Connemara

Well, today I decided to take off and start my explorations of the area.  Although I've been out to Connemara before, it's been years and on a whirlwind tour with Amy when she came with me to Ireland after her uni graduation.  So, now I have all the time in the world to stop wherever I want for as long as I want!!  Such a luxury....  Today we went as far as  Ros an Mihl where you can catch the ferry to the Aran Islands.  I had no intention of going out there at this time since I want to wait until the "tourists" go home so it won't be crowded.  But at least I now know how long it takes to get there and just exactly where it is.  As usual, I missed the exit off of a roundabout so ended up taking a completely different, 1 lane route over a mountain... I'm always glad when this happens because you see places you'd NEVER see otherwise.  I went along Lough Corrib en route to Oughterad but turned up away from the lake, following a river.  It was beautiful.  Then down the other side to An Spideal where I picked up the coast road that I'd wanted initially.  About 10 K along, I decided to head down toward the sea.  We were following Galway Bay complete opposite the Burren which I'd been to yesterday.  We found a place to park the car and take the camera for a walk.  I had purchased a new, very sturdy tri-pod for the camera so was ready to try it out.  My new camera is very heavy and when you add the good lens, it's almost impossible to hold it steady enough to do low-light photography.  The shutter has to stay open too long and everything gets blurry...so, off we went with all the equipment.  The sky was perfect...rolling clouds  with brief moments of sun shining through.  It was just such fun to walk along and see what the day brings. I had a nice visit with a couple who arrived on their bikes.... he had been born in the area, but lived in Boston for 50 years.  Had returned to his homeplace about 5 years ago.  Still feels like an outsider since it's a gaelteacht region totally.  And I don't believe his Irish was very good.  So, he still doesn't feel very welcome...the locals call him a Yank....  I understand!!  After a bit, I realized I didn't know where Flan was... Well, she'd found two horses...a mom and a youngster and was barking and darting at them.  She refused to come to me and I was so mad.  This alpha dog needs to get tougher.  I finally walked back and got the car...brought it up thinking when she saw it she'd "pop in" as I say.  No go!!  I was trying to figure out how to climb the gate when she decided she was thirsty and went down to the sea to drink...not the brightest pooch!!  Anyway, I got the leash on her and literally lifted her by the neck on the leash and threw her into the car..... I didn't care if I hurt her or not...... mom had had it!!  She seemed to know I was angry and slunk down on the seat.  I gave her some fresh water and then let her sleep.  We set off for further adventures, saw the travelers with their wagon coming up the road, then got to Ros an Mhil and found the ferry landing.  Finally it was time to head home.  Along the way I made one more side-trip to a sandy beach where I could walk with Flan on a very long lead.  She is in the "dog house" with me for a bit!!  Then it was onward to the house with a stop at Tesco in Oranmore for some wine!!  I needed it.  The Tesco is so cool here... as I've said for years,"why pave over the land for cars"  This one has an giant parking garage under it and you just ride the moving sidewalk up to the store.  When you leave, just take your trolly down the moving sidewalk and put it in the stand in the parking garage just like you would in an outdoor lot.  GREAT use of land.

Photos:  The sea, gorse and heather, rocks, beaches, all in Connemara.