Saturday September 10th

On the move today. It is an overcast day. We are getting the effect from ex-tropical storm Katia today and for the rest of the weekend.

 

We did not see much today just travelled around. We decided to take the scenic route over the Corraun Peninsula and on to Achill Island. It was very windy but no rain to speak of.

 

Turns out that there was a big bicycle race on Achill Island. There was an expert loop and a recreational loop. So that on these roads some narrow ones there where bicyclist going the same direction as us, or toward us, or both. Charles had to dodge riders, cars and walkers. It was crazy. To add to the confusion all the signs were in Gaelic.

 

We stopped at a square castle. It was blowing so hard Charles and I had a hard time staying on the rock path. We needed to stay on the path as it was so muddy off the path. I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. Was not going to take pictures but the inside was different than what we had seen before.

 

We stopped at look outs to see the rugged sea coast. One area where we stopped the bike riders had to dismount and walk. It was so windy we don't think they could have remained on their bikes anyway. We felt sorry for the racers as they battled hills and awful winds. Sometimes we saw bikers almost loss their bikes by the cross winds.

 

We stopped at a picnic area to eat lunch. We tried to have make and eat our lunch outside. Silly us!! It was just too windy. Eating in the car again.

 

We arrived in Westport at our B&B by 3pm. Charles asked about a local sightseeing site. We decided not to go as it was a hill with a 3-4 hour climb. It turns out that our decision not to go was a very good one. While I had a little nap Charles noticed that there was an increased presence of police and civil defence personal.

 

We decided we could walk downtown to have a look around and have supper. Again a very good decision. As we got closer to town parking spots were being closed off. Downtown parking was being closed as cars left. Barracades were being erected. Turns out that Cannonball Run has arrived in Westport for the night. There are no vacancy sign up all over the place. Thank goodness we had a reservation . There are 150 super cars involved. This is to raise money for Barretstown that helps children suffering from cancer.

 

Although, it was raining we enjoyed our walk and supper. We were very thankful, we did not drive anywhere. We probably would not have found a parking spot back at the B&B if we had taken the car.

 

Charles took a walk down to see what was going on. He said it was crazy. I could see the traffic congestion from the window. The whole downtown area is closed off.