Velda and Joe: A(nother) Grand Adventure

But first a word about the trip. We began over a year ago planning a two-week photo safari in Botswana with our friend Karen. After remembering the jet lag plus flight lag from our 2022 trip to Kenya, it was decided to spend a week in Europe first to eliminate the jet lag. That turned into 19 days, with visits in Ireland and Holland. Then we looked at flights home from S. Africa, and decided, nope, Europe again. So the end of our sojourn will take place in London.

Today (4/12) we’re in Ireland. In Galway. An uneventful flight from LAX to Dublin, but given the entirely avoidable world events the price of oil has skyrocketed, causing farmers, haulers, and the like to protest by blockading major roads. Cousin Mary gave us a heads-up and we avoided the M50 by taking very scenic roads from Dublin Airport, but eventually got on the M6 for Galway. That was blockaded at Athlone, and added about 20 minutes to our journey. We crashed into bed after check-in, around 8:30 local time, and are in the process of resetting our clocks. It’s almost 6am, and rainy outside. Today will be a town walking day, tomorrow we drive to see the surrounding countryside.