Grand Teton National Park Sept 2024

The Teton mountain range is so beautiful and we're glad this wasn't our first trip because a storm moved in on our second day and you couldn't see the mountains at all for two days. We felt so sorry for the people who came to see the mountains and never got the chance.

We got up early on the first day to photograph the sunrise on the mountains. As we were driving out to an overlook we passed a female moose in a field, barely visible in the pre-dawn darkness. It started to rain while we were waiting for sunrise, but we just put on our raincoats and covered the camera and lens with its own little raincoat. The photos were not quite the great sunrise I was hoping for, but we did get a full rainbow so that was nice. We drove over to Gros Ventre campground area where we have seen moose in the past, but didn't find any. We couldn't spot any wildlife at Schwabacher's Landing either and Moose-Wilson Road was also a bust for wildlife until our last day. We saw a bull and cow moose at the ponds area on Moose Wilson on our last day in the park. We did see six moose total though half of those were from a distance and fairly brief sightings. 

This was our third trip to the park but we had never stopped at Menor's Ferry or the Chapel of the Transfiguration so we pulled in to have a look. Menor's Ferry was actually very interesting to us, we love history and learning about early settlers. The Chapel has a beautiful view of the Tetons on a clear day and is still a functioning church. I found myself wondering how much attention I would give the sermon if I could stare at the Tetons the whole time. 

We considered walking out to Moose Pond by Jenny Lake but it started to thunder, lightning and hail so we decided to skip that. We did stop at a boat landing along the Snake River and saw fisherman and rafters(!) putting in. This was absolutely crazy to me with the lightning strikes coming all the way down to the ground! We also saw two outfits going out on horseback rides in this weather, one group had the long duster coats on but the others just had their puffy jackets which would be completely soaked in a couple of minutes. I imagine they were questioning their decision to ride in that weather, I would be for sure. 

The weather was so changeable on this trip. We had sun, wind, rain, hail, thunder and lightning, and snow! We usually have good weather in September so this was just due to a random storm coming through for a couple of days. Its okay, we just continue on and still have fun regardless of the weather.

Chapel of the Transfiguration 

Rainbow sunrise 

Moose pair

Yellowstone National Park Sept 2024

We love going to Yellowstone! This was our third trip and our main focus was to find wildlife, specifically bears and wolves. We also think the bison are cool and the moose, elk, pronghorn antelopes, bald eagles - it's quite an extensive list really. 

We hired a wolf guide for our first full day in the park with Yellowstone Wolf Trackers. Our guide Quinn was so knowledgeable and we had great conversations about wolves and wildlife management in general. We spent an hour or two watching a young wolf and other animals feeding on a bison carcass. Quinn identified the wolf as a one year old female from the Junction Butte pack. Even though she was the only wolf we saw that day, we still were quite happy because it was the closest we had ever been able to observe one. Everyone is supposed to stay 100 yards away from bears and wolves and everyone at this site was respectful of that limit while we were there. The first time we saw wolves in the park in 2020, they were a couple of miles away and very difficult to see even with a spotting scope so this viewing was definite closer. 

Once the wolf left the carcass some coyotes moved in to feed as well.  The coyotes in Yellowstone are so big and healthy that lots of people mistake them for wolves and these coyotes were big and fluffy. There were also adult and juvenile bald eagles that came in to feed. 

We like to go out to the B Bar Ranch in Tom Miner Basin to watch for grizzly bears. We have never been there without seeing some, sometimes we see quite a few. Viewing is better in the evening and this evening we saw 8 grizzlies -  a mom with 2 cubs at the ranch and then a pair of adult or subadult bears in a meadow near Grizzly Creek Ranch and a mother and 2 cubs not far from those other two bears. You need binoculars or a spotting scope if you want to see them very well. We rented a scope on our first trip to the park but then bought one of our own for the next trip. We have an adapter that allows you to attach your iPhone to the scope so you can take photos and video and zoom in even more. 

