Road Trip: Ireland Style

With my ankle feeling better but not quite tip top, I decided to take a road trip.  The guide book suggested a route that basically went right past my front door so I just started driving.  The first place of note was the Doolaugh Valley, incredibly beautiful with lakes and mountains and road dwelling sheep.  Hey, does anyone out there know why all the sheep here have pink or blue or both colors painted on them?  I thought, maybe it distinguishes boy sheep from girl sheep but then some have both and I didn't really want to imagine what that could mean.  There wasn't a lot of traffic, which is a good thing because I was going about 50km/hr just looking at everything and trying to be a good driver at the same time.  But the lack of traffic meant I was able to stop when and where I wanted, which sometimes meant the middle of the road.  The next place along the route was Aasleagh Falls, very pretty but not quite Niagara or anything.  I kept driving until I reached Leenane, a cute town with a sheep/wool museum.  I should have asked them about the pink and blue!  Back on the road again, I decided I wanted to head to Kylemore Abbey; a girl I met earlier in the morning had mentioned it and I like old churches so I thought, why not?  The road that took me there borders on Connemara National Park, definitely made the trip more scenic and definitely a place I want to go back to.  In the process of getting to the abbey, I passed a local church where a wedding was going on.  Weddings are nice, but not when they create complete road congestion.  Imagine this: the roads are already tiny but now you have rows of parked cars on either side and groups of people casually walking back to their cars through the middle and only lane of traffic.  I wanted to honk but then I got distracted by their hats.  We really have to bring hats back in Canada.  They're cool, especially big ones with feathers.  I finally reached the abbey only to discover that it's actually more of a castle and there is also a gothic church to view and a victorian walled garden and tea room....all that for the low price of 12 Euros!  (which is equivalent to about $18 Cdn right now)  However, they are nice enough to let you get close enough to take pictures and go to the gift shop for free.  :)  After the abbey, it was back on the road and I was headed home but on the way, I hit an Ireland driving milestone!  I actually reached the posted speed limit. (only on the straight bits, but still!)