty much a waterfront park and a long Main Street populated with pubs and a few hotels, it is also a port of call for cruise ships.

As we walked around exploring we realized this was also a historic place.  Cobh, was formerly known as Queenstown, and was the last port of call for the Titanic on April 11, 1912.  How interesting!

The actual dock is barely standing today but it’s still there. It is very beaten up and broken down with many missing slats and rotten wood.  It was quite chilling to see, imagining all the happy passengers milling around walking up and down the pier, boarding the ship with no idea what was ahead.  So sad.

Around the corner from the Titanic pier was a beautiful Catholic church, St. Colman’s Cathedral.  The church was relatively new considering how old so many other buildings are in Europe, it was completed in 1915, and took 47 years to build.  It stood on a slight hill and towered over the town of Cobh.

After a late lunch in Cobh, we decided to get back on the road and spend the night in Cork, about an hour or so away.  Here’s where I got to say “I told you so.”   Back when we were planning the trip Mike convinced me that we should try to be flexible and not over-plan every day.  You know – “wing it” some days.  While I like being spontaneous it’s not my nature.  I have TV news producing blood which means I like to have a Plan A, B and C.  I like to know what’s next.  So “winging it” makes me very nervous at times.  We were at the portion of the trip where we were without a definitive plan, basically, we didn’t know where we were going to stay that night.  Cork is a fairly major Irish city so finding a hotel room should be fairly easy.

We arrived in Cork we found one of the 4 big hotels in the city and parked outside to go check on room availability. (By the way, time of day was now about 5:30pm.)  That hotel was booked full for the night.  Mike, Dee and I walked around a few blocks to find another hotel that was supposed to be nearby.  We got a little lost but found our way and went in to see what was available. Oh – that hotel was booked full, too.  The receptionist there couldn’t have been nicer.  She felt my anxiety and went out of her way to try to help us find two rooms for the night. She even called the other two hotels that we hadn’t been to yet only to find they were booked, too.  Apparently, the volcanic ash from Iceland had delayed flights out of Cork and all those passengers were filling up the hotel rooms.  She even called hotels in the next village down the road and found those booked, too.

We walked back to the cars where Brian was watching the kids who were asleep.  We were standing on the sidewalk trying to figure out what our options were.  I was trying my best to not be mad because it wasn’t going to help the situation.  As we were standing there talking, a woman walking by overheard our conversation and stopped to offer to help us.  She owned a bed and breakfast and knew the area well.  Unfortunately, her B&B was too far away but she called someone who owned one just about 2 miles away and he had vacancy!  It was 6:30pm and we were now for sure going to have a bed to sleep in and I wouldn’t have to spend the night in the car on the side of the road, which was my nightmare.

The lovely little Killarney Guest House Bed & Breakfast just outside of Cork.

Needless to say, after that night I was allowed to book hotel rooms for the remainder of the trip.

Next up:  Blarney Castle and Killarney

That is Ireland!  A little island country with a population of about 4-Million, where Guinness is beloved, pubs are plentiful, the people are kind, and the views are breathtaking. This was our vacation of 2011.

Mike and I met up with his sister’s family in Charlotte where we all boarded the plane to Dublin.  We had been studying the Frommer’s Guidebook for months planning this trip.  The only three things we knew for certain were:   1. We would drive directly to Waterford after landing in Dublin;  2.  We would visit Cobh to see the birthplace of Mike and Dee’s father;  3.  We would end the trip with two nights in Dublin before coming home.  Everything in-between was whatever we wanted to do.

We had two rental cars to tote us all around.  Mike and I in one car and Brian, Dee and their two kids in the other.  

If you’ve never driven on European roads before it is quite a daunting task.  The cars are all very small – which ends up being a blessing which I’ll explain a little later.  The cars are all stick-shift, which I never learned to drive, so poor Mike was stuck with driving duty the entire trip.  And as you probably know, Europeans drive on the left-side of the road.  Sprinkle onto all these factors a few passing rain showers and you’ve got quite a set-up to deal with.  And then there’s always the unexpected…

In this photo taken on our 1st full day of sightseeing, we were driving from Tramore back to Waterford, cruising right along until we came to this sudden roadblock – a herd of about 30-cattle stretching across the road.  They had apparently escaped from their farm and were having a blast wandering the country roads.

