February 11, 2019

February 11, 2019

The Gray Whales are ahead of us so we need to get moving to intercept them. From San Diego we drive south hitting the border with Mexico. Despite this being the busiest border in the world with an astounding 30 million crossings per year, our passage is uneventful. Our first stop in Tijuana is Mercado Hidalgo, a large open air market. There are fruits and vegetables of all types; most we would never see in the US. Popular is a Beavertail cactus that is de-spined by a couple speedy machete workmen. We try a small slice. Tastes a little like asparagus. Also popular are peppers, fresh and dried. I steer clear of the very hot Habaneros. Many of the more exotic fruits come from the southern areas of Mexico that are more tropical. Interestingly one stall also sold a dozen different kinds of brown Mole sauces. Our guide bought us a couple of the exotic fruits to try.

The road south first follows the border fence west toward the coast. Surprisingly we don’t see any of the migrant groups that the media is touting. The road then hugs the coast for many miles. Like San Diego the shore is crowded with beach houses. In the major port of Ensenada we stop for a homemade lunch of meatball soup and spiced meat with rice.

From Ensenada the road turns inland following a valley. The terrain of Baja (Lower) California is surprisingly not much different than our state of California. I guess Mother Nature didn’t know about the border. Baja has the same rugged coastline and interior ranch land mountains. It even has the occasional vineyard.

Eventually the road veers back to the coast, although now very deserted. We stop for the night in San Quintin. We are just in time for sunset. For dinner we have fish with Margaritas and Pacifico beer.

February 10, 2019

February 10, 2019

Aimee and I and my brother-in-law rise early and take a walk through nearby Balboa Park. Set aside in 1835, it is one of the oldest parks in the US. Walking around the many museum buildings built for the 1915 Panama California Exposition is a joy. The weather is delightful, the trees are flowering and the architecture is Neo-Colonial. It is another reminder how beautiful San Diego is. Too bad it is packed to the gills with Californians.

Back at our hotel I take a hike up the hill behind our hotel to get a view of the area. There seems to be few flat spots in the entire city. After lunch at the hotel, we return to La Jolla, this time to visit the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. There we have a chance to listen to a lecture on the Gray Whale and their amazing long distance migration. Every year these baleen whales travel from the Arctic past here to mate and give birth in protected coves along the coast of Baja California. Aimee and I have always thought that our animal encounters have been the highlights of our vacations. So we decide to follow the gray whales south tomorrow.

We spend the next hour or so on a guided tour of Scripps impressive aquarium. The tanks have some very good collections of unusual sea creatures. I really like the variety of jellyfish while Aimee likes the seahorses and the venomous but well-camouflaged Stonefish. Both of us are entertained by a an unusually active giant Octopus that stretches out over the glass for us.

On the way out of La Jolla we stop at Seal Beach Cove. The coast is swarming with California Brown Pelicans. So much so the rocks are stained white with droppings and the air reeks. Despite that turnoff, the Pelican males have very colorful red pouches.

We finish with dinner at an Italian chain restaurant in downtown San Diego. We need to start cutting back or we will all be gaining weight on this vacation.

February 9, 2019

February 9, 2019

My sister has been in town for the last week. We spent the time visiting the annual Gem show and seeing a couple of good movies including Green Book and Free Solo.

We are running out of things to to with them so we decide to take a drive west to the coast along I-8. It is a drive of extremes. We alternate between Arizona desert and fertile well-irrigated farms. Looming water restrictions from the Colorado River don’t look good for these agricultural fields. Mother Nature is ready to reclaim them. Once past Yuma and the dried up Colorado we hit the Imperial Sand Dunes which could easily stand in for the Sahara. Eventually we reach and climb the coastal mountain range. The leading edge consists of millions of Jumbo boulders, like a giant piled his rocks here. At the summit we make a stop at the Desert View Tower overlook. It is quite breezy. No wonder there were dozens of windmills at the footstep of the mountain.

