Day 2 (Feb 16)

We started the day a little later then the first. We had tickets for a Finland-China women's hockey match in the evening. We decided our first stop should be the olympic store. The line had been rumored at being over 2 hours in the afternoon. We figured we could get there early enough to beat that rush. We stood in line for about 1 hour. Right about the time we were thinking we were at a standstill, my sister got out of line for a coffee. Almost as soon as she left, we were let in. We then watched her walk to the door and walk in, in front of all the patient shoppers in line. We stayed in the official store for about an hour and a half. We were also impressed at how quickly the store pumped people through the checkout line. All of the people in the store were polite as well. It was a different shopping experience.
When we finished shopping and headed toward the hockey stadium and the Saskatchewan pavilion. We looked for a bathroom and the nearest out of our sky train stop was in a mall in china town. The mall had a stage set up for Chinese new year, and we sat nearby and ate a quiet lunch.

We then headed outside to beautiful sunlight. We walked right by the hockey stadium just as a Canadian game was ready to be let in. The crowd was impressive. We then walked around the stadium and landed near Science World. They changed the Science world into Sochi world for the next Olympic games in Russia. We walked into the Saskatchewan tent and found a tv showing the games.

We watched the female snowboard cross in the tent. It was fun again to watch in a crowd. We then walked into the food and music tent. We weren't too impressed, but I did get my photo with some mounties.

As we exited, we saw the flags of the olympic village.

The security was pretty tight. They put up apartments for the athletes for the games, and they will sell to people after the games. We then found the stage where Colbert was filming the next morning. We then made our way to the train station and made our way out of downtown, back toward the University. We got on a bus and headed to the hockey game. As we approached the stadium, the crowd buzzed. We had to exit the bus a few block from the venue and walked. There were great volunteers the entire walk to tell us where to go.

We all had tickets but we were not sitting in the same places. I was in the highest seat on the edge of the side of the rink. I was sat next to a group of college students who came from Toronto for the game. They were great fans. They had their beers, they picked their teams and only yelled encouragement. In the US, if we had a drunk baseball crowd, I would only expect negative yelling and jeers at the ref or the players that do not play up to expectations. These guys( and girl) were true hockey fans and only cheered for a good game.
We watched Finland own the puck. They put 43 shots on goal to China's 5 for the game, but the score was 2-1. It was fun.

We then headed home. My brother, his wife and I decided to try and find a bar and watch some highlights. We found a nice little pub with a great burger and brew special. We ate and laughed until closing. I then headed home for an early morning getting ready for Colbert.

Olympics Day 1 (Feb 15)

We were suppose to have tickets for snowboard cross on Monday, but the weather caused the organizers to cancel all standing room tickets. The only good that came of it was that we were able to sleep in and we explored downtown. My dad bought a ticket from Stub-hub and there was a ticket location in town that we went to see if we would get reimbursed. We walked to the bus stop from our rental house and Dad gave us all change for the bus. We rode into town and were marveling at the crowd and the city. It is always fun to get the first glimpses of cities from windows of vehicles, and it is even more dramatic to get the view as you cross a body of water. I enjoyed my introduction to Vancouver in the daylight. We stepped off the bus and the first thing we saw down the street, was the Olympic flame.

After a brief stop where we were told that Dad would get reimbursed, we headed for the cauldron. It was a nice day, but overcast. We took photos with the scattered crowd outside the fence surrounding the torch. We then walked through town to find cultural pavilions and be apart of the crowd. We headed to the Northwest territories and Inuit pavilion. This was our fist line. We stood in line for only about 5 minutes and were let in. Inside there was lots of art and tools of people that live in the great white North.

There was also a small stage set up where there were demonstrations of Native games to practice agility and pain tolerance.

After a brief lunch, we walked toward The Bay. This is the Hudson Bay Trading Company, the oldest company in Canada and the exclusive Olympic Store. There was a line. We walked into a side door without a line, and saw a sign for the international clothes on the fifth floor. We went up escalators and took us a minute to find the section, but were happy to see clothes for all the countries as well as some Canadian and Olympic shirts and souvenirs. We stood in line to check out and then headed to Robsen Square. This was the hot bed of activity for the city. There was a free zip line (five hour wait) that crossed downtown, as well as an ice skating rink that went under the street. We found a big screen TV opposite of some stairs. We sat and watched the Snowboard cross, disappointed we weren't there. This was our first opportunity to watch tv with a crowd. Anytime a Canadian athlete came on, the crowd became alive.

