The Flans on tour

Hi Craicers
Day 3 of a 2 week tour. Chillax!!!!
Started at Lough Navar, super view, so quiet at night, no dog walkers in the morning, great walks. Day 2, Harrys bar, Rosses Point, near Sligo, great food, lovely beaches. Day 3, presently basking in the sun at the Beach bar, lovely prawn salad, 23•, hot hot. Bizz is having a ball! Keep you posted with our route if you are interested. JFlan Em & Bizz on tour⛱

Hi Craicers, Weather forecast very good tomorrow so staying another day. What a spot in this weather. Very dog friendly, beside beach, pub, great food very reasonable prices, I have played & sang to an afternoon crowd of people from all different countries this afternoon & it's shaping up to be a gather round singalong this evening with the rest of the campers here. One tip, you can't book on the phone, first come first served, get here early if the sun is shining. Feckin brilliant spot, 15€, ehu extra but who needs it? Gotta go, beer calling⛱

Hi Tytus, yes, the big space in front of Harrys is their property. The best spot is, turn just right before the recycling bottle banks and go to the far right hand corner at the steps. Go in have a pint and mention you are in the van, very welcome to stay free overnight & lovely food, live music Fri & Sat nights 20 meteres from the van!!

Hi Craicers
Day 4: Update on Beach Bar, about a million kids turned up so we showered, emptied grey water & toilet & filled the water tank & decided to go to Crossmolina aire on Lough Conn, Co Mayo, what a good move, campervan spaces overlooking the Lough, level & neat, tap, new toilet block. Also you have to check out the new shiny Lidl in Ballina on the way, free parking & everything you need. Don't go past this Crossmolina aire if you are near, it's a cracker!!! Helps that it is 24•, but there is a nice breeze. Just had sirloins in the sun with all the trimmings, nice red Jacobs creek, Bizz had a swim, loungers out, feet up, fecking bliss. Let you know where we end up next, the flans on tour, Em J & Bizz, grrrrrrr

Also our 9th wedding anniversary tomorrow & my birthday on Friday, last year I had food poisoning so this year looks a bit better health wise & yes I did remember to stash an anniversary card in the van, phew!!!

Thanks everyone, sorry about the van Arthur, know the feeling being unable to use it!
Anyway just realised I should have been posting this on the "blogs" section, maybe Ally could move it?

Hi Fizz from Bizz, I am having a ball and being allowed off the lead every day & I don't wander off too far. Mummy and daddy went to the butchers today and got me a lovely mmmmmmm bone mmmmmm, which I am chewing right now, have to let daddy write now, see you later!

Thanks Bizz, back to the blog, as stated Crossmolina aire which was lovely. Met a lovely couple from Kent in the same van as ours. Two lovely boys with them who wanted to steal Bizz! Dave & Emma were in our van to 330am, good craic and a few fizzy drinks consumed. Bit fuzzy,this morning but up and ready to face our anniversary day. Big Dave is going to subscribe to MHC & buy the map app today after I showed him the hidden delights therein. He was well impressed. We have used the app every day, very good, even off line, great tool Ally!!
So, today was a down pour start & we headed off along the Lough to check out Foxford Poi, it's a good spot looking out over the lake, well out from Foxford. The POI & town not seen today at their best due to the heavy rain, but onward to our next destination, the lovely town of Cong which we visited many years ago in our caravan days. On arrival the rain stopped and we set up. The site is excellent, clean, tidy, quiet, & the shiniest chemical disposal cubicle ever seen. 25€ but well worth it for a refresh. Walked into town, about mile, via Ashford Lodge castle Hotel. ( after winning lottery, burning van & staying there, costing between €600 & €3000 for the presidential suite!!!) Rated 3rd best hotel in the world.
Back to reality, wee pub crawl, excellent butcher/delicatessen, beef stroganoff for tea, ( bone for Bizz as stated earlier by him). Nice and settled now, sitting out under our new canopy in case it rains! Just me and Emily and Bizz chewing away after a good walk and play with some kids who also wanted to steal him. Sitting planning tomorrow, getting a bit tired, early night I think. Keep you posted, having a good trip. Oh, also you have great powerful wifi at Cong campsite, no password required, quite handy.
Night night from Em J & Bizz ( sore jaws) Flanagan

