Repp Sabbatical 2019

We returned to San Pedro a few days ago, rested, repacked for Family Camp at the Lair (up from Sonora, north of Yosemite,) and drove up yesterday. We will be here this week, after which I will have a  retreat, and then girls and I then visit my dad for a couple days before heading south again via Yosemite. For more information on the UC Berkeley's camp see here -  https://alumni.berkeley.edu/lair  .  (Photos by Cal Alumni Association)

Our last stop in Ireland was on the Dingle Penninsula, southwest Ireland. A truly beautiful place, it had no internet and very poor phone coverage, so I've gotten behind on my posts. By that fifth week, we were getting pretty tired, in the best way. Overloaded with fun adventures, we took some quieter time here, enjoying local pub food and some local ruins. Our one big adventure was a boat tour of the Blasket Islands. A fascinating place, people lived without any utilities on them until the 1950's. You can learn more about them here -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasket_Islands  . Our tour also included a couple wildlife experts, so we enjoyed more birds, humpback whales, and dolphins. Driving from Wicklow to Dingle took a while, thanks to a few sidetrips to religious sites: Abbey ruins neaer Kilkenny Playing An unusual headstone  Celtic High Cross The Dingle countryside: View from our house  Bee hive hut home. View of coast Photo

Ireland is getting the least time on our trip, and we are trying to enjoy every bit! First stop, Dublin and a pretty cramped little apartment.  View out our bedroom window! Our front door! Dublin, though, is a beautiful city and we were in a great neighborhood. We were able to see the Book of Kells (an 8th century illuminated manuscript of the gospels), other sights, as well as a family-friendly music pub crawl. Cover of book by Bernard Meehan, photos not allowed. Old Library at Trinity College  Lively Celtic music. We visited with a friend of a friend, who used to live in San Pedro, learned some Dublin history, and saw Christ Church cathedral. That evening we saw Riverdance. Amazing!  Christ Church Cathedral Mary Icon  Baptistry - includes pieces of all the marbles found in Ireland.    Gaity Theater - Riverdance! We headed for Wicklow in southeast Ireland yesterday, visiting the Powerscourt Gardens and Waterfall on the way

The time is flying by! We can hardly believe we will be headed back to the states in a week. I both feel like I could do this forever, and miss home. Kids are likewise missing cats, birds, and their friends. Our time in the Scottish Highlands was wonderful. My favorite for outdoor beauty yet! Although it was a lot of driving, we saw some amazing countryside in the time we were there. From Edinburgh, we drove north to Boat on Garten near the Cairngorms. A national park, it features the highest mountains on the isle. While nothing like we have in the states, they are still impressive. Rising up 2500-3000 feet in a short distance, they have their own weather. We went for a hike on one of them, witnessed how sheep dogs are trained, and got to hold 10 day old puppies. Very impressive and adorable respectively! 40 mph winds and an amazing veiw from Cairngorm These dogs are incredible!  Lily helping sheer a sheep 10 days old! From there we visited Loch Ness and In