Tag: photos
Ave Maria Grotto
22 December ’21
Just a few days before Christmas, before I ventured back North to spend the holidays with my family, I visited this grotto in Alabama. It’s normally closed at sunset but they had special hours for Christmas and the site was lit up with lights. The photos are a little blurry because it was dark. If you’re ever in the area it’s worth a stop, you can really see the lifetime of work that went into... read more.
Camping Begins
13 December ’21
In mid-December, after recovering from an altercation with an electric scooter, I traveled south to Natchez Trace Tennessee, and Arley, Alabama. This was my first time camping at actual campgrounds instead of in driveways and backyards. Lovely views of Tennessee in winter. Spotted a lot of interesting rigs at this park, including what I would call "tiny homes." More Solo Stove ramen. This time I used the dedicated pan. Used a fair amount of salvaged... read more.
Camp Cooking
24 October ’21
I bought myself a Solo Stove Campfire to use for small campfires and the occasional cooking on the road. It’s the largest of Solo’s “Stove” line. I debated between this one and their smallest “Fire Pit” model, but this one has worked out for me pretty well. My first trial run was a package of instant ramen, and some tea. You can’t tell from these photos, but it was drizzling rain while I did this,... read more.
Maiden Voyage
24 August ’21
In August I finally found a tow vehicle for my camper. It’s a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel. It has more than enough power to pull my camper even if I need to accelerate onto the highway, though I try to avoid that to keep the MPGs low. I took the camper down to Bloomington for GenCon, and parked it at my buddy’s house for a couple weeks. Ready to roll out. I got some... read more.
Travel Trailer: Wolf Pup 16FQ
17 May ’21
In May of 2021, I purchased a used 2021 Forest River Cherokee Wolf Pup 16FQ. A coworker has another trailer of the same line, and when I heard the name of it I was amused at the seeming random collection of words that make up the product name. Forest River is the manufacturer, they are like the Disney of RV makers, having bought up many other brands. Cherokee is the brand, Wolf Pup is the... read more.
Motorhome Trip: Chicago to SLC
18 March ’21
In April of 2021 I rented a 19 foot Thor motorhome from Cruise America and delivered it from Chicgao to Salt Lake City. First stop was a State Park in Illinois. It was snowy but quiet. The view wasn't great at this KOA outside Lincoln, NE, but the internet was fast. Grill made from an old wheel rim. Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming was easily the nicest place I stayed. This window is a... read more.
Photos: Titanic Museum and SS Nomadic
8 September ’15
Tuesday of week 5 we decided to do one last tourist attraction and see the Titanic Belfast museum. The ship was built here and the museum gives a nice overview of the history of the city and some of the context of the times, along with a haunting recreation of the sinking. Nearby is the newly-restored SS Nomadic, a tender that was used to ferry passengers from the smaller port of Cherbourg in France to... read more.
Photos: Tollymore Forest (Not really)
6 September ’15
After Castle Ward we went South to Tollymore Forest, another GoT filming site, and ended up near a point on St Patrick’s Trail. There was a hiking path up the mountain on what seemed like a dry riverbed, the walking was so rough. Then near the car we found the actual trail and walked down it the other way for awhile. On our drive back we discovered that we had missed the actual Forest Park,... read more.
Photos: Castle Ward (Winterfell)
6 September ’15
On Sunday we drove down to County Down to find Castle Ward, one of the filming locations from Game of Thrones. There is a 40£ tour that runs from Belfast, but that’s about $60 so we decided to find it ourselves. It was slightly awkward as Google maps took us to the back entrance along several miles of literal one-lane road, and when we arrived there was some kind of family day for DHL employees... read more.
Photos: Giant’s Causeway
5 September ’15
After the drive up the Coastal Route, we arrived at the Giant’s Causeway. Being yet another big tourist attraction they had a nice visitor’s center at the entrance and a road with busses down to the Causeway itself. The legend says that an Irish giant Finn MacCool built the causeway to reach Scotland when challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. When he reaches Scotland, Finn realizes Benandonner is much larger than him... read more.
Photos: Causeway Coastal Route
5 September ’15
Photo taken at: Ballycastle Sea Front Belfast had the best internet speeds of anywhere we stayed, so we spent most of our time there catching up on work, keeping our tourism to the weekend. On Saturday we drove north along the Causeway Coastal Route to the Giant’s Causeway, stopping a few times along the way to photograph the view. We stopped at the Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge, but decided to skip it because it was around... read more.
