t-minus however many hours

i'm getting scarily close to leaving for ireland. i'm definitely excited, but have that teensy bit of nervousness since it's totally new (not enough to get in the way of me having fun, though :P). i've been running around like crazy the last few days trying to get everything in order and ready to go. i think i'm pretty close but have a little last minute tweaking to do tomorrow as far as packing goes. at work, i've finally gotten chance to catch my breath this afternoon after working furiously to get things taken care of this morning. i didn't even get time for lunch today, so i'm totally starving. i decided to just skip it altogether and leave half an hour early.

i'm posting the travel plans below so it's readily available if anybody wants to check and see where i am on any given day (not that more than two people read this). i'll try to come back in one piece and hopefully will return vaguely resembling myself, perhaps just a fitter, more toned up (especially in the legs) version. i'm going to do my best to keep a reasonably detailed journal that includes the daily highlights and how much ground we covered. the idea is that we will be cycling somewhere around 30-50 miles per day. i hope i can keep up with pete!

Sunday, April 29th - Arrive in Shannon at about 10:30

Monday, April 30th - Bike from Ennis to Kinvara

Tuesday, May 1st - Bike around the Burren, stay in Kinvara

Wednesday, May 2nd - Bike from Kinvara to Doolin

Thursday, May 3rd - Bike from Doolin to Kilrush

Friday, May 4th - Bike from Kilrush to Tralee

Saturday, May 5th - Bike from Tralee to Kilarney

Sunday, May 6th - Bike from Kilarney to Kenmare

Monday, May 7th - Bike from Kenmare to Waterville

Tuesday, May 8th - Spend some time in Waterville

Wednesday, May 9th - Bike from Waterville, to Kilarney

Thursday, May 10th - Bike from Kilarney to Mallow

Friday, May 11th - Bike (or bus?) from Mallow to Cork

Saturday, May 12th - Bus from Cork to Shannon

Arrive back in Chicago at about 4:30pm Sunday, May 13th