Chris: Finally got back to Canmore late last night. Had an interesting day/night in Glasgow, Scotland on the way back. I start teaching in Morley tomorrow so I thought I'd take today to finish the update on our holiday to southwestern Ireland.

Kelly: I'm taking over this post as Chris is clearly a very slow blogger ('today' was 4 days ago)....Anywa, just finished my 3rd of 8 exams and need a little diversion from studying. Here's some highlights of our spring break trip through southwest Ireland.

We left Galway with two friends (Barry and Ian- 'The Hoff''), a jam packed car, no return date and no agenda other than heading to the Dingle Peninsula for a hike up Mt. Brandon. The weather was incredible and with that comes great sunsets. We had to race the sun going down to get to a beach in time to have a class of wine and watch the sun go down (it's a tough life we live). We found an amazing spot to camp, right on some sandy bluffs, and yes, made it just in time to see the beautiful red sky.

Sunset on the Dingle Peninsula with Mt. Brandon in the distance.

Lucky people!!

Lucky us!

Lucky Barry...nice place for breakfast!

Some locals on the road to the trailhead of Mt. Brandon

Check out the Irish polar bear!

Add a stone to the pile on your way by

The lads...all fed and ready to carry on

Nearing the summit

The summit of Mt. Brandon (952m).

Looking SW out to Slea Head.

View from the summit

After the Brandon hike we made our way to Dingle Town to spend the night.

A little friend to play with

Dingle Harbor

We found a nice beach to relax, read, swim and play some football. We could also catch glimpses of Fungi, the dolphin that lives in the opening to Dingle Bay.

Gaelic Football

A swim in Dingle Bay....very cold but seemed warmer than Galway

The Hoff was totally stressed out all day. We just couldn't get him to relax....

After Dingle we decided to head south to County Kerry to climb the 3 highest peaks in Ireland: Carrauntoohil (1039m), Beenkeragh (1010m) and Caher (1001m). A route called the 'Horseshoe' loop allows you to summit all three in one day.

We could see all 3 clearly on the drive from Dingle.

We stopped to pick up more camping supplies so as not to waste the extra 3 feet of space in the car! Barry and The Hoff were great sports dealing with the pack job (and Kelly, who had to sit with the garbage).

Another great campsite with a sunset view! (Across from Carrauntoohil)

(Carrauntoohil roughly pronounced Caren-tool)

Barry making an Irish specialty-hot whiskey ( It was just too bad that he accidentally bought nail polish remover instead of Whiskey)

The trail starts up through a farmers field

This lamb had just been born and was quite confused with the feeding frezy going on in his herd.

On the way up

The view behind us (our approach was from the lake in the disance)

A narrow ridge approach to the summit of Carrauntoohil (don't look down!).

If you look carefully you can see the cross on the summit.

On the ridge

On top of Ireland!!!!!!!!!!!

Apparently, there used to be windmill powered lights on that cross and a bicycle chained to it that some guy carried up just for laughs.

Summit views

After two big days of hiking and a day at the beach we parted ways with our friends and travelled further south to meet some Canadian friends on the southern tip of the west coast in a small town called Baltimore. It was a beautiful place and we spent a night in luxury at a small hotel built in the ruins of a 400 year old farm.

Us with our friend Dave (Canadian studying medicine in Cork, his mother-in-law, Francine, and little girl Ella). Daves wife Dominique was also with us.

The pe-electricity 'lighthouse' /beacon in Baltimore

Another day at the Beach

Kelly and Ella...we had so much fun with her!!

Splashing in the waves. Ella's intro to the ocean

We spent our last few days in Cork city at Dave and Dom's place. Cork is a beautiful city but we mostly enjoyed playing cards, great food, and the good company of our friends.

All in all, we were gone 10 days...had glorious weather the whole time and love this country more all the time.

And...back to the reality of studying for exams..... See ya soon!!

Pigeon update....
Peetie flew away yesterday!!!!! I put him out on the balcony when I went to my exam and when I came home he was gone. A couple last photos...

Waiting at the door to be let in

In the door and straight to his 'nest'

1 exam done, 7 to go....

New Roomie!!!! Introducing Peetie the baby Pigeon....

Chris went back to Canada on Saturday and I was lonely until a little visitor arrived. He landed on my balcony yesterday afternoon...seemed lost and unable to fly with no Mom in sight. It was rainy and cold so the only thing to do was bring him in. He spen the night with a hot water bottle in my laundry basket and is still here today. My vet friend says to keep putting him out to see if he'll fly away. The last time I tried, he stayed out for a few minutes and then paced back and forth to the door until I let him in. When I opened the door, he walked straight in, across the living room and down the hall to the bathroom. I think he thinks he deserves more than a basket now that he's been here 2 days. He is eating a drinking a little bit with gentle encouragement but seems sleepy and still can't fly so I hope he'll be okay.

How could I not let him in????

In his bed

Thinking about flying away.

Back to my books! 8 Exams to go...See you soon. (Home on the 12th of May). Kell

Once Kelly finished classes she had some time to relax and enjoy the Irish life before exam studying began. On her first day of semi-freedom we went down to the market for groceries and delicious crepes. We saw found a local artist and thought that his work was really something special. At 5 euro, his paintings were a bargain! Kelly made the kids week when she went to purchase one. The completed sailboat original is now proudly displayed in our new apartment. More on that later.


After market day, I needed to head north to drop off all the surfing equipment that Generous Dan had lent us. Seeing it as a perfect opportunity to get wet again, Kelly, Barry, Dave H. and myself went for a tour to a beach near Louisberg, Mayo.

Thank goodness we brought our friend Dave Hasselhoff to ensure everyone's safety. Unfortunately, it was too cold for his red trunks. I love going out with him, he gets mistaken for Knight Rider all the time! We're anxiously awaiting the release of his new CD, I hope this makes the cover. (Although we do have a fab one of him posing in a waterfall)

Warming up after cold water.

This take-away joint really understands how our car operates.

On our way through Westport, on our way to see Dan in Ballina, we were given a fantastic sunset with Crough Patrick standing mighty to the south. Love those sunsets!