I apologize for my absence here on the blog. I came back to Virginia and have to be honest that I met a very nice young lady that caught my attention. Needless to say, I have been a bit distracted this go around. It has been a learning experience and a lot of fun though.
It is now that time again though where I must figure out where my travel nursing will take me next. This is always my least favorite time of traveling, though some see this as very exciting. Yes, I can go anywhere within reason that I have a license to practice, but my point exactly, I can go ANYWHERE. That leaves a lot of options; an overwhelming number of options at times. Then you throw in feelings that you have for someone that you have grown to like a lot and are intrigued to see what the future may bring and you have one stressed out girl here; hoping to make the right decision career wise, location wise, relationship wise, and what Shannon wants wise. Oh Boy! Life is an inevitable forward march, so decisions must be made, so wish me luck in this process.
More importantly, I owe you some Ireland updates and photos. Ireland was amazing! The people there are so welcoming; especially of bicyclists. We never got honked at, ran off of the road, spit on, or even cursed out by a passing motorist there; all of which yes have happened here in the US. The roads there are narrow, winding, and beautiful! The green there is similar to no green that exists here in the United States. Supposedly they have 50 shades of green there! It is an amazing explosion of the color green. My experience here in the states, we have green, brown, and dead. There are actually different shades of green? Yes, in Ireland.
I went to Ireland with the bicycling group, WomanTours that I also went to Maine and Utah with. It is such a great way to meet like minded women of all different ages from all over the United States. In my three trips, I have yet to be disappointed with the caliber of women that I have had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with or the experience of seeing a new area via bicycle.
In Utah, I became very good friends with three women and we still remain in close contact. Ireland was a reunion trip for us. One of the ladies was unable to make it, but what a great reunion trip it was.
Ireland was everything it was promised to be. It was very green thanks to the much promised rain. The most interesting part about the rain to me is here in the states, from my experience at least, when it starts to rain, the sky is grey as far as your eye can see and the rain may settle in for a couple of hours or days. In Ireland, it literally will be grey and rainy in point A and then as you travel 3 miles away to point B and as you the top the crest of the hill, you will see nothing but sunny skies and you are again warm and toasty in all of your rain gear. It is this phenomenon that lends itself to so many rainbows. Ireland is a bit like a menopausal woman, hot, cold, hot, and again cold. :-) The food and beer was quite tasty. Our daily stop for lunch was at a pub, each proving to be cuter than the last pub that we visited the day prior; all offering a generous beer selection and pub fries. Finally, before you even knew that you were lost, a local could see the look of distress on your face long before you knew it and they were helping you get back on track to the miles that you still had ahead of you to pedal. Please enjoy my pictures.
I hope summer is treating each and everyone of you well!
