Driving through County Wicklow, we saw a number of signs directing you to the Sally Gap. It turns out that a ‘gap’ is the Irish term for a ‘pass’. The Sally Gap is one of the passes through the Wicklow Mountains, which are basically rolling hills that reach some 3000 feet above the sea. As a student of the road less travelled, I thought it might be fun to see what driving the pass would be like.

My experience with Irish roads is that they are narrow and curvy. In their parlance, there are many dangerous bends. Once you leave the main roads and get onto an ‘L’ road the lanes get narrow, without much in the way of side margins since stone walls or cut shrubs are right there at the edge of the pavement. The Sally Gap was so narrow that you had to pull over at designated spots to let another car pass. Thankfully I only saw one other car. As the road narrowed, the view became more expansive as the trees and estates gave way to barren land (actually ferns and heather) and pasture.

While the clouds struggled to top the mountains, the sheep barely took notice.

However, they did take notice of me. When I got too close they got up, turned around, and pooped. It’s hard not to take that personally. Particularly since in most situations animals tend to like my presence. In Iceland, I taught a horse the joys of a chin rub. After I left I looked back and saw him scratching his chin on a fence post!

These sheep, unfortunately, were unanimous in their displeasure of my presence.

So I took the hint and off we went to, ahem, greener pastures.