I hadn't been to the Cayuse annual release weekend party since before Covid so I was really looking forward to it! I invited a couple of friends from our wine group to join me for the weekend, driving over on Friday afternoon, and we were all surprised to have snow while going over Snoqualmie Pass! In April!
First stop, Yakima for Mexican lunch! We chose Taqueria Rolly's for tacos inside their fun retrofitted school bus. Good stuff!
We rolled into the Marriott in Walla Walla with not a lot of time to get cleaned up for dinner and get back on the road. Our dinner reservations were at 5:30 at Bar Bacetto in Waitsburg which is about a 30 min drive away. 5:30 is not my preferred dinner time but reservations are hard to get here!
Waitsburg is so cute and very, very, quiet!
We had great seats right up at the counter and had to restrain ourselves from just ordering everything as it all sounded, and smelled, so good. In the end we had 4 dishes between 3 of us plus some dessert. I highly recommend Bar Bacatto, even after a long drive over the mountains!
Back in town, I parked the car at the hotel and we walked over to Passatempo for a couple of cocktails. I've drank here multiple times but still haven't had dinner. Will have to rectify that!
By the time I rsvp'd for my Cayuse party tickets there weren't a lot of time slots left so we ended up going at 10am. And it ended up being a great choice! It gave us time to taste everything and graze through all the small bites provided by one of my favorite Seattle restaurants Lark. And it wasn't crazy busy, or crazy tipsy yet!
When we were in line to enter we actually ran into Chef Sundstrom and he invited us downstairs to check out the catering prep and say hi to everyone. Downstairs was actually in Cayuse's barrel cellar, which was very cool!
We were at the party for a little over an hour and then hit the road for some new-to-me winery tastings. First up was Devona. It took us a while to find the entrance but we were so glad we did! These wines were just lovely! Winemaker and owner John Abbott makes wines from both Oregon and Washington. We tasted their pinot noir and chardonnays (merlot and cab are poured during the fall release) and I absolutely loved both the pinots. Highly recommend a stop here and you do need to contact them to reserve.
Next up was Devium, not too far down the road (both of these are in the airport district), and also requires an appointment. Devium had been recommended to us by a few friends so we were excited to try. But as soon as we walked in we were all a bit put off.
As it was Cayuse weekend there were a lot of people in town ready to party, but it seemed that almost everyone at Devium was more that a bit tipsy. And loud! Now that isn't necessarily the winery's fault, except that as we started tasted we realized there were no dump buckets anywhere. And we when asked for one they seemed quite put out. So maybe it was...
But besides the party atmosphere, I honestly just did not like the wines. And winemaker/ owner Keith Johnson would not be surprised by that as he is purposefully making very different styles. Unfiltered and funky; if those words are part of your wine love language than you might be a fan.
Back in town we grabbed delicious burgers from The Ice-Burg and then walked to the downtown area. We had a great time at new-to-me Time & Direction, the tasting room and the folks working are super fun and the wines were all interesting in a good way!
We all bought a couple of bottles and asked if we could pick them up in the morning, as we were on our way to an early dinner in town and didn't want to be walking around with our wine all night. Turns out they offer delivery depending on where you are staying! Awesome!
It was a short walk over to Brassiere 4 for a lovely bistro dinner capped off with nightcaps before walking back to the hotel.
In the morning we stopped by Bacon & Eggs for breakfast before hitting the road. It's always been delicious in the past but this time all of our dishes were either over salted, luke warm, or both. Not sure if that was a one-off or not.
The required stop at Los Hernandez in Union Gap was made to grab tamales for our freezers. They had nopale which I hadn't tried (theirs) before and they were delicious!
And then we were back in Seattle with a trunk full of wine and tamales :)
It had been an incredible journey and night in the Sahara Desert but now we were on the road to Marrakesh! And it would be a very long day of driving, about 10 hours. It was so great to have our private driver for these expeditions!
Madhi had the car all packed up and we were on the road at about 8:30 am. After only 30 minutes on the road he pulled over in the middle of nowhere. When we asked what he was doing, he said that he was taking us hunting for fossils!! We got out, walked across the highway, and started searching along the base of a low ridge of hills.
