The medina at Fes

Today the day was spent walking in the labyrinth known as the Fes Medina, it dates back to the 9th century and really they don't want to change it anytime soon. No cars are allowed into the walled medina, not that they could even if they tried. Some of the lanes are just narrow enough to allow one person at a time. You can't be obese either, because you would not fit! Some people have to navigate going sideways.

The medina is full of shops everything is sold here. It reminded me a lot of the type of shops that are crammed together in Old Delhi as well as Connaught Place in New Delhi. People in Old Delhi don't want to change their ways either.

The streets are narrow winding and cobblestoned, I have no idea how everyone knows where they are going, to me it seemed we kept walking in a perpetual circle!

We did get to see many artisans create amazing one of a kind pottery pieces as well as watch weavers weave their threads into visual works of art. My first love being art, I wonder why I am still not throwing pots or weaving at the loom-- one day I am sure I will return to that.

It's time to leave Fes already, tomorrow we begin our Sahara Odyssey. I am anxious to touch the sand dunes of the Sahara!

Fes, Morocco.

It was a long drive to Fes, we stopped on the way to see Roman ruins. I stayed behind in the bus, it had been raining hard the weather was downright chilly and damp. I brought warm clothes with me but I was not prepared for the frigid weather we are experiencing here. The walk to the ruins looked long on uneven ground. I have not been sleeping well, nor am I getting enough nutrition. I decided to give my body a rest while the rest of the group trotted off. I needed alone time. I have come to the conclusion that I prefer traveling alone and on my own schedule. Nothing against the group I am traveling with, they are all caring individuals. It's just hard to sit across from people who are consuming meat, while I eat the same overcooked veggies again and again...

At least when I am by myself, I am responsible for finding a restaurant of my own choice. I am not locked into a designated place where the group has to eat. Also, my own schedule involves waking up when the body is ready. I don't do well when I have to be up early. I am now too used to going at my own pace.

Well, enough about that! I am very surprised at the country of Morocco, my images of this place have been arid and hot-- not so, it's lush, cold and wet! I am sure the Sahara Dessert will be different. Though our tour guide keeps telling us we are here in the middle of the winter. It's strange to see palm trees lining the streets of the towns while it's so damn cold!

We stopped on the way to Fes by the roadside, where people who had collected truffles were selling them. They had a unique way to advertising their wares. Little mounds of cone shaped mud are placed atop boxes or tins along the hi-way a few hundred yards apart, and then finally, many cones are placed on iron bars, drawing attention to the final 'sculpture'. This is the location where the farmer with the truffles can be found. Here in Morocco, they have trained dogs to find the highly prized mushrooms, because the pigs would find and eat them. Dogs just find them!

Our guide Mohamed bought a few, he has promised to make them for us while we are roughing it in the dessert. At least I will get to eat something different than mush veggies!

Well, dinner was the same veggies in a filo pastry, I think they were trying to fool me with a different presentation. Ha! They didn't succeed !

Tomorrow we go to the Medina of Fes. This should be interesting since this place is a throwback to the ninth century. I am looking forward to the sounds and aromas of the open air market.

Rabat, Morocco!

I am making this entry from Rabat, Morocco. My good friends Gwen and Jim were supposed to be on this trip with me, but a couple of weeks ago, Gwen injured herself, so here I am in exotic Morocco with a group of people I don't know. However, I find myself feeling comfortable, even though I travel alone most of the time, it's good to share this experience and meet new people.

It took a long time to get here, I left Oklahoma on Jan. 24, and got here around 3 p.m Jan 25. Today the day was spent touring Rabat, Morocco's capital. This is a very panoramic country. The history of Morocco is rich with Berber/Arab heritage, Roman ruins, mosques all cohabiting in perfect harmony. Morocco is under a monarchy which does not rule, there is a prime minister and unlike other Muslim countries, women do have more of an equal footing here. Though, I did notice most of them do wear the "hijab" which is a head covering that Muslim women wear in public as part of their faith.

My main reason for coming here is the Sahara Dessert, it has always beckoned me, must be a past life memory! We will spend a couple of nights in the dessert sleeping in tents under the open sky. I hope it will be a clear night so I can witness the beauty of the night sky. See the stars of the Milky Way clearly as seen on no place else on the planet.

I have been disappointed in the food here, I think that is part of being a tour group, where the meals are paid for in advance and they do cater to the meat eater. I think either I should pay less for a group tour or I should be afforded the same type of choices -- only vegetarian! This is something I will address with the tour company when I return home. I do know that Moroccan cuisine has veggie choices, I am just not getting to taste any.

We have another early morning bus ride tomorrow, we will be on our way to the city of Fes. If, the connection to the internet is stable I will pen my next entry from there. This passage is being written while I sit in the lobby of the hotel, while listening to really bad elevator music, which is not helping me write more eloquently!

More tomorrow...