As we walked around we found a bobsled (known as a bobsleigh in Canada) and went to take a picture. A line formed, which is a very Canadian thing to do.

The politeness was outstanding. The bus drivers would ask politely for people to not get on the back door, or to please move back. If they told somebody to "please don't" it was always met by heartfelt "I'm sorry" and no bad feelings. This is quite a surprise, especially coming from teaching 15-17 year old teenagers who feel entitled to everything and when you ask them to do something they don't always agree with, you receive eye-rolls and complaints.

We then decided to walk toward a Downtown Livecity, a place that had live music, food, and other entertainment. On our way we found the library. We went in and found two small shops that had trinkets, pins, postcards, and some shirts for the Olympics. We also took part in an art project promoting peace. The art was to get a crowd to write individually the ways they find and promote peace, fold the paper into the shape of a maple seed and send it into an air tube which launches it into the air and then catches in a net.

We then grabbed a drink and apetizer from a pub attached to the library. We were in a tent watching more TV. The sun went down as we finished up and we walked toward Yaletown Livecity. It was a free concert venue. We walked by CBC studios and waved our arms in the background of a broadcast. We then found block of food tents and found some additional food stuff to satisfy our consumerism. As we got into livecity (through metal detectors and pat downs, very polite patdowns) and were just in time to watch the first gold medal won by a Canadian on home soil get put around his neck on the big screen tvs. The crowd went nuts. We then went through the different tents set up and saw the future of 3D television as well as played some computer games. As we were waiting for one line (shocking) I saw a sign that said, "U-S-eh?" So I asked to get a photo. The man asked if I would want an olympian in the photo. So I said sure. It was Erik Fisher, but I had no idea until last week.


Matisyahu took the stage and was great. We danced in the rain and were wearing down when the concert ended. They then began some fireworks and a water show. The created a sheet of water behind the stage and projected images from the olympics to music. It was pretty neat. We then headed home on a full bus to crash.

February 13 and 14th

Last weekend, I went to school to tie up loose ends before my week in Canada, and then I went to the barber shop for a haircut. I left town around 4pm and drove up to Seattle to meet with family. i drove to Sea-Tac airport and met my parenst who drove from Montana the night before. i hadn't seen my parents since I left Montana in early July. It was great to be with them again. My dad and I then rode the hotel shuttle to the airport to meet my brother, his wife, and sister who were flying from DC that day.

We met them at the gate and headed back to the hotel.
I think it started at that point: we attracted looks at our noisy laughter and good fun. This would be a reoccurring theme on transportation around the next week. We had a happy reunion as I hadn't seen my siblings since the previous Christmas.
Valentines day started with my parents, brother and sister-in-law driving to Vancouver as my sister and I drove to north Seattle to visit some of her friends. We were trying to delay our arrival in Vancouver, because we told the people we were renting from that no more than 5 people would be in the house at a time.

My sister drove to Green Lake and met an old roomate of hers.
We ate breakfast while sharing stories, and then we walked around the lake. It was a beautiful "spring" day. It was one of the first days of brilliant sunshine as well. We then walked back to the breakfast place and met another set of my sister's friends. We ate lunch and then, back around the lake we went. The park was beautiful, and there were a ton of people.

There was also lots of free hugs. We were all a little skeptical at first, but then we gave in and took hugs around the lake. Happy Valentine's day.

My sister dropped her friend off at her place and began to walk through a farmer's market. It was more of a artisans market with a bunch of vintage tee-shirts and trinkets. We also found an antique-ish shop that sold used items form the 70's in great shape. I found a couple of state maps from the 50's which had great graphics.

We then started our trek north. We made it to the border around 7pm and handed our passports to the officer at the gate. We were asked to get out, and have our car searched. My sister and I were questioned separately and after about 10 minutes, we were able to go. It might have been a good thing we stopped. In the customs office, the TV was showing men's moguls. We were able to watch Andrew Bilodeau earn Canada's first gold medal. I don't know if we would have had another opportunity (this sentence is suppose to have a sarcastic tone. For the first three days, ALL tvs had a clip of the bumpy skiing guy and his victory).