Eventually, the farmer came running out, spewing a few (a lot) of curse words and herded them back onto his ranch.  It was quite a sight to see and was a perfect start to the trip.

Back to the driving… I give great credit to Mike and Brian for doing all the driving on this trip.

While there are standard major highways in Ireland, there are also numerous back-roads winding through the countryside. Let me add in “narrow” to that description.  Some of these roads were so tight we were holding our breath hoping not to get sideswiped as trucks and buses passed us by.  In fact, when Mike turned in the rental car in Dublin, the clerk was telling him the couple right before him had turned in their car with both side-view mirrors knocked off.  It was very funny, for us, not for them  I’m sure.  So having small cars was necessary to maneuver the roads.

Stay left.. stay left…  The whole left-side of the road is very confusing when you’ve been driving for decades on the other side.  Making right-hand turns was challenging trying to remember which way to look for traffic.  We only hit the curb four times and never went off the side of the road.  Yea!

Also – thank goodness for the GPS.  If you’re going to travel in a foreign country, pay the extra dollars and get a GPS.  It was so worth the money and was a very smart investment.

Next post – more on our itinerary, sights, accommodations and experiences.

On Wednesday, which was my last official day of my summer vacation, I was headed into downtown Orlando to get my hair cut (see previous blog post) and do some errands.  I was on the 408 (for those not in Orlando it’s an East-West highway) cruising along at 60 mph when I noticed all of a sudden my tire  pressure warning light came on.

I didn’t think much of it, it’s come on in the past when the air got low. I figured I’d put some air in the tires next time I stopped for gas.

I exited the highway and drove about 2-miles when I started hearing “thump thump thump thump”.  I knew instantly what this was. I slowed down and pulled into a 7-11 parking lot to see the damage.

It’s really hard to see from this angle but the left rear tire was flat.  Very flat.

It seemed like I had just put new tires on which made me really frustrated. Turns out my sense of time was flawed, it had actually been almost 3-years ago to the day.

Anyway, I called AAA for help.  The operator said it would be 2 hours before someone could get there but the rescue man showed up within 45 minutes.

He couldn’t have been nicer and very efficient. He had me fixed up within 20 minutes and I was on my way again. (Funny, as I’m typing this I’m listening to Willie Nelson sing “On the Road Again” on Sunday Morning Coming Down on Real Radio.  Too funny!)

That afternoon I was at Sears getting 2 new tires. $$$

The next morning it was back to work. At least that was the plan. I went out to the garage at 7:50am, turned the ignition and heard “click click click”.  Ugh! You gotta be kidding me!  Yes, a dead battery.  Thank God for my handyman and wonderful neighbor, Pete.  He came over and jumped the battery so I could head back to Sears again.  More $$$.

My lessons:

#1.  Women – if you aren’t mechanically savvy, be sure you have a 24-hour car repair service at your disposal.  I’ve had AAA since high school and while there are years that go by where I never use their services, it’s a comfort to know they’re there when I need them.

#2.  Be prepared for the unexpected and don’t let it ruin your attitude.  Yes I was frustrated and upset, but it is what it is. Deal with it and move on.  I’ll probably get very frustrated again when my credit card bills come in, but that’s life.

I’ve definitely learned a LOT about camping over the years.  The first year the biggest lesson learned was about appropriate attire, most importantly, shoes. (Tevas rule!)  I discovered after many bruises, cuts and scrapes that hiking sandals are imperative, and that cute shirts and tops are meaningless in the woods.  I also discovered, too late in the trip to make use of, that there were HOT SHOWERS and toilets at the marina.

These lessons learned in year 1 made the next year so much more bearable.  In the second year I learned, or paid more thought to, bringing my own personal food and drinks that would survive a camping trip.  For instance, stashing my own snacks that I could eat when my hunger struck if the rest of the campsite was still sound asleep.  I’m an early riser most of the time and need that little nourishment to tide me over till breakfast.

