Friday, October 10, 2008

Day 1 ...the invasion of the Boyne...

First Day:

...Got lost several times.... Drove around Airport area a couple of times. Maps don't match up very well with the GPS.... ...Had some really awesome Donuts at a Petrol Station while getting directions. Almost got creamed while making a "U"wee as per the GPS in Dublin...

AHHHH! I'll never do that again!!!!

~

...Saw the "Bru na Boinne" and "Knowth" Burial Chamber's AKA: (New Grange) on the way to our first nights lodging near Omagh Yesterday. Steve's people are from this area and it is quite possible that they may have had some part in it's history and incarnations from the Neolithic times upto and including the 1800s.

VERY OLD AND VERY COOL!

Bru na Boinne AKA: New Grange.

Some of you who work with me may recognize the "Whorls" from
the design's that I draw in the ashtrays in the kitty litter
after I am done cleaning them...
(I'm not there so I'm not doing that now....)

Inside the tomb at "Knowth".
No pictures were allowed in "Bru na Boinne"
or I would have taken some pictures of the
Carved in Stone Graffiti from the 1840's.
~
("...you gotta be really serious about your Graffiti
if your gonna do it with a chisel!")
~
(...I was looking for Steve's
ancestral names the "Quinlan's"
but alas it was dark and he ran out
when they turned the lights out...)

(...not...)
(...just kidding...)

This is my brother Richard on top of the Knowth Site.


The (3) "Bru na Boinne" Sites are located in a triangle
inside an oxbow on the River Boyne.
(...Yes bIRD, here is your "Water Source" at the Sacred Place...)
(We didn't visit the third site ("Dowth")
as we didn't have enough time...)

"Would you look at that! ...its a Real Irish bIRD!"

It was hard to find our way out of there as you can see...
(...I thought the sign said Far Out! )

~

Went to a Tower outside of Kells that was basically a crumbled mass in a cow field. I had to climb a Stone hedgerow to see it. I guess for illustrative purposes I should have taken a picture any way...

...and then Steve and Rich could have taken pictures of me trying to get down... The thing was at least 6" tall....

("...we drove around an hour looking this what?")


~

YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE
WHAT I FOUND IN KELLS!

....I may be able to find employment here yet....

"Ah, yeah, my name is really "Derril", and this is my
"other brother from another Mother..."
...Larry, ...Larry O'Brien..."


~

After we lost our way in the Kells area, we headed north: It took several hours in the Rain, on the left hand side of the road, with BIGASS TRUCKs coming at us encroaching on OUR SPACE! ...I had the window down to help defog cause we didn't think we would need a car with Air conditioning,at one point and, well, ...there is NO SHOULDER!

...so a branch came WHACK into the car!

It was dark and I couldn't find the window button to close it either!

DRIVING LIKE THIS IS VERY SCARY!!!

The GPS is only good in Ireland not Northern Ireland as it is UK and not part of the software Richard purchased!

...and now that we're in UK the speedometer doesn't match!

(...I will Post pictures of the hedgerows and how close they are to the road tomorrow...)

The Gage is Kilometers, Speed is in miles, AND WE SUCK AT MATH!

...especially at high speeds!



~

BELIEVE IT OR NOT! We arrived safely!

I would blog about our time today in Strabane but blogger is being a weenie and we need some sleep....

LOVE YOU ALL!

~

"How's 'bout ye!"
obeedúid~
10/Oct/08