Tara and Arthur, my friends from Elizabethtown College, came to visit early in June. Although we only got a few days with them, they were quality and filled with adventure. When they arrived to the western side of the island they followed my directions, which I proudly wrote out realizing I’ve been in this country long enough to actually tell OTHER people how to get around… wow. We were anxiously expecting them at 6ish! Well, 6:20 past, 6:37, 6:40, 6:55… now I know Tara isn’t the most timely (we’re similar in main ways) but an HOUR late? I finally get a call, and lo and behold, my directions we craptastic, again. This is the 3rd time someone has gotten lost on our directions… I’m hopeless! (Read: if you’re planning on visiting no matter how confident I sound in my directions stop and ask multiple time and print out your own). They finally reach us in time for us to take them for the token fish and chips at McDonagh’s and wander around town. We showed them around, walked down to the water and saw a real seal swimming around!!
Mike and I were excited to start our part of the vacation early as Tara and Arthur got the last room in the hotel they were staying at and it happened to be a jammy (Irish lingo for “sweet” as in really cool) suite. We stayed on the pullout couch in front of the enormous tv in the kitchen/living room/ dining room area, although we all could have fit on the gianormous California king in the master bedroom. I thought they didn’t even have KING sized beds here… they don’t. It turned out to be 2 full sized beds literally ZIPPED together?! We stayed up in the suite playing cards until we were dozing off mid-hand, while catching up and making fun off me as I knocked yet another glass of beverage (1st was water, 2nd was tea, despite how it sounds) off the table- it was turning into full contact Nutsy (our card game of choice).
We left the next morning for Co. Donegal where part of Tara’s family is from. Our plans were to sight see the Glen Gesh Pass (titled as one of the most beautiful sights in all of Europe) some sea side towns and do some heritage hunting. We made our way to Glen Gesh fully aware that the maps were fairly unclear as to where it is, which we’ve gotten used to, so as we got closer we asked directions and followed signs the best we could. We stopped on our way there in this pretty cool valley-ish place scattered with bleating sheep and greenery. It was lovely, a classic 
Irish view. The sheep were pretty skittish around here. We found this out because I’ve made it a goal to pet one of those fluffy things before we leave… and even if you don’t think they see you… they have eyes on the backs of their wooly bums because they just always scamper away whenever you’re within arms reach. So we were on our way, to find Glen Gesh again, but once we left it got flatter and browner and less and less pretty… we must have missed a turn off or something. We turned around and saw no other road besides the rocky dirt ones. Well, it turns out we were IN the Glen Gesh pass. We decided that, yes, its pretty… but whoever wrote that part about one of the most gorgeous in all of Europe must not have traveled far… maybe even not outside of Donegal. Oh well. We made, it to Letterkenny for the night and had a little party in our room that attempted to rival the raging dance club thumping right outside our window (hotels fail to mention those parts when you’re making reservations).
On Sunday we went on the search for Tara’s family. Getting lost was the fun of the game for the first hour on the road, until we were on the right track to St. Colmkille’s Abbey where we found Tara’s ancestors’ gravesites. There is something exciting about that, it seems to give a sense of
completion. We explored lakes and woods around the area and were off back to Galway. We decided on one more look out point since we were a bit disappointed on our pass through the pass. We picked a random spot to stop- St. Johns point. Although the road to the point was VERY narrow, meaning we actually had to pull off into people’s driveways (if you can call them that) if we saw another car coming, since ONE car barely fit on that road. We were wondering where the heck we were being led… Well, it turned out to be a hidden gem of a beach and look out spot that we would NEVER had expected to be so beautiful. The water at this little beach was clear and blue as the 
Caribbean. We looked out on the southern part of Donegal to our right and the northern part of Sligo to our left. It was fabulous to walk around the grassy hill, the sandy beach and wade in the warm bay water. We stayed there about 2 hours as we were so excited about the treasure we found in this place and were just loving soaking it all in.
Irish view. The sheep were pretty skittish around here. We found this out because I’ve made it a goal to pet one of those fluffy things before we leave… and even if you don’t think they see you… they have eyes on the backs of their wooly bums because they just always scamper away whenever you’re within arms reach. So we were on our way, to find Glen Gesh again, but once we left it got flatter and browner and less and less pretty… we must have missed a turn off or something. We turned around and saw no other road besides the rocky dirt ones. Well, it turns out we were IN the Glen Gesh pass. We decided that, yes, its pretty… but whoever wrote that part about one of the most gorgeous in all of Europe must not have traveled far… maybe even not outside of Donegal. Oh well. We made, it to Letterkenny for the night and had a little party in our room that attempted to rival the raging dance club thumping right outside our window (hotels fail to mention those parts when you’re making reservations).On Sunday we went on the search for Tara’s family. Getting lost was the fun of the game for the first hour on the road, until we were on the right track to St. Colmkille’s Abbey where we found Tara’s ancestors’ gravesites. There is something exciting about that, it seems to give a sense of
completion. We explored lakes and woods around the area and were off back to Galway. We decided on one more look out point since we were a bit disappointed on our pass through the pass. We picked a random spot to stop- St. Johns point. Although the road to the point was VERY narrow, meaning we actually had to pull off into people’s driveways (if you can call them that) if we saw another car coming, since ONE car barely fit on that road. We were wondering where the heck we were being led… Well, it turned out to be a hidden gem of a beach and look out spot that we would NEVER had expected to be so beautiful. The water at this little beach was clear and blue as the 
Caribbean. We looked out on the southern part of Donegal to our right and the northern part of Sligo to our left. It was fabulous to walk around the grassy hill, the sandy beach and wade in the warm bay water. We stayed there about 2 hours as we were so excited about the treasure we found in this place and were just loving soaking it all in. 
The next day in Galway was a much needed lazy day of card playing and exploring the city. The highlight was while playing Nutsy I got the ultimate Nutsy hand- 4 aces face up, which our nerdy, I mean, amazingly smart husbands, figured out to be a 1:270,725 chance! Quite amazing! We reminisced about the old days, T.G.I.F. TV, big wheels and Saved by the Bell. I made a bet with them that if I lost my 1:270725 chance hand that I would have to do the Steve Urkle dance on the main street of Galway, and vice versa if I won. See the
picture below to find out who won!!! Also, thanks to our amazing visitors we now have some much missed “good” peanut butter- Jif, Oreo cookies, and really missed Pad Thai mixes to have Thai food when we like. Ireland is a great place to have visitors since there is so much to see and do within a small island. Another set of visitors and new things for us to experience as well.
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