Day 25: A long drive out of Portugal, through Spain and into France (June 8)

  We wake up and load up the car. Poor Tanner wakes up with a fever. Today is our longest drive of the whole trip - 11 1/2 hours. A good chance for Tanner to sleep a lot and hopefully recover.

   Benson and I take turns driving and the drive is beautiful. Each small town is complete with an ancient church and sometimes city walls. It is fun to watch the white villages turn into stone homes - but still accompanied by a church. I read that cave men didn't actually live in caves, but used them as a place of worship and think that is cool that since the beginning of time, man's relationship with God is central to their lives and their community.

  The landscape turns into a beautiful mountainous area - very different from any other part of Spain - with hotels nestled in, almost like a Vail or Breckenridge. The freeway disappears into tunnel after tunnel with each mountain we come to. We all entertain ourselves with holding our breath through the tunnel. Even Tanner joins in, thinking it's hilarious.

We do other things to entertain ourselves as well.

   "Once we got to there (Biscarosse, France), it was a tiny mobile home! 

We had McDonalds -where had my first set of French fries in France!  It was small but we still had fun We were all tired so everyone crashed. The weather was cold and stormy." Talie.

 

Day 24: Exploring a Portuguese beach and its tide pools (June 7)

    "Today, we went to the market again for breakfast. Then we drove to a beach there in Portugal. The beach was awesome! The ocean was aqua blue; so clear and pretty! The water was so shallow, so we walked to like the middle of the beach and there were little tide pools scattered all over! Later, I layed out all alone and tanned, then my Whole family decided to come right up next to me and tan too! They were so close they could snuggle me! So embarrassed! Later that night, all the kids went to the other hotel room and watched "Get Smart" on the I pad." Talie

 

Day 23: Explore Lisboa, Portugal & say goodbye to Grandma & Grandpa (June 6)

   This morning, we wake up and find the largest supermarket yet. We buy food for breakfast and lunch. Here, people seem more busy. I see fewer smiles compared to our last stays. From a distance, people seem less happy.
   "Today, Grandma and Grandpa packed their bags in the car and we drove to Lisbon. It was really pretty there! We dropped them off and said goodbye." Talie

    Lisboa is a large, beautiful city set right on the ocean. They even have a large red bridge that resembles the Golden Gate bridge and another bridge that looks like the bay bridge.

There is a huge white statue of Christ on a hill overlooking the bay. 

 We stop at some old historical sights and take some pictures.

the art work is actually made entirelyof post it notes.

  "We didn't stay in Lisbon too long. When I got back to the hotel I got my suit on and we all got in the pool." Talie.
    I think we are pretty tired after the last few weeks of touring nonstop. We enjoy the family friendly hotel. Then we go to a creperia for dinner/dessert.

Day 22: Hello Lisboa (Lisbon), Portugal! (June 5)

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We get up to drive to Lisbon (Lisboa), Portugal. Benson gets us our favorite chocolate filled and drizzled pastries, some doughnuts, and amazing Spanish oranges! YUM! It is good to be back in Spain.

“Today we drove to a different hotel right outside of Lisbon. It was so cool! It had X-box Kinnect, blocks and a soccer game on the X-box. It had a computer. And they had a park right outside. They also had a chess board the size of the park (Huge!) And a pool!” Ashlynn.

We order pizza for the kids and then go out to eat. With each of our dishes, they bring an enormous side of pasta or potatoes  – enough to feed our entire family! The waiter says that that is a normal dinner portion for a Portuguese man.

“They came back with ice cream. First we had to try “chicken” I knew it wasn’t really chicken. Later, I found out that it was octopus! So far I’ve had camel milk and Octopus! Sweet! Talie.

Day 21: Goodbye to Fes, Morocco, and Africa. (June 4)

 Saying goodbye to Fes from our terrace.

“Today we packed our bags, ate our last yummy breakfast from Ahmed and the same cart came to pick up our suitcases. One of the guys pushing the cart had legs that I could fit my hand around! We paid Ahmed, then he did the Greek kiss to my Dad, his face turned bright red! Then he did ti to Dallin! It was so funny. Also kissed Ashlynn, Peyton and Kennedi. We got pictures with him and said goodbye. It was sad.” Talie.

The ladies decide to do one last shop for scarves in the Medina before we head out.

