We passed through Castlecove that had old cottages from the era of the Potato Famine . However, you would never now that they were cottages. Almost all of the 5-6 cottages that we saw were completely covered with plants. One still retained that shape of a cottage, while most of the others had fallen apart and were now large mounds of plants with stonework sticking up through the plants. We passed some sheep dogs herding some sheep back to the barn. I hope we still get to do the optional sheepdog demonstration. Overall the drive wasn’t bad; the weather could have been better. I thought the drive would be about 3-4 hours. It took us just about 6-7 hours!

We made it back into the city about 3:30. We were dropped off to take our scheduled jaunty car ride. A jaunty car is a wagon that is pulled by a horse. Instead of cart they use the word car. We were taken through the Killarney National Park on the outskirts of town. When we made a stop at the Abbey ruins for a quick photo op, I was able to move from the wagon part of the cart to the front seat next to the driver . He was a nice Kerry born man, but halfway through the ride, he started to nod his head and fall asleep. So, I began to ask him a few questions here and there. It was hard to understand some of the things he said due to his very strong Irish accent. It rained a little bit on the way back to the hotel, but not too much. It was nice way to travel.

When I got back near the hotel, I grabbed a sandwich and a Coke from the Burger King two doors down. I then headed to Penneys to see what they had. Unfortunately, the store was moving and most of the women’s clothing have been moved already. So, I went across the street to have a cup if ice cream. The lady at the counter noticed a lady bug on my shoulder and took it outside to let it go. That was the second time today that I had a lady bug land on me. The other one was at the first stop along the Ring of Kerry. I placed that one myself on a bush. While sitting in the window and people watching, a group of American sat behind me and began speaking about where they were going in Scotland. We ended up chatting about where they were from (Seattle) and about where they were going (Glasgow, Edinburgh, and St. Andrews). After they left, I sat a little longer in the ice cream shop and blogged my day. Then, I headed back to the hotel. After hanging out in the hotel for about 2 hours, I ducked out to grab a pizza to bring back to the room. I’m feeling tired, so I think that I will not go out tonight. The tub here has Jacuzzi spouts, so I think a quiet evening, soaking in a tub, and reading a book, will be a nice change. This should give me a well-rested night for the next couple of days.