September 27, 2017
Today was a looooong drive from Fes to the Sahara just outside of the city of Merzouga. A friend of a friend runs the Sahara Garden. Brahim coordinated everything for us and welcomed us upon our arrival with open arms. Truly an amazing human being. We were welcomed with dinner and singing and dancing around a bonfire.
September 24, 2017
Our second stop in Morocco was the blue city of Chefchaoen. A small city located up on a hill, wandering thru the medina surrounded by so many shades of blue was quite a different experience from Tangier. We stayed at Casa Perleta, a small bed and breakfast recommended by our friend. It was perfectly located within the upper hill area of the medina. The blue hues of the walls of Chefchaoen are believed to have originated when the Jews came while escaping Hilter in the 1930s. The blue is said to serve as a reminder to lead a spiritual life while symbolizing the sky and heaven.
September 11 - 15, 2017
Enroute to our close friends' wedding in Greece we found a cheap flight to Paris via Reykjavik, Iceland and decided to take advantage and do a little stopover in an effort to (fingers crossed) see the northern lights. We decided to restrict our few days to just the southern highlights along the coast. The first thing we noticed was that even though it was supposedly shoulder/low season in Iceland there were significantly more people than when we came the year before in August.
So … while we were wandering around Canada, during the time when there should be exceptional snow … it was dumping down in CO and UT. Such is life when you planned too far ahead. So … finally we had no plans, but the storms were back and hitting the NW, so … back to Whistler/Blackcomb. There was less snow at the base this time back around, but more snow in the alpine. It was worth the drive back west. I love these two mountains. - Jonathan
It’s always good to come back to Whistler/Blackcomb, especially since it’s included on the Mountain Collective pass. Sadly, this is one of the worst seasons on record for Whistler and much of the Pacific NorthWest. If you can’t have amazing snow, the next best thing is bluebird skies and unlimited visibility as far as the eye can see.
Friends and family met up with us here and a surprise last minute addition of Jeff and Sharon, who I haven’t skied with in ages! Always good to be in the mountains with close friends and family.
- Jonathan
