A New Shoe for Pepper
Maps, Molly and Pepper
Maps are self-evident but let me introduce you to Molly and Pepper. Molly, named for Kate's great grandmother, Molly Wilson, is our unflappable GPS system. No matter what bone-headed thing we do Molly calmly and with no judgement corrects our course and helps us along the our way.
Pepper is our dark gray little Peugeot that hugs tiny Irish roads with tenacity. We put our lives in Molly and Pepper's hands every time we venture out.
Yesterday we had an incredibly scenic drive from Galway down to Killarney then on to Kenmare where we currently are. The beauty of Killarney National Park is almost indescribable. Mountains, lakes, trees, shrubs of blooming fuschias, miles of green dotted with splashes of orange-red and yellow vegetation. Since it was raining most of the drive water was cascading down the sides of the mountains toward the lakes below. Saying it was picturesque is truly inadequate.
As we neared the bottom of the very, very narrow and twisting road poor, dear Pepper hit something in the roadway. She continued bravely on in spite of her injury. We made it down into town before she finally gave out and her front left tire went completely flat. I mean so flat she was on her rim.
With rain showers coming in waves we unloaded the back end of the car hoping we would find an acutal spare tire not the foam spray that seems to be standard for tire repairs here. Great, good luck! Spare tire!
Mike assembled the necessary tire changing paraphernalia including the car owner's manual (a thanks to tech writers everywhere passed his lips) and with me holding a raincoat over both of us Pepper got a temporary new shoe.
We made it over to Hawthorne House, the B&B we were going to be staying at, and the delightful owner, Mary O'Brien, enveloped me in a great hug then referred us to Kenmare Tire Center where Sean took a look at Pepper's tire and declared it hopeless. At least that is what we think he said because his accent was so strong we couldn't really understand. But when he removed the old tire from the rim and put on a new one we knew we had guessed correctly. So, Pepper now has a brand new 75 euro shoe and we are on the road again.
Kate
Great story, Kate. It's amazing how much you bond with a car when you're travelling through a foreign place. It becomes your little clamshell, your refuge, a sturdy little mobile roof over your head. I rented a Peugeot when I drove through the Soviet Union (yes, it was that long ago) and I STILL remember what an amazing little workhorse it was. Plus, it seemed to be quite the object of fascination among Russians whenever we'd stop (yes, it was that long ago).
ReplyDeleteYou certainly handled your little adventure with humor and aplomb. Glad you had a nice "home and hearth" to return to and welcoming arms. The pictures are awe-inspiring!
You might mention to Mike that I downloaded the mobile app "Google Translate" on my iPhone, and it's a kick! Talk in your sentence, and it talks back to you in the language you desire with a very nice, natural sounding male or female voice. I noticed, though, that there wasn't an aural translation for Irish - just the text (or transliterated text) appeared. Still, it was fun and offered about 75 languages to choose from. So I can now say "Please replace the electric fan in my toilet" in Kurdish!
Safe and happy travelling on the remainder of your trip.
-Glen
Glen your comments have kept us going when things were a bit grim. A post from you brought gales of laughter and smiles all around. I will file that handy Kurdish phrase along the one my brother used in Greece when asking for directions to a bathroom actually asked if the owner of the taverna had a basement with a hole
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