I Didn't Get to Meet Frodo.

So titled because I'm pretty sure we hiked in the Shire the other day.

We woke up the other morning knowing two three things: (1) Irish food can really wreak havoc on your stomach (I'm guessing because of all the meat and carbs?) (2) We wanted to go hiking and (3) We should leave early in the day so we could avoid the inevitable afternoon rain.

One of the B&B's caretakers, Brendan, told us to check out a hike that is incidentally located on a working farm.  The hike, about two hours or so in length, actually takes you above a waterfall and makes for some gorgeous scenery-viewing.  We noticed the rain moving in but figured since it was morning and the rain has generally stuck to the afternoon we'd be fine.

We made the drive to the park, which was as crazy as any drive in Ireland we've gone through so far (seriously, people drive so fast on these tiny-ass roads).  The hike was indeed located on a working farm, which was evidenced by the fact that there were sheep everywhere.  Like, hundreds of sheep.  Maybe a thousand, I don't know.

Quick aside: the sheep all appeared to have spraypaint on their neck area.  Does anyone know why a farmer would possibly wish to color his sheep with spraypaint?

Anyway luckily we were smart enough to dress in head-to-toe rain gear because it literally rained the entire time.  I managed to find a few dry spells for photos, but generally just solid fucking rain.  For some reason I, queen of whining while hiking, didn't really find cause to engage in my usual whining.  I mean if I'm hiking in Ireland it stands to reason I'm probably going to get rained on, and I knew that I had a hot shower and a nap in a warm bed waiting for me afterward. BEST FEELING EVER.

I guess I'll let the photos speak for themselves; it really was a gorgeous hike and we kept making comments about how closely it resembled the scenery from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, including the little white sheep-dots we saw from above (and up close, jeez!)

IRELAND, am I right?

Also, and this is a random thing to tack onto a blog post: I'm thinking of quitting my blog (not deleting it though!) and starting fresh on a new blog.  I feel sort of stagnant here and I think I'd like a new beginning.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic, if you don't mind.