IRELAND, DAY 5: CLIFFS OF MOHER

 July 8, 2024

A 2.25 hour drive got us from our hotel in Castleisland to the Cliffs of Moher, the #2 attraction in Ireland after the #1 Guiness Brewery Tour (which was not on our itinerary). In 2022, the Cliffs got about 1.1 million visitors, 41% of whom were from the United States.

There are two ways to see the cliffs: tourists can 1) walk along the top of the cliffs, or 2) take a sightseeing cruise. We thought we'd see more from the water than from the top, so before we left home, Bob purchased tickets (€26 each) for a boat tour. 

While we waited to board the boat, we walked around on the shore. Rather than sand, there was a rocky surface with interesting cracks filled with tiny flowers.

We boarded at about 11:45 and departed at noon for a "drive by" that took about 50 minutes.

The Cliffs of Moher run for about nine miles and rise between 390 feet and 702 feet above the ocean. At first we weren't very impressed. The cliffs were in shadow and we were very far away from them as we motored the nine miles to the far end. 

Here is a photo that I tried to edit to show the cliff details.

TEXAS PANHANDLE: PALO DURO CANYON PART I AND QUITAQUE

  March 19-20, 2021

One of the carrots that Bob used to entice me to travel to the panhandle of Texas was talk of Palo Duro Canyon. At 120 miles long, an average of 6 miles wide, and 820 feet deep at its deepest point, it is the second largest canyon in the United States behind only the Grand Canyon. It surprised me that I had never heard of it.

After visiting the Slug Bug Ranch, we made our way across the ever-so-flat Texas prairie, where the wind that once swept all the topsoil into the air to create lethal clouds of dust in the 1930s now powers huge windmills.

This is the best aerial view of the canyon that I could find (and it was on Pinterest without any attribution). You can see how the land just drops off into the canyon, and how the canyon looks like tendrils or tentacles creeping across the land. 

In the canyon itself, it doesn't feel ominous at all. In fact, it is pretty glorious.

The state park part of the canyon is relatively small--maybe a 10-mile stretch or so--and on this first foray we were near the state park but not within its borders. (We were planning a visit there the next day.) I'm not sure why the entire canyon isn't part of the state park--just too big?  Anyway, our first stop was at a picnic area on a hill. From the top of the road we had almost a 270° view.

NEW YORK CITY DAY 1: DUMPLING GALAXY, THE SCULPTURE CENTER, MOMA PS1, AND TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD ON BROADWAY

February 14, 2020

In February 2020, about a month before the Covid outbreak in the United States, we flew to New York City for our sixth visit. We had two main purposes for the trip. First and foremost, we wanted to see an art show in which our son had a major piece of work. Second, Bob had given me tickets to Hamilton on Broadway for Christmas (and after Christmas we also picked up tickets for To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway).

We took a JetBlue red-eye flight, which is our standard method of travel to NYC, and made our way to our hotel in Queens, where we dropped off our luggage and showered. We met up with Andrew and set out to find some lunch in one of our favorite NYC neighborhoods: Flushing (the real Chinatown), which Andrew had introduced us to when we visited in August 2018.

On our way to lunch, we peaked inside the Flushing Post Office, completed in 1934, the middle of the Great Depression. The murals were painted by Vincent Aderente, an Italian-American muralist.

We had lunch at a place Andrew recommended named Dumpling Galaxy. New York Magazine calls it Flushing's best restaurant. It is located on the upper level of a shopping mall full of Chinese stores.

Just looking at the menu was worth the visit. So many yummy options!

MEXICO, VILLAHERMOSA DAY 1: MISSIONARIES, COMALCALCO, CACAO, GROCERIES, AND BARBECUE

March 15, 2018

On the evening of March 14, after having spent the day at the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe and the pyramids of Teotihuacan, we caught a flight from Mexico City to Villahermosa to visit some friends who were serving as as the head of the LDS Mexico Villahermosa Mission of our church.

This large map shows the location of both Mexico City and Villahermosa in the context of the country of Mexico.

Zooming in, you can see that the flight time is about 15% of the driving time. Local flights are cheap (although more than the $16 noted on the map below), so it was a no-brainer to fly.

We were met at the airport by our friends and posed for a picture in the same spot they took photos with newly arriving missionaries. 

We picked up a rental car and then went to dinner together at Tacos de la Estancia before heading off for a good night's sleep at the Hampton Inn Villahermosa.

In the morning we made our way to the Mission Office, located next door to the church building that serves the LDS Villahermosa Stake.

The Mexico Villahermosa Mission covers a large area, with one finger reaching all the way down to Guatemala.

Our friends were putting on a conference for the missionaries (which included lunch), and it was fun to see them in action.