Music on the Road

Today as I work on final preparations for my 2nd epic road trip I pulled together my Road Trip 2017 play list. This meant a day of downloading songs I purchased or owned already into my media player to create the ultimate mixed CD playlist.

On past journeys I've done similar things so I would have all my favorite songs right at my fingertips and avoiding taking my massive CD collection with me. (Yes I still do CD's and love them!) I've driven through Yosemite to the tunes of a unique guitarist. I've flown down the freeway to California motivated by Rascal Flats' Life is a Highway. I've climbed the freeways to Northern Arizona to the strains of Sheryl Crow and weaved my way through a vineyard listening to Under the Tuscan Sun.

The emotion I felt as we emerged from the red rocks into Page still sings through me as I listen to Lenka's The Bright Side and Celtic Women sing with me as I relive driving down the roads of Ireland. All have tied those lovely songs to wonderful memories of the trips I've taken.

There are so many memories tied to the music I listen to, so many trips that stay with me through that music. As I prepared my CD playlist for the next journey, I organized the songs, figured which I indeed wanted to take with me on this trip and then spent the next couple hours burning those CD's. Now as I've just completed the task and have the small stack next to me waiting until I tuck them into my travel CD case. I look forward to the memories I will get to make with that music. I just hope my rental car has a CD player.

Visiting Inishmore dun Aengus

It sounded like distant thunder. I kept looking around, the day had been threatening rain but nothing that looked capable of producing the booms I heard every couple minutes. As we climbed the mildly steep trail I looked at mom and asked if she new what it was, she didn't either. We continued our way up the trail from the visitors center, today we were going to be seeing Dun Aengus on  Inishmore. you may not be familiar with the name, but I'm positive if you've seen cliff pictures of Ireland, you've seen the cliffs by this historical fort. It was a beautiful walk up from the visitor center. Rock walls, sturdy in construction but appearing haphazardly constructed lined the pathway. Most followed the path but some rule breakers climbed over the wall and headed toward the cliff face. 

To the left I could see where the land ended in a sharp drop off and knew the sea would be far below. To the right was a gentle slope downhill to the ocean. Both sides though I could see the sea stretching far out ahead. Ahead up the hill was the stone fort, a massive structure surrounded by a wall. A single entrance, large enough for one person. Despite the number of people, there wasn't a wait to get through the opening. We just went inside the fort. I was surprised to see how open and large the space was surrounded on three sides by rock walls. The fourth side, there is was, the view I'd been waiting to see. The view that had been on my bucket list for ages. The famous cliffs of Inishmore, I was finally here. 

As I neared the edge of the cliff, it occurred to me the booming noise I'd been hearing wasn't thunder, it wasn't a canon shooting in the distance. It was the ocean hitting the bottom of the cliffs. It was amazing to stand at the top and see the wonder of the landscape and feel the power of the ocean. Far below the water had carved a hollow at the bottom of the cliffs, when the water slapped the rock, a loud boom could be heard. It was beautiful, majestic, breathtaking there, a view I will never forget.

After a time we finally had to peel ourselves away from the cliffs, we had a guide waiting for us at the bottom. As we traversed down the trail back to the visitor center I knew that this was an event that would never leave my mind. I knew that for years to come I'd remember that feeling of standing at the top of the cliffs, feeling the breeze on my skin, smelling the salty ocean, seeing the dizzying height, and hearing the thunder of the sea against rock.

Salad and Soda in Ireland

One thing I learned in my three weeks in Ireland was that communication wasn't always as easy as I thought it would be, even when visiting an English speaking country. I knew of the commonly used differences in language like "lift" instead of "elevator" and "boot" instead of "trunk" but there were so many others that I'd never heard of until I was there. I learned quickly to ask for directions to a "petrol" station instead of a "gas" station if I needed to fuel the rental car. Asking for a gas station just led to directions to getting propane. If you ordered food and wanted it "to go" you asked for "take away." Those differences were easy. There were two things though that I never did quite master in the three weeks, one I still haven't figured out how to do.

First, salad. In the states, salad is often in references to a group of ingredients tossed together. Fruit salad is several types of fruit cut up and tossed together in a bowl. Tuna, potato, and egg salad have the main ingredient by name plus mayo and other staples that often end up in the bowl, mixed up and served. In Ireland, salad was lettuce and tomato unless otherwise noted. If the sandwich you ordered was advertised as having salad it didn't mean a salad on the side, it meant there was lettuce and tomato on the sandwich. An egg salad sandwich wasn't what I thought it would be. Instead it was a fried egg (the yolk cooked through) on bread topped with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Not bad but a little weird when your expecting the states version of egg salad. By the end of my time in Ireland, I'd pretty much sorted out that bit of information and had mastered many of the other differences in language. (although I will admit I never did figure out what the street sign "traffic calming" meant.)

There was one thing though I never did figure out. That was ordering a soda. I understand that throughout the states alone there are different ways to order that fizzy drink you want. In some parts you might order a pop, in some a soda (like we do here in Arizona), still others you order a coke regardless of what type of soda you want. In Ireland, I tried ordering a pop and got a confused look. I tried ordering a soda, they thought I meant a soda water. I tried ordering a fizzy drink, no luck. I tried all the different ways that I could think of and each time I resorted to describing drink brands, Dr. Pepper, Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, etc and the server would then understand what I was requesting. Never once did they correct me, and I really wish they had because I still don't know to order a soda. One day when I go back I hope that I'll be able to figure out exactly how to master this particular challenge. One can only drink so much water and tea before wanting a little variety in the sweet icy coldness of a soft drink.

A Vineyard Tour!

We rolled along a gently rising road, music played softly in the background, the soundtrack to Under the Tuscan Sun. This music was fitting as we drove up toward Firestone Vineyard with rows of grape vines stretching out in both directions.

The day had been perfect and we were finally doing something I'd wanted to do for a long time. Visit and tour an honest-to-goodness vineyard. It was gorgeous! We made our way into the parking lot, mom, who has been my companion on many of my journeys was in the passenger seat of her car snapping pictures as quickly as she could.

 The main building which housed the tasting room, a small gift area, and where you purchased tour tickets was huge! Inside was beautiful, large glass windows filled one wall giving way to an amazing view of the hills surrounding the area. The bar tops and walls were beautiful with rich wood polished to gleam. Two words could describe the place, elegant and beautiful!

On the tour we were able to see where the grapes were crushed, learned about the differences in wines, and saw where the fermenting process took place. We saw the vineyards up close, standing right next to a row where the tour guide showed how the vines were protected and harvested. The entire experience was like stepping out of reality and onto the set of a Hollywood movie, it was all so perfect. The beautiful buildings, the breathtaking vineyards, the well-kept but more rustic rooms where the grapes were harvested and turned into wine. As the tour drew to a close, we stopped at an odd looking tree, we learned this tree was a cork tree. The bark of this tree is harvested to make corks for wine bottles (which doesn't hurt the tree). It was interesting to feel this tree and the spongy texture one might expect from a natural cork.

I was sorry to leave the beauty of the vineyard but loved the experience. The elegance, the beauty, and yet the knowledge that hours of hard work went into making the place what it was at that moment.