We had a lot planned for today... the Giant's Causeway, the Dark Hedges, and Dunluce Castle.
Follow our LONG day of adventures from the comfort of your own home... :)
Thank you, Gram for supplying me with all of your pictures! :)
Breakfast at Ard Glas
Our hostess set us up for the day with yummy Irish scrabbled eggs, tea, coffee, and lots of hot buttered toast!
Our hostess had heard TJ. singing and mentioned that he had a beautiful voice. So, Gram asked her if she would like us to sing a song for her. We decided to sing 'When Peace Like a River'. It was always a blessing to be able to witness Christ through our actions, words, singing, and tracts.
Dreary
It turned out to be a bone chilling damp day.
Sun!
Sheep
As we were driving, we started noticing that the road signs were in miles, not kilometers. We had entered the realm of the United Kingdom without realizing it! :)
Dark Hedges
This mysterious avenue of 300 year old beach trees were planted by the Stuart family along their driveway, now Bregagh Road, to impress visitors as they neared the Stuart mansion, Gracehill House.
Yes, we did get lost trying to find them, but here's proof that we did finally get there. :)
The Troop
Here we stand, two centuries after these huge trees were planted. Do we look cold, or what? :)
Watch out!
Running to take pictures before a rainstorm blew in.
Sweeping Rain
This picture was snapped from under the shelter of my jacket as the rain swept in. You can see it blowing nearly horizontal across the trees.
Magnificent!
Shadows
Fence
The fences along the road weren't added till just recently. It kinda ruins the beauty, but it was still all that we'd imagined it to be.
Haying
The farmer, in the field just past the trees, was baling hay.
Tractor
A tractor and grain trailer driving down the narrow Bregagh Rd.
Entwined
Over the centuries, the branches have intertwined with each other to form a dark and mysterious canopy high overhead.
Our van. :)
'May the Road rise up to meet you...'
TJ.
We decided that we'd better get pictures of us touching 300 year old trees just in case nobody believed our story. :)
Abi
Me
Bower
This isn't part of the Dark Hedges, but it is a common sight throughout all Ireland.
Talk about narrow!
This road looks like a nice 2 lane highway, but it's only about 1 1/2 lanes wide without any shoulder. :-/
Lost?!
We took a wrong turn (again) while looking for the Giants Causeway (surprise, surprise) and came upon an out of season abandoned sea side village.
Surf
These waves were more than just a surf! They were huge!
Lawn Mower
Back on the road again in search of the elusive Causeway, we saw this funny looking lawn mower.
Inlet
We finally reached the Giant's Causeway!
Danger: falling rocks
Comforting thought... After paying the admission fee, we headed out. It was very windy with a fitful rain so Gram, Mom and Aunt Carol took a bus that was available. It drove them down this long road to the actual Causeway. TJ., Abi, and I walked. :)
Drowned
Curl
Sidewalk
Irish Sea
In this picture, we were about 150-200 ft. away from the ocean. Even though we were so far away, the crashing waves boomed on your chest like the bass from really loud music. It was incredible!
Towering waves
The next four pictures are a series of the wave above crashing into that cliff.
Angry
Unbeknownst to us, we were experiencing the left overs of hurricane Leslie. The ocean was so angry. You really can't tell in the pictures but, I think that some of those waves were a couple stories high.
Harsh
Buffeted
Foam
The angry waters were so agitated that they were creating a thick, dirty looking foam.
Glimpse of the Sun
Notice the white specks by that cliff? That's foam being blown through the air! Remember the series of pictures that I put on? That's the cliff that they were pounding on. You can sort of get an idea of how high those waves were compared to the cliff.
Stormy
Giant's Causeway!
Columns
Airborne
If you stood at a certain place, the wind would blow foam all over you. :)
Sheltered
Mom and Aunt Carol, standing in the shelter of some huge rocks.
Hold on!
What with a strong wind, wet, slippery rocks, and foam flying through the air, you had to be very careful.
Boulders
You can see how large the boulders and columns are next to Mom and Gram.
Basalt
The Causeway was caused, most likely during the flood, through severe volcanic activity, resulting in more that 40,000 basalt, hexagonal columns of varying heights. You can read more here, but watch out for the references to "millions of years." :)
Gram and Mom
The Pipe Organ
This part of the Causeway is commonly known as, the 'Pipe Organ'.
Breakers
Me
Caught!
Thousands of years old...
Dunluce Castle
Dunluce Castle's history began in the 13th century AD and went through a wide variety of hands. The McQuillans were one of the first recorded owners in 1513. In the mid to late 16th century, they lost two major battles with the Clan MacDonnell and Clan MacDonald of Scotland, who took over the castle. Dunluce served as the seat of the Earl of county Antrim until the MacDonalds' pauperization in 1690. At one time during it's inhabitance, part of the kitchen nearest the cliff edge fell off into the sea. As legend has it, only a kitchen boy survived since he was sitting in the corner of the kitchen that didn't collapse. The wife of the owner refused to live in the castle after that incident. I'm sure I don't know why...
Endless Miles of Ocean...
Abi and I walked down some stone steps to the bottom of the cliff underneath Dunluce. The wind was blowing so hard that I had to hang on a couple times for fear of being toppled over. Remember that the wind and rain were remnants of hurricane Leslie, so they were strong!
Watch Tower
Dunluce Castle was a slight let down as you had to pay to get in. We thought that it was a place you could just wander around in without fees and tour guides. Oh, well, we got some good exterior shots.
Bridge
That bridge is the only way to reach Dunluce. The rocks are too steep on the sides to try to scale. Those stairs are only about a 1/4 of the number of stairs that we climbed.
Rocky Beach
Alcove
The wind whipped through this little alcove, situated directly under the bridge, at a very high rate of speed.
Buoy?
Rain!
It had started to rain, so we decided to head back. That's no easy task, especially while trying to stay modest with wind whipping your dress and veil every which way. :)
"Sisters, sisters..."
Notice the sign behind us?
'Danger- Falling rocks'
Colossal Waves
That cliff was probably about 300 ft high, so, that can kinda give you an idea of the size of the wave crashing against the cliff.
Slippery Stone Steps
Not only was it raining, but the wind was blowing salt water up on us and our camera. That's not good...
Flower Towers
Back in the van and on our way down south to the Dublin area.
Hmmm...
...A tractor merging onto the interstate...
Traffic Jam
I think that this was Cookstown in Northern Ireland.
Pedestrians
School Boys
We got a kick out of watching the school boys jack around as they walked home from school.
Moe's
For you, Rusty and Diana. :)
Butterfly
They had some very interesting landscaping in N. Ireland.
Jesus Said...
This was the only sign in the whole 16 days that we were there that was "Christian." Ireland is a sad country...
Misty Valley
Give Way
That means "Yield."
Resting
After a bit of searching, we found Greelands B&B, our next stopping place for two nights. Greenlands is located about 8 miles from Dublin Airport.
Goofing off :)
After resting awhile, everybody was famished, so our hostess told us about a good place to get food. She had a menu for us to look at. Mom, Aunt Carol and Gram went to pick the food up once we'd decided what we wanted. It seemed like it took forever, but they finally got back around 7:30 pm. We hadn't had anything to eat, except granola bars, since breakfast, so we scarfed our orders down double quick! FYI, I had a chicken sandwich with chili and cajun flavored mayo. Wow, was it good! :)
