Saturday, 26-July-2025
After hiking, and after acapella Elvish, we took a quiet road home. And that made all the difference.
How an adventure ends is important, we can all agree. This ending was beautiful – scenic, calm driving back into the city, while watching the hills and countryside slip by. Those long, seemingly endless roads through the Irish hills…
They’re lovely, they’re calming, and I’m thankful we could experience them.
Saturday, 16-Nov-2024 through Sunday, 17-Nov-2024
It’s been a while since I’d been to a new country. I’d adventured across Europe, explored countless amazing spots, and finally found myself in Ireland… But had gotten settled into a new life of apartment hunting, Irish trips, and classwork.
Thanks to my amazing adventure partner Andrea, that was about to change – Northern Ireland lay on the horizon! We’d split the trip planning up – I’d selected spots, and would be covering navigation, while she had found us not only a cheap rental car, but an amazing Bed and Breakfast to stay at outside of Belfast.
We packed the car, and headed North.
On our way, we took a few adventure stops – nothing major, but little pauses to stretch our legs, refuel the car, and on one occasion to pet an incredibly cute little puppy in its Christmas sweater. We Drove, we chatted, and we had an absolutely lovely time sliding out of the Republic of Ireland, and into Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom.
On the other end of the trip, the return journey, we didn’t take quite as leisurely a drive – we pushed through to Dublin in a solid run, though we made a point to take our time and not rush. We chatted, traded stories and thoughts, and earned a very lovely dinner and pint in a pub nearby, upon our return.
Saturday, 13-July-2024
It was still a bit too early to head home, after our jaunt of wine tasting… but it was comfortably early enough in the day still, so we retraced our steps to Cap Canaille, though choosing to go clockwise around the meandering road instead of our previous counter-clockwise.
As before, the views were absolutely amazing – and well earned, after a day of Kayaking, wandering, and wine tasting.
I don’t have much to say about the drive, or really the wanderings around the various parking lots… instead, I’ll simply comment on the beautiful serenity of the escapade. It was the last full day of my Mom and Steve’s visit, the last day that I’d have familial company on my adventure. We’d made an excellent week of it, and I was (and still am) endlessly thankful that they were able to come out and join me. We’d gotten a lot done, while also relaxing quite a bit.
I, for one, wasn’t quite ready to see them go… and so I savored this last brief escapade together. I’d been rolling solo since Iceland, for just about two months, and had gotten quite adroit at enjoying the quiet of my own company without getting lonely… but, somehow, I was scared to be alone again after the inevitable departure from the airport after dropping them off.
I’d persevere, I know, but… still.
This last adventure drive was appreciated.