Eventually we hit the ocean at La Jolla. We stop at the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve to stretch our legs after the long drive. Like everything Californian it is pricey and crowded. This heavily eroded coastline is home to this rare namesake coastal pine.

Afterwards we drive by the downtown harbor front of San Diego where we spot the carrier USS Midway, for a long time the largest ship in the world. We are too late to tour this museum ship so we settle for a photo of Unconditional Surrender, an enormous colorful rendition of the iconic photograph celebrating the end of WWII. My relatives are hungry so we stop for seafood in Old Town San Diego.

January 19, 2019

January 19, 2019

Eighty-Five years ago, in 1934, the US was in the midst of a Prohibition-induced crime spree. The list of colorful characters included Bonnie and Clyde and Machine Gun Kelly. Public Enemy Number 1 was John Dillinger. After a string of Midwest bank robberies, the Dillinger gang was ready to lay low (and probably get out of cold Chicago). They came to Tucson and stayed a night at Hotel Congress. Unfortunately the hotel had a fire and the gang overpaid two firemen to retrieve their bags heavy with cash and guns. That lead to suspicions and within a few days the local cops captured each member. Surprisingly without a shot fired.

This event put the tiny Old West town of Tucson on the national map. It is celebrated every year with Dillinger Days. With Aimee out of town visiting her mom, I saw this as an opportunity to check out the event. Hotel Congress sits next to the train tracks and today is surrounded by vintage cars. The local Model A Club is here in-force and lots of people are dressed in period costumes. Both the fire and police departments have exhibits including two of Dillinger’s confiscated Tommy Guns.

The reenactment turns out to be an hour-long show that includes the historical run-up, a Chicago bank robbery, and several ‘what if’ shootout scenarios to enliven the action. It is all humorous and very cute and well worth a few hours time.

November 24, 2018

November 24, 2018

We are driving home today after spending the Thanksgiving holidays in Amarillo, TX. We didn’t leave at the crack of dawn like we should have so we need to stop somewhere. Alamogordo, NM is about half-way. This also seems like a good opportunity to visit the New Mexico Museum of Space History. We have passed it many times but timing never allowed us to stop.

Alamogordo is an apt spot for a space museum because it sits next to Holloman AFB and the huge White Sands Missile Range. This was our country’s focal point for missile development and testing. It was picked because of its isolation and flat terrain. My father spent his career designing missiles and traveled here many times.

The museum is housed in a four-story glass building with a commanding view of the surrounding valley. We start outside taking a quick peak at the many artifacts displayed on the grounds. They include several American rocket engines and the remnants of a WWII German V-2. The V-2 was the world's first guided ballistic missile and was tested here with the help of Werner Von Braun after he surrendered to Allied troops. There is a section of rocket sled track that was used to test acceleration on the human body. The “fastest man alive" achieved a land speed record of 632mph in 1954. Also on the grounds is the grave of ‘HAM', the first chimpanzee in space.

The main building is a two-fer. The International Space Hall of Fame lines the spiral exhibit path. The plaques honor those who made significant contributions to the field. Aimee spent most of her time here as she likes reading about people’s lives.

I spent most of my time with the exhibits about space history. It starts with a little about ancient Chinese rockets, 18^th century English Congreve rockets, and Goddard’s 1926 experiments. The modern era really started just before I was born with the surprise late 1957 launch of Sputnik. This first satellite circled the earth for 92 days and kicked US efforts into high gear. We quickly launched monkeys and humans into space culminating with the 1969 landing on the moon.

The museum has a lot on gyroscope guidance. I ended up watching several videos. In the midst of this Cold War arms race my father bought me a toy gyroscope after a missile trip hoping it might inspire me. Although a gyro is fun to play with I never understood till now how it related to guidance systems. It turned out I was missing the critical Gimbal support that allows it to freely float!