We arrived outside our beautiful rental home and we all had a great dinner. We watched some Olympics, and were preparing to wake up early, when we found out our snowboard cross tickets were canceled due to lack of snow in the viewing area. We would go downtown in the morning anyway and try and get refunds.

Olympic short update

When I get back, I will put together a daily journal.

I have taken pictures with an olympian, although I have no idea what his name is. I was on CBC as waving hands in the background. I also took part in the first of two Stephen Colbert tapings downtown Vancouver. I love the town of Vancouver, and Canadians are super polite. It will be sad to leave. I am going to wake up tomorrow early to get to Whistler to watch Biathlon. It is a wonderful thing to be sharing space with so many nationalities in a peaceful competition.

Cheers.

End of Semester 1

I am now over half way through my third year as a high school science teacher. There are always pros and cons in any job, and I am still finding many more positives where I am at. This year, I feel, like I am doing the best work and actually teaching well. I know what makes a successful lesson and what doesn't but I am still fine tuning the balancing act of grading, planning, meeting, volunteering, communicating with parents, and of course, classroom instruction.
I feel very fortunate that I am in a school with so many young teachers, but also, young teachers that are inspired in their work. I also love working with co-workers that have the same teaching philosophy as I do.
I feel some times as if I am an alternative ed teacher. I have homeless students, students with parole officers, students who have been abused, students with minor and severe disabilities, as well as students who have substance abuse problems. I really do enjoy my job and ffeel that I am teaching students to be better citizens more than I am teaching them science (at least my sophomores). The first half of this year I had 95 sophomores. My students earned 2 "A's" and 33 "F's." That is over 1/3 of all my sophomores. This means that I am pretty much guaranteed to teach another section next year for juniors or seniors who did not pass the first time through. I am currently teaching two sections of "retakes" with 9 and 20 students respectively. Next year, I know those numbers will go up.
The biggest issue with my students is not that they aren't smart, they can understand what I say. They may not be bale to turn on their critical thinking skills when I expect it, but the biggest issue is work ethic. Homework doesn't give them enough satisfaction. In class, they know if they tell a joke they will get a quick and positive response of a classmates laugh. They do not see the reason for working on a project from start to finish, or how effort translates into positive reactions from their teachers or how it has positive effects on their grades.
Part of where I think education is broken, is that when we were bringing our numbers forward of the failed students, we were asked how did we cover our bases with our parents. While I think this is important and if we had dropped the ball I would expect to be held accountable. However, when we bring up our concerns there is no answer given to us about what we can do. When I was in school (and granted I am a special case with 14 in my graduating class) there would have been a minority of students that had poor grades, or items of concern. If I spent as much time as I should communicating with parents when students do not show up, forget an assignment or underperform, or misbehave, there would be no time for any other tasks.
There is no perfect answer. One of the best solutions would be to lower class sizes. We would need to hire new teachers to offer more sections of the same classes. If not more classes, at least we need more resources for students who need an extra boost. Whether it is a classroom aide to help with skills or language, a substance abuse counselor, food, a school nurse, or any other type of support, we just don't have them in our district. With budget cuts in every school district in our state, there is not much hope in this front. The other issue is that we are being run like a business. Schools are not there for profit. If they were, a lot of things would be different, and many of my students would have been "fired."
For all of the disgust in this rant, I will say I love my job because of the great moments with students and the discussions and passion of my co-workers. If I was surrounded by a different mindset or different personnel, I could see me getting jaded quickly and giving up. I don't feel this way at all. I also work with students privileged enough that they need very little support in high school and have the ability to help other students. I look forward to the second half of this year.

