Thing #4: Go on a road trip

Three be the things that maketh a road trip:  good music, good snacks and good company.  Stick to that recipe and you can’t mess this up.  It’s about as complicated as a three-piece jigsaw.

I started by securing the company.  I picked Lucy up from Dublin Airport and after I was done hugging her for an awkward length of time, we set off. 

Lucy worried about how my navigation skills would compare with her Tom Tom and I worried about how her bladder would hold up during the trip.  She kept asking “Are you absolutely sure you know where you’re going?”, to which I repeatedly answered “Do you need the toilet?” as if it were a valid response.  We both should have had more faith.  As uncomplicated as it was, when I did get us to our destination without any hiccups and within the expected timeframe, Lucy regarded me as if I had some kind of superpower.  In some ways, it was like watching someone tie their shoelaces and saying “Holy shit, that’s amazing!  How did you do that?”.

Killarney was our first destination since we were doing that run I told you about.  It was also where we met up with Marie who had went to the effort of making this welcoming sign:

The kindness didn’t stop there.  She came with breakfast, in the form of her Mam’s homemade scones (good snacks- check!), acted as tour guide for our stay and introduced us to the best ice-cream in the world.  Officially.

It was the first time Lucy ate brown-bread ice-cream, which is an Irish specialty (I think?). It’s one of those don’t diss it before you’ve tried it situations, so please eat it first and then try to tell me you’re not obsessed. I won’t believe you. I totally won’t believe you.

When we were in the car again, it was on the way to Marie’s  home place, near Bantry in Co. Cork.  We passed this sign-post along the way. (Love!)

Marie’s mother welcomed us into her home with Christmas dinner (in July).  Seriously, she cooked a Turkey for us and served it with Ham and all the trimmings.  It was entirely too charming.

The downside was there was none of my usual turkey-induced napping afterwards and we got back on the road to return to base camp.  We celebrated the end of the trip by drinking Guinness (another first for Lucy) in the smallest Irish pub I could find.

Just for fun, here are my favourite songs to drive to:

Guns n Roses – Paradise City

Foo Fighters – Wheels

Republic of Loose - The Steady Song

Lissie – Go your own way

Wheatus- Teenage Dirtbag

The Pixies – Here Comes Your Man

Iggy Pop – The Passenger

Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Road Trippin’

Billy Idol – Rebel Yell

Lonestar – Walking in Memphis

Live – All Over You

Fatboy Slim – Praise You

Mick Flannery – Tomorrow’s Paper

AC/ DC – Thunderstruck

Kerbdog – Mexican Wave

The Saw Doctors – Red Cortina

Johnny Cash – Folsom Prison Blues

Vanessa Carlton – A Thousand Miles

The Eagles – Life in the Fast Lane

Rodrigo y Gabriela – Tamacun

We travelled 605 km on our trip ( 615km if you include the 10km we ran!) on laughter and ice-cream and tunes and oh yeah,  fuel, because that’s important too even though I didn’t include it in my original  3-part recipe.

€5 has been donated to UNICEF Ireland for the completion of this ‘thing’.  Click here if you too would like to donate online.