This entire area of the Rocky Sahara was once a sea bed and home to many different sea creatures and invertebrates during the Devonian period, 419.2 to 358.9 million years ago. All sorts of fossils have been found in this area, such as giant catfish, crocodiles, whales, pterosaurs, trilobites, nautiloids, brachiopods, etc.
We found a few nautiloids and brachiopods which was really cool. I knew that Morocco is known for their fossils (from watching The Forgiven), but I didn't know why, and I didn't realize there is a whole business of fossil tourism! We would see many very impressive ones for sale along our route.
The landscape remained rocky as we drove through the Draa River Valley. We passed by Tamnougalt, an old kasbah and date palm oasis, and various small towns with bustling markets along their streets. Our original itinerary suggested driving up thru the sheer rock walls of the Todra Gorges but as this was already an extremely long drive for one person to handle we skirted south of there and followed the Anti Atlas Mountains.
From here we started climbing up a bit to Aït Saoun, which is a mountain pass in the Anti Atlas range. Madhi pulled over so we could get out and take in the gorgeous views. This 5042 foot elevation pass was once a caravan route for people traveling to the Sahara.
Just on the other side of the pass near Ouarzazate we drove by CLA Studios, a movie production house that opened in 2004 and has had parts of films such as Babel, Gladiator, and Ben Hur shot on their sets. It was closed when we were there and Madhi thought that might be a permanent thing.
Another well-used movie location was just off the main highway a bit further. Ait Ben Haddou, an UNESCO World Heritage Site is a ksar; a fortified village built of clay.
There have been so many movies shot here including Lawrence of Arabia, The Jewel of the Nile, Sheltering Sky, and The Mummy.
After a quick (and really bad) lunch in the more modern part of town, we were able to walk across a dried river bed and up into the lanes of the village. Very few people still live in the ksar but there are some small shops selling antiques and fossils to tourists. The clay architecture was super cool to see.
The buildings at the very top of the ksar were closed, having sustained damage from the 2023 earthquake that happened just a week before we arrived in Morocco. Having been on the other side of the country for the last 6 days, this was the first time we were seeing physical damage.
It was 3pm and we still had over 3 hours before reaching Marrakech. This part of the drive was through the High Atlas Mountains and the views were stunning. It was also a bit nerve wracking as Madhi is very use to the twisty roads and was driving pretty fast. Steep drop offs on one side and top-heavy trucks, double-deckered with cattle were creaning past on the other side. I've never seen cows loaded on open topped, 2-story trucks before!
We stopped at Tizi N Tinifift pass, the highest major mountain pass in North Africa at 7,234 ft (2,205 metres) above sea level. Nomadic Berbers still cross this on foot! Madhi explained that during the winter this pass closes often because of snow. Towns located inside are then cut off until the road can be opened back up.
We stopped in a tiny town at the pass to shop from the Berber Women Argan Oil CoOp. The ingredient argan oil is slapped on just about every label in the States but most of that is very diluted with other oils. Real oil is extracted by hand from the argan tree fruit which are very small. It takes a lot of nuts to get a bit of the precious oil and this part of Morocco is said to have the best.
The small nuts are cracked open with a stone and their seed is separated from the husk. Then the seeds are ground with a small stone mill by one of the women. The shop sells cosmetic as well as food grade oils. This is where we all bought the Moroccan specialty Amlou which is a spread of honey, almonds, and argan oil. It's fabulous and you should eat it anytime you see it!
We weren't the only ones shopping! As we opened the trunk to put our purchases in, boxes and boxes of dates just about fell out! Madhi had stopped along the side of the road as we headed up the pass to buy some, but we hadn't known how much he had bought! Turns out we were his last group that he would be driving through this region so he was stocking up!
It was past 6pm when we arrived in Marrakesh, it had been a really long day on the road but also a super interesting & beautiful one!
Fes Authentic Tours was a great company to work with, creating the exact trip we wanted. I highly recommend them.
We had a last quick breakfast in the lovely Riad Tizwa in Fes, before checking out and being collected by our private driver Madhi at 8am. Even though this was early for me, we were all super excited as today we were driving to the Sahara Desert! More specifically we were going to be spending the night in a Berber camp near the small town of Merzouga, which was about a 7 hour drive away.
