My Week/My Trip to Ireland

I just returned from my wonderful trip to Ireland.  It’s amazing how much our Irish immigrants to America had influenced our American culture in their music, dance and values for freedom and land ownership.

Photos here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2200026692948.115207.1615723034&l=dec0b38025

A group of about 30 something left by bus from the church parking lot to catch our plane in St Louis.  I was surprised to still see the airport boarded up since the April tornado had struck the airport.

The other half of the group left from Chicago and was supposed to meet with us for the flight in Newark to Ireland.  They didn’t make it till the following day with many difficulties along the way.

Once we arrived in Shannon, we were met by our bus driver and guide, William.  He dropped us off at our Bed and Breakfast house.  There were 2 houses we were split among. Later he took us to Moriarty's for shopping.  Nothing there that I needed.  William warned us that we’d have to go in the bushes to use the toilet but actually the entrances were in the hedge.  They hosted us with Irish Coffee (not strong at all kind)

http://www.moriartys.ie/

We saw a rainbow near the Gap of Dunloe where fairies frequent (so I’m told) by the McGillicutty Mountains.

I liked how the road signs said “Bends Ahead” and “Traffic Calming”

Saturday we had Mass at the “Prince of Peace” Fossa Church which was built in 1970.  The cross was outside of the church through a glass window with the mountains behind. The alter was inscribed with “Oh ye mountains and Lords bless the hills”.  It was the Saint Day for Saint Robert Bellarmine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bellarmine

A few of us opted to take a brief Jaunty Cart ride in Killarney National Park.

We enjoyed Irish Music at Murphy's Bar:

Ireland was formed by Eskers and drumlins left by the Ice Age.

We visited the Muckross House. http://www.muckross-house.ie/intro.htm

but were not allowed to take photos inside but there are a few pictures on the inside of the rooms used by Q Victoria on her visit.  It was really remarkable and ornate.  Often dark to preserve the contents of the house

We visited Kylemore Abby but didn’t have time to spare for the tour so it was a lunch stop. http://www.kylemoreabbey.com/ It rained there.  This is where Madonna wanted to send her daughter Lourdes to school some years back but was rejected.  No longer a school but just an Abby.  Also in the Connemara  marble factory that makes mostly jewelry now since there is not enough of the green marble left. http://www.connemaramarble.com/ and a pit stop at the Peacock Hotel where there is a replica cottage of the same in used in the movie “The Quiet Man” http://www.peacockes.ie/  I took a photo of the bridge that was featured in the movie thru the bus window.

I’m glad that I watched that on Netflix before going.

We toured Molls Gap and Black Valley.  At the gift shop I fell for a cute umbrella by Lisbeth Dahl but resisted because it was made in China.

We visited Our Lady of Knock Shrine. http://www.knock-shrine.ie/  It is traditional to say the rosary on the way and that is what we did on the bus.  There were no words spoken at the apparition but Mary’s message has always been fasting and prayers and the Irish already knew hunger so her message was prayer.  We had Mass and our St of the Day was Andrew Kim. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Kim_Taegon

We drove to see the Cliffs of Mohr but the weather got rough and the authorities were calling people back when we got there.  Wind gusts were up to 140MPH and there is no insurance payout if injured.  In fact, there’s a 10K fine to your heirs for the recovery of the body.  Turned out to be nothing but a bathroom stop.

We had dinner at Dirty Nelly’s dates back to 1620….. http://durtynellys.ie/

The last Day in Ireland was ‘Arthur Day’ celebration for the man who invented Guinness.  You know what that means – Pub parties.

I watch the Bridesmaids on the way there, and Spinal Tap and The Jones on the way back.

Since I was without a cell phone, I called from the airport in St Louis that I was on my way.   The airport was still boarded up since the April tornado hit.

http://youtu.be/oiV8VBygAbk  The bus driver took a rural route so it took a long time.  Without  a call on arrival, I was pleased to see my son waiting to pick me up.