Washer and Dryer

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, I went to price washers and dryers. As I walked through the aisles, a man walked over and told me he had just taken down the special sales signs, but they still apply until close. I found a high efficiency washer and dryer that were 50% off. They must have been a good sale. He told me he had sold more than ever before. I bought a brand new washer and dryer for under $1000. The sales man said it may be 2 weeks before the free delivery. I said thanks.
2 weeks later, I called, and they said it may have to be another two weeks, but it should be before the new year. I called again, they said they were backed up and won't deliver until the end of January. I finally got a call that said they would deliver it on Saturday morning. I woke up early to clean up a little bit and get ready for the call. The call came at 3:00 pm.
They showed up around 3:45 and put the washer in without a problem. They went to install the dryer, and they found the outlet didn't match the cord I purchased. They went up and down from my apt. to their truck bringing cord after cord, but it did not match. They called their boss, I will have to talk to my apartment manager to try and get a new outlet. So needless to say, I have been paying to do laundry at a laundromat for the last two months, even though I had already shelled out for a washer and dryer, and I STILL can't dry any clothes if I want to wash them. It is truly frustrating. I am worried the outlet is not wired for the dryer I have, even though it uses lower energy than most.

One good thing is they barely scuffed the front of my washer when they installed it, so they are giving me an extra 10% off. Maybe that will be enough to pay for an electrician to come in and swap an outlet.

Merry Christmas

This is the first Christmas I haven't been with family. I have had time for reflection and relaxation this break. School got out Friday the 18th. I have bought myself lots of toys to play with. I now have a Wii with a few games. It has kept me busy for sure. I did go Snowshoeing on the 23rd with a co-worker who was waiting for family to show up.

My family has been very good about calling and making sure I am good. I have talked to my family at home who I miss, and they miss me.

One of the best things I did, was to go running on Christmas eve. I put my ipod in with a mix of holiday songs and ran around the neighborhoods of Mac looking at lights. The best part was actually running around dinner time and watching families gather. Each house that had a picture window, gave me a brief snap shot of that family's holiday tradition. I ran by houses that smelled of turkey, ham, lamb, and laundry. I watched laughter, dinner, grace, and games. I ran by carolers, runners, after meal walkers, and lots of holiday lights.

I am sitting now in my apartment under the glow of my tree, watching holiday specials, enjoying a holiday brew, and smiling with the warm thoughts that have been shared by friends and families. Merry Christmas.

H1N1

Our school has been hit hard by the artist formerly known as swine flu. We had 500 students absent one day (out of 1800) and rumors abound that they will cancel school. We have had half of the students in multiple classes absent, so it is difficult to teach when you don't know when the students will make it up, and you will have to reteach everything again to half the students. It is a new challenge for many of us at the high school. I am sick, but I don't feel queasy or feverish. I am weak though.

Fall has certainly arrived. I bought a light for my bike and now I am riding everywhere. I am loving it. I have ridden through the rain, wind, and falling leaves. Today is a beautiful fall day. I am going to relax and catch up on some grading before I watch the beavers play the Trojans.

School has begun

School started the first of September. I am teaching astronomy, earth systems, and physical science. I am loving it. I have some students for the third year (which is how long I have been teaching). I have my own classroom for the first time as well. I have volunteered to be an adviser and data specialist for a group in charge of positive behavior systems at the school. I am also an adviser for LINK crew which helps freshman bridge the gap between middle school and high school. I started ultimate frisbee club again for this year, and I tutor after school 2 days a week. I don't have time to grade papers, but I love what I do. I have been running since my foot has healed. I went to physical therapy for a few weeks and strengthened my foot, legs and abs along the way.
I have been riding my bike to school most days but I do ride my car when I can't carry all my supplies. Tonight I played frisbee, and then drove home. I went back for volleyball decided I should just run. It felt good. I may start running to school every once in a while.
I bought tickets to three Oregon State games. I watched them beat Portland State, Stanford and I have tickets for Halloween against UCLA. Marie and I are going to a ballet tomorrow. I have started playing bluegrass with a couple of friends (banjo, guitar, mandolin).
Life is busy, but I am living well.