Following the itinerary that we booked with Fes Authentic Tours our first stop was Ifrane. It was surprising to drive up into the Middle Atlas Mountains and see the fancy ski resort Michlifen; skiing in Morocco? Turns out that snow is common here at 6,900 ft between Dec and Feb. The town of Ifrane is actually referred to as "Little Switzerland" as the buildings were built in an alpine-style by the French who occupied the area in the 30's.
We had a quick walk around the tiny town and snapped a photo with the city's stone lion near the Hôtel Chamonix. Supposedly it was carved by a German soldier, who was held here during WWII in a prisoner-of-war camp, in exchange for his freedom. The sculpture represents the last wild Atlas lion, shot near Ifrane in the early 20s.
I bought a mix of sweet and salty peanuts and candied ginger from a snack vender for the car ride and then we were back on the road. The land became very flat and arid right out of Ifrane, but soon we were in an area lush with cedar trees and a large population of Barbary macaques! These are tailless monkeys that live in small groups on the ground.
The endangered species is already extinct in other parts of Northern Africa. Unfortunately there have been problems with poachers in this area and many are taken and sold as pets. There has been a lot of movement to protect these monkeys recently and hopefully their numbers will continue to rise; we saw babies which even 2 years ago was very rare.
As we continued our drive, we were leaving the Middle Atlas Mountains, which run primarily north and south, and crossing the high plateaus. The scenery was really interesting and really bare. Madhi pulled over and pointed out a small scattering of Nomadic Berber tents and pens made of scrub sticks for their herds. What an incredibly tough life that would be.
There were a few spots where we just barely crossed into the very northeastern tip of the High Atlas and the peaks were incredibly craggy, giving us just a small taste of what we would be driving through the next day!
For lunch we stopped at a roadside cafe seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It was obviously a pretty normal stop for tourists and others making the trek to and from the Sahara. Madhi left us as it was prayer time and we grabbed a table and some sticky menus. We weren't expecting much, and honestly my kabobs were fine, but Gail still talks about the "Berber eggs" she ordered, as one of the best egg dishes she has had!
Shortly after lunch we came upon the Ziz River and the Tafilalt oasis. It's really a stunning site, even though our skies had turned overcast. Following the gorge are multiple walled kasbahs built among the thousands of date palm trees. This is the largest palm grove in all of Morocco.
At 5pm, 9 hours after leaving Fes, we arrived at the Palais des Dunes hotel in Merzouga. This tiny village in the Sahara Desert is the kickoff spot to Erg Chebbi, which are the huge red sand dunes that line the border Algeria.
We wouldn't be staying at the hotel but our suitcases and Madhi were. We would be staying at their luxury Berber camp in the desert!
We were escorted across the street to meet with our camel guide who, after tying our scarves around our heads for us, would be leading us on our 1 ½ hour ride. To be clear, these were Arabian camels, or dromedary, which have 1 hump instead of 2 (which are mainly found in central Asia).
Riding a camel is awkward and not comfortable, but it was an amazing experience! There were 5 of us total, each on our own dromedary, with the guide holding very loosely to the lead rope. Mine was in the front so I had pretty amazing views of the incredibly high dunes of powdery red sand.
Our guide was great, he was very patient with us and his camels. Sometimes he dropped the rope when helping one of the riders; I asked him if he worried the camel would walk off but he said that he'd had them for years, he treated them very well, and he knew they would never walk away.
He even did a little photo shoot with us all and then individually. A few of the camels really liked having their photos taken, it was super cute.
As it had been overcast all afternoon we weren't expecting any kind of pretty sunset which everyone always talks about. And honestly when the guide asked if we wanted to get down and take a break and watch it, we were all pretty unenthusiastic. And I just about fell off my camel getting down! So we watched the quad riders off in the distance, and saw a big scarab beetle making his way over the dune we were on, and then all of a sudden the skies started to clear and we had the most amazing sunset!
When we booked this excursion we had our choice between a luxury tent and a basic tent. The luxury tent was only €30 more and was private with actual beds (vs mats) and private bathrooms with running water in them (vs not). When we got to a rise on the dune and could see the two camps below us the camel guide told the other couple that they could dismount and walk to to their camp- the basic one. So going basic also means you are on your own to walk across a stretch of dunes!
We rode a bit further before being helped off the camels and being led into our luxury camp for the night. I have to say we were all VERY excited about what we saw, it was beautiful!
Our overnight bags were waiting for us in our big triple tent with a bathroom, including hot water shower, and also a nice little sitting area out front. Mint tea was brought to us as we relaxed.