The museum ends with a room exhibit on Gene Roddenberry, an unusual inductee into the Hall of Fame. This WWII pilot went on to write scripts for Hollywood. His interest in space led him to write and produce Star Trek. The mock-up of a Transporter makes me wonder if I could "beam" home instead of finishing this long drive.

November 6, 2018

November 6, 2018

This morning we rise before dawn and take the shuttle to the Casablanca airport for the long journey home. It feels more tedious and tiring than normal. Maybe we are getting old. Scheduling a layover day seems like a good idea right now. We almost catch a break in Atlanta when our over-booked flight causes a request for volunteers to be 'bumped'. At this point we would love to spend the night here. Unfortunately we are too slow and don’t make the cut. We get home well after midnight. We have been awake some 29 hours. Tucson is a nice place to live but makes for grueling international travel. My only consolation is some interesting scenes out my window. I got clear skies over Atlanta’s Stone Mountain monolith, the White Cliffs of Dover, and Greenland, with its rugged snow-covered mountains, fjords, and tidewater glaciers.

Our brief tour of Morocco was interesting. It has way more history than I anticipated. It is a story of invasion for its strategic coastline, interior mines, and control of the lucrative Trans-Saharan gold trade. Even the Vikings invaded once. That long history lingers with simmering tension between the indigenous Berbers and the millennia-old Arabian invaders. The new king has taken steps to soothe it with overdue recognition of Berber language and culture.

Morocco is an exotic locale. The old Medinas are like a step into the past, resisting the push to modernize. The fascinating Fez tannery is the epitome of this time-warp. This future-ancient tension is also reflected in its struggle with Islam. Conservative Arab women are in Burqas while moderate Berbers embrace Western fashions.

My biggest surprise was the extremes of Moroccan geography. It has everything from ocean beach to tall snow-capped mountains to sand dunes to canyons to lush date palm oases. Morocco is a beautiful country to explore without the history.

But Morocco is not all fun and games. The food while healthy and filling reminds me of the bland boiled meals of Ireland. And like most third world countries, hygiene is not up to Western standards. To stay healthy, we avoid salads and ice cubes and drink beer instead of water. Sadly that beverage option wasn’t usually available since Morocco is dominated by Islam. Westerners are also not allowed inside the elaborately decorated Mosques, so we missed an important element of this culture.

We were happy to experience Morocco but like most of our group, we are ready to go home.

November 5, 2018

November 5, 2018

This morning we left Marrakech and drove north to Casablanca, the largest city in Morocco. The journey takes three hours. Casablanca historically was a small town, which grew in importance when the French made it their commercial center. It remains the business center of Morocco despite the exodus of most Europeans.

After checking-in at our hotel we take a brief city tour. One stop was a Catholic church built in 1956 honoring Lourdes. Another was the Corniche, the stretch of beach cafes along the Atlantic coast. The last stop was the best at Hassan II Mosque, the largest in Morocco and clearly one of the biggest in the world. Built in 1993 on a promontory over the water, it is immense, with a minaret that reaches almost 700 feet high.

One reason many come to Morocco is the movie 'Casablanca'. Unfortunately that Casablanca is long gone. Today Casablanca is just a gritty big city. To cater to American interests, a Rick's Café-themed restaurant was opened in 2004. Since we watched the movie just two weeks ago, a photo stop here is a fitting end to our Morocco adventure.

Back at the hotel we take a spin through the small Medina before joining our tour group for a farewell dinner at a restaurant on the Corniche.

November 4, 2018

November 4, 2018

Today we took an all day tour to the city of Essaouira. It is almost a three hour drive straight west. The terrain looks flat but it is hard to tell as fog covers our route most of the way. Eventually the fog burns off and we see dry rolling hills with scattered trees. At one point we pull off the road because a couple of the trees have goats in them. Looking around the dry environment there is precious little grass to eat and the goats improvise by climbing Argan trees to reach the fleshy fruit.