Baking in Oklahoma...

I have been home for about two weeks and am already tired of record breaking high temps! I have no idea how the rest of my fellow Oklahomans survived this incredibly hot, hot summer. I came home to many shrubs toasted by the heat even though my lovely neighbour Valerie watered them.

The trip across Canada now seems like a very long dream! Friends ask me what was my favorite Canadian Province? I must say picking one is hard to do because the adventure was crossing Canada. Though, I did like Newfoundland, because it is so remote, and getting there was it's own journey. Prince Edward Island had a lot of charm going for it. Though Manitoba and Sasketchewan reminded me of the same type of prairie landscape I am used to here in the heartland of America. And of course, Beautiful British Columbia is aptly named! So, I would have to answer that question with-- which was my least favorite? That would have to be Quebec.

Most likely I will not travel across Canada as I did this summer. I may go to a few provinces again just to explore them more thoroughly. I would like to go back to Manitoba and see Lake Winnipeg again. Revisit Moose Jaw Sasketchewan, and spend time at the hot springs there. I would enjoy spending a couple of weeks in Newfoundland and take the ferry across to Labrador too. Prince Edward Island certainly deserves more exploration!

Before I do any more traveling to those provinces, I have decided that I will have to visit the Northwest Territories in northern Canada. One can drive all the way to the Arctic Circle and experience daylight for twenty four hours of the day! Now THAT sounds like a road trip!

In Vancouver!

We were both so exhausted last night after our ordeal of being stuck on hi-way 93, that neither one had enough energy to chat. We both went to sleep almost immediately. Shushma and I woke up early this morning, we both decided if it was at all possible to make it home by the evening we would do so.

After breakfast we hoped and prayed that TCH going west beyond Golden was in good shape. We wanted no more hi-way drama in our lives!

We were on the road by 9:30 a.m., gratefully the hi-way was not closed and the open road lay in front of us. I was most concerned about Rogers Pass through the Canadian Rockies near Revelstoke, I had traveled this stretch of the road before and remember it's beauty and the road's curvaceous nature! This pass is certainly the crowing glory of the Trans Canada Hi-way. The road is carved around the mountains and at times goes through the mountains with five tunnels. It is a sight to behold! The tunnels add a measure of protection from avalanches. Many railway workers were killed at Rogers Pass due to avalanches.

We filled up on gasoline every opportunity we had and we used the bathroom facilities at every stop we made! My sister is used to having her iPhone work in every location, however, it does not work in the Canadian Rockies! I think at times cell phone towers intrude on the scenic beauty of this planet and I was grateful the ugly things were nowhere to be found on these majestic mountains-- having said that, you are in a tough spot if you need help, there is no way of calling for aid. Though, there are plenty of other drivers that can be of assistance, it's not like driving to Alaska where for stretches of road my car was the only car on the road!

We stopped by Shuswap lake for lunch, we sat in the car with the top down and enjoyed our pizza and a Coke, took a couple of pictures, talked a bit more about our incredulous journey; marveled at our unique experience and then, we were back on the road.

We made it home by the evening and now it was time to relay our story to family and friends who were surprised, shocked, dumbfounded, but were glad to have two sisters home safe and sound from their excellent adventure!

For me it has been a phenomenal journey, I can look back and really appreciate the road I have been on for the past twenty five days. It took a long time to get here, yet easily one could spend another month on the road. After a while the familiar begins to beckon and the road stretched out in front looks alien. Soon it will be time to go home and sleep in my own bed!

Mini road trip with Shushma!

My sister Shushma arrived in Calgary at 2 a.m. about three hours later than her scheduled time due to a cancelled flight-- that set the stage for our mini road trip! After we awoke, we headed down to the dinning room for breakfast. We decided we would head to Banff National Park and then Lake Louise. Then, call it a night in Golden BC. It all seemed perfectly feasible, a leisurely day of sightseeing and conversation.

So, off we went; my sister and I are not navigators, it's like the blind leading the blind-- but somehow we both manage to get where we are going. We call it intuitive driving!

As we were driving towards Banff, I noticed a sign on the side of the road which said "TCH (Trans Canada Hi-way) closed take 93 south" I looked over at Shush and asked her if that meant us? She looked back at me and said "No, I am sure they wouldn't close hi-way one" Without giving the sign a second thought we continued towards Banff and got there in plenty of time. We decided to go up on Sulfur mountain in a gondola. We were more interested in the ride up than being up on the mountain, so we turned right around and went down in the same gondola we came up in. The young man who was taking photographs thought it was an awfully expensive ride.

After we came down, we headed out to Lake Louise which is a glacial lake, I was in Banff about thirty years ago and remembered how pristine this lake is. After our little excursion of Lake Louise we got back on TCH towards Golden BC, only to come to a road block where workers were turning people around. As we approached the flagmen, we were informed TCH was closed due to a mud slide; in order to get to Golden we have to go on 93 south to a town called Radium which was only another 100 kilometers away and then catch 95 north to Golden.

