Woke up early again (6 a.m.), but this time it was to total silence. What a contrast it was between yesterday's busy city street morning, and this morning's middle of nowhere peace and quiet. Peeked my head in and woke up Diane. We got ready, had a cup of coffee (me) and tea (Di) and a piece of toast before embarking on a brisk walk down to the ocean. The nearly deserted beach had only the sounds of some magpies, seagulls, and the lap of the waves as they came quietly in to the shore. As Diane and I walked down the beautiful black sand beaches, we picked up an occasional shell or piece of driftwood. The sun was beginning to rise and show its soft pastel colors in the East. We walked and talked and just took in our peaceful habitat. We were out for about an hour, total, and meandered back up the narrow roads towards, surrounded by green upon green lush plants and soft white clouds.
Got back to the house, packed up and were off on an adventure, a 5 hour driving tour of Ireland. We headed north up the west coast towards our destination of Swatragh, where my daddy's good friend, Willie Turner lives. OK... trying to navigate through Ireland proved to be challenging... Brian was a master driver, keeping such a cool head when we were faced with some hairy driving situations, especially when the roads were only wide enough for ONE car, and TWO were trying to go down the same road! The names of the towns as were listed in our GPS did NOT match the names that the towns really had, or the nicknames that they had been given. Anyway, thank heaven we had some snacks in the car, bread, meats and cheeses again. Eagle eye Brian spotted an amazing cemetery where we stopped to check out and stretch our legs.
Willie must have called at least 4 times to check and see where we were. Every time we would be closer, but not close enough. FINALLY around 4 p.m. we met up with Willie just outside the town of Swatragh. He took us back to his house and we left our car there and jumped in with him. Willie drove us to a wonderful restaurant and we met his friendly and outgoing family. After a delicious dinner, we decided to let the "locals" show us around, rather than being sucked in to some of the touristy places. 
Paula, Willie's daughter laid out a plan for us and took us up mountains (where she made Diane and me HANG OFF!), around lakes, down into valleys where sheep and cows wandered around in their own world. Our time was filled with getting to better know this wonderful Turner family and also get the opportunity to explore sites and unchartered adventures that we would have never had the chance to do so with out their assistance. We spent hours enjoying our special time. At around 9 p.m. Willie drove us to our next Airbnb home.
A beautiful home with welcoming host Paula and Terrance. They had an AMAZING patio, which was lit up and had a warm and cozy fire. We sat outside with a glass of wine and admired the lights of the city below us. It is after midnight but our night if far from over.
Until tomorrow...
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