Welcome Home

Just to recap: Because of this:

We didn't get to go to Ireland last week. We did get a few hours in New York City, where in a sleep deprive state I bought 10 I <3 NY T-shirts (only 20 bucks total!). Nicole's ably blogged about that already. To help alleviate any lasting tension, we made it home the next day, safe if not sound (we were REALLY tired by then). Marie's Mom had cleaned, detailed, and gassed our car AND brought us welcome home balloons (how sweet was that)!
We went back to work (after a few days of goofing off and jumping off things, to be blogged about shortly). Some co-workers paid enough attention to express their concern and inquire what happened with our Euro-plans, others just asked "How was Ireland?" They were sincere, so I tried not to respond with "Thanks for pouring salt in the wound."

Seriously though, after a few days to reflect on our change of circumstances (and grading 300+ papers), we made our (relative) peace with the new plans. After speaking with our respective bosses, Nicole and I both were able to secure additional time off to attempt to schedule a return trip. It won't be with Mom and Marie this time unfortunately :( However, after a half hour on the phone with Delta's people, we were able (without any additional cost) reschedule our trip for a warmer month (end of May/beginning of June)! The new trip, had we not had to reschedule because of the volcano, would have actually cost twice as much for the flights (more of the travel season) so that's a plus. Everyone around us (Delta service people and family and friends alike) have been super supportive and as my Mom would quote Laura Ingalls Wilder's invocation of her Ma (who I suppose got it from the Bard) "All's well that end's well."

Online Education

For those who like Twilight, Mormons, or Sex, the following is an interesting and informative read on the intersection of those topics. Good history lessson too, for Mormon Public Relations (and, I guess, Vampire public relations, but less so).



100 Years of Sexy Sexless Mormon Vampires

The fun not Ireland, but New York trip :)

We have been planning what to do in Ireland for 9 months. We have an agreed upon, detailed itinerary that includes pretty much everything there is to do in the whole country. It represents hours and hours (probably hundreds between all of us) of preparation, decision and research.

We had less than 12 hours notice we'd be spending 3-5 hours in New York City. And most of that time was spent sleeping. So, we tried out a few possibilities, but "just" ended up wandering the city.

It was awesome!

Nicole bought some purses from a street vendor.

A few blocks later we ran across Madison Square Gardens, and of course took pictures. :)

Brent got a manly picture next to this giant sword/ axe thing. And we decided that we would stop and eat at the first Irish Pub that we came across. It didn't take long to find one.

Fish and "chips." We also had "bangers and mash" which is sausages with mashed potatoes. It was actually not that good. Which, Brent says, was the most authentically Irish thing about the experience!

As we wandered through New York, we found the flower street, where every shop sells flowers. There are thousands of fresh flowers, amazingly gorgeous silk flowers, potted flowers, cut flowers, anything your flower-loving heart could desire. It reminded me a little of the opening scenes of "My Fair Lady."

After the flower streets came the jewelry streets. Nicole does not consider herself a jewelry person. She doesn't even have pierced ears. She has just started wearing a few necklaces and clip-on earings she's gotten in the last couple of years as gifts. But, Nicole and Marie and even Mom were enchanted by the beautifully creative designs and unbelievably low prices in these stores. We became slightly less enchanted when we found out there was a "wholesale minimum purchase of $50. However, it wasn't long before it was clear it would be no problem meeting that minimum.

While we played with jewelry, Brent went on an adventure of his own. He visited the Empire State Building, saw Broadway, and found directions for us to get back to the subway line we needed. Then, he picked us up back at the jewelry store, and we headed out to grab a bite and get back to the airport.

As we hunted for the subway entrance we needed and for lunch, we ran across Brent's alternative to the jewelry store fun site! A Comic Book Extravaganza! Unfortunately, by then time was very limited.

Finding the subway proved much more difficult than we expected for a couple of reasons. The main subway maps were skewed so that all the routes fit onto one map. We were trying to walk to the next station and what looked like 4 blocks was about 20. Also, the line we were going to take was closed for construction, so we had to figure that out. (We also jumped on the wrong train at one point because we were in a rush... but, I won't bring THAT up again...).

But, we tried to be cool.

We also had wrong information about what station our hotel was at. On the air train it was called the Jamaica Station, but from the subway it was called the Suthton (or something like that) station, and the Jamaica Center Station was one station away from there. So, we got off at the Jamaica Center Station and wandered around a very scary area of town (we thought OUR hotel neighborhood was bad), until a very nice business owner came out from his building and across the street to tell us we looked lost and did we need some help.

(He probably figured it wasn't good for business to have pathetic looking Utahns getting shot or mugged in front of the store... )

He was VERY nice and directed us. We ran about half a mile to the right station and split up. Brent and I grabbed the luggage from the hotel while Mom & Marie got the flight check-in details sorted out. They also got yelled at for being so late, and they had them bypass the line. It took about 15 minutes to work out why our boarding passes weren't printing, and by that time we'd caught up with them with the luggage.

And, we did in fact make it to our flight home on time, barely, with some awesome team work.

Go Team, Go!!

The sad, sad cancellation.