We also saw the grizzly known as the Lake Butte sow, nicknamed Raspberry by local photographers. We have seen her on each trip as she likes to hang out close to the road by the Lake Butte Overlook, She was a little farther east this time than we've seen her in the past but the weather had been very warm so a lot of the wildlife had moved to higher elevations to escape the heat. It had just started getting cooler when we were there, so the bears were starting to make their way back down to their usual areas. Raspberry has a new cub this year. It's an independent little thing, always wandering off and exploring.

We were driving east from the lake toward the park's east entrance when we saw a black bear, the only black bear of the trip in fact. It was in some bushes on a hill above the road and then came down the hill and crossed the road to go down the other side. It came relatively close to us and we were not super close to the car so Mike had the bear spray ready but we were happy not to need it. It would definitely be a measure of last resort but you should always be prepared. 

We saw lots of bison of course. We love the way they walk out into the road and just stop there. It's not like you're going to get out and shoo them or anything, they just don't care and you could end up getting hurt. We just sit and wait until they're ready to move on. They're so huge and make the funniest noises, it cracks me up but I have huge respect for how powerful they are and make sure I don't get close to any when we're out waking around.  

Black Wolf

Black Bear

Raspberry and cub

Coyotes

Staying stateside this year

 We have decided to stay a bit closer to home this year - lots of family stuff going on. We decided to go back to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons because: 1) we love it there  2) tons of animals to see  3) great scenery  4) easy to drive there in a little over one day. We were originally thinking of going to the eastern US to tour Civil War sites but nature and wildlife won the toss. 

Next year we plan to visit Switzerland. Mike will retire next year so we need to go while we still have money haha - Switzerland is expensive! I'm currently working on our itinerary and will book our airfare as soon as the dates become available. 

I'm not sure I've ever mentioned this, but I always buy trip insurance for our international trips. I like knowing that if we get hurt, our medical expenses will be covered and even evacuation back to the US if necessary. It also covers things like lost luggage, hotel rooms if we had to cancel in an emergency, tour reservations, etc.- anything that was canceled that was beyond our control. 

I also always opt for all the additional insurance on our rental cars.  I like knowing I can turn it in and walk away without having the nasty surprise of a charge for (supposed) damage on my credit card the next month. The travel pages and forums are full of folks who didn't get the extra insurance and thought that the insurance coverage included in their credit card would be enough. They find out that you need an itemized bill for your credit card insurance and you may never get one from the rental company, especially one that has an itemized statement about the repair charges. Then you're stuck being 5,000 miles away, thirty days after you get home,  and trying to contact someone who speaks English and can actually help you try to get an itemized bill. No thanks, I will happily pay the extra for the full insurance through the rental company. We have used Europcar several times and been happy with the car and the ease of the turn-in process. They're also considerably cheaper than Hertz. 

Sorry - that was my soapbox moment of the day. 

 

Malahide Castle, Ireland

 This castle had some great legends! It helps to have a tour guide who really loves their castle, they tell such great stories. The first legend is about Puck who was the castle jester. The legend goes that Puck loved a young lady who refused him and he took his life in his room, just above the banquet room. They say Puck sometimes shows up in people's photos of the banquet room and that he sometimes rearranges things when no one has been in the room. 

Another legend is about Miles Corbett who took the castle during the Cromwellian era and used it as his residence. When Cromwell fell from power, Corbett was taken to the Tower of London and tried for treason. His sentence was to be hanged and then drawn and quartered. Sometimes in July, around the anniversary of his death, he can be seen on the estate. If he is approached, he falls into four pieces and disappears! He is sometimes seen on his favorite horse named "Ghost". (The horse does not fall to pieces though) 

The last family owner of the estate was Rose Talbot. She inherited the estate from her brother. Unfortunately for Rose, the inheritance tax on the estate was 50% of its value! Rose was forced to sell her ancestral home and moved to a sheep ranch in Australia. There is a painting of Rose as a young girl, with her mother and brother, near a staircase in the home. The eyes of Rose follow you everywhere you go in the room, even up the stairs!

