Africa, Morocco
Jonathan Jung
THE SAHARA

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.

THE SAHARA
Africa, Morocco
Jonathan Jung
CHEFCHAOUEN

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.

CHEFCHAOUEN
Europe, Iceland
Jonathan Jung
ICELAND - CHASING THE AURORA BOREALIS

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.

ICELAND - CHASING THE AURORA BOREALIS
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SASQUATCH, YOHO, JASPER, LAKE LOUISE AND BANFF!

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SASQUATCH, YOHO, JASPER, LAKE LOUISE AND BANFF!

Stopped for a quick overnight at Sasquatch and camped next to Hicks Lake. The next night we pushed all the way to Yoho National Park and surprised my dad on his birthday (July 4th) with a strawberry cheesecake from the local market. Over the next couple days we visited Yoho, Jasper, Lake Louise, and Banff. I remember coming here as a kid, but I definitely don’t remember how beautiful it is. Driving up to the Columbia Icefields was one of the most scenic drives I’ve ever been on. Canoeing on Moraine Lake was insane. The water is this crazy blue color that doesn’t even seem real. And the mountains are unbelievable. It almost feels like it’s just a cardboard backdrop. 

- Jonathan

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OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

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OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

Olympic National Park. Wow. First night we camped at Kalaloch on the coast. Insane beach with massive pieces of driftwood piled high. Second night we camped at Sol Duc deep in the forest and did a few short day hikes and then relaxed in the hot springs. What a peaceful, incredible place. 

Today we head into Canada, our neighbor to the north. First stop Sasquatch, then Shuswap Lakes, Glacier, Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper and Waterton Lakes before heading back to the states. We won’t have cell reception so we will stack up the posts and load them when we get back in service.

- Jonathan

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OREGON DUNES!

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OREGON DUNES!

We’ve spent the past few days exploring the Oregon Coast and making regular stops to see what each area has to offer. The first few photos are from the Oregon Dunes just footsteps away from our camp site in the forest. Then, we stopped in Newport for some fresh seafood at Local Oceans Seafood (Jonathan had the Rock Fish Sandwich and I had the Crab Cakes. Not pictured, a yummy Garlic Dungeness Crab Chowder) then did a quick hike to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse where we saw a mamma whale and baby whale come up a few times. Our last stop along the coast was Haystack Rock; Jonathan had to stop here because The Goonies was filmed there.

Next stop is Olympic National Park for a couple nights.

- Allie

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CRATER LAKE

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CRATER LAKE

I came to Crater Lake with my parents when I was 3 years old and hiked Wizard Island, apparently in Chuck Taylors that were too small. I wasn’t really sure I remembered coming here except that I was always told that story time and time again.

Coming back was incredible. Crater Lake’s insanely blue waters are simply beautiful. It is the deepest lake in the US (7th in the world). We were lucky with a sunny calm day on the boat tour which gave us some amazing views. The Phantom Ship (the third picture) on the east side of the lake had almost no wind and made for an awesome reflection in the lake. My dad also spotted a bald eagle on the lake which was cool too.

Next stop…the Oregon coast.

- Jonathan

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MOUNT SHASTA

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MOUNT SHASTA

First night at Lassen Volcanic National Park was a little bit of a fail. We got rained on overnight and woke up to drizzle. Instead of hiking Bumpass Hell we pushed on to Mt. Shasta. We relaxed and played board games the first afternoon and woke up early to hike to the Sierra Club base, Horse Camp. The weather turned out to be amazing with clear skies following us as we hiked and some incredible view points of Shasta.

On to Crater Lake tomorrow morning.

AAA to save the day!

We didn’t have the best of luck on our first day on the road. Just an hour outside our first stop, the VW overheated. We called around to a couple mechanic shops to see if someone could take a look at it, but we got bounced around like a hot potato because no one had experience with an old VW and didn’t want to mess with it. And the one place that could possibly fix it, couldn’t get to it until next week! Pics of two different trailers we had to take back to San Anselmo - thank God for AAA!

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Starting our adventure again today with a different car!

Wish us luck!

- Allie

Endless adventures await us

Today we leave for one of many trips we’ll be taking over the next year. For the next five weeks, we’re going to be traveling with J’s parents via a ’87 VW camper (pictured below) to a handful of national state parks in the northwest of the United States. We’ll drive through Oregon, Washington, up into Canada…back to California. Can’t wait to share from our first stop!

- Allie

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