My chins and I had a great day today. Jon and I started with breakfast in the dining room at the Charles Stewart Guesthouse. We sat down and, right after we got comfortable, two men sat at the table next to us. We talked with them until their friends arrived. Jon and I both had the traditional Irish breakfast of bacon, beans, sausage and egg with hot black coffee and juice. When we left the hotel we stopped at Clery's Department Store. We shopped for a bit and J...

Jon is amazing. Neither of us slept well on the plane over from Canada, but the excitement of being home again just cancelled out any fatigue. We weren't fagged at all (to borrow a phrase). We breezed through the airport to baggage claim and waited until the very end when our lone piece of check-through luggage finally rolled out onto the carousel. I was long-past the point of believing we would ever see it and was resigned to living on the clothes in our carry o...

We have made it through the first part of the journey to Ireland. Jon and I safely traveled from Zanesville to the Columbus International Airport, navigated the airport roadways to find our parking area, and made it through check-in and security without a hitch. Now we will sit here at our date for three hours until they call us to board. The weather is playing heck with east coast flights. We are hoping it won't affect us.

Our plane from Columbus to Toronto was a small, 9-row prop plane. It was cute and would have been right at home in Thomas land. Our flight attendant reminded me of Velma from Skooby-Doo. We invited her to join us in Ireland. When we landed we had to go through immigration. The attendant there looked at our connecting passes and announced we were heading to Dubai. Yes, we freaked. Now we've had dinner at Coyote Jacks and are waiting anxiously at gate E 70.

Jon and I are only a few days out from Ireland now. When we booked our flight back in June I didn't think September would ever get here. Now, it is as if the time just flew past. Today we went for our last haircuts before leaving. I'm working to set up the electronics while Jon does laundry and makes sure the house is ready for an extended visit from mom. On the last two trips to Ireland I used a travel journal. Each trip my sister made a special journal for me....