Joanne had called me months earlier to inquire about sharing a room on the trip.  She was nicknamed Giggles on the trip. She brought 2 of those hang-on-the-hook cosmetic bags. She got up at 6AM and then woke me at 7AM so I could shower.  Even with a lead on time, I would be ready for 8AM breakfast before her.  Once she walked out of the room dragging hose from her shoe and once she left powder footprints on the carpet.  It’s a good thing she had a room mate.  On the plane she was watching a movie with the ear phones and laughing so much that she was making the rest of us laugh.  I don’t think she realized it with those ear phones.  HA!

Ah yes, over 400 emails in my Yahoo, not counting gmail and hotmail. 

Got up at 4AM on Saturday which is not bad.  I rode the little motorcycle downtown to the Route 66 Festival.  I walked around and looked at the cars.  Got a little hungry and had some chili.  Stopped briefly in the Old State Capitol which was good because I realized I have tour guide duty next Saturday.  I fixed a batch of zucchini that I had in the fridge from before I left that need to be used up.

My Week

It’s hard to believe that a priority mail box makes it to the troops faster than first class letters. Wow.

My son gave me a delayed birthday gift – a special bottle of wine with a motorcycle on it.

I renewed my driver’s license for my birthday. I think it was an improvement on my last photo.

Friday I left my cell phone on my desk at work. I really felt naked without it. I guess I’m getting prepared to go cold turkey without it while on vacation. After work I went to the opening ceremony for the Illinois Gathering of the Guard at the state fairgrounds. I stayed until about 8:30 and I was getting tired. Saturday morning I went to the bank to see if my Euros were there. They were not in the safe so I went back for the PGR meetings. Col Tony Libri was among the guest speakers. After his speech, Tony Libri received the Legion of Merit, in part, for his National Guard work helping to bolster the Afghan National Police in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Since Saturday afternoon with the Gathering was mostly local rides to the memorials that were nothing new to me, I focused more on my out-0f-town friends, the Red Knights. I had dinner with them at their fundraiser at the Route 66 hotel. They had auctioned off 3 special helmets.

I dropped my 30 plus flags off about 7AM at the Sangamon Co Reception Center but Less and Pat had to put them up because I needed to run off and get on my motorcycle to meet my fellow Red Knights at 8:15 to head off to Halls Harley Davidson for the Ride to Remember to the IL State Capitol's memorial. It's the only memorial on the grounds and not funded by the state. The weather was perfect. In the past I recall heat stroke like weather and 2 years ago there was a monsoon like weather that called it off. Hopefully you can hear the podcast for this event at: 
http://stationcaster.com/stations/wmay/media/mpeg/A_Ride_to_Remember_9_11_09_11_111315832548.mp3


I find it odd that our local tabloid radio station that had commentaries about 911 going overboard and used politically would share such a wonderful ceremony. Perhaps it was to ire their listeners.

After the Ride To Remember, the club was going to eat but at a restaurant I was unfamiliar with so I missed it. All was well because my sons had made Papa John’s Pizza. I was hungry. So I switched my vest from the Red Knights MC to the American Legion Riders vest. I needed to be there by 1 PM for the 2PM ceremony so we could practice. We practiced the posting of colors and the 21 gun salute. The honor guard was made up of members of the American Legion, VFW, Chatham police and Chatham firefighters. The posting of colors went well. I had hoped to be in the middle of the firing line up so I could watch others out of the corner of my eye. They said we were to line up by height. While waiting for the 21 gun salute, our police officer was called to duty regarding a potential suicide call. Another veteran was quickly put in his place. Let’s put it this way, our post has been losing a lot of members (well it was also a guard weekend) and they have to be pretty desperate to put me in there. It was not a bad one to cut my teeth on because the audience was indoors and would not notice if we fired together. Now it'll be a diff story Veterans/Memorial Day on the Square. After the ceremony, we set loose about 400 red white and blue balloons. I did this side by side with Bret and Jerry, our local gold star parents. He wrote a name on the balloon he released so I grabbed a pen and wrote my husband’s name on my balloon. Before we released our balloons, we all said “Let there be peace on Earth and Let it begin with me”. After the ceremony, I rode the motorcycle home to trade for my SUV to pick up the flags. I convinced my 2 sons to take a break from football and to come and give me a hand with the flags. Bret and Jerry insisted on helping me roll up the flags and pick up the stakes. That was more than kind but they wanted to do that. Les, who, was picking up the Springfield rifles had the sacks that I use to store my flags in. He brought them from across the parking lot. When he approached me, he saluted. I felt so humbled but instinctively I returned the salute. Les has done so much for our veterans as have I so he recognized the mutual respect.

