We were hardly in a foreign country for 15 minutes before somebody, specifically a woman who sat behind us on the plane across the Atlantic Ocean, recognized Jonmikel. She's standing behind us while in line for Irish customs and says, "Did you used to work in Yellowstone?" She remembered him from a class of Leslie Quinn's she took last summer, the last time he drove a bus for the Yellowstone Association. How wierd is that, that you can travel across the entire world and meet someone who knows you? Similar to my time in Germany, where Tyko's good friend he meant in Ghana was the best friend of a girl Laura and I went to high school with, and who was a good friend of Laura's brother. How bizzare? Also, we met the Scottish National Rugby team in the Dublin airport during out layover. They were on their way to France for the Rugby World Cup. They were singing and in kilts... a sign of good things to come.

As you can tell, we're finally in Scotland. It's hard to believe that we're here, and we're here to stay. We aren't on vacation, we won't be back in the States in two weeks bearing gifts and annoying travel photos. No, we're here. We've moved. And that's odd.

We got to see some of Jonmikel's friends, Dan and Heather in Charleston, WV, on our way out to DC to fly. It was nice to hang out with people who are just so relaxed. We arrived and were immediately offered a beer. There was no baseball game, but we decided to go to the ballpark anyway to eat at the restaurant that overlooks the ballpark. We show up and…. There are people in line at the ticket counter? Wait, but Jonmikel said… OOOOHHHH, Jonmikel had been following the Charleston SOUTH CAROLINA team, not the West Virginia Power! So the team made the playoffs, and we all spend the night drinking and watching baseball, and in my case, getting to know one another a bit better. It was nice to be out of the Gardiner circle, and I bet it will only get better.

But the flights went off without a hitch. They even took our overweight bags and our oversized carry-ons. Though Aer Lingus has gone down hill a bunch since last I flew on it. No matter, cheap tickets.