Nearby we stop at an Argan oil artisanal factory to learn more about this tree the goats climb. The Argan tree resembles an olive tree, but with slightly bigger fruit. In this factory women strip the pulp away, then crack the seed on a rock to reveal the kernel. These kernels are roasted and ground to release the Argan oil. This rare oil can be eaten but it is mostly used for cosmetics. We sample some. While tasty it is not worth the hefty price caused by the labor-intensive production process.

In Essaouira, we take an hour guided walk of this World Heritage city. While the inland cities are older and molded by their connection to the Sahara caravan routes, the coastal cities were strongly influenced by Europeans sailing around the coastline. Essaouira, originally called Mogador, was first used as a trading post by the Phoenicians and Romans who collected a tidal shellfish found in the local area. The colorant extracted gave name to the word ‘Purple’ and was used to dye the stripe of Roman Senator togas.

In 1506, the Portuguese built a fortress at the harbor to supply their voyages down the African coast. Essaouira, today is a fishing village with hundreds of small fisherman chasing sardines. All the small boats are painted blue so as not to scare the fish away. The defensive works have been used as a film location for another Game of Thrones city.

After the tour, Aimee and I explored the ‘old’ Medina. Some of the souk shops are tucked in niches in the fortress and between walls, but most are in the encircled village. It is not a maze like the ancient Medinas of Fez and Marrakech, but rather a well-planned street grid. The vendors are also nowhere near as persistent as their inland brethren. Aimee finds some fabric she can’t do without. We then have a late lunch on a terrace restaurant overlooking the city.

On the drive back we get lucky and stumble upon a Fantasia Exhibition. This is a Moroccan Festival that travels around the country. It features dozens of horsemen in traditional costume who roar across an arena en-masse firing very loud black-powder muskets at the end. This is what I envision an Arabic cavalry charge would have been like in the days of Lawrence of Arabia. We stop long enough to watch four 'skirmishes'.

November 3, 2018

November 3, 2018

We took a walking tour of the World Heritage old Medina of Marrakech. From the Koutoubia Mosque we passed through the gates of this walled old city and stopped at the Saadian Tombs. This was the necropolis of the royal dynasty that ruled in the 16th and 17th centuries. The next dynasty destroyed everything the Saadis had built except for these tombs. Since they were sacred they merely walled them off from the adjoining mosque and forgotten. The complex was accidentally rediscovered just a hundred years ago. The Sultan's tomb is the most elaborate with pillars of Carrara marble.

Our next stop is the Bahia Palace. It was built by the ruling Grand Vizier in the late 19th century. He was a black slave who rose to power advising the Sultan. We toured this very crowded sprawling compound. Most of the decorations are in good shape but resemble the other palaces we have seen. The ceiling is decorated cedar wood, while the walls are plastered wood carved in intricate shapes and the floors are mosaic tile. Since figures are not allowed in Islam, the decorations are either Arabic Koran script or geometric shapes. The one refreshing space in the Palace is the huge fountain courtyard in the middle.

After leaving the tour group, Aimee and I explored the Souks of the old Medina. You can follow passages lined with shops seemingly indefinitely. It probably hasn't changed much in a thousand years. Marrakesh being on one end of the caravan route was a market town trading in goods. My favorite are the spice vendors with their conical mounds of colored spices that resemble a box of crayons. We had pizza at another restaurant overlooking the Main Square of Jemaa el Fna. We then returned to the hotel to relax for the afternoon. We need some down time once in a while on our power-tour.

November 2, 2018

November 2, 2018

Ouarzazate is the Hollywood of Morocco. This area stands in for any desert around the world from Lawrence of Arabia to Gladiator to The Jewel of the Nile. The locals work as extras in movies. Yesterday we met a guy who played Osama Bin Laden.