Rouge River

When I returned to Oregon, I had x-rays taken (they were negative) and went on a 4 night river trip down the Rogue River with 13 other people. Two were teachers at the high school, the rest were their spouses, their friends and siblings. We put in at above Grave Creek and took out at Foster Bar. We had 5 boats: 3 rafts with oars and 1 passenger (room for 6) an inflatable kayak (1) and a paddle raft for 7. I was in the paddle raft. We had 6 people that had never been on the river and 1 who was our rudder.
The first day had a few small rapids and then Rainy Falls. Danger Dave, one of our leaders, had decided he would run the main chute of the falls for the first time. We got out of the boats and spotted with other rafters. We watched a few people go over the falls and then our party tried our hand. There were 3 routes, a fish ladder, a middle chute and the main falls. Two boats went middle chute with no problem, then the paddle raft tried. They approached slowly and got taken into some rocks where they were stranded for about 5 minutes. It seemed like forever. They finally ended up getting out of the boat (not recommended) and pushed off the rocks. They then entered the chute and somehow got pushed sideways in the middle and wedged the boat stuck in the middle of some falls. We knew that if they had the problems, Danger would get through easily. Danger's run was flawless.
We found a campsite big enough for two parties of 14. We shared our space with another big party. We both had our own sleeping area and kitchens, but shared bathrooms. We watched part of the meteor shower that night as a camp group.
The next day we stayed at the same campground and spent the day hiking, reading, swimming, etc. That night as Marie and I were at the river, I spotted some river otters. Rick, a member of our party who is most similar to Bear Gryls, swam up and interacted with the Mom and the two babies. It was pretty crazy.
The next day was the calmest day on the river. At one point there was a place to swim through rapids. I chose to stay in the boat, but next year I will go. There was some fun water but nothing two difficult. At one point toward the end of the day, I was able to rudder the paddle raft. I have been in canoes before but never in charge of a paddle raft. We stopped on a very rocky beach and my foot could not handle it. It was extremely painful. Everyone on the trip was great about me having a hurt foot. I felt like a free loader. I did not have to carry any heavy objects, and many times I was able to rest when other work was to be done. Next year I will be the pack mule I can tell. That night as people were playing cards, fishing, and snacking, a mother bear and two small cubs walked by the other side of the river. It was awesome. They stood on a rock posing for pictures before disappearing into the grass.
The next day, we had to try and go quickly to claim a camp site. We had our biggest rapids of the trip as well with a place called Blossom Bar. At the begining of our day, the first rapid we got into, we hit a rock and Jeff and I were both dumped into the water. I lost my sunglasses, my hat, and a paddle. We quickly got back into the boat and pulled to the side to see if we could find the paddle. As we waited, my hat floated by. It was about a foot under the water. Angela and I both dove in after it and recovered it. My sunglasses were gone.
We stopped at a lodge and waited for some of our other boats to catch up. While there we found out that our paddle was recovered. We all went down through an amazing canyon and had some incredible rock walls on either side. We then hit blossom bar. All of the boats made it through with no problems. At that point, I was able to play rudder again. It was great. We found our final campsite. It had a great beach, and nearby was a natural water slide. It took a pretty good hike to the top to get to the waterfall. I was feeling pretty good, so I made the hike putting the least amount of pressure on my foot as I could. It was a good workout.
The slide was incredible. It looked like there was an overhang that if you didn't duck, you would smash your skull against a ton of rock. You didn't have much time to think either, it was pretty steep. I was able to climp up to the top, using just a rope and walking up a rock wall. That was the part I was most nervous about. I made it down the hill as well, but very slowly. That night there was much celebration with wine and gin and tonics. We played cards, went swimming, and the likes. The most fun, however, was that when we arrived at camp, a 20lb salmon carcass was on the other side of the river. We saw a golden eagle swoop down, stand on the carcass and rip some flesh from it. Then two crows and 9 turkey vultures came to stake their claim. It took about 3 hours for the vultures to actually get to the carcass. To wake up some of our compadres, I yelled at their tent, "hey bear!!" At that moment a bear came around the corner and went for the carcass. Luckily it was on the othe side of the river. We watched it grab the carcass and move into the woods. A while later another bear came by and went to where the bear disapeared and we were able to hear a little of their scuffle. It was the greatest nature documentary I had ever seen. As we were going to bed, we heard a splash in the river. We all grabbed headlamps and scanned the water, thinking a bear would venture across into our camp. Luckily it was only a duck (we think). The last day on our way out, we had lots of Gin and tonic left. We filled Nalgenes and other bottles full. By the end of the morning, we had strapped the boats together and were all experiencing happiness from the drink. Our drive home was uneventful, except the car sickness mixed with a hang over. Youch.