They made an announcement at 8:30, which nearly scared us to death, but they just said, for flight 164 to Dublin, the gate attendant would be there at PRECISELY 9:00, and that we should all be ready to board early, we WOULD be leaving on time. (You could really tell they weren't going to wait around for anyone. Mom arrived just a few minutes later from an eventful bus ride from Connecticut, and Nicole was waxing really sentimental about how she couldn't believe it. It was like a miracle that we were actually going to go to Ireland!

Then the announcement came.

Dun, Dun, Dun!!! A flight from Atlanta was turned around mid-way to Ireland, and the Dublin airport would be closing again, per the latest report.

Brent was the quick thinker, and he jumped in line right away. We were, like, the 3rd people up to the front, and had just enough time to figure out that we weren't going to be able to make any big decisions tonight. We did decide to go back to Salt Lake at 7PM the next day which would give us a break from airplanes, time to sleep in, and maybe a peek at New York City so the trip wouldn't be complete bust.

Then Brent jetted over to the internet cafe and found us one a very few hotel rooms left in New York City. We booked it not knowing how we would get there. And were on our way out of the Airport while hundreds of people were still waiting in line. As sad as I am for all of them, I was in awe of our amazing team! If I'm ever going to be stranded in New York again, I pick these guys!

It turned out that there was an air train that took us right to our hotel! You could see it from the station.

A very friendly air train employee named Ulysses helped us save a heap of dough getting a pack of tickets rather than individual ones. He also helped us see where the hotel was so we didn't get lost on the way. Which was REALLY appreciated since it was a shady neighborhood.

Imagine the smell of live poultry, and you kind of get a sense of the neighborhood. Luckily, mom had a knife on her shirt, so Brent figured that gave us some street cred. :)

(These pics were taken the next day. When we arrived it was almost midnight).

The quality Inn people were very nice to us. It was not what I expected in New York. Actually, we met lots of nice people on our brief trip.

We figured we might as well have a New York experience, so we ordered a New York pizza before crashing in our comfortable room. Although obviously disappointed, we were feeling very blessed. We were safe, comfortable and had a flight home on the next day. Some people we met were stranded in a foreign country for who knows how long. Others that we didn't meet had homes destroyed by the volcano. We had our vacation delayed. Doesn't exactly seem to deserve a big pity party in that context, does it?

See the next post for our real New York adventure! :)

Canceled!

In New York.

At the Last Hour.

Ireland will have to wait for us.

More details soon...

Eyjafjallajoekull... what?

Who can even say that? That is the name of the volcano that is threatening our long-awaited vacation.

Some very cool close-up clips of the eruption

I guess we're lucky in a way. Well, in a lot of ways... But, at least we weren't in a plane and the ones to discover the volcanic ash that is filling the flight-path with the potential to stop airplane engines and damage the planes...

Many (yes, we are among them) are still hoping that the scheduled "earliest possible" time for Dublin Airport to open will hold. However, from the news blurbs I'm reading, it sounds like they've cancelled pretty much all Friday flights just in case. But our flight isn't scheduled to arrive in Dublin until Saturday morning, so... we wait.

I hope we don't get stranded in New York, mostly because I don't want to have to fight Delta to refund our tickets to New York for the next Ireland flight...

Then again, I'm thinking too far ahead. One hour at a time... And, one hour of sleep would be good. :)

Good night all,

Nicole

Not canceled (yet)

While it may be immanent, they haven't canceled our flight yet. I'm on hold with Delta seeing about rescheduling, just in case. Dublin Airport's closed until at least 11 am tomorrow (they're 7 hrs ahead of us). From this map, it's looking pretty iffy for a flight tomorrow:

Trip to Ireland goes BOOM!!!

Thank you all for your support... We are grieving our trip to Ireland due to a LARGE volcanic eruption.

Updates soon....

An incomplete sneak peak-- Ireland :)

So, a few of the things we are very much looking forward to seeing in Ireland.

Bridges of Dublin:

Who knew Dublin had so many gorgeous bridges? Well... I plead the 5th, but for all who share my lack of familiarity with the beautiful Irish City, the "Liffy" is a river that runs through, and thus, they have many bridges.

Of course, a few of the old homes in the neighborhoods are still around for us to appreciate after a few hundred years.

And, the number 1 draw of Ireland, the views. The "Ring of Kerry" is supposedly the most scenic and beautiful part of the country in the southwest corner. It is a lovely drive or bus tour.

The Giant's Causeway is one of the coolest accidents of Geology in the world. It

is a collection of vertical hexagonal stones. There is a legend about Giants... I won't go into it here, mostly for lack of time. But, very cool, eh?

And, Brent's #1 reason for going to Ireland, The Cliff's of Moore, or as we know them in Utah from the Princess Bride film, the Cliff's of Insanity. "Move the thing... and the other thing! Move it!"

We have a whole day set aside to enjoy these beautiful and clearly very memorable areas.

The countdown has begun. For anyone who may try to contact us, you should know we will be unavailable for awhile, except by email. Seth will be staying at the house for us, and taking care of Buster, aka Gabe.

We do have a magic jack US number that we plan on using regularly, so you can call us at 801-850-6124, and we will be checking voicemail (as we figure out how).

SO EXCITED!!!! :)