Christmas 2023- Morocco

The countdown is on... we are one week away from our departure for Morocco! I will do my best to update each day of the trip and will share this blogger link to my social media account. We are excited to see a new continent and to explore the coastal towns, ancient medinas, and Sahara desert. This is the rough outline of our trip with plans always subject to change. 

Day of Trip	Location	Activities
Day 1	Casablanca	Visit Hassan II Mosque; drive to Tangier; Visit Cap Spartel, Caves of Hercules
Day 2	Tangier	Tangier 1/2 day tour, drive to Chefchaouen stop in Tetouan
Day 3	Chefchaouen	Chefchaouen day tour
Day 4	Volubilis, Meknes, Fes	Visit Volubilis and Meknes
Day 5	Fes	Fes ½ day tour; cooking class
Day 6	Driving day	Drive from Fez to Erfoud: Ifran and Cedrerie d'Azrou
Day 7	Merzouga	Erfoud to Luxury Camp
Day 8	Merzouga	Luxury Camp Activities/Relax
Day 9	Driving Day	Begin Travel to Marrakech: Hike Todgha Gorge, Boumalne Dades
Day 10	Driving Day	Travel to Marrakech: Ouarzazate, Ait Benhaddou
Day 11	Marrakech	Henna
Day 12	Marrakech	Marrakech City Tour
Day 13	Essaouira	Drive to Essaouira; tour and fresh fish lunch
Day 14	Driving Day	Drive to Casablanca via coast route
Day 15	-	Fly home

Sledding fun!

Grandpa Bucky is in Hawaii enjoying the beach and sun, but we didn't let that stop us. We took some of our friends for a one night staycation in Cove and went sledding today. It was a beautiful day in the mountains-- sun shining and 6 inches of fresh powder. Henry and Heidi were sledding champions, marching up the hill over and over and over again for another fun ride down. Thanks for making the trek over Tollgate (I-84 closed in front of them), bringing games, making dinner, and joining in on the sledding fun Zumwalt Family-- we had sooooo much fun!

Iceland- Day 7

Today we explored Iceland. We started the day off at the Blue Lagoon. Arriving at opening at 8 AM we got in the warm pool in the dark. It was fun to explore the lagoon in the dark and watch the sun come up. One benefit of going when it was still dark out is that we really didn't notice the number of people who were there. It was so nice to sit and relax in the warm water after 6 days of lots of walking. We stayed in the lagoon until about 11:30. Our skin really was so soft from the water and minerals.

The spot where we spent most of our time lounging on the sloped side. 

We then took a drive around the south western peninsula of Iceland. Our first stop was to view the impressive waves of the ocean crashing on the rocky cliffs.

As we stood on the platform, at one point Thomas said here comes a big one. I turned to look and whoosh I was soaked by a huge wave that came up and over the platform. Yes, I was THAT person.

Our next stop was to stand on the bridge that connects the Eurasian and North American plates.

We made a circle and headed for the airport to fly home.

We had been so fortunate on all of our flights to be able to have some extra space. It wasn't looking like we would on this long leg home. Thomas really was not looking forward to the 7.5 hour flight. As we sat on the bus to be taken to board the plane (yes, Iceland needs to expand their airport) this huge man walked on and I said to Thomas, "I hope that guy isn't next to us." To which he replied, "That's Thor. Like the real one from Game of Thrones." Turns out he was The Mountain from the show. Of course, I'm clueless about those types of things and had no idea who he was but clearly just about everyone else on the plane did. Needless to say he flew first class so we didn't have to share a seat row with him.

We had such an amazing time and are so thankful for my mom and aunt who took care of our kids while we were able to go on this adventure. Already dreaming where our next adventure might take us.