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Showing posts from October, 2023

Cork, Ireland and the Blarney Stone

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A two-fer today.   Our day will begin with a trip to Blarney Castle. And the Stone.   Later this evening we visit the Jameson distillery for a wee bit of spirits.   It is Ireland, after all. As we pull into Cork Bay, it is easy to see why they are called the “Emerald Isle”.   Under grey skies, we slowly drift between luscious banks.   The variety of plants is impressive. The bus ride today is short by comparison; just under an hour.   We drive through a lovely countryside and quaint villages, finally arriving in Blarney. The castle, well maintained, looms ahead.   It is not an imposing castle.   Size-wise, it does not compare to some of the castles we have seen on this trip.   It is dominated mostly by its tower.   As with every castle, it is built on a hill with a dominating view of the countryside.   Most of the surrounding lands have been converted to gardens and beyond, cow pastures. We of course have to kiss the stone despite J...
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Retirement starts!

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 So, retirement started officially on October 1st.  How to spend that first week of retirement?!?!?  Ha!  Scuba diving of course! La Paz, BCS, Mx was a staple for our hearty group at Blue Seas Adventure.  Alas, it fell out of favor the last few years and then with Blue Seas closing.  When the idea of an Imagine trip was floated, there was not much interest.  My close friend and dive buddy Troy Mountz and I had different idea ... we had no intention of losing our friendship with Edgar and Maria Escobar ... we determined we could continue the annual trip even if it was only the two of us. So, the first week of October, Troy and I made the fourth annual trip to see Edgar and Maria.  And it did not disappoint! As has become tradition, Edgar found new dive sites for us, ones not normally visited by the hordes of divers that visit La Paz.  On this year's itinerary was a fabulous wall, the TOP of which began at 136 feet! As you might expect, we simp...
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Retired!

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 With the end of September came the end of the second career ... officially retired as of 9/30/2023!  Fittingly, we threw a huge party at the house that was according to all EPIC ! 5:00 to 8:00 turned into somewhere on the wrong side of 3:00 a.m.! Judy and I would like to thank every one that came.   We unfortunately were not able to spend as much time with y'all as we wanted, but there were 64 of you and 2 of us!         
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