Autumn is here and so is college football

There was a noticeable chill in the air this weekend just in time for our trip to Notre Dame for their fourth game (football) of the season against Stanford. We arrived at 10:30am (for a 3:30pm kick off) to ensure plenty for pre game tailgating. It's great catching up with friends, having a few beers, following Eoin as he runs around excited by all that is going on and generally taking in the party atmosphere in the car parks hugging the stadium. With a new coach and quarterback this is a rebuilding year for ND and the performance on the field reflected it. We are looking forward to better games ahead including the game against Navy in Dublin, Ireland in 2012!

New York, New York

I got to catch up with my friends Michelle and Rachael in New York for a couple of days - Michelle was on the final leg of her ten week round the world trip. We enjoyed hanging out in one of the great world cities and managed to squeeze in a trip to Ellis Island where we retraced the steps that twelve million immigrants (including many Irish) took between 1892 and 1954. As a modern day immigrant it was a profound experience for me (though I am very thankful that I did not have to go through the same hardships in the process).

Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks

One of the best features of the US is its huge national parks. While Eoin hung out with Molly and John in Minneapolis Biz and I spent fours days at Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks - basing ourselves in JAckson Hole Wyoming.

Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park was America's first national park. It is home to a large variety of wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk - we saw bison, elk and moose while we were there.

Within Yellowstone National Park are Old Faithful and a collection of the world's most extraordinary geysers and hot springs while the Grand Teton mountain range and valley are breathtaking - it is truly a spectacular part of the world and bowled us over.

Minnesota State Fair

Every year in late August / early September Minnesota holds its state fair. It reminds me of the agricultural show in my hometime of Charleville, Ireland but super sized! The fair is held in impressive grounds which accomodate the hundreds of thousands that visit during the course of the week. Highlights include the birthing barn (not for the sqeamish), lots of fried food such as cheese curds and deep fried pickles, all you can drink milk for a quarter and many other delictible treats (chocolate covered frozen key lime pie was my favorite) and beer galore to wash it down.

There's a beauty queen competition and butter busts of the queens sculpted from 90 lbs blocks of butter - each county winner gets to take their bust home!

Its quite the experience but not surpising from the state where huge food companies such as Cargill and General Mills are based.

Eoin loves summertime!