Photos

Aug 4-8

I flew back to Denver and was picked up by my cousin Kim. She drove me back to Rhonda's house and my car. I stayed one last night in Denver and left early the next day for Dinosaur National Monument. The drive from Denver through Northern Colorado to Vernal Utah was one of the most gorgeous geology I have ever seen.

I had my foot wrapped before I left Denver and wore the Ace bandage for a couple of days. I stopped in to the fossil quarry visitor center and found out the quarry building was closed due to the ground moving and making the structure unstable. I found a campsite in Green river Campground and decided to get some food from Vernal. I set up camp and then drove into town (mostly I needed cash to pay for the site). I played guitar when I got back and hit went to sleep early.
I was the first one up in the morning and drove to a cabin at the end of the road.

I then stopped at Petroglyphs on the way back toward the quarry. The only fossils visible were on a 3/4 of a mile walk. I would have hiked it easily, except that I had a foot issue. I took a shuttle to the top and limped downhill. Families with little kids were flying by me. It was a little disheartening.

After I got my fill of fossils, I drove to Boise. I had a little stroke of luck. Every year I had been in Boise, I was there for college spring break. Some of my friends had left after college, but there was a wedding and everyone was in town! I stayed there two nights and drove back to Oregon on the 8th.

Dublin August 3

Scott and I woke up early and boarded a bus to Dublin. We stopped again in Limerick. DIRTIEST BATHROOM EVER! I walked in looking for a stall. There were 4: two of which did not have a seat, one had half a seat, and the one I chose was nasty. I came out hoping to be hepatitis free. We got into Dublin at 3pm and I was hobbling around with my pack on. We went to a burger joint to eat. We watched part of a gaelic football match with Dublin and Kilkenny. Kilkenny was kicking butt. Scott and I walked to a statue, and decided I would wait there and he could run back and get bus info to the airport. We were looking to catch a bus to the airport at about 4 am. Scott returned and we wandered around the streets of Dublin. The host at the hostel that Scott went to get info, gave us lots of ideas for touring the town. We went to Trinity college from O'connell street to Westmoreland. We passed some professional street performers and an obvious tourist area. We arrived at Trinity college and walked through the big gates.

We walked around to find the bookstore. In the book store there is a museum which contains the oldest bound book in the world; the book of Kells. It was a very nice display and the book was incredible.
We then left through the hall of the oldest books at the university. This room was very impressive, and I am dissapointed we couldn't have explored more. As we stepped back into the bookstore we were told it was closing time and had to exit. This became a theme in Dublin.
We left the college and walked to St. Stephen's's Green. We walked through the beautiful park and then tried to walk to St. Patrick's Cathedral.

It began to rain right before we arrived. We stopped in the entry way, and the woman watching the doors asked us if we were staying for the service. We both said no, as the choir rushed through the rain into the cathedral. We started to walk around the corner, and it began to pour hard. I told Scott, maybe we should sit through a service. He agreed. We went back and the choir had begun. We went in for an evensong. We tried to walk quietly to the back, but our shoes squeaked quite loudly. At the end, the guard told us that we had made her day with our squeaky shoes. When ever I am in a cathedral, all I want is a large choir to sing. It was a very beautiful moment. We sat and stood through the 45 minute service. As the choir sang in Latin, Scott and I sat in silent reverence exploring the archetecture and statues with our eyes. At the end of the service we were able to look around for a brief while. We then were asked to leave as the building was closing. We exited to the garden behind, where St. Patrick baptized his followers. We decided to see the other cathedral, the Church of Ireland cathedral, it was closed. Castle of Dublin, closed. Most of the tourist shops were closed and we decided to find some Bangers and mash. We found a small restaurant called Gruel. It reminded me very much of a small restaurant that would be in Portland. The food was phenomenal. We then walked around looking for souveniers. We found a couple shops that were open. I bought a knock-off Irish soccer jersey. We then closed that place down. We walked and found the statue of Molly Malone

and decided to find a pub. We walked around the temple bar area, and were dissapointed by how touristy they were. We decided to wander across the river. We walked (I hobbled) down the street and found a nice bar with candles on the walls. It was the cheapest pint in town. The best thing about Ireland is that Guiness is the cheapest pint there is. Harps is 40 euro cent more. When the dark beer is cheapest,... I am happiest. It was funny to watch the rich Irishmen drink Budwieser from the bottle thinking they were posh.