Pro tip- while in Fes, we had taken a taxi to the Carrefour and bought wine, beer, and gin at the Cave there; one of the only places you can buy alcohol. We then had some of our wine and beer brought out with our bags and requested it to be put in their refrigerator. Obviously we checked with our organizer first to make sure this was all ok, and it was! So after tea we had a nice little drink before dinner.
That evening we had dinner in a big tent with just 2 other parties. Dinner was pretty basic: rice, veg, chicken tagine (even though we had requested a vegetarian option for Gail), french fries, and fruit. But we didn't care, we were in the Sahara Desert!
After dinner we were all invited to join around a big bonfire, and sitting on plush pillows got to listen to some traditional Berber music. It was so fun! Gail even got to take a turn on the drums!
Then one of the guys led Caitlin, Gail, and I out of the camp in the pitch darkness to look at the stars! We climbed a dune, holding hands as you really couldn't see anything, and layed on our backs gazing up at an amazing sky. We even saw a shooting star! It was really such a fantastic thing to be out there.
The next morning we were up early to catch sunrise but unfortunately it was cloudy. And this folks is why I always prefer sunset; no giving up any precious sleep! The camels we had ridden were still hanging out right where they were left the day before, without being tied up, and the resident cats were running around looking for bugs and critters to catch.
We packed up and had a fine but not exciting breakfast back in the big tent. And as cool of an experience riding a camel was, we opted to return to the hotel by 4-wheel truck!
This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me and it was so awesome! Highly recommend the long trek out to the Sahara if you ever get the chance.
All photos of the Atlas Mountains and Sahara Desert here.
Gail, Caitlin, and I were picked up from our hotel in Tangier at 8am by our private driver Madhi who I had booked thru Fes Authentic Tours. Madhi would be driving us to check out Tétouan and Chefchaouen on our way to our next Moroccan destination of Fes. He would also be our driver from Fes to Marrakech with an overnight in the Sahara Desert. This was a great arrangement as I really didn't want us ladies to be driving around Morocco on our own, and although there are trains to Fes and Marrakech, it's harder to get to these small mountain towns.
It was just over an hour to Tétouan, at the base of the Rif Mountains, and Madhi's car comfortably fit us all and our luggage, always a plus! It was similar to a Rav4 compact SUV. As we drove into town we could see that every streetlight had a huge stork nest on the top, it looked like the light posts were made for them! We must have driven past 20 storks!
We parked and walked into the medina of this 2000 year old city, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town is heavily influenced by the Spanish who came here from Granada so a lot of signage is in Spanish as well as Arabic. We were told that besides Arabic, most Moroccans also speak Spanish in the North and French in the West, but I found French widely spoken in every city so got to continue to practice (unfortunately for them!).
Mahdi walked us through the ancient medina and explained that they really don't get a lot of tourists here, so there aren't the usual street hustlers and crowds. The market is lined with shuttered stalls, the town is known for its high quality crafts, which the owners reveal each day when they open up the doors. I loved walking past them closed, not knowing if gold or beans would be displayed!
We also walked to the Royal Palace which King Mohammed VI still is known to visit in the summer even though his main residence is in Fes now. The square in front was set up for a crowd so he was possibly due to arrive that weekend.
Outside of the Grand Mosque, Madhi pointed out a board with a lot of Arabic writing. Turns out this is the town's real estate listings! Places for sale and for rent are advertised, but without photos. I mean that is very old school!
We all loved Tétouan, it's very pretty, easy to walk around, and has one of the best small souks of the cities we visited. It was also quite early, so not a lot was open, but that made it even more charming for us.
I thought of getting one of the popular drinks that was said to be invented here, called the za3za3, but Madhi told me that the smoothies, made with avocado, dates, almonds, milk, and a lot of honey, is a huge sugar bomb that the locals love when they are coming off a fast or are otherwise needing an energy boost. Since I was going to be mainly sitting in a car all day, I didn't think a sugar high was such a good idea. We stopped on the way out of town for a mint tea though.
It was another hour and a half to Chefchaouen, and a beautiful drive through some very hilly terrain in the Rif Mountains. Unfortunately for Madhi, there was a lot of road work so he had to navigate the graded road and patches of old asphalt.
