Day 118: Dunmore - Ballynacourty

Today the plan is simple: do nothing. After so many weeks of running around castles, ruins, cliffs and towns with uncles and aunts, Dad and I are tired. It's like when you run after the ball, catch it ten times in a row, and suddenly you say: "Okay, now I need a while to lie down on the blanket".

We left very late, at half past one, as if the clock also needed a vacation. We drove almost a hundred kilometers without hurrying, only with the radio as company and me looking out the window to see if I caught any shadow of a bird.

The only stop was in Tipperary, at a shopping center. Dad went into a Dunnes, not a Lidl this time, and came out with bags of food and a few other things. I received him as an official inspector: I smelled each bag, checked each package, and confirmed that nothing purchased was for me. Modern injustices.

After that, it was time to find a place to eat and rest. After about twenty minutes we found it: a clearing in the forest, next to a gravel road. Almost no one passes by, but from time to time some human with a dog appears. Some people stare at the camper as if it were a spaceship fallen from the sky, and Dad chats for a while.

The place doesn't have spectacular views, or cliffs, or mountains that take your breath away. But it's quiet, and that's just what we need. Here you can hear the wind in the trees and, from time to time, a distant bark that answers mine. I settle in, Dad sighs like someone who finally lets go of the steering wheel, and we both think the same thing: we don't need more. We are staying here to sleep.

Half a day, yes. And how good it feels.