I shall leave the flags in the car for the following 2 days since I will be taking them to the Honor Flight Homecoming on Tuesday night.
I told the news camera man not to video me because it was my first time firing for the 21 gun salute (at 1:05 on the timer). I hoped he just focused on our bugler.

http://www.wics.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wics_vid_4549.shtml

I feel that the media misses our local WW2 female veteran, Jean Goretski, and now focusing on me. I wish Les go the attention. Maybe if we got him to lose some of that belly.

That evening, I was sewing up the edge on the flag that flew on my bike while watching news about 911 tributes in NYC. How meaningful these two went together.

So my brother calls me Monday night to ask me for help (long distance) on how to change his password in Yahoo because his account sent out a spam message. This isn’t easy when I can’t be there over his shoulder. Well I get him to a certain point in the process where he's asking me "who his favorite author is". My help has ended. I told him to click on the live help (which is off at the time) later.

I saw such a full moon at the end of my cul-de-sac while walking the dogs.

Attached is newspaper article about a special adoption dated May 20, 1976. Michael happens to be my cubical mate.

My Week

I did adopt another soldier this week. I want to give a shout out to CW2 Jason *



I’ve went to the annual Rocky Horror Picture Show at Southern Illinois University @ Edwardsville on Aug 20th. Last year I missed it because of my accident. We had a blast and there were many first timers to the show (AKA Virgins). The host gave me a nice SIUE hoodie for helping MC the event. Photos here:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.203862683012054.53661.104814446250212&type=1



On Saturday, Aug 27th, I went to the Old State Capitol. The dancers from Peoria performed the Ballroom dances of the 1860s. I put the videos here:

Lancers 5 quadrille (a military dance

http://www.vimeo.com/28488434

Virginia Reel (I’m in this one out of costume)

http://www.vimeo.com/28486902



After the duty helping at the Old State Capitol, I went to Lincoln, IL for the Balloon Festival. A member of the Vet Center had invited a bunch of friends to a back yard BBQ so we got to see both. We carpooled to see the evening Balloon Glow and got real close.



Well, we had a hot day followed by a cold day. I had opened the windows and turned on the air evac system which blew out the pilot on the water heater. I had a nice luke warm shower.


Springfield sets record ~ Thursday was the hottest Sept. 1 on record in the city of Springfield The temperature hit 102 at 2:41 p.m. Thursday. The old record was 101 in 1984.



Tuesday I missed my coworker’s after-hours retirement get together because I had promised over a month ago that I’d be cashier for the VFW Chicken Dinner. I did inherit her stand-up computer desk.



Thursday evening I washed the dust off my car. Friday morning the birds left a deposit. I wiped it off regretfully.

It looks like I’ll partake in this through the American Legion: The 911 Community Day of Remembrance Committee finalized plans for 11 September 2011.
The program will be at Sangamon Prairie Reception Center, 8855 State Route 4, Chatham, IL 62629 from 2-4 pm. The actual event will be about 30 minutes.

Friday after work, I stopped by to watch the flat track amateur races over at the fairgrounds. I watched from the fence because I didn’t want to pay $10 admission.



Saturday morning I loaded up my car for my trip but before leaving, I met my son, Cheryl (the retiree mentioned above) and Stephanie (a cousin to a KIA) and we lined Veteran’s Pkwy with our flags for the arrival procession of KIA Sgt Andrew Tobin. I saluted as the hearse, family and motorcycles passed by. Afterward I left for the Quad Cities to spend a weekend with my sister.



