Monument Valley: Scene of many Western movies
Author: Jeff Whittle
St. George to Lake Powell
Today’s day started with a trip down to a crowded breakfast for some eggs, sausage and cereal. Eating the Fruit Loops cereal reminded me of church camp – the only time when I eat that type of cereal.
We decided to leave early to check out the Mormon temple. Since we weren’t Mormon we would not be allowed inside the building, but we did get to take a few photos of the front of the building. The building is one of the most prominent structures in town. Built on a hill and painted in white, it provides a contrast against the red rock surrounding St. George.
Next it was on to St. George Church of Christ. We were welcomed in by several friendly people. We did meet another couple visiting from Glasgow, KY. Since there is no other church of Christ within 50 miles, the church has the equivalent of their Sunday evening service in the afternoon, right after a fellowship meal.
Our Bible study consisted of a verse by verse study of Titus 2 and 3. There was much discussion. Our sermon
Nashville – Las Vegas – Zion
Soon after our trip to Ireland Sharon and I began talking about doing a domestic trip in the fall. After some investigation we decided on Utah and Arizona. I had been to Utah before, but just to Moab and Arches National Park, but that was 7 years ago and I was anxious to go again and show Sharon the beauty of those places. When I went to Moab, I really wanted to see Monument Valley, but our scheduling couldn’t accommodate it. This time around I made sure to plan for Monument Valley.
We decided on Las Vegas as our starting point. It was easier and cheaper to get to compared to Salt Lake City, plus it was closer to some of the attractions we wanted to see. Frontier was the airline of choice, mainly because it was so cheap. It’s a budget airline that nickels and dimes travelers for every little service. Need a carry on bag? That’ll be $20. Need to select your seat? That’ll be $18. You get the picture. Still when we were booking it, the tickets were still cheaper than Southwe
Reno – Then Las Vegas
Nineteen years ago I first visited Nevada on a work trip. It was mostly at Lake Tahoe, but driving back we stopped at Reno to view the casinos. It was there and throughout the trip that I got a sense of dirtiness as if something wasn’t quite right in the town. Maybe it was the casinos with their blacked out windows keeping patrons from seeing the position of the sun and how long they’ve been there. Maybe it was the patrons’ greed in striking it rich. Maybe it was the fact that the gamblers were rich themselves and decided to throw their money away. More still it could be those who were dirt poor due to their gambling problem.
Regardless of wh
Foley and Gulf Shores
Over Labor Day weekend Sharon and I visited her aunt, uncle, grandmother and cousin who live in Foley, Alabama. Foley…
From Dublin to the airport
I sit here at my gate ready to fly home in about 2 hours. I woke up at 5:30AM, got a shower and started packing. Sharon got up at around 6AM. After getting ready we had our breakfast in the shared kitchen area. We took assessment of the food we’d be leaving behind and whether or not we could take it with us.
We checked out at around 7:10AM. We ended up taking the wrong bus going away from the city center. I noticed it and motioned Sharon that we needed to get out at the next stop. With a bit of confusion we did catch a completely different bus number to the city center. After about 20 stops we finally made it and connected to bus 700 going to the airport. It wasn’t an official city bus therefore we had to pay 7 EURO each to ride, which we gladly paid. We were tired of riding all over the place and really just wanted to go to the airport.
We got our boarding passes at the ticket counter and proceeded through security. Ireland is unique in that their two airports which have
Dublin Day 3: From Castle to Jail
We slept in today. The only other thing we wanted to see was Dublin Castle and it didn’t open until 9:45AM. After getting ready and figuring out the toasting mechanism on the toaster, we actually didn’t leave until about 10AM. Sharon had mapped out our route on her phone.
Dublin Castle is not a castle in the traditional sense. Rather it is more of a residence for entertaining dignitaries on state visits etc. We saw beautiful rooms including a state room with the Irish throne (with a sign saying “Don’t sit in this car” for obvious reasons.
There was also a room with portraits of the Irish presidents. Ireland has only been a republic since 1960something. There was little room for more portraits so I guess they’d need to move them to a bigger room(?)
There was a nice blue room, a sitting room, a dining
Dublin Day 2: College, Museums and a Cathedral
I personally woke up early. I knew the alarm was set for 6:10AM, but I can’t stand to be woken up by an alarm. It startles me and I’m just not the same for a few minutes after that.
We got up and got ready. Afterwards we ate our usual breakfast in the shared kitchen area. I had the last two chocolate muffins while Sharon had cereal.
Sharon had mapped out our route on her phone the night before. The only problem was that I hadn’t charged her phone (forgot to plug it in). Our Pixel 2 phones charge fast and within the short amount of time that I figured out that the phone wasn’t ready vs. the time we left, the phone had charged 30% which is phenominal compared to my previous phones. Phone batteries have come a long way.
After a short walk we caught our bus a few blocks from the dormitory we are sta
Of Churches and Museums in Dublin
I had trouble sleeping in the night. Our bed is probably a bit wider than a twin bed but not as wide as a full. Normally I’d guess it is made for 1 college student, not a married couple. Also initially our room was too hot and there was no air conditioning. Our only solace is opening up a window to let the cool air in.
There is a green night light which shines directly in my face during the night. So I got out my eyemask which I normally use on planes. i felt somewhat of a diva needing my beauty sleep, but in reality it was blocking an annoying light.
After getting ready we had breakfast – 2 chocolate muffins for me and some type of generic multigrain Cherrios for Sharon….which she said tasted nothing like Cheerios.
We were running a bit late for the bus to church so we had to book it. Fortunatel
Kilkenny for half a day, then on to Dublin
I woke up early while Sharon was still sleeping. I got a shower before quietly waking Sharon up. Our B&B host, Yvonne had given us soda bread the day before. I had some bread with strawberry jelly on it.
Sharon said that I should go to St. Canice Cathedral to get some good photos of the inside of the church top of the round tower. She said that she was not up to walking so far.
St. Canice Cathedral is farthest along the medieval mile. I got to the end of the street and went up some seeps and there it was. This was the same church we tried to visit yesterday but there was a wedding being held there.
The inside of the church was much like the other churches we visited It had stained glass and crypts. One of the crypts was of a man born with no legs and arms but was still able to thrive and become