We really powered through our miles on the road once we left Kansas City (such a clean city, btw). But, Kansas and Colorado are some seriously BIG states. The ride was beautiful but as the sun was setting, taking the windy road trip through Gunnison National Forest wasn't going to happen. The deer in that part of the US are huge, like twice the size of NJ deer (and as Bobby said, "As big as our Subaru.") Setting up "camp" (definitely a comfy hotel) in the sweet and welcoming town of Gunnison, CO was the best idea. When we woke in the morning, this is what we saw out of our window:

We cruised into Telluride to meet up with Kristie & Jeff (The "Bis" Bisbee). The only way to describe Telluride is that it is the type of town where you immediately become a part of the fabric of the city. Instantly you are able to get a feel for the geography, the best watering hole, and where you plan to grab breakfast in the morning. We had a fantastic time and spent the day snowboarding.

After a night of welcome hospitality, we hit the road from Colorado bound for Utah.

While the plan was to log some serious miles and stay over in Elko or Reno, Nevada BUT these road warriors (geeks) were listening to a book on tape that was almost done. (Gone Girl if anyone is curious). We powered through the last hour and made to Tahoe just before midnight for the "shred wedding" extravaganza of Craig & Bee!

We started off on Saturday morning, California bound! Leaving the snowy beaches of New Jersey with our first stop to visit family in East Palestine, Ohio.

With warm and kind hospitality from Bailey's family, we enjoyed our first night on the road. The next day, we set out for St. Louis, MO, we put the Gone Girl audiobook on. It captured our attention so much that we stayed on the road, heading further along toward California. Landing in Kansas City, MO for night at the fancy Hilton President courtesy of Jon Turner (a Midwestern buddy first met years ago in Bulgaria).

Nothing says roadtrip like bell-hops, baby grand pianos, and three million count sheets...thanks Jon!!

Third day on the road, through the plains of Kansas and eastern Colorado. Just breaking 3000 miles on the Subabru as we hit the mountains heading to Telluride, CO.

Off the plane, hop in a car and Ireland is exactly what you think it would be. Rolling green hills of amazingness. Beautiful, plush, green, abundant, and alive...did I mention GREEN? Everything was green!
Starting our trek from Dublin to Limericks, we stopped for a delicious breakfast at the Horse & Hound (a pub). Now, we're not in the practice of mixing Guiness with our eggs for breakfast but this place was divine.

From dining delights to impromptu jam sessions, Ireland was full of surprises. The sights were more beautiful than words...

We made Adare Village (just outside of Limerick) our home base, taking day trips to explore the Emerald Island. On our first full day, we travelled to West County Clare, starting in the seaside town of Kilkee then headed north to see the Cliffs of Mohr. From there we drove a bit further north to Doolin for some unbelievable seafood chowder and mussels at O'Connors then a night cap in the lively little cobblestone town of Ennis. 

The next day, in search of the Blarney, we headed south to County Cork. We kissed the Blarney Stone, explored the woolen mills and then headed to find a farmers market in the city of Cork. While it is the second largest city in Ireland, Cork was a vibrant but comfortable place with a delicious market filled with local cheeses, chocolates, meats and veggies. Topping off our visit with an unbelievably tasty dinner at Quay Coop. We couldn't believe how clean and easy to navigate Cork was as a city, such charm and ease!

While most of our experiences were day trips, when headed out to explore the Ring of Kerry, we brought our toothbrushes. The natural topography and beauty Ring of Kerry met and exceeded it's reputation. Half-way through the trip, over a lunch of fresh caught salmon in Killorglin, we decided that this trip was going to be an overnighter. From the breath-taking seaside cliff drive to the castle ruins, our sights were truly only something seen in the movies. Crashing for the night at Landowne Arms Hotel in Kenmare and finally rest from the road trip for dinner at Tom Craen's (who was an Irish explorer who survived the North Pole--google him!)

Our Ring of Kerry tour took us by Stangue Fort which was erected long before christianity came to Ireland. The picture below is from our trip around the Ring of Kerry, taken after we had to push one of the cars out of the mud, haha!

We finished off our tour driving northeast through the lakes of Kilarney, stopping for a bit of lunch then back to Adare for a night of pub fun singing Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel with a few locals at Aunty Lenas.

Our last full day in Ireland was New Years Eve, after several full days of adventure, it was a great day to kick back and relax in town. We visited the opulent Adare Manor, for which the town was named, and did a bit of shopping in the cultural center of downtown Adare. Since Limerick was named the European City of Culture for 2014, we decide to ring in the New Year with a live band, a couple of crazy hats and dancing with locals at an indoor/outdoor pub called Office Bar.

Ireland was a wonderful adventure filled with pub-singing, salmon-eating, guinness-drinking, blarney-kissing fun!