We get to the 4:00 ferry, but find out we cannot get across until the 7:00 ferry. So we drive around to look for food, but non can be found. We have not eaten since breakfast, but the kids do so well. I am amazed at what great sports they have been all trip! We make it to Seville .

Our last view of Morocco.

 “Then we drove to our hotel. I went right to sleep because it was late, and I was so tired. We were only staying one night so I did not have time to explore.” Ashlynn.

Day 20: a camel adventure! June 3

Fez was the first city (789AD) in Morocco. It is believed to be the world's largest contiguous (adjoining) car free, urban area. It is amazing! It is also home to Al-Qarawiyyn, the oldest university in the world, established in 859.

“Today, Ahmed made us another yummy breakfast. Since there was no Mormon church, Dad asked the three oldest kids to prepare a talk. Talie’s talk was about keeping a scripture journal. Dallin’s talk was about service. My talk was based on a general conference talk by Elder Nelson. It was titled, “What Christ thinks of me.” Ashlynn.

Now that the fear is gone, we love wandering through the Medina! There is always something to catch you eye or your nose;) We are definitely in a different world and it is just amazing to be in the midst of it! We can even almost always find our way to our home through the winding maze.

Every time we pass the shop with the turtles and the iguana, the shopkeeper - who is missing half his top teeth - lures us over to pet and if not buy, at least borrow the iguana while we are in Fes.

Every where we went, people would kiss Kennedi, and it didn't even phase her. But on the last day, somebody kissed Peyton on the top of his head. he quickly wiped it off and looked at me like, "what just happened?"

 “ Guys would look at me and say things like “your beautiful”, “wow”, “angel” and other things it was weird! They waved, made kissy noises, winked and whistled as we walked through the Medina. 

A public water fountain. Look at the beautiful detail!

Because there are no cars in the entire city, they would use donkeys to transport their goods.

On the way out, we saw some boys cooling off in the public fountain.

We drove around and explored some old ruins and a cemetery on a hill overlooking Fes. 

 

Here's Tanner in the car, happy like always!

  We had decided not to drive to the southern, desert part of Morocco, where the camels are, but we still want to have a camel experience in Africa. So  we drive around trying to find camels. On the way back, we see what looks to be a camel farm. Benson, who is always good at drumming up an adventure, turns around drives right up to a little group of shacks that sit next to the camels. He hops out of the car and approaches a man, a toddler and his wife. He doesn't speak a word of Arabic, and they speak that much English, but  he is able to get the green light for us to see the camels - that man is amazing!
On the way back, we saw some camels and asked the owner if we could see them. He had like 20!” 

They actually pose for pictures. “He said they were too dangerous to ride, but the took my Dad to a Mommy camel with her baby and milked her! He brought over a filthy cup surrounded by flies! And put the milk in there! He gave the cup to my Dad. His face got bright red! He took a sip and then we all drank some. I hesitated but took a tiny swallow. It was warm and thick. Yuck!

Dallin, who won't eat my cooking, even tries some.

Ashy's face says it all.

Ok., your'e right, it's not camel's milk;).

A few seconds later, the camel started to clear his throat. I thought he was going to spit on us!”

Feeling fully satisfied with our camel adventure, we return to the Medina.

We have fun taking pictures outside of our Morocco home, now that it is not dark, and we are not scared for our lives.

 
 

 

Tanner takes his first steps in Morocco - but doesn't start walking 'till we return home from Europe (@15 1/2 months) - he much rather have Dad carry him in the back pack!

“Later, me and Mom went out around the shops that were scattered in the old city.” I want to get scarves as it reminds me of the majority of the women who wear them. We even see some women who are completely covered, except for their eyes. I don’t know why, but these women leave me feeling uneasy. I can’t imagine not having any identity at all.  “We saw some earrings some earrings that were cheap, so I got one pair. They were called the hand of Fatima.” Talie.
  
 It is a sign of protection in many cultures. Named after Muhammed’s daughter, Fatima. “So it looks like we’ll be safe! Mom got a bracelet with the hand of her on it. We also got postcards and scarves. It got dark and was late, so we walked back to our palace. Dad came looking for us. We brought our treasures in and met everyone out on the terrace. We could see all of Africa. The houses didn’t have roofs. Africa’s streets were piled with litter and trash. Roaming around were diseased, stray cats and baby kitties with ribs showing =(. It smelt horrible in parts of town. Out on the terrace we sat there and listened to Muslim prayers. It flowed through the city. It was a loud radio with cool sounds.” Talie