                                       The court jester's room is the small door by the balcony 

Trim Castle, Ireland

We stayed two nights in the pleasant little town of Trim. Our hotel was directly across from the castle and we had great views of it from the windows of our lovely room which also had a private terrace. Trim Castle was used several times in the movie "Braveheart" and a lot of the citizens were extras in the movie. They have a little donkey family in Trim that like to be fed snacks. There's a list of preferred snacks posted by their pasture. The donkeys are easy to find, just look up "Trim donkey family" on Google maps.

The keep of the castle is still intact and we had a great tour from a very interesting docent (lots of stairs).  Most of the outer walls of the castle complex remain as do the gate towers. Just across the river is the Yellow Steeple, all that remains of St Mary's Abbey. 

We loved our hotel but we had no idea there was a wedding on our second night. I knew Irish weddings were big affairs but we were located right above the ballroom. My husband went down to the desk about 12:30am and asked if they knew when the music would end. The desk said the wedding party had reserved the ballroom until 4am (!) but the music would timely stop around 1 or 2am. They offered to change our rooms but I was already sleeping so we stayed where we were. We woke up the next morning to wedding guests or members shouting in the hallway as well. We spoke to the hotel manager that morning and she said they would take 200 euro off the bill, and apologized. She said they had ongoing issues with that particular group so it was not their normal experience. We really appreciated her giving us some money back and she was really nice about the whole thing.

                                                                 The Yellow Steeple

Trim Castle

Newgrange and Knowth neolithic sites - Bru na Boinne Center

Built around 3,200 B.C., these passage tombs are older than Stonehenge and the Great pyramids of Giza! Our visit started at the visitor center where you take a bus first to Knowth then to Newgrange. 

There are quite a few of the passage tomb mounds at Knowth. These tombs are constructed of rock with a grass-covered roof and the whole thing is supported by giant engraved curbstones that circle the tomb mound.  (the roof is now supported by concrete to prevent caving in)

Newgrange is the only passage tomb you can enter and you go into it in small groups of about 10 people at a time with a guide. The people who constructed the tombs knew the importance of the sun in their lives and for their crops, they may have even been sun worshippers - no one knows. There are posts outside the tomb at Knowth that align with the sun and doorway at the winter solstice. At Newgrange the rising sun on winter solstice shines over the top of the hill across the valley, lines up with the window above the portal door, and shines into the farthest part of the passage tomb to light up the basin there. Very Indiana Jones-like stuff! You're allowed to go in with the guide but are not allowed to take photos inside. The passage is pretty narrow in a couple of spots and we had to turn sideways to squeeze through.  The roof is made of layers of stone with NO mortar at all between them. I'll admit to being slightly uncomfortable upon hearing that. It was a great day and very enjoyable, especially since it was a nice sunny day and NO wind!

Mount Stewart House and Legananny dolmen

 We drove down the west side of Strangford Louch to Mount Stewart House. It's a lovely house with several different themed gardens, some of which have very exotic statues. 

Legananny dolmen 

This dolmen has been standing in a farmer's field for 4,500 years! It's 10 feet long and 7 feet high.

As you can see from the photos, the tip of the top slab is balanced on the stone below it. How did they do that 4,500 years ago? It would be so awesome to have something that ancient right in our own backyard. 

Carrickfergus Castle

We had a good time here. There is a large area of the castle that is intact and it was fun to see the rooms set up for feasts etc. It was also a sunny day but still windy. We had just entered the castle complex when we saw a worker open a door to a below-ground room. My husband jokingly asked if that was the dungeon. The man said no, it's just storage much as it would have been in the old times. He let my husband go down inside and look around. This is the man I wrote about earlier that told us a story about Dunluce Castle. 

We continued on and looked at all the canons they have there, some with the year of manufacture still engraved in the barrels. Carrickfergus was besieged but the Scots, English, Irish and French but is still one of the best-preserved medieval structures in Northern Ireland. We spent at least a couple of hours here climbing up and down stairs and stone passages. Mike had lots of fun taking selfies with all the statues and sending them to the grandkids. I think this would be a great place to take kids. 

