Feet and other things

Things are getting pretty damn exciting around here.  Dragged the hiking boots out; they are still caked with England's mud and sheep dung.  That makes them so much more attractive to me than brand new, sparkling clean boots.  These boots look like they know what they're doing, like they can find their way through the bogs and over the moors...and, in fact, they can.  They've already walked from Britain's west coast to its other coast.

I thought it was time to break them in again.  Turns out, it's more like breaking in my feet again.  Two years of wearing flip flops most of the time has made my feet rather ornery about being confined into any sort of enclosed shoe.  They began to get disagreeable when I put on the first pair of socks, but then I added a second sock to each foot and they got downright ugly.  After cramming them into the heavy, stiff hiking boots and doing six miles of blacktop, they fought back.  With blisters.

I let them have their way.  I pulled off the boots and the socks, found a spot in the shade and called Doug for a ride home.  I'll have to use baby steps if I'm going to win this battle.  I have from now until early June to make my feet see reason and adjust to life inside a boot; at least for a few weeks.  Once Ireland is behind us, they can go back to living in flip flops.  Until the next adventure.  (I'm thinking France or Scotland...)

Back to the exciting stuff -

I've booked all of our accommodations for the Dingle Way.  In addition to a safe, dry place to lie our heads each night, I've also arranged for our bags to be transferred from place to place.  We'll carry one backpack (or shall I say I will carry a backpack) with our rain gear, first aid stuff, extra socks, toilet paper, water and food.  I admit, there's always a wine bottle opener in there, too.  You never know when you might need one.
Everything else will be left behind for the proprietors to pack up and drop off at our next night's stop.  Isn't that wonderful?  That means we can bring crap we don't really need because we won't have to carry it on our backs all day.

I tried booking our train tickets from Dublin to Tralee (where the Dingle Way begins), but the online ticket system doesn't allow bookings more than two months in advance.  Hopefully, I don't forget to do that come spring or we'll be forced to rent a car and drive.  I've heard this is expensive and, quite frankly, not very appealing to me.  I do, however, love the idea of climbing aboard a train and watching the countryside change from bustling city to quiet farm country to seaside splendor.  We shared the train to St. Bee's (where England's Coast to Coast begins) with some chickens.  That was different.  Maybe we'll share our Irish train with a cow.  That would be a fine thing.

Stay tuned as we ramp up for our next adventure!