It seems I got us through the desert and lost interest in keeping up the blog.  I will use pictures to complete the trip with the family here.

Sunset in Rabat on the Shore Josh, Alexander, Cory, Rhoma

Off road in the Sahara

Camp in the desert

Tea with a nomad in the Sahara

Not sure this needs a caption

A synagogue in Marrakesh. Yechiel shows the old wrapped Torah

Fresh from the deep fryer, oh so good!

In the weavers guild

Silk from the Yucca

The oldest tannery 

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More pictures to come

Here are some highlights in pictures through our time in the desert. 
Still to come Marrakesh and a Balloon flight.

Josh Alexander, Cory, Rohma

Some Gnaua music and dance

Boys being boys!

From Fez we drove to Erfoud  for an overnight in prepartion for our two nights in camp in the Sahara. I am enjoying spending time with my family more than taking time to keep this blog current. Also once we headed out into the Sahara in Toyota 4x4s we had no data service at all. 

The camp in the Sahara exceeded expectations with lovely tent cabins with running water – hot water by afternoon – and electricity provided by solar panels and batteries. There was no heat and no insulation. The temperatures dropped into the high 30’s at night. The comforters on the bed along with heated water bottles made sure we were warm so long as we were under the covers. The dining area was heated by the presence of our bodies. Somehow I managed to leave the sweaters and warm hat I had packed for this part of the trip on the bus with our main luggage and just had my regular cool weather gear along. I survived. We rode camels, we hiked in the sand and we traveled in the 4x4s off of any road shown on any map. 

The drivers of our 4 vehicles seemed unwilling to follow any of the other cars and often we were out of sight of the other 3, running parallel tracks, only to meet up in our assigned sequence at the next major intersection. We visited with nomads and semi nomads spread over the area. The semi-nomads are families remaining behind while the herdsmen take their flocks farther afield for better grazing, or those for whom the breaking and setting camp has gotten to be too much. 

We rode camels and walked in the dunes. The grandchildren, all teens and 20’s romped in the sand. They soon found that unlike beach sand the Sahara did not stick to their clothes or skin but just slipped off. We visited a Guanra music  house where Dan got to try a new stringed instrument and we got to try the local dancing. 

We were cold in the evening and in the morning. The beds kept most of us warm at night, but getting out of the bed required freezing in temps below 40 in the room and hot water was scarce until the sun came up to warm the solar heaters and the pipes from the heaters to the plumbing. We warmed when the sun was well up in the sky. 

The second morning we  joined our 4x4s for the ride to Erfoud where we rejoined the bus for the 5 hour ride to Ouerzazate. This is a modern city built by the French in classic Moroccan style. Our hotel had all the luxuries and a pricey bar. The biggest industry in Ouerzazate is movie making and the movies made there include Cleopatra and Lawrence of Arabia and many more that we have never heard of. It is still an active center of movie making with three active studios. We toured one that has clearly lapsed into museumhood and does not appear to be active.

I have skipped over Day in the Life. More about that later.

Two days there and then off to Marrakesh.  

I started this post 12 hours ago and will not finish it at this sitting. Travel with family is a wonderful experience. We love to spend time together and to sit and talk. unfortunately this leaves little time for reflection and writing. I started writing on the rooftop terrace  of Salam Riad, our current hotel,  I had a glass of wine and was sitting in the sun when Dan arrived to chat.  

We had had a day touring the Medina of Fes (a fez is a hat) where we saw pottery making, weaving, leather making, the oldest university and much much more. We dined in the Medina and eventually made our way through the very narrow, congested streets back to the bus. We had three hours with no plan which brought me to the terrace. But life and family found ways to consume that time. We have had an active sharing of some stomach bug among the travelers and Carol was chilled , but she did not want to be alone so we gathered in our room to drink wine and schmooze. Josh was on the mend and Piper seemed to be coming down with it so we reorganized the groups heading out to have dinner with local families. I went with Malena and Alexander to the home of the Aries where we met the husband wife and daughter. It was an interesting time with a lovely meal. It was only as we were walking back to the bus that the husband revealed that they had lost a 14 year old son just 6 months prior. Home Hospitality often brings us into the real life of people hosting and gives us a look into life beyond touring. Indeed we are reminded that people are more the same than different regardless of the surrounding environment.

As we flew from San Diego to Detroit to Paris we knew we would meet up with the Virginia Goldbergs in Paris. Tired and a bit gritty from uncounted hours of travel we found them at the gate as we prepared to board the last flying leg of the trip to Casablanca. It took us a bit of time to clear border formalities gather our luggage and find our bus to Rabat, but woon we were on our way to the hotel in Rabat where the Los Angeles Goldbergs greeted us in the lobby of Le Diwan an Accor Hotel. 10 months of planning came to fruition at that moment. Among us we had stomach bugs back pain and assorted other travel maladies, but we were together and prepared to travel on with our guide and leader Malek.

After a typical OAT briefing along witih introductions so Malek could get to know us we set out to see some of the sites of Rabat including the Royal Palace. Following lunch at an outdoor cafe we stocked at a liquor store to stock up for 5 days when alcoholic beverages will not be available. Malek also picked up sim cards for those of us planning to use them in our phones. This cost us an hour as we struggled through the incomprehensible instructions, made more so by being only in French and Arabic. Eventually most of the phones were working. I set off on brisk walk with Rohma, Josh and Dan leaving the others to rest and prepare for the evening. 

Althoug dinner wasn’t until later Malek had us on the bus at 5:30 to tour the Blue and While Quarter. Some readers may know that those are the colors of Israel. Indeed this was a former Jewish quarter and teh walls are BLue to shoulder height and white above. We then went to the Casbah, in this case a military structure built to defend the mouth of the river. We arrived with perfect timing to witness a glorious sunset over the Atlantic. Thank you Malek for getting us there.

Our sons and their families are launched, off to Paris for three nights. Then on to Morocco where we will join up for 2 weeks with OAT Tour Leader Malek, by bus, plane, camel back and 4X4 plus a balloon trip too. The OAT way is to sample all modes of travel that are available. I am not including the entire itinerary here, it will unfold as we travel. 

Carol and I leave from San Diego Tuesday and fly to Detroit, then on to Paris, where we will meet up with Dan and his entourage for the flight to Casablanca. After a 90 minute bus ride to Rabat we will all gather there to begin the trip. 

Eventually they will fly back to the US and Carol and I will continue on to  Tel Aviv for 3 days of R&R by the beach before we join our friends Joyce and Victor for a tour in Ethiopia with a different tour company. That is two weeks and then we return to Jojoba Hills SKP Resort on Jan 24.

We are very excited. the planning for this trip started a year ago as we realized we needed to do something to celebrate our 55 years of marriage (last June 21). Trying to do something in the US has not worked out well, we decided to get the families together with a menu of possible trips. After much back and forth they chose this trip to Morocco with OAT. 

I will try to post whenever I have the time and connectivity.