Sunday 30 April – Sunday 7 May
- Mon – celebrated arrival attempt two on Monday at noon. I’d had two aborted landings on the Sunday evening, with a forced Dublin Blanchardstown stay at The Carlton.
- Mon – In a walk on Rossnowlagh Beach with Dad, we made a new friend called Carmel (Byrne) after helping her after a fall on the beach. A pint, no…two, at Smugglers to celebrate being home and then Dad made the home classic of Tricolore followed by Salmon dinner. And we opened my bottle of Whistler from the Boann Distillery in Co. Meath
- Tues – a golf day, with Uncle Manus and a sample of his Odd Balls gang. I splayed, smashed and hacked my way round: the forty first year of Dad whispering: “too fast Kevin, too fast”.
- Wed – Bike trip day one: out to Slieve League via Teelin and Seamus’ of Donegal e-Bikes ( of Carrick, Donegal (“business is booming”)
- filled up our batteries with a very creamy seafood chowder and a pint at The Rusty Mackerel
- late afternoon arrival at Caislean Or Hotel, Annagry in North West Donegal and an hour on the bikes out to explore the old roads and beaches down by the airport
- dinner, sitting next to a German couple from Frankfurt region, the gent having an Irish accent and seemingly knowing the Irish folk scene so inside-out that we guessed he was a music producer?, before a whiskey or three (well, you might as well taste the full range of Croithli) at the famous Leo’s Tavern .
- Thurs – Bike trip day two taking in Cruit Island Golf (and meeting Fran in the clubhouse afterwards) before our drive home via picking up some wonderful plaice and and early summer’s evening dinner back at Dad’s.
- Fri – Bike trip day three taking in an escalating driving drizzel, over the two hours we were out routing across 40 kilometres of the Blue Stack Way, wrapping up into a fine steak dinner BBQing with Uncles Fergus (of Buncrana, near Letterkenny) and Manus (of down the road in Donegal town).
- Sat – Dad and I hit the bikes again early for the Lough Eske loop, saying hello to Mum on the way back. Dad’s biking skills are great, I worry no more! Death by texting in the car is the higher probability…