This year, with food planned, appropriate clothing packed, I went the extra mile and bought a wet-suit so I could enjoy the lake this year with everyone else. Oh my – this made all the difference in the world!  The lake water is typically so cold my thin Florida blood has a hard time adapting to it. In fact last year when I jumped in (sans wet-suit) I started hyperventilating because it was so cold.  This freaked me out because I am a good swimmer but I could barely even dog-paddle back to shore. Not this year!  I swam and swam and swam!

Lake George is beautiful.  Although we had some reptile visitors this year which made it a little more harrowing experience, it was another great fun time.

Mike and I had mutually decided last year that the Grand Canyon would be a perfect vacation for us this year.  Neither one of us had ever been before and it was high on our list of “places to see before you die”.

Days 3 and 4 of the Southwest Spendors trip with Disney granted us our dream of finally seeing this breathtaking creation.  Photos do not do it justice. The awe of the size, colors, depth, landscape, sounds and heat are too much to capture with any kind of camera. But I tried —

Look closely – that little blue speck in the center is Mike!  I refused to climb out there.

Went out at 5:30am to take this shot.

Another morning shot.

We had a choice of activities in the afternoon – I chose mule riding which was fun except the guy you see riding in front of me kept whipping his mule for no reason. I was so angry with him for doing that.

A little deceiving – this wasn’t “my” mule ride. I happened to be walking along the Bright Angel trail on the South Rim when I heard “clumpity clump” behind me. Lo and behold a wrangler was leading this pack of mules down into the Canyon.

My mule’s name was “Algebra”.  She was the best mule in the bunch.  I was surprised at how big mules are.  These guys were as big as horses.  Even though it was 105-degrees out this day, we were required to completely cover up from head-to-toe including wearing wide-brimmed hats.

While I was muling – Mike opted for the faster paced helicopter tour of the canyon. He had a blast!  It was a 45-minute flight and he got to sit in the front seat!

This was the view from our hotel, the Thunderbird Hotel, located in the Grand Canyon National Park.  Although it was more like a Motel 6 accommodation, the stellar view makes it worth the missing in-room luxuries.

Our tour included a stop at the Desert View Watch Tower built in the 1930′s to provide the widest possible view of the Canyon.  Mike is looking out from the top floor of the tower – which is about 5-stories tall.  I have no exterior shots because there were two huge construction cranes flanking it doing maintenance work.

A final photo before heading up to Utah for our next adventure.

Our trip started in Phoenix where we met up with our future travel companions in our group.  There were 25 in this group for the week, 19 adults and 6 kids – the youngest was 5 years old.  Interesting there were quite a few women traveling alone with their children.  Most everyone had some experience with a Disney vacation whether regulars to Disneyland or Disney World and several were DVC members.  About half the group were Adventure repeaters.

We loaded a luxury motor coach and started our 2-hour drive to Sedona where we would spend the first two nights.

The scenery in every location we went to was just incredible.

Sedona, AZ

Sedona, AZ

Me, Mike in Sedona

The Amara Resort where we stayed in Sedona. A beautiful boutique hotel.

Was this Walt’s inspiration for Disney’s Big Thunder Mountain? We were told it was.

Our last stop in Sedona was to a Vortex where we saw this stunning view of what legend has was Walt Disney’s inspiration for Disney’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction in the Magic Kingdom.  Could be!

Funny thing at the Vortex, when we arrived around 9:00am there were three women already there circled together and chanting. I’m sure they weren’t too happy to see a big tour bus show up on their quiet ritual.  We weren’t there long and we weren’t intrusive. They just kept on chanting.

Our next stop – the Grand Canyon!

DISCLOSURE:   Nothing to disclose!  I work for Disney but paid for this trip completely on my own for my summer vacation.  If I hadn’t had a good time, I would say so.

I’ve got so many photos to upload and so many different posts to share stories with you coming up.  But for now, because I’ve just arrived back home and am trying to get caught up on unpacking, laundry, etc… plus dealing with a house construction mess (more to come on that, too) – I’ve got my hands full for the next few days.   Here are some pics to share tonight – and know there are many more to come.

Oh – and did I mention that I had NO cell phone service or email availability during 90% of the cruise?  No checking email, no looking at messages,  - just old fashioned enjoyment.