After a pint, we decided to find a band. We walked back the route we came and found an upstairs bar with a band. It was the first non-traditional band we saw in Ireland. The lead singer specialized in American Folk and Blues. They played many songs, some originals, some by Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, etc. It was awesome. We again, closed the place down. We wandered to another bar, had a pint, closed it down. We were then directed from each door to another to try and find an open pub. We finally found a night club that was open. Downstairs there were blacklights and a DJ. The crowd was very diverse. It was the people who loved electronica and dressing up, tourists looking for the last open bar, and locals who were looking for the last open bar. We stayed there until about 3. We were walking out and had a girl comment about how good lookin' the tourists were. I gave her a kiss on her cheek for her birthday. We then were walking back toward the bus stop and met a group of teachers from DC looking for the party to continue. We all commented about how sad it was that all the bars had closed. Scott and I waited for the bus and finally rode to the airport.
In the airport, Scott boarded early, I tried to get my boarding pass, but they wouldn't let me get it untill 3 hours before my flight. I flew out at 10. We talked for a bit then Scott went through his gate at around 5. I paced the airport for a few hours trying to stay awake and ate something from every vendor. I finally did take a photo as the morning sun came up. I flew out and slept well on the airplane. Ireland was incredible and I would go back in a second.

Kilarney

We ate breakfast and caught the bus early out of Fossa.


We talked with a German duo that were going to hike the Ring of Kerry for the next few days. We got off the bus and checked into our hostel for the night and left our luggage there. Then we went to rent bikes. My ankle was hurt, but it only hurt if I rolled my toes. I figured I could ride a bike if I put the pedal on my arch or heel. Luckily I was right. We found a hostel that rented bikes. The man was insistent that we return them before 6 or "my wife will have my balls."
He showed us quickly on a map how to ride around a lake in the National Park and see some neat sights. We took off toward the park and decided we were on the wrong path. We found the sister bike shop to where we rented and the man showed us again on a map where we should go. We started off in the nice cool, moist morning and rode most of the way around the park. We saw some ruins, lots of great plants and great views of a lake.




It was fun. The majority of people in the park were riding bikes or in horse drawn carriages.
We rode around and found a bridge and took a photo right before the rains broke loose.

Part of the trail is on the main road. Scott decided we should ride up the rode toward the mountains. We rode up the hill on the two rental bikes for a lot longer than anyone on the bikes should. We rode up to a mini pass with a chapel at the top. As we approached (again with large grins) two bicyclists with packs, road bikes, and helmets, were staring at us with "are you kidding me" type looks. I like to think we impressed people, but I think we just confused them.

We then rode back down and stopped along the way to take some photos. We ate our apples for lunch while cars drove by looking at our bikes then looking at us in wonder. We rode back down hill to a waterfall(my memory card was full) and we met up with the Germans from the morning. They told us that they were lost in the trails of the park. We showed them the correct way out. Then Scott and I discussed how it should be easy to get back. We rode through the park and found ourselves running into fences and trying a new trail, then finding a fence. We finally figured out, we left the falls on a walking trail and needed to return. We finally found a trail to the Muckross house. It was beautiful. We did not go in, because it cost money, but we looked in the window. It seemed to me like Mt. Vernon, with artifacts of different eras.

We then rode down the trail to an old abbey. It was dated back to 1550. It was a monastery. We wandered around and explored old stone staircases, and it was incredible. Very neat old building to explore.



We then rode our bikes to the Ross Castle. At this point, whenever we stopped, our butts hurt and our legs were tired. It took some effort to get started again. We rode to the castle and then around an old mining trail. It was a nice ride.
We decided to ride to the Cathedral and then relax for a bit. The cathedral was smaller than Galway's but it was still beautiful.

There were great stories about the bishops and the architecture.
We then delivered the bikes back at about 4:00 and then went to our hostel. We showered and changed into dry clothes, and then decided to find food and a pub with music. We went to a sports pub and watched some Gaelic football and I had a shepard's pie. We then found a nice little band with accordians and guitars. We headed back to the hostel (with take out fries in hand) and played a couple of hands of cribbage. We decided to pull an all nighter in Dublin the next day, so we went to bed.