Last minute notes

Went to pay for the trip today and the Chamber was closed :*( I called Camille and left her a message so I guess we'll try again tomorrow.

The Chamber has spoken with the tour company and has us rolled into another tour group so we will officially be with people we don't know. Yay for us! Automatically we will get to know other people :)

Did a bit of "research" today by reading some of the Independent newspaper online -- really need to learn some Irish words and pronunciations. Glad I knew the Dail was a representative body in their legislature, but there were definitely other terms I better learn before we go. I didn't see one article or one letter to the editor that I didn't have to translate something in.

Not a problem...I love doing "research!"

Last informational meeting

Went to the last informational meeting 2 weeks ago. We are still the only ones signed up to go on the trip, so the Chamber is working with the tour company to see if they will have to "roll" us into another tour group on the same trip. That would mean we'd have to hang out with people who are from somewhere other than here...oh, how terrible (spoken with much sarcasm!). That would actually be a cool reason to get to know other international travellers :)

Final payment is due this week. Looks like it may just be Rachel, Tiffany, & me. Erica doesn't want to go if Brandon can't go (he hasn't been able to raise the money yet). She's going to call the Chamber tomorrow to see if the "drop-dead date" for payment really is set in stone. If it is, she's not going. I'm kinda bummed because I'd envisioned this trip as another family trip, but she will be 18 in just a few days and I'll have to let her make her own mind up about this. We had a good long talk about it yesterday and it sounds like she's thought it through.

I have the Notarized forms from the girls' dad to get their new passports (won't need Erica's after all, though). Wish I had pushed to get them sooner...passport fees went up last week by about $40! And the Euro is going up again as well...was at $1.29 yesterday. I should have bought some a couple weeks ago when it was at $1.19. Anyway, need to get new passport photos for the girls and make an appointment at City Hall to turn in the applications.

After this week, the hard part is done (paying for the trip). Then comes the fun part...the pre-trip research, packing, checking the camera to make sure it's working properly and has enough disk space, etc. I've been watching movies about Ireland (or at least set in Ireland) and am watching/listening to a documentary on PBS about the genesis of modern Irish music. Now all I need to do is commit to a guide book...there's too many of them! It would be easier if we weren't going on a pre-planned trip but I'd still like to know the options available in the towns we'll be in, just in case we have enough time to do our own thing.

My only real concern is that it will take me the better part of a week to really understand the accent as spoken...and then we'll be leaving! I've got to find other ways to hear the language before I go. I want to be able to pronounce things properly, at least (for instance, just found out on the music documentary that the city Donegal is pronounced "donny-gul" not "don-u-gul" like I'd been pronouncing it). I don't want to sound like an idiot!

4 months and counting...

Went to the informational meeting on the Ireland Trip on 5/28 and was the only one there besides Tom & Camille from the Chamber of Commerce. We are still the only ones signed up for the trip so (so far) we have the bus to ourselves! Tom is estimating that we might have about 10-12 people at the final count. We'll see. Final payment is due at the end of July...we'll know for sure then.

Got answers about how long we would be on the bus each day and how long we would be at each venue. It looks like it should be a leisurely trip :) Camille gave me copies of email exchanges between herself and the tour company and I shared those with Tiffany since she couldn't make it to the meeting.

I have paperwork started for the girls' new passports, waiting on the notarized authorization from their dad to take them out of the country before we can actually get them processed. Checking the Euro daily -- it's down below $1.20! Not sure how greedy I should be about the exchange rate...I'll probably buy at least $100-$200 soon just in case.

4 months and counting and I'm sure it will go fast!

Reservation paid - we're on our way!

So today is the day...off to the Chamber of Commerce with Tiffany to pay the reservation fee for 4 of us! Once that's done, we're committed and can't turn back :)

Still wondering why it is that I cannot simply renew the girls' passports? For minors, the rule is they must be treated as NEW passport applications. They have special rules for 16-17 year-olds but it still involves submitting all the same paperwork again. They are already on file! All they need are new photos (which Rachel is really looking forward to!). Anyway, can't fight the State Department on this so I have saved the forms to fill out and will get those started once the reservation fee is paid.

Got a response on my questions about time spent on the bus...Indus Travel says that their tour guides are used to tourists who want to explore and so they leave plenty of time to wander :) We should only expect to spend time on the bus in transit between locations. Yay! I'm feeling more relaxed already!

Also talked to Camille from the Chamber and found out that having a triple-room will actually save us $75 each! That so rocks!!! I expected them to charge MORE for some reason. I love pleasant surprises :)

I have also noticed that the Euro is declining in value (down to $1.25 today) - I am sure it is because of the financial crisis in Greece. Whatever the reason, though, I keep hoping it will continue to drop so we can get the best bang for our buck when we go. I am keeping an eye on it...if it starts to rebound, I may buy some now to extend our tourist dollars while I can.

Just noticed I've been wearing green the past 2 days...guess I've been subconsciously preparing for today :)

Early Research

Okay, since I started this blog, I have done a ton of research:

• need to get all new passports for the girls (can't renew if their original passports were issued under age 17) - lots of paperwork to do & need to schedule a time that their dad can be available to apply with us in person
• weather in the 3 areas we will be in is amazingly like home (temps within a few degrees of the weather here, rain predicted for the same days). I have Dublin, Limerick, and Galway set on my weather updates :)
• pubs open to minors until 9pm
• drinking age is 18 (one daughter will be happy)
• Google Earth is my friend (took a virtual tour of Dublin around our hotel)
• Ireland is tiny...somehow expected it to be bigger but apparently it is the size of West Virginia.

I have emailed the Chamber to see how much of the trip is expected to be viewing the countryside from the bus window and how much we will actually be allowed out at sites and locations to explore and meet people. Still waiting for their reply on that and my initial question about how much triple-rooms will cost.
Haven't sent in the deposits yet...waiting for the above answers, hoping they will come before the early-bird registration date of 5/15.
More info as I get it...stay tuned :)

1st Post -- Getting Started

Well, it looks like our next vacation will be to the Emerald Isle! Thanks to the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce, I have another opportunity to take my girls on a vacation to Europe and we are all so excited!!! We are still in the "prep" stage -- haven't even paid the reservation yet -- but the trip is already a fait acompli. Erica and I started researching the hotels we'll be staying at...even the planes we'll be flying on and the seating charts for both (747-400 for the trans-atlantic leg and an Airbus 320(?) for the London-Dublin leg). Rachel has already begun planning what she wants to see.

But...what made this blog happen is that I opened my big mouth! My friend Tiffany was recently promoted to Executive Director of an Assisted Living community in Puyallup and is planning on coming to Ireland, too. I suggested she do a blog so her residents can follow her on her trip (great idea, I thought). It then hit me that I am also an ED at an AL...I should do a blog for my residents, too! So here it is...the beginning.

I will warn you now...I've never blogged before so I don't know the protocol, but the truth is -- I don't care. I neglected to journal anything on the trip I took with the girls in 2005 to London & Paris (really should have -- we were in London for the Tube bombings) and didn't do anything more than write captions for the pix I took in China in 2008. What I miss now are the little details that made the trips so meaningful, so my plan is to try to preserve them here. And the bonus is that friends, family, residents, and staff will get to see them as well.

Wish me luck on keeping this interesting. I promise to try :)