A half hour north of the city we arrive at the Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, a World Heritage Site. This fortified hilltop village provided paid protection for caravans passing through this territory on the way to Marrakesh. Its use as a film backdrop provides the money needed to maintain its adobe structures. We walked up through a labyrinth of village alleyways to the fort at the hilltop. Afterwards I walked down to the river and the main gate to get the view that recently starred as the Slave City in the Game of Thrones. That is not a stretch as the camel caravans also did a brisk trade in black slaves along with gold.

After backtracking to the highway we drove northwest across the Atlas Mountains back to the Atlantic Ocean side. The road twisted and turned wildly as we climbed over this very rugged stretch of the High Atlas Mountains. We topped out at Tichka Pass, elevation 7415 feet. The view was very scenic along the whole stretch. It was again National Park worthy. Unfortunately there are small villages clinging to the cliff sides everywhere. The residents have little pieces of terraced land that they are trying to eke out a living through farming. No wonder the indigenous Berbers who lived such isolated existence were very tribal and usually no match to invaders.

Camel caravans making their way to Marrakesh from the desert followed this same route. Marrakesh at times was the Capital of Morocco. Today it is a large urban city on the plains in the shadow of the lofty snow-peaked Atlas Mountains. After checking in the hotel we walk past the Koutoubia Mosque with its landmark 250 foot minaret to the old Medina. Inside, we talk our way into Hotel La Mamounia. Our guide said this 5-star hotel was recently voted the most beautiful. While it did have a massive indoor garden, neither Aimee nor I was that impressed. We have a Chicken Couscous dinner on a terrace overlooking Place Jemaa el Fna. This main square of Marrakesh is crowded with food stalls and entertainers. Popular are handlers with animals tourists want their picture taken with. This includes snakes, cobras, monkeys and even chameleons.

November 1, 2018

November 1, 2018

From Erfoud, Morocco we made our way back to the highway and drove southwest following the flank of the Atlas Mountains. It is dry the whole route except where rivers flow out of the mountains. Our first detour is up the Todgha River where we encounter a wide date palm oasis and then further along a steep narrow gorge. It would be a national park in the western US, but humans have lived here for several hundred thousand years; the canyon floor is lined with date palms and houses.

Back on the highway we follow terrain that could easily be in Arizona with mesas and canyons. Another hour along we discover the Dades River flowing down from the Atlas Mountains and then paralleling our course. We stop for lunch and have Berber Pea Soup; it is identical to what Aimee makes for me, minus the Ham. Muslims and Jews alike eschew pork.

We continue following the Dades River to the city of Ouarzazate. Before stopping for the evening, we take a tour of the Taourirt Kasbah. This used to be the home of a powerful Pasha in the first half of the 20th century right before Morocco gained its independence in 1956. This Pasha was a brutal and controversial feudal lord and one of the richest men. His support of the French caused his assets to be seized after his death. The Kasbah decorations have faded in the interim and are unexciting.

October 31, 2018

October 31, 2018

This morning we made a brief stop at a local elementary school in Erfoud. The students are out for holiday so only a few were present.

Erfoud is the fossil factory of Morocco. The annual Gem and Mineral Show brings loads of Moroccan fossil dealers to Tucson. Hundreds of million years ago this area was a shallow sea teaming with Trilobites and Ammonite-like Nautiloids. When Africa rammed into Europe the Atlas Mountains were pushed up along with this ocean sediment. We stopped at a Fossil Factory and Showroom to learn about the trade. Unfortunately this stop is a short diversion for us. The selection at this store is very limited and pricey compared to what is available in Tucson.

We drive southeast following the Ziz River toward the Sahara Desert encountering the ruins of the medieval city of Sijilmasa. This city was the northern terminus of the lucrative Trans-Saharan trade. Huge caravans of dromedary camels would travel to Timbuktu to trade salt for West African gold. This trade made Timbuktu into an unlikely center of wealth and culture. This route died when the Portuguese circumvented it by sailing around the west coast of Africa. The sprawling city of Sijilmasa, made from mud adobe, has ‘melted’ over the centuries leaving just remnants. Timbuktu is the epitome of “nowhere” and “the end of the road”. This World Heritage Site is on my bucket list. I am thinking we should try going.

