We Rented a Car! Adventures to Ikea and Avoca

This weekend we rented a car to 1) do some errands and 2) to Adventure!

What was I most excited about though? THIS!:

I get excited about the most simple and meaningless things. In this case: Ikea. It's essentially a store full of cheap crap but... I love it. I can't explain it. Well, seeing as how there are generally 5,000 cars in the parking lot (whether you're in Dublin or Kent, Washington), I'm not exactly alone in this sad love-affair. Well, the only reason we made the trek out there was that we needed a small table and chairs for our balcony and our landlord would only approve the price of something from here. =) I gave her quotes from several stores and (surprise, surprise) the only one she would reimburse us for, was the cheapest option.

 This felt so weird. Not only were we eating at the Ikea cafeteria (which is more like a feed-lot for humans), we also had these carts that hold up to 3 trays! So we're being herded through the single-file lane with 'guard rails' along the side, and then have a device to carry our food choices so as not to exert ourselves.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed the swedish meatballs and gravy (probably genetically modified in order to make you buy more Ikea products).

DRIVE TO AVOCA HANDWEAVERS AND MILL

(did not chop my hair...it's in the coat)

Look at that Patrick Swayze hair..

This is Ireland.

It takes up to 3 days for this first process where they string the wool together and add all the different strands of color for each type of blanket. When you see what their creation actually entails, the fact that the Avoca blankets are all 50-70 EURO ($65-90) makes a whole lot of sense. 

 And a short video of the weaver at work. This is the same machine first used in the early 1700s (with the small addition of a tiny shuttle which slides across each time to weave in the additional yarn color). So incredible that this is truly his job, everyday. I love it.

"In 1927 the faster and more efficient shuttleless loom came into use. The power loom reduced demand for skilled handweavers, initially causing reduced wages and unemployment. Protests followed its introduction. In 1816 two thousand rioting weavers in Calton, Lancarshire tried to destroy power loom mills and stoned the workers." So, there was push-back, to say the least, when the power looms came into existence. Pretty impressive that Avoca didn't even purchase a single one though until 1988! (And still, the majority of the blankets and textiles are made by handweavers.)

Here are two of the power looms.

Irish Countryside on the way home

We also took a slight detour on the way home to see Brittas Beach. If it weren't for it being about 55 degrees, this could be a tropical destination. There were miles and miles of sandy beach and huge sand dunes (Norah's favorite). 

Of course, Day 2 with the rental car far exceeded Ikea-Day but both were incredible in their own very different ways. Ikea, because we finally got our table and chairs and I got to buy cheap, organization supplies (yay!!). Today, because we got to see "Ireland" in all it's incredible, mystical, jaw-dropping beauty. See, both very different and both exciting.

 We felt so "normal" driving around the city. It felt like a real family weekend where you get to run actual errands and tour around a bit. We were also pleasantly surprised by how well we know the roads already (both in Dublin and over an hour outside the city). This is thanks to many, many hours on buses, my running, Wayne's bicycling and the many trips out to the mountains with Loren and Àgi.

This was a fantastic weekend! Also, in weather-related news, going into the week of May 21st, it might hit 69 degrees in Dublin. (whoa...bust out the sunscreen) Keep in mind, the "first day of summer" is May 1st in Ireland so the fact that it hasn't hit 60 in over a month is quite sad.

For the first time in my life, Seattle is a vacation destination. (it's been 80 degrees there for a week!)