Since my sister had to work a half day, I knew she’d meet up later. I had a nice drive until I got to the Quad Cities. There was a bad storm. I got there a little early so I stopped to see Hero Street in Silvis, IL. I climbed the hill to the Grotto in between the storms. However, I did step in some bad mud and ruined my shoes and socks. I later bought some new socks and even found some soft shoes for my upcoming trip to Ireland. I’m sure walking shoes will come in handy. Well, my sister and I met up at the hotel and were getting hungry. We called and got a reservation at Circa 21 dinner/play house to see “Nana’s Naughty Nickers”. Really a quaint old theater house on Rock Island. I wouldn’t mind going back for some of their other shows. We shared a bottle of Pino.


Sunday morning we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel where we met with Patty’s grandkids. Courtney has 2 sets of twins and they behave well. Really, she has to be an organized mom for something like that. Patty gave a pumpkin from her garden to the kids and me.

After breakfast we went to the Buffalo Bill Cody homestead. There were buffalo there of course. We toured the house. Then we followed the signs to a pioneer village. On the way we stopped at McCausland, IA to watch a neat game between firefighters spraying a barrel that was tethered between two trucks. That was pretty cool and timely along the way. Afterward, we continued to the pioneer village and there too was a special event for the weekend with reenactors and a festival atmosphere. How cool is that to stumble upon?

We had dinner at a sushi bar before going to the Imax Theater to see Pirates of the Caribbean in 3D. I’d never been to a movie with 3d glasses. Actually didn’t imagine mermaids to be the evil ones either.

Monday morning we did a little shopping before lunch at McDonalds and headed our separate ways.

My sister rides a scooter. She explained that it was easier and less time consuming to get to work that way. I asked her to explain. She said it’s the storage she can just throw her purse and stuff under the seat, throw on a helmet and go. No need to worry about boots and chaps or dual saddle bags to belt up half her goodies on both sides.



Tuesday I had numerous birthday wishes on my facebook page In fact is was so cool to post a wish on one of my former Soldiers that I had adopted thru Soldiers Angels who shared the same birthday. . I sent a box to one of our lady soldiers after work. A man at the next window thought I should get postage for half off because it was my birthday (still have the birthday ribbon on). I had a wonderful birthday with my sons. We went to O’Charlie’s. I had a steak and shrimp combo. I got a free desert for my birthday (I work a pin that said today is my birthday). The caramel pie was yucky. Afteward, my son and I went to stock up at Meijer for things like dog food while I go on my trip to Ireland. When I got home, I checked a few emails and the internet was slow. Since I was tired, I went to bed. I totally forgot to watch the new episode of Sons of Anarchy.

Help Veterans Affected by Texas Fires

Please donate to help our veterans who need supplies because they lost so much during the Texas fires!

Multiple fires have been raging across Texas, burning over 1,000 homes and 100,000 acres in the last few days alone. With the state's huge military population, that means many active duty personnel and veterans and their families have been displaced right along with everyone else, and many have lost everything they have. Even some of those whose homes have survived probably will not be able to return for several weeks.

Donations of funds for Soldiers' Angels to purchase items for these heroes and their families are desperately needed, as well as gift cards, and materials such as clothing and hygiene items or other things that a displaced person would need. Gift cards are needed as well.

Please donate below, or send items to the addresses indicated. Thank you for helping us help them!:

Gift cards (Walmart & Target): Soldiers' Angels Texas Fires 1792 E Washington Blvd Pasadena, CA 91104

Other Items: Soldiers' Angels Texas Fires 4408 N PanAm Expressway San Antonio, TX 78218

Thank you for helping us help America's heroes! On Wednesday, September 7, Toby, Jarrod and Patti stocked up at Walmart and delivered needed items to evacuees. "The place like a war zone," Patti said. More will be needed.

Above, a view of the fires from Austin.