Photos: Airbnb Kilcar – Week 4 part 1
2 September ’15
Photo taken at: Kilcar We spent Sunday-Wednesday of week four in Kilcar, in County Donegal. Sunday was spent driving North from Galway. We stopped in a town called Mullaghmore for dinner, and got some photos of the marina and people swimming in the cold water. On Monday morning while enjoying my coffee outside I had to get a shot of the smoke from the chimneys, there were a few turf or coal fires burning most... read more.
Photos: Slieve League
31 August ’15
On Monday morning of week two we went West to see Slieve League. We found out that this is the primary attraction for people staying at our Airbnb. We actually found it by accident, looking merely for a place near Donegal. The cliffs here ended up being some of the best scenery we saw on the entire trip. We parked at the first car park and walked the road to the second, then followed the... read more.
Photos: Connemara
29 August ’15
On Saturday of week three we drove Northwest from Galway to Connemara National Park. We stopped by to see Kylemore Abbey, but decided it wasn’t worth the ticket price (only the all-inclusive house and garden tour tickets were available and we were short on time) and drove on to the park and walked one of the trails up the hills.
We saw more than a few sheep and some lovely countryside.
read more.
Photos: Galway
24 August ’15
Photo taken at: Galway, Ireland We spent the third week in Galway, from Sunday to Sunday. Owing to the relatively reliable internet at our Airbnb, the proximity of downtown with a plethora of live music, and the amount of work I missed driving around the southwest in week two, we spent most of week three working during the day and going out in the evenings. We went twice to a pub called Fox’s Bar and... read more.
Photos: Inisheer
23 August ’15
The photos from Saturday night and Sunday morning are both here. We rented bikes to take us out to the shipwreck and to see the lighthouse. During this adventure I had the misfortune of gaining too much momentum down a hill and gripping the front brake first, causing the bike to throw me off as a horse might. Fortunately I endured only minor scrapes, and didn’t break any body parts or my phone despite landing... read more.
Photos: Cliffs of Moher
22 August ’15
We drove along the coast roads just inland from the Cliffs of Moher from Lahinch to Doolin, where we would catch a ferry to Inisheer. We opted not to take the side road up to the top of the Cliffs because of the sheer number of tourists there. Instead we took a ferry tour to see the Cliffs from the ocean side. We found the various ferrymen very helpful, if a little overbearing. Nonetheless we... read more.
Photos: Lahinch
22 August ’15
On the recommendation of a server we met in Kilcullen, we stopped in the town of Lahinch on our way to Doolin to see the Cliffs of Moher and catch a ferry to Inisheer.
I get the impression that this town is much more appealing in warm weather. Nonetheless there were more than a few people surfing and swimming, especially after the rain stopped and we finished breakfast around noon.
read more.
Photos: Week 2, Limerick
21 August ’15
Here are just a few random photos from week 2 that didn’t fit in any of the specific sights or sites we saw. These ruins were right along the road to Cashel, and the spot where we had our first car scare, scraping the undercarriage on a rock. It’s been fine since then so no worries. Sarah wanted to climb into the tower, but it had an iron gate over the doorway, even though it... read more.
Photos: Gap of Dunloe
20 August ’15
After walking through the National Park, we decided we had time for one more stop on our way back to our airbnb. We drove up to the Gap of Dunloe and had lunch at Kate Kearney’s Cottage. The weather was typical Ireland we have come to know, windy and drizzling rain. They have horse and traps to take people up the gap, but they were all covered with tarps and looked like they weren’t running.... read more.
Photos: Killarney National Park
20 August ’15
On Thursday of week 2, we drove down to Killarney to walk the National Park. We saw another site of ruins and a cool forest. Later in the day we drove to the Gap of Dunloe, I’ll have those photos soon.
read more.
Photos: Blarney House and Misc
19 August ’15
Before climbing the Blarney Castle, we walked around the grounds and saw the exterior of the Blarney House. The house is an active residence so they charge another fee to see the inside, so we decided to skip it.
After the Castle, we walked through the Rock Close, and got a few last photos there.
read more.