Hi Craicers, been off line for a while!
Left Cong and drove along the side of the Lough, bit rough in places, stopped in Headford, great supermarket at Joyce's, top notch. Checked out a few POI's: Campbell's Tavern looks good, big car park, quiet at the time. Also Luminagh Pier is lovely, few miles off the main road, good safe, quiet stopover. Hit a nightmare traffic jam out of Galway, travelled 10 miles in about 60 mins!!! Ouch! Anyway ended up in Kinvarra, small festival/farmers market created a good atmosphere. Town was packed on the Friday & the rain was persistent, but of a washout, so we headed on and as always happens it brightens up when you move on and had a lovely, too long, drive along the coast, nowhere suitable to stop for Bizz so ended up at Whitestrand Beach looking forward to the lovely sand. Bad timing, tide fully in, lashing storm, big windy blowy sh*t, even Bizz refused to go out the open door, we braved it and skinny dipped because there was no one else about!!!! Very clean beach, shrunk Willy, & big nipples experience.Back to the van for shepherds pie, gravy followed by gin n tonic & cards. Let you know what's next as Ireland is so fickle weather wise!! The Flans

Now at Garry Kennedy, great spot overlooking Lough Derg & I can see Larkins pub from the van, great facilities using the waterways Ireland unit card. Getting showers and out for a meal & some live music!!

Hi Craicers,
Back to the van for an hour break after a belly buster meal, live music starts at 1030pm. Give Bizz a walk, Em had mussels as a main course with homemade wheaten bread, have to say the best creamiest, biggest, fleshiest mussels ever & we are fussy mussel experts!! I had tender pork fillet on creamy champ, apple sauce fresh vegetables, chips, washed down with 2x delicious Irish Coffees, all for €43. Having a wee indoors Bombay Sapphire before heading back the 100 yards back to the pub!!
The Flans

Still touring, we left Garry Kennedy and moved to Terryglass, caught the tail end of a wee festival in lovely weather so stayed 2 nights at our favourite spot beside the jetty, canopy out, cooking outside, best facilities for showers & sockets for hair straighteners etc! Left today, Tuesday arrived in Rooskey campervan area overlooking the Shannon. Nice evening now, Chinese was closed (on Tuesdays only, doh!!) but found "The Chipper" run by a wee Italian guy who was delighted to make an excellent 12" pizza from scratch, throwing the dough in the air etc €11, very nice, handy feed we would recommend. Free to park beside the pub but it's beside a road, but over the bridge for €10 is a secure grass & hard standing area with a lockable gate & ehu for €2 (we didn't need it). Good walk along towpath for Bizz and he can run around on site, no escape!! Really quiet and peaceful, we have the site to ourselves, good spot if you're in the area. Going to Andersons thatch in Carrick on Shannon tomorrow for its famous jamming session, which ends when the owner falls asleep. Also does the best Irish coffees we know, mmmmm.

Hi Craicers
Last post of the tour, we went from Andersons thatch pub Carrick on Shannon which was a brilliant night, great session which went on to 0200hrs, my guitar earned me some complimentary drinks and the craic was mighty. Then on to Castleblayney, Muckno and used the car park. Unable to get into the badly placed motorhome spaces due to cars & a million kids using the playground, but got a good spot on the upper car park, door opened onto the grass for mr Bizz. The car park soon emptied & we were on our own in a very quiet spot. Nice quiet sleep, no bother at all. Great walks near the lake and a nice busy wee town, 2 mins away & everything you could want. Decided on Tollymore forest for our last night and met up with Ally Julie Paul Stevie & Dee for a bit of evening craic. We couldn't partake in the Saturday afternoon tipple as we had to come home today. But, Lovely weather and great walks for mr Bizz. Anyway home in one piece, 15 nights, 859 miles, no major incidents, never touched a kerb & looking forward to Bluegrass festival at Omagh in a few days!!!! The Flans & Mr Bizz had a brilliant time, we love Ireland!!!