June 2, 2013

Note to self, at the gas station in Ireland, green means unleaded, black is diesel.  We were suppose to go to Northern Ireland today but plans changed. Good thing the gas station is only a block from the hotel. I did get a short nap in the parking lot of the gas station and the rest of the crew got to nap at the hotel.  Tow truck finally  made it and about 20 minutes later we had a new van only this one is gray.  I was reassured that this happens all the time and I did the best thing by calling the rental company before I drove it.  Glad we paid for the extra insurance.

We ended up at the    Ardgillan Castle just north of Dublin.  Kids loved this castle because it had huge lawns that they could run around on and roll down the hills. It was great for us to just sit and enjoy the views.  We then found a beach and picked up sea shells.  Kids were glad that we did not have to spend another day traveling in the van.

Ardgillan Castle 

Kids running around on the castle lawns.

Showing off some of the shells they found.

June 3

We caught the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead Wales.  The trip was about 2 hours long and was a new experience for all of us.  When we got to Holyhead we rented 2 cars because as we learned later you cannot rent 9 passenger vans in England unless you are affiliated with the government.  So Tauna gets to have the experience of driving on the left hand side. We then had a 5 hour drive to Coylton, Scotland.  We finally got there around 12:30 am and was glad to be out of the cars.  The last 50 miles was on a small Scottish road that had no part longer then a 100 yards that was straight and barley wide enough for 2 cars to pass by each other.

Waiting to board the ferry.

On board the ferry

June 4

Today we just stayed at the house we had rented and did some laundry.  We are still having a hard time adjusting to it being light so late and slept  in late.  Scotland smell s like a dairy farm, at least this part we are staying in.  We ventured over to the beach this evening and let the kids play for a while.  We found a castle perched on the side of some cliffs on the coast and took some pictures.  We found out that it was called Wallace tower and belonged to the William Wallace family.  We could not go inside and it was not very large.  Saw a fox and some pheasants while we were there.

Abbey in the back yard in Scotland

The Wallace Tower (Castle)

The house we stayed at in Scotland, the white one on the left.