Trip to Spain Day 1

Our trip started out on a beautiful, Moroccan day.  Our plan was to take a state highway up to a town in the mountains called Chefchaouen and then to stop for the night in Tetouan.  The roads in Morocco are not labeled very well and about an hour into the trip we started seeing the ocean, which meant we were on the wrong road.  Ugh.  With no internet in the car we were stuck with what street signs there were and general directions from a map we could barely read.  We managed to find a road that would bring us to the highway we were supposed to be on and headed east.  As we were about to enter the town that would put us on the right path we were pulled over to the side of the road.  Now, in all honesty, Jake was going a little fast.  But quickly it became apparent that what was really going on was a shake-down.  They wanted Jake to simply hand over  500 dirham ($60) without writing out a proper ticket or anything.  Well, we’ve been here long enough to know not to do that.  So there we sat, time ticking away, as someone headed to the police station to get the ticket book so they could write Jake a ticket.  We still had to hand over the 500 dhs, but at least we knew it would be accounted for.  And all this only added to the driving time, of which the children were quick to point out.

The drive on a Moroccan state highway is interesting.  Think of it like driving out in the country on a little country road where villages dot the landscape.  There are small towns you pass through where goats and sheep are herded alongside the road.  It is also interesting to see cows and donkeys tied up to electrical posts.  The first time I saw one I thought the cow was free, but then I saw the rope holding them just off the road.  Either way, every time we passed one I thought it would dart into the road.  I guess I’m just not used to it.  The landscape reminded me of Colorado minus the majestic mountains.  The coolest thing we saw, by far, on the drive was a mountain which looked like it had a soft, white blanket wrapping its peak and then falling down the side of the mountain like a waterfall.  You could actually see the clouds falling down the side of the mountain.  Neat.  We stopped twice on our journey for some leg extensions.  The first was to buy some dirt-cheap pottery on the side of the road.  The second time we went exploring in a dry river bed.  You could see how in the spring the water that would flow through there would be wide, swift and very dangerous.  But that day it was just a little stream perfect for throwing rocks in.

It took a lot longer to get to Chefchaouen than we had anticipated, even if we hadn’t started off on the wrong road.  We anticipated 3 hours, and it took 5.  By the time we got there we were ready to just get to a hotel and stop.  The plan was to take a nature walk through the mountains there, but a) we couldn’t find it, b) the traffic and people were ridiculous and c) we just wanted to get to Tetouan by this point so we didn’t stop.  We were awed at the beauty of a town built on the side of the mountain and all the colors of the buildings, though.  The popular color for homes and businesses here in Morocco is white.  At Chefchaouen many of the buildings were blue, purple, or a mixture of the two.  Put that with the green of the mountain behind it and it was beautiful.  Was it worth the time in the car, though, that we are still debating.

We drove a total of 6 ½ hours to get to Tetouan.  We were so done driving!  But now came the difficult task of finding the Ryadh we were to stay in (a ryadh is like a small hotel or hostel).  We tried to find it ourselves, but it quickly became clear that the directions we had printed out from Google Maps was not going to get us there.  We ended up getting a taxi and following them.  Then when we were as close as a car could go someone from the Ryadh came out to find us.  They took us somewhere we could park the car and he took the kids and I up to the hotel while Jake waited for someone to come and help him with the bags.  The man carried David for me and I carried Jordan.  It was a little farther than we thought and I tried to put Jordan down to walk, but then realized he had no shoes on (he had taken them off in the van and neither Jake nor I had noticed) so I had no choice but to carry him the entire way. 

The little courtyard outside our bedrooms on the 2nd floor.

The Ryadh itself was very nice.  Tile walls and floors, and the people went above and beyond to accommodate us.  We had 2 rooms on the 2^nd floor which were across from each other.  The 4 older kids slept in the room with 2 queen beds, one being up in a loft, and Jake and I, along with the 2 little ones took the other room which had a queen bed and 2 cribs.  Dinner wasn’t served until 7, so we played some games and waited for something to eat.  Jake ordered some food earlier for us so when 7 hit we only had to go down and eat.  It turned out that Jake didn’t order enough food for everyone, so he had to add a little chicken and fries to get everyone taken care of.  After we were all fed we headed up to bed.  We put the two little ones to bed and put a movie on for the older kids via the laptop.  The beds were a little hard, but after a very long day of driving we were all ready to hit the sack and sleep it off.  Day 2 was sure to be a great adventure.

Jake and my room along with the babies in the ryadh in Tatouan

The loft where the girls slept

In the loft where the girls slept

The kids' room.  This was the boys' bed.