Jeremiah Watt

Enroute to the Emerald Isles

This trip started as do most of our longer journies, about two years in the planning and budget stages along with plenty of work to get done before the actual holiday can begin. This month long sojourn is very much the same. I had plenty of saddlework to get done, two as matter fact. One for a good fellow who will soon be riding his third custom saddle, while the other will be riding his first handmade saddle . Even if it is his first saddle, we feel that the workmanship will prove too be the final arbiture of how many saddles on a custom chasis he ends up owning. I finished up another three silver mount bits and a pair of silver mount spurs.

Packed and in the truck by 1:30 Mom told the kids…………..but then there entered “snaff-oo” number one. We have a young friend from town traveling with us by the name of Darren Ramalho, young Darren began back in Feb with his visa application, and then somebody from INS Office entered his last name incorrectly and the whole process broke down severely from there. Here we are less than 12 hours from departure time and we are still waiting with bad breath for the arrival of his Visa……….?

So, I am still working on last minute stuff, like empty the wax pot on my sewing machine and empty out the contents of my glue pot………….and lastly set a large rock on my dog so he does not run away while we are gone……….this brought on yelps of complaint but I am fair sure he will get over it.

Its 5:30, and we have confirmation that Darren got his passport and we are a “GO HOUSTON” affirmative, we have a “LIFT OFF”!

Arrived LA by about midnite and up at 6AM to meet some friends for early breakfast, but in the end they didn’t show and my Nevada fell asleep in her scrambled eggs. The departure was 11am, and we ate up and headed to the Airport to get our place in line. They warn you that you want at least 2 hours to make your way thru the lines in time. But with my wife, you double that and then some…………so we did.

The hulking aircraft lurches and side steps, skips, jumps and rocks its way as it makes those ominous whirring noises, and Darren is squealing like a little school girl at the excitement of it all…………its his first plane ride. Were laughing with excitement watching Darren, finally the quarter ride out in front of Wal-Mart comes to an end and we all wonder how Darren will do on the real Jet in a few hours to come. It was just fine, but the excitement level was a little less since he had already experienced the feeling of euphoria brought on by the .25 cent ride earlier. We pretty much sleep/read and eat our way up over New Found Land and on to Ireland. To clear up any thoughts about laying claim to this newly found chunk of rock and sea gull droppings that lay just off the Canadian coast in the Atlantic……….it was found a long time ago by the Vikings like so many other places such as Greenland, Iceland and Costa Rica to name but few.

We left California just as a great spring came to an end and the heat wave of summer was about to begin. It was 95 a t home when we left, and 55 degrees in Dublin when we landed. For sake of cleanliness and hy-jeans, I will refrain from using the native tongue of the Irish, since it is quite necessary to exude a fair amount of spittle in order that the words are pronounced properly………we will just stick to English for this post. It is very overcast when we arrive, and very rainy. We get a few short glimpses of the Atlantic/Irish Sea of the coast from Dublin. Making our way to the baggage claim, waiting to see who won the “dead under wear” bet we had made. What is that you say, a “Dead Under Wear” bet, well with all the security and bag checking is quite common to see luggage come round the baggage claim with parts of some ones under wear hanging out of an inspected but not sealed correctly bag…………thanks heavens none of us had the feared security britches breach.

Headed to the rental car, and JW got himself a right hand drive crash test model…………well that is what I asked for but found the proverbial red headed Irish chicks indeed have a wide footing but a poor foundation in humour. I make my way quite nervously to the rental stall, expecting to see some post Nas-car pile-up version setting there for me to drive………….but found a nice Toyota with a hefty accent. With fear and trepidation gripping my tense body I make my way out into the flow of traffic……………….my family can sense my tense…………and they begin to cheer and rant at my performance thus far. Now signs and warnings come fast and furious, as they are all able to render proper driving instructions from the safety of a seat with out a toy steering wheel in front of them…………only I have a helm…………..you would think I should be driving…………oh no.

We make our way round about fashion to the center of downtown Dublin, horns honking, whistles blowing and Jeremiah fingering…………..Iam sorry , there was no fingering by me, just Colleen. Were we lost you ask, well yes, we did see quite a few of the same corners. But we had one better. We are completely turned around, streets run every direction that drunk city planner can wander, and we keep asking and getting sent in the wrong direction. So we started off down another block, I pulled the car UP onto the sidewalk, as is the fashion, and Colleen got out to ask yet one more citizen for directions in a version of English that is harder to understand than Russian it seems. Danged if it wasn’t the same fellow we had asked just 20 minutes ago on a different city block. He got quite a chuckle, and Colleen got quite a red face, and we finally got to the Citi-Center Hostel. This is a no frilss, give the kids a chance to really see what life is all about sort of trip……………..no Marriots and day spa stuff here. I guess we will see when this trip is over if our friend Darren likes traveling in excess or its poverty stricken cousin??

Dublin is very pretty as there is a lot of greenery around the city, we strolled St. Stevens Green which is a gorgeous 28 acre park in the center of town , and hit Christ Church Cathedral. We all noted the importance of the major Distillers and Brewers in Dublin, as they sort of compete for things to donate to the city of Dublin, like the parks and restoration of Cathedrals etc. The batteries are starting to run rather low on old Pop’s and it seems that somewhere along the open topped , double decked City bus tour I drifted of in to a neck twisting , head banging deep sleep…………….so gone was I that my kids had to run back and wake me up or the bus would have left with one more Yankee on board than it wanted.
We had a great meal at a local Pub, you will find that when JW travels the usual franchise restaurants etc are off limits. My kids aren’t to fussy about food, and we are not sure if Darren has ventured past Sugar Pops or not yet. Most folks tell you to stop and eat at the local Pubs, which is what we done. So it was we had a great Shepards Pie and chips, Mom a great Malter’s Barley open tuna sandwich and some Fish & Chips. It was good all around. In Europe you soon notice that most soft drinks and water come in small servings 12oz. each , and no refills. So for kids used to the endless soda fountain routine this comes as quite a shock to there formerly bloated full “ Sorry Mom, I am full of soda” system. And suddenly soda rationing becomes the order of the day.

A casual stroll back to the Hostel, get the camera charging and the first blog page gets typed up………dang I am such a slow typer and these laptops with the small flat keyboard even make it slower for me. Not to worry, we have it done and have had our sleep for the nite, with the window wide open, our lace curtains fluttering in the coastal breeze, quite relaxing. JW is up, and walking first, down to find someplace to get food for the brood. Things are a tad different here in that respect, I have not seen what most of us would call a Food Center and certainly not a Super Center. Never have liked lining up to buy my Fench Cheese next to a guy buying his new rock monster tires whom is followed by a guy buying Bud Lite and 2x4’s Groceries here a re in tiny little stores tucked into building corners, usually with a small face to the street, and quite a bit more store hidden inside. Not bad, just not any thing like the selection that most of USA is used to. We eat good this AM, with fresh Croissants and fresh fruit and good ol’cow milk.

Well I am going to call it quits, and get on with our tour. So Pray for us if you have that chance, I know that you will Rob & Mike, and I will try to get some pic’s handled. Remember keep an eye out for JW for he is hiding someplace in ONE picture each blog entry.
Good night and God Bless.
Pics 101-0558 to 101-0731 are from LA to end of first day Dublin.