Belfast, Northern Ireland

 I have mixed feelings about writing of our experience in Belfast. I originally booked a walking tour that focused on the architecture and ALL the history of Belfast. I was actually trying to avoid any tour that focused on the unrest that happened there in the 1960's and continued for the next thirty years because I am of the age where I remember hearing about it on the news. All the violence and hatred... 

Unfortunately my tour guide had made a mistake and missed our booking but he set us up with a taxi tour later in the day free of charge. So we spent the morning at the Titanic Experience because it was brutally windy and raining outside. It was okay in my opinion but I'm not one of those people who are giant fans of the movie. The movie lovers all seem to think it's great. The first part focused on the construction of the ship. Then there were just a few exhibits about some of the people onboard etc. They had furniture and things from the sister ship the Olympic to look at. I will say that it was quite hot inside the building which diminished my enjoyment of the exhibits. Everyone was fanning themselves in an attempt to cool down. We left the museum and got some lunch nearby and then returned to the hotel to wait for our tour guide.

Our guide drove us past a couple of buildings and spoke a bit about the architecture but it wasn't long before he started sharing about this own childhood in Belfast which eventually led us to the peace gates - which are still promptly locked at 7pm each day. We walked the no-man's-land between the gates and later stopped at a memorial that has haunted me ever since. It was a memorial to several victims of the violence but I was particularly moved by two of them. Maybe it's because I have young grandchildren, but the stories of these two little boys left me in tears for quite a long time afterward and I even now have trouble talking about it without crying. I have tears running down my face even now as I'm typing. Why does violence have to touch our young people? Why can't innocent children be safe? I knew I would react that way which is why I tried to avoid the political past. I did tell the guide when we started out that I didn't want to focus on the "troubles" but I think it's such an interwoven part of their lives that it's just natural for them to speak of it. My husband is interested in world politics so it didn't effect him the way it effected me. 

Anyway, we finished our tour at City Hall where I was supposed to be able to appreciate the lovely architecture inside which would have been a welcome distraction. Most of the interior public rooms however were closed for an event so we left and walked back toward our hotel. We stopped to look at some of the "entries", narrow passages between buildings with pubs and business inside. We found a nice, cozy pub where we had dinner before returning to the hotel for the night. 

On the way to Belfast - The Gobbins Cliff Walk

 The Gobbins Cliff Walk was such a fun thing to do, even in the pouring rain. We got drenched but still had a good time. You have to go with a guide and a safety helmet because sometimes they have rockfalls. They had one the day before we arrived and so we couldn't go in the sea cave at the end of the walk because that was where the rockfall had occurred. The man who built the cliff walk actually used to throw parties in the cave during Victorian times. I couldn't imagine navigating that walk in a long dress and petticoats! 

You start the cliff walk with a short bus ride from the visitor center then a long steep walk downhill to the shore. The walk then continues along a narrow ledge cut into the side of the cliff (there is a railing) and you cross a couple of bridges. There are also some spots where you gave to go through openings in the rock, some were pretty low and even I had to hunch over. They warn you on their website that it's like climbing 50 flights of stairs and with the steep climb down and then back up again plus the ups and downs on the cliffside, I think that might be a modest estimate! Even so, we had a great time and I really recommend doing it. 

On the way to Belfast - Glenariff Forest Park and the Dark Hedges

We left the Causeway Coast area and started our drive to Belfast. We made a short stop at Glenarifff for a walk and some lunch. We had a more difficult walk planned for the afternoon so we just took it easy in the morning. There was hardly anyone around and we didn't see anyone else at all on the trail. 

Next stop was the "Dark Hedges" made famous as the King's Road on the TV series Game of Thrones. It's just a tree-lined road but I can see how it would definitely be scary/moody with the right conditions like fog or darkness.

Update: a severe winter storm knocked down several of the trees along the road so it doesn't look like this anymore.

