Luckydog Adventures: Our Second Night in Ireland

Rain, heavy at times. That’s not a forecast, that’s what’s happening. I was pleased to find the automatic windshield wipers on our new rental car worked just fine; intermittent with the first few sprinkles; full time as the rain picked up, and high speed when it got really pouring. They were on high speed most of the way. We were driving from Dublin, where we had arrived in Ireland, to the wild West Coast, the Connemara National Park. And it was wild. We’d stopped to spend the night half-way (making this our second day in Ireland), and it had been sunny and just lovely when we’d left earlier. But the further west we went, the more the sky clouded over.

Now, it’s really coming down. After a month of driving in England we finally had confidence in the car and driver, but the rain was a new, and not welcome, factor. The road was decent, though, narrow and winding and hilly, but somehow not the narrow lane we found so confronting in England. No stone walls or hedges, for one thing; just open moor on both sides. And little traffic. So we continued, up and over and around, with the occasional cascade of water from the wheels as we ran through a particularly deep spot on the road.

After some interminable time we made it to the bridge mentioned in the directions of our Airbnb host. Turn right after the bridge; look for the first house on the left, it’s white; we’re going to the yellow house across the street. (I spent considerable time on Google Earth and Street View, trying to suss out the exact location of the house; the written directions were much easier and more effective!)

We arrived just as the rainstorm was ending. First, we headed upstairs to the front room, overlooking the bay and the storm, for tea and conversation. After we learned all the essentials about the house and the area, and got settled into our room, it was time for a short post-storm walk.

View from the upstairs window, during the storm

Looking across the bay

By now the sky had thinned, and the light was remarkable. The colors were wonderful: the orange of the tidal flats, the green of the bushes, and the many red spots of the fuchsia flowers along the road, contrasted with the light and dark grays of the hills across the bay.

And then, on the walk back, the western sky cleared and a magical rainbow appeared, arching from horizon to horizon, with another rainbow bit right outside it (not quite a double rainbow, exactly; more of a 1.2 rainbow…).