Photos: Blarney Castle
19 August ’15
After Mallow Castle, we continued on to Cork and saw Blarney Castle. I’ll have a post after this one with the things we saw besides the castle. It was especially interesting to me that this castle has been a tourist attraction for longer than most buildings in the US have been standing. We climbed to the top in a long queue to kiss the Blarney Stone, stopping along the way to photograph the chambers and... read more.
Photos: Mallow Castle
19 August ’15
On Wednesday of week 2 we found Mallow Castle, both the original castle that was burned out and the new one built in the 1690s.
read more.
Photos: Ballybeg Priory
19 August ’15
On Wednesday we made our way south from Limerick to see the Blarney Castle outside Cork. On our way we stopped to look at the ruins of the Ballybeg Priory.
We just got a few pictures before it started to rain again. The weather changes quickly in Ireland.
read more.
Photos: Bridgetown Priory
18 August ’15
After seeing St Patrick’s Rock we drove west toward Mallow, looking for some lesser-known historic sites. We didn’t find Mallow Castle until the following day, but we did find the ruins of the Bridgetown Priory. A single sign that we passed and had to turn around for was our only indication of the site. Then a single one-lane drive up to a steep turn off and slope down to the site, it’s down in quite... read more.
Photos: Rock of Cashel
18 August ’15
On Tuesday of the second week, we drove down to County Tipperary to see The Rock of Cashel. This set of churches and tower sit atop a rock and are visible from quite a ways off, making it a popular tourist stop. We heard more than a few non-Irish voices, and at least one of the other tours was in English and French. Article about the Queen’s visit. Nearby are the ruins of Hore Abbey.... read more.
Photos: Hunt Museum & Limerick
16 August ’15
Photo taken at: The Hunt Museum, Limerick We drove into Limerick on Sunday the 16th to see the Milk Market and the Hunt Museum. The Market was winding down and I didn’t take any photos there, but I only had my phone so what I did get in the museum isn’t very good. Before the museum we stopped at a pub called Cobblestone Joe’s for lunch, and I got a quick photo of the bar.... read more.
Photos: Week 1, Airbnb Kilcullen
15 August ’15
I’ve mostly described our experience in Kilcullen in previous posts, particularly the first day, the Bridge Community, and various remarks about the adventures of relying on public transportation.
Next we’re renting a car for the remainder of the trip, which will prove to be its own adventure.
read more.
Photos: the Old Jameson Distillery
12 August ’15
Our last stop of the day Wednesday was the Old Jameson Distillery. It proved to be not quite as photo-friendly as the Guinness Storehouse, not having the advertising and pint-pouring section, but being a guided tour it was more interactive. And of course the taste-testing and free Jameson + Ginger at the end of the tour made it all worthwhile. The hardest part was deciding which gift shop items just weren’t worth hauling around for... read more.
Photos: St Michan’s Church and Misc. Dublin
12 August ’15
On our way from Trinity College to the Jameson Distillery, we passed by an old Church, and I got a few random photos of the city.
read more.
Photos: Trinity College, Dublin
12 August ’15
Wednesday Morning on the first week, we caught the bus into Dublin again and went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. This is apparently a popular tourist spot as we had to wait in line quite awhile. The main exhibit had no photography, but I got a few of the college courtyard and the “long room” library above the Kells exhibit.
read more.
Photos: Guinness Storehouse
10 August ’15
Photo taken at: Guiness Brewery- Dublin, Ireland Just a note here, I’m going to leave and set the post dates on these when they happened. Although they’ll actually appear on the blog some time later, when I get time to write about our adventures or get photos uploaded. On Monday the 10th we got up around 6:45am to catch the 7:10 bus from Kilcullen to Dublin, and toured the Guinness Storehouse. We had to catch... read more.
Photos: Kilcullen Bridge
9 August ’15
Photo taken at: Kilcullen Town The village of Kilcullen is divided by the River Liffey, which runs through Dublin. Historically Kilcullenbridge was the town on the east side of the Liffey, connected by this beautiful old bridge. On Google maps the town is actually marked as Kilcullen and Kilcullenbridge, though the addresses say Kilcullen everywhere as far as I can tell. On Sunday the 8th we walked down to the village again and walked through... read more.
Photos: Flight
8 August ’15
Our United flight from O’hare to Dublin had video screens in the seat backs with preloaded media. They also had this flight information display that showed us maps, altitude, ground speed, and time to destination.
http://travel.drogers.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/11803316_578477288957648_615368994_n.mp4
Flight Photos
read more.