Carrick-a rede bridge and the Giant's Causeway

 We had tickets to cross the Carrick-a-rede bridge and were looking forward to it. It used to be a skinny rope bridge between the coast and a big rock island but is now made of wood and metal. They limit the number of people on it as well as on the rock at the other side. Unfortunately for us, the wind was too high that morning and they had closed the bridge. We were very disappointed but glad they were being safety-conscious. We did walk down to the bridge and along the path for some photos. We actually could see Scotland across the sea as it was bright and sunny this day. The wind was pretty brutal though and it made sense that they didn't want people on the bridge. 

The Giant's Causeway is a long area of beach that is made up of basalt columns. The cool thing about basalt columns is that they are all hexagon shaped. The parking here and entrance fees were quite pricy, I think you can avoid them buy not entering the visitor center and walking all the way down the hill to the beach. We opted for the bus and the visitor center because it was a long walk to the beach and the steep downhill walk is hard on my knees. The visitor center had some lovely things for sale and I bought a beautiful sweater there. 

It was fairly crowded here as it was midday when we arrived and this is a popular stop for ALL the tours. We walked around on the beach and climbed on some stones but the stones were actually very slippery and you had to be careful not to slip on them.

Dunluce Castle

 There is a cool legend about this castle. One night there was a storm and the ground beneath the kitchen gave way, taking the kitchen and the servants with it. Local lore says only a young boy working in a corner survived. When we went to Carrickfergus later on the trip, a man working there asked if we had heard the story of a girl who had survived the collapse. He said he didn't even like talking about banshees,  but the legend is that a young girl working in the kitchen that night heard the cry of a banshee and ran from the castle before the kitchen collapsed. He explained that if you hear the cry of a banshee it means someone is going to die, but if you see a banshee it means you'll be the one to die. You've got to love what great storytellers these people are. 

Nice views of the coastline here too.

Three days on Northern Ireland's Causeway Coast - Downhill Demesne

 We stayed in the seaside town of Portrush for three days and it was a great base for touring the sites along the coast. We went looking for a place to eat for our first night and went to Harry's Shack which is right on the beach in Portstewart. The place was completely full but they said we could sit out on the veranda where there were heaters. We had the fish and chips and it was the BEST fish and chips we had ever eaten 

Our first day dawned gray and dreary and we made sure our waterproofs were in the car before we set off for the day. It was a good thing we packed them because there was a downpour as we reached our first stop at Downhill Desmesne and Mussenden Temple. We parked at the Lion's Gate as there is no parking fee there. It's just a slightly longer walk than parking at the Bishop's Gate. We set off on a wooded path and eventually the rain turned to a sprinkle and then we came out into a clearing where we could see the temple and the ruins of the house not too far way. 

The Downhill house was a large country manor house and the ruins were fun to explore. The Mussenden Temple is a Grecian-style building built near the cliff that overlooks the ocean. It was built as a library and had an ingenious fireplace setup below the building for keeping the library and all its books warm and dry in the damp weather. Today the temple is very close to the edge of the cliff, so much so that people are no longer allowed to walk behind it. When it was originally built,  the temple was far enough away from the cliff edge that a horse and carriage could be driven behind it quite easily. The winds and weather have eroded the hillside now and there are discussions about how to save the temple from crashing down the cliff one day. 

We ended our visit at the Bishop Gate and as I was waiting for Mike to get something to drink, I mentioned to a gentleman standing nearby that I liked his dog. We had noticed the dog earlier as it had unusual coloring. Its head was black while its body was brown. The man gave me the leash to hold and I petted the dog while he told me it was a Bavarian Mountain Scent Hound and told me a little about the breed. He said he was at the demesne one day and a man asked if he could walk the dog. The owner handed over the leash and "Rosie" set off with a complete stranger. My thought at this moment was "you're a very trusting guy". It all worked out though and it turned out the stranger was on vacation and just missed his own dogs. When we told Rosie's owner we were staying in Portrush (next town over from Portstewart), he said "have you gone to Harry's for fish and chips? they're the best anywhere!" We told him we had and completely agreed they were the best. 

                                                                Mussenden Temple

                                                     No room to walk behind the building now