If we are going to join a camel caravan, we need supplies. We stop in the local market of the modern town of Sijilmasa (renamed Rissani by the French). Aimee and I buy scarves to wrap around our faces to keep out the dust. The vendor showed us how to tie them into Berber headdresses. The market is also filled with spices, nuts, raisins, and dates. The dates grow on all the local Palm trees. We tried one. They are sweet and tasty. I am surprised they are not more popular in the US as they are a staple in Africa and the Middle East.

Before leaving we walk through a typical Berber fortified village called a Ksar. It is basically an adobe apartment building that now is wired with electricity. Next door is a mosque that contains the tomb of Muhammad as-Sharif, the founder of the current royal dynasty. One of the pillars of Islam is Haj or Pilgrimage to Mecca. For the poor, a visit to a shrine containing a descendant of Mohammed can be a substitute.

We hire a driver and four-wheel drive jeep to get us into the desert. The terrain is mostly a flat rocky plain. It seems like a salt pan or dry lake bed. We stop at a Berber nomad camp in Oasis Tisserdmine for lunch. Afterwards we are driven to the edge of the Sahara with its intense burnt orange sand. The dunes are the size of mountains and extend thousands of miles across Africa to Egypt.

The jeep isn’t made for deep sand. We locate a camel caravan and join up. The camel driver gets the animals to kneel on the sand so we can mount them. Back on their feet we take off up the sand dunes. It takes 52 days to travel to Timbuktu by caravan. We only make it to the dune peak by late evening. There we dismount and watch the sunset.

As we are resting I watch a shiny blue scarab beetle at my feet make its way across the desert leaving a distinctive trail. My butt hurts already and I don't know which end of the camel smells worse. I turn to Aimee and say lets go home. She is relieved. We turn around and head back to the same hotel as last night.

October 30, 2018

October 30, 2018

Morocco is a sliver of fertile ground on the northwest coast of Africa separated from the rest of the continent by the Atlas Mountains. Today we are going to explore the eastern side of Morocco that abuts the Sahara Desert. Unfortunately the cold rainy weather here brought early snow to the mountains. Yesterday the passes were closed. The roads are now clear so we head southeast from Fez quickly climbing the Middle Atlas range. We soon arrive in the ski town of Ifrane. Its ski chalets and peaked roofs look European, not Moroccan. We stop for the restroom and a chance to play in the snow.

Continuing across the Middle Atlas we passed through the cedar forest of Ifrane National Park stopping once to watch a colony of Barbary Macaque monkeys. They seem much larger than the Japanese version. We then traversed a barren cold treeless snowy tundra. Or at least I think I did. My arm felt like a windshield wiper constantly clearing the fogging window.

We eventually descended into the snow-less desert valley separating the Middle and High Atlas Mountain ranges. We see a few nomads trying to eke out a living. There is barely any grass for their sheep in this plain. We stop for lunch and have a delicious vegetarian pizza.

We start our ascent of the snow-capped High Atlas Mountains. This range is cut by deep ravines and canyons reminiscent of Arizona. The eastern side is in the rain shadow of the Atlas Range and is dry as a bone. The descent follows the Ziz Gorge. Passing a dam and reservoir, the road descends into a shallow Canyon filled with date palms. This Ziz River Canyon is a thin ribbon of oasis in the desert. Being on the eastern edge of the Atlas the Ziz River peters out in the Sahara.

We stop for the night in a resort in the desert town of Erfoud. Our hotel is like a fortified Kasbah with walls, camels, and Berber Nomad staff. Our room looks like it was made for the Flintstones with reed roof, fossil rock sink and crystal lights. We have a delicious buffet for dinner. After an all day bus ride, we need it.