This seemed inconvenient but there was no other option, we figured we would still get to Golden by about 7 p.m. However, that is not how this was to day was supposed to end!

About thirty kilometers (approx. 18 miles) from Radium we came to a dead stop. There was a stream of cars ahead of us stopped. We both speculated as to what could be the cause of this traffic jam. We concluded there must be a wreck and we would be moving soon enough. But, thirty minutes later when we still had not moved an inch, we thought it has to be another mud slide or rock slide. At this point we both began to look at the map to see if there was any other way to get out of this predicament. We had made reservations in a hotel in Golden, since we were on our way to Vancouver and the only way to get there was through Golden, we decided to stay put and wait out the traffic congestion. About an hour passed, we had barely move a few hundred feet. I turned the car off since I was not sure if I had enough gasoline to keep idling and still reach Golden. The thought of running out of gas was an added stress to an already stressful situation.

Another hour passed, we moved another few hundred feet and again stopped. Not knowing the cause of the delay was just as frustrating as being stuck in a parking lot on the hi-way. I was quite impressed by the calmness all the drivers exhibited. A few people had to go into the bushes to take care of full bladders. One man next to our car decided not to be modest and relieved himself in plain view. He did however keep his back to us. But, even then it was unpleasant to witness! I am so grateful that both of us had used the bathroom in Banff.

We had now been waiting for three hours with very little progress. At this point, I looked at the map more closely and realized that 93 south meets 95 north at a T junction in Radium, I came to the conclusion that there has to be a traffic light at the junction, which is the reason we move a little and then come to a complete stop. My sister thought that is not possible-- she is a woman who lives in the city! I have seen and traveled through too many rural towns to know this is how roads are carved out.

Five hours later at long last, we get to the end of the road in Radium, where finally, the cause of our five hours of misery would be revealed. It was indeed a T junction but instead of a traffic light it was a four way stop light! I was stupefied! I could not believe the reason we had been at a virtual standstill for the past five hours was due to a 4-way stop light! There were two road workers who were directing traffic, trying desperately to keep the flow moving. To make matters worse, the town of Radium had run out of gas because many people thought they'd fill up their tanks there. Fortunately we did have enough gas to get to Golden, we arrived there at 11:30 p.m.

I am amazed that in a province where mudslides are common place that something like this is allowed to happen. To have just one small sign saying TCH closed and not to have any type of contingency plan in place. To inconvenience thousands of travelers with no forewarning; certainly there was no organization to alleviate the immense amount of distress caused by something that could have been so easily avoided!

I am embarrassed this happened in the province I call home for every summer.

Calgary, Alberta.

My day started off with grace this morning! As I was checking out of my hotel, I turned and looked at the dinning area where breakfast was served only to realize I had missed it. I lamented the fact that I missed breakfast when Myrinna, who was processing my payment offered to get me a muffin for the road. Appreciatively I accepted, she asked Janie the hostess to grab a muffin for me. We all got to talking when I told them about my epic journey across Canada. Most often people are amazed that I am doing this by myself, and usually the next remark is "You go girl!"

I found out that Myrinna has never been away from Sasketchewan, but Janie on the other hand has lived in many different provinces. She decided that she wanted to retire in a small friendly town such as Moose Jaw. As we continued to talk about our lives, both the ladies decided I needed fruit for the road too and a glass of juice also. I am always heart warmed by people's simple acts of kindness. With a great bran muffin and all my other goodies I headed out on the Trans Canada Hi-way.

I neglected to take photos of Sasketchewan yesterday, thinking today there would be plenty of time to stop and take a snap shot or two. Not so, it rained the entire day and soon I was crossing over to Alberta. Well, I will just have to contend with the memories I have in my mind and the ball cap I got yesterday. Manitoba and Sasketchewan both look like parts of Kansas and the panhandle of Texas.

The drive was a bit stressful since the rain was steady and heavy, though I have to give credit to most Canadian drivers, they stay in the left lane only to overtake leaving the left lane virtually empty. Little things like that make my day!

The next act of grace came a bit later in the day as I was searching for a good vegetarian restaurant. I spied a billboard claiming to have the best Indian food! Well, say no more! I decided to find it in the town called Medicine Hat. I got there just as they were closing up after lunch, disappointed I asked the owner when the restaurant would open again? He asked me to come inside and sit down, he prepared a vegetarian plate for me. Another gesture of kindness! The name of the restaurant is The Spice Route and the owner's name is Shir Brar. The food was indeed exceptional.

After lunch, Calgary was only a couple of hours away, I drove through rain and realized that today is the end of my solo journey. Tomorrow my sister will be with me. As much as I am looking forward to seeing her, I am a bit sad today that this part of my adventure has ended. Tomorrow will be a different kind of a road trip.