A cool and wet Irish Summer

We had an uneventful ferry crossing to Harwich. Well, it was almost eventful, as leaving The Netherlands meant crossing a Schengen border. Even though I, as the spouse of an EU citizen, have the same right of free movement as Steven (as long as I am with him or traveling to be with him), there is always the chance that an uninformed border guard will insist that I have overstayed my 90-day allowance in the EU’s Schengen Zone. I still have PTSD from the Slovenia border guard who wanted to deport me back to the States!

Anyway, in The Netherlands those guys are very knowledgeable and after spending time (two of them) deciphering all the stamps in my passport, finally asked, “Are you two married?” After answering in the affirmative, they laughed and the guy said, “That’s good, because otherwise you would be an overstayer!” We laughed and nodded as they put yet another stamp in my passport and off we went to board the ferry!

We had nearly three weeks in the UK before catching our next ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast. We did a ton of research on places to go rather than just repeating the same drive we have done before, but to be honest, we just couldn’t muster any enthusiasm for exploring new places. Sometimes familiarity provides comfort and I think that’s the space we were in when we decided to stick with the known route and return to (mostly) places we had visited previously.

Cambridge, England

It was late when we got off the ferry so we had a quick overnight stay at the same pub we stayed at last year, then stopped for a grocery shop the next morning before making our way to the Highfield Farm Touring Park in Comberton, a few kilometers west of Cambridge. We are really drawn to this place and it is the third time we’ve been there. We returned to nearby Grantchester and walked along the River Cam into Cambridge, we shopped and moseyed around the colleges. Cambridge is such a beautiful town. We stayed five days and would have stayed longer but Lionel Richie was in town and everything was booked up. But when it was time to go, we were ready.

Barnard Castle, England

This is the third time we have passed through Barnard Castle and spent the night here, but we have never gone to explore the town or the castle. That’s because we were usually parked up in a busy pub parking lot and didn’t feel comfortable leaving Bijou behind. This time we found a place to stay that would allow us the time needed to explore. 

There is not a lot of wild camping in England, although in addition to the “free” pubs there are plenty of really expensive campgrounds. The pubs are not really free, and can be quite expensive if the purchase of food is required. Usually just a pint or two is good enough and that’s what we do. We learned about a new-ish UK-based program called CAMpRA, which encourages folks with available land to carve out a little corner, install services and offer camping. We love these places because they are like the French aires, no frills, just needed services at an affordable cost. Most places are around £15 or so. Our first CAMpRA spot was in Barnard Castle, which was perfect for a couple of days.

Gretna Green, Scotland

I spent some time looking for a place along our route where I could get a cut and color. This process is one of the more onerous tasks I have to deal with in our travels, but I am just not ready to give up being a brunette. One of these days I will, but not yet. I called several places in Barnard Castle but no one ever answered their phone. So I gave up and looked ahead on the map. That’s when I discovered Gretna Green and it turned out to be the perfect place.

When England introduced the Marriage Act in 1754, it stated that no one under the age of 21 could be married without their parents’ permission. Young lovers not yet of age decided that was a bunch of hogwash and they went in droves to the first village across the border into Scotland where they could marry freely, unbound by the laws of England. That village happened to be Gretna Green, which recognized a great marketing opportunity when they saw it and subsequently turned the village into a world-famous wedding destination. Its cachet has faded somewhat over the years, but there are still plenty of brides to be seen around town on any given day. What better place to find a hairdresser than in a village that caters to bridal parties? The first place I called, walking distance from where we stayed, answered the call and I made my appointment! Easy peasy!

As for young brides and grooms, they can still marry in Gretna Green today, although a movement known as “No more Gretna Green for under 18!” is gaining ground.

Cairnryan, Scotland

This quiet village on the east coast of Scotland lies along the shores of Loch Ryan, a deep and natural harbor used by ferries that run between Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is about six miles north of Stranraer, which is where the ferries used to dock until they moved north to Cairnryan which shaved off 1.5 hours off sailing time on each round trip.

During the 1st and 2nd World Wars, Loch Ryan was an important military outpost where seaplanes were stationed, using the loch for takeoffs and landings. This airstrip, which is directly across the loch from the ferry ports in Cairnryan and a couple of miles north of Stranraer, has no runway and has now been turned into a CAMpRA facility. In spite of its vastness and existing concrete pads, the Scar Park Aire is only licensed for five campers. This kind of landscape doesn’t appeal to everyone, but we loved it. Of course, the weather when we were there was nearly perfect, which was great for aerial photos and walking around the bay and through the little town of Kirkcolm.

Dublin, Ireland

Dublin is Steven’s hometown, it’s where he was born and where his family still lives (except for the brother Philip, who is about an hour north). We visited with his parents, Paddy & Elizabeth, and Ann & Martin, his aunt and uncle who live in London but just happened to be visiting. Steven also managed to catch up with his busy siblings before we moved on to Arklow for a five week-long stay at our favorite little place, Moneylands Farm.

Moneylands Farm, Arklow, Ireland (and Seattle)

This is our third summer in Ireland since we moved to Europe in 2019 and for the most part the weather has been wonderful, until this year. For the entire month of July, we have had six days with sun. Last year, we had 23. It seems the hotter it is on the Continent, the cooler and wetter it is in Ireland.

While we were in Arkow, Steven took the opportunity to return to Dublin for more visits with his family, while I hopped on a jet plane and flew to Seattle to see two of our three adult kiddos. Zoë and her significant other, Dan, have just purchased their first home, and so I popped over for a bit of shopping and decorating. Zac, who attends university in Bellingham, drove down to spend a couple of nights with us at Zoë’s. I usually only see my kiddos during the Christmas holidays when we all go to the ranch in Texas, so it was so nice to see them this summer, although I missed seeing my girl, Tara, who is in San Diego.

I was only gone for ten days and two of those were travel days. It was the first time I flew Aer Lingus and on the night of my arrival I had food poisoning and thought I was going to die. I don’t think I have ever been as sick as I was that night, ever. Fortunately I got over it pretty quickly. I spent one day at the outlet stores in Tulalip, north of Seattle. If you recall I was in the market for new raingear since mine had failed miserably on the Camino last April. I spent a lot of time at Eddie Bauer and Columbia and came home with not one, but two rain jackets! And a pair of cute Crocs sandals to replace my flip flops on hiking trips. All in all I had a very successful shop and a great visit. And Zoë’s new house is completely adorable!

During our last few visits to Ireland we have managed to complete four of the five pilgrim path walks necessary to earn the Teastas Oilithreachta, Ireland’s equivalent to a Compostela. This year we had planned to finish by walking the two-day hike from Ballintubber Abbey to Murrisk. The walk is on the west coast and we were on the east, and given the uncooperative weather, we made the call to save it for another day. Walking through the bog is hard enough on a sunny day, it is no fun at all in the rain.

We stayed a few more days at Moneylands Farm before saying our goodbyes and heading north to Navan where we parked up in front of Philip and Jackie’s home. We spent a couple of days there and as always, it is great fun to spend time with them and their girls. Sophie was away in California, so we missed her by a few days, but it was wonderful to see Lauren.

Before long it was time to head north to Belfast and catch the afternoon ferry back to Scotland. Whereas during our last swing through we were not in a touristing frame of mind, this time we have made plans to go places we haven’t been before, so we are looking forward to our upcoming travels!

Lastly, here’s another art contribution from Steven. He was inspired to draw a portrait of Irish singer Sinéad O’ Connor after hearing the sad news of her passing. If you would like to see more, you can keep up with what he’s doing by following his Facebook art page here or on Instagram here.

Next up: Hiking in the Lake District.

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