The Irish VDOT

(I originally had titled this the 'Irish DMV' but was corrected by my father that DMV is not the company that fixes potholes- oops!) Tuesday morning we woke up to torrential rain and (thus) no more snow. The rainfall was comparable to the rain we'd see during hurricanes- with water pouring down the slope beside the house. I attempted to drive down to the village to mail some letters, but the road was blocked because of the flooding.

Wednesday we were able to see the damage that all the water had caused. The road that the Fordes live on was already in bad enough shape, but the power behind all the water caused even more damage. The potholes are unbelievable. There was one part of the road that a small car could barely pass through because the road had deteriorated so much on both sides. As of now, they have "fixed" the road and these pictures were taken this morning. I assume this is going to be like one of those jobs at home that takes VDOT years to fix. In the meantime, it makes running up the hill quite a challenge!

Gillian, Eoghan, and Katie surveying the damage

And the 18 wheeler milk trucks are expected to go up and down this road!

View down the hill

Notice Eoghan is knee deep in this hole (AFTER the roads have been repaired!)

In other news, I was supposed to be going to Paris this weekend, but I ended up having to cancel my trip. The person I was supposed to be staying with in Paris was diagnosed with swine flu on Wednesday and so I would have had to book my own transportation, accommodation, etc. and travel alone (which I had not been planning on doing). Before coming to Ireland, I did not have that much interest in going to France, but because I would have had a translator, a tour guide, free accommodation, and transportation, the trip had become more appealing to me. Without all of those things, I didn't see much sense in going anymore. Hopefully the opportunity will come up again!

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAVANNAH!!!