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Last beach walk this morning in Ballybunion during low tide.

Footprints trail across a wide sandy beach at low tide, with green cliffs and a seawall in the background under overcast skies.Person in a purple helmet riding a dark horse along a sandy beach at low tide, rocky shoreline and overcast sea in the background.

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I am excited to see sync improvements to OmniFocus 4.3 for Apple Watch. The new watchOS app is very good but sync is always behind and makes it very difficult to use. Smart to use the iOS app as a sync speed up!

  • Sync – When a paired iPhone is nearby, the watch app will now download recent changes from that iPhone prior to syncing with the sync server. This makes syncing faster and more reliable when the watch doesn’t have a fast connection to the sync server.
  • Sync – The watch app now attempts to sync automatically whenever it detects that the iPhone app has newer data.
  • Sync – Sync errors are now automatically resolved by the watch app.
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It didn’t occurr to me that Ireland was going to have much longer days. We are used to Minnesota at 45 °N. Ireland is at 53 °N with over an hour of additional light. Still a far cry from Iceland at 62 °N and yet 5 more hours of light, but super noticeable with light well past 10 PM.

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Ireland 2024 Log - Day 5

Weather: Windy, partly cloudy. Cool but pleasant. Very cold for water activities.

A rare unscheduled Thingelstad vacation day with open options.

Jump to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or see Ireland 2024 Collection.

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My Barber sent me to McMunn’s in Ballybunion

We ended our evening at McMunn’s of Ballybunion on the recommendation of my barber. How is that? 💈

Before leaving for vacation I made a stop at Dick’s Sports Barbers and got my regular 3 week cut from Gene. Gene’s been cutting my hair for a decade. I sat down for a trim and shared we were going to Ireland for vacation. After a bit Gene mentioned that if we ended up in Ballybunion I should go to McMunn’s. I knew Ballybunion was already on our itinerary. “We will for sure be there!”

It turns out that Tony McMunn is an “Edina guy” as Gene put it — a successful business guy and he owns McMunn’s in Ballybunion. Tony got his hair cut at Dick’s Barbers for many years. Dick, the owner, and Gene, both use to cut his hair. Gene said he was a nice guy and now lives in Florida but he still owns this pub in Ballybunion.

So tonight we stopped in for a pint of Guinness and desert for the family. When checking out I asked the waitress if she knew Tony McMunn and she did. I shared the connection and all had a laugh.

I grabbed a few McMunn’s golf tees to bring back to Gene at Dick’s Barbers. ⛳️

Pint of Guinness stout with a creamy head on a wooden table beside a leather-bound McMunns of Ballybunion pub restaurant menu Middle-aged bald man in a dark polo shirt leaning on a green barber chair inside a busy barbershop Man in a black jacket and plaid shirt smiling outside McMunns pub in Ballybunion Ireland
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After dinner at Namir’s we took the Cliff Walk for an evening stroll.

Family of four smiling at a coastal cliff overlook with rocky sea inlet and green headlands behind them.Rocky sea arch rising from green-topped cliffs along an Irish coastline under a cloudy sky

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Ballybunion Beach Day

We took a big part of the day today to explore and wander around the beach at Ballybunion. It was cool and windy all day so not a day for warming yourself on the beach. Instead a day to explore to rock walls, investigate tide pools, examine jellyfish and crabs that were in the sand, attempt to escape the waves, and in general chill and relax. The water and waves were beautiful.

We enjoyed the day as the tide came in and the water eventually separated what used to be the Men’s and Women’s beaches. The tide moves the waterline about 100 meters in or out, and completely swallows a large rock outcropping.

Even though the weather was cool at 55 °F with heavy winds both Mazie and Tyler did eventually get swimsuits on and attempt to bogey board. I made Tyler stop when he was incessantly shivering.

Tall layered sea cliff with rust and black rock strata meets sandy beach, a small cave at its base, waves and cloudy sky beyondTwo people in hooded Columbia rain jackets stand smiling on a wide wet sandy beach with waves breaking behind them.Two people in hooded jackets stand on a wide wet sandy beach reflecting clouds, with waves and a rocky cliff in the background.Four people in rain jackets smile for a selfie on a sandy beach below dramatic coastal cliffsRocky coastal tide pools with green algae and small pebbles, ocean visible in the background under a partly cloudy sky.Red and yellow lifeguard flag on an empty sandy beach backed by dark layered cliffs with green grass on top, a rescue board lying nearby.Jellyfish washed ashore on wet sand at Ballybunion Beach, its translucent body leaving an intricate imprint in the sandRuins of Ballybunion Castle atop a grass-covered rock outcropping rising from sandy beach, with people climbing the dark layered rock face below.Wide sandy beach at Ballybunion with crashing Atlantic waves, green clifftops, lifeguard flag poles, and a small coastal village in the distance under cloudy skies.

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Walking the beach in Ballybunion.

Wide sandy beach at Ballybunion with breaking waves, scattered seaweed, and dark cliffs topped with green grass in the background.
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Ireland 2024 Log - Day 4

Weather: Windy and rainy today and very cool. Highs around 55 °F.

Google Maps showing 3 driving routes from Killarney to Ballybunion Ireland, all approximately 55 to 58 minutes and 62 to 67 km

Jump to day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or see Ireland 2024 Collection.

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The view from where we are staying in Ballybunion with the sun low in the sky behind the cliffs as the tide is out.

Sandy beach at low tide beside dark layered cliffs topped with green grass, warm sunset light reflecting on wet sand with calm sea beyond.