We parked outside of the old town when we arrived in Chefchaouen, and walked up the narrow steep lanes to the medina.
It's all blue, but not in the sweet dreamy way I thought it would be. It's blue because of social media and tourism. Originally the town was thought to have been painted blue by Jewish refugees during WWII to remind them of Heaven. So before the early 1900's the city was just another typical Moroccan city.
But why has the tradition been kept alive? You need only to walk around and see all the tourists for you answer. The city has realized it could draw visitors to it if it had a hook (we have Leavenworth in WA state). And each year the city gets together and repaints the entire town blue which keeps the tourism dollars flowing.
Some adorable nooks, courtyards, and doorways actually had signs letting you know you had to pay them to take a photo!
We strolled around and then went to Sofia for lunch, the first female-owned restaurant in town, so you know we were there to support! My tagine of chicken and vegetables was excellent! It was also funny that Madhi felt that he should eat with a fork and knife around us, and slopped some food on his pants. He was frustrated and said that like most Moroccans he was use to eating with his hands. We assured him that we didn't mind at all!
After lunch we continued along the blue streets (no cars or scooters allowed here luckily) until we reached the Oued el Kebir river. Here is where the local women wash their clothes, beating them against the rocks. Unfortunately the water was very low so there wasn't a lot going on.
Originally we thought of staying in Chefchaouen, but I'm very glad we just did it as a day trip. Don't get me wrong, it is still very pretty, but too touristy for me. I know my pictures make it look like it wasn't crowded, but it was! I'm just good at getting shots, haha! I'm very glad we all got to see The Blue City.
We left Chefchaouen and continued our drive to to Fes, another 4 hours. This part was a bit less interesting, scenery wise, but it was also a lot less twisty since we were now out of the Rif Mountains. There were a lot of trucks stacked sky high with hay bales that I was sure would topple over!
On our drive we mainly just listened to Madhi's Moroccan music, ate nougat, and I watched an F1 race I had downloaded to my phone. Our last stop to stretch was at a viewpoint overlooking Sidi Chahed Lake where 200+ species of birds are said to winter, and the water's color looks like Chefchaouen! It was a very relaxing day!
The Seattle Times had an article about a BOGO deal that Lake Quinault was running and I thought that sounded like a great virtual office opportunity. Since I was looking for weeknights, there was actually quite a bit of availability.
My friend Leslie lives out in Humptulips, which is just 30 minutes from Lake Quinault, so we made plans for me to come out for lunch before heading to the lodge. Washington had a fair amount of snow on the days leading up to my trip, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go as I drive a sports car! But that morning Leslie said the roads were mainly clear so I loaded up and drove the 3 hours from Seattle out to the Washington Peninsula.
Leslie's house actually has a gorgeous stained glass window in it that use to belong to the Lake Quinault Lodge!
Her guy made us a delicious lunch and then we went out to explore her property. It's very beautiful out there on the banks of the Humptulip River. And her miniature donkeys, baby cow, and chickens could not be cuter! Check out Lucky the cow photobombing!
By the time I left for the lodge it was snowing pretty hard, but the roads were still clear so I didn't have any problems. I got checked in and made my way to the lakeview Fireplace Rooms, which are in an adjoining building to the main lodge.
There is wifi throughout the property but you only get 30 minutes a day for free so I bought the upgraded package for $16, which included multiple devices and 5GB, since this would be my office for the next few days. The room didn't have a desk but I just moved some furniture so I could work on my laptop in front of the fireplace. My room also had a mini fridge, coffee maker, balcony with adirondacks, and fairly recently renovated bathroom with heated floors.
When it was time for happy hour, I moved down to the Great Room and grabbed a seat in front of the enormous fireplace.
This lodge was built in 1926, designed by a Seattle architect, and was completed in 53 days! I had camped nearby a long time ago, so had been inside briefly, but to relax in this gorgeous room with a cold martini in hand was truly a wonderful experience.
I had dinner in the Roosevelt Room, named because the President visited here in 1937. The menu looked pretty good but the prices are ridiculously high! As I was still full from my late lunch I just had the Caesar salad with smoked salmon which was very good.
I had brought some provisions with me for my room, so headed there after dinner for a glass of wine and to read my book. The lodge is very quiet which was excellent!
The next morning I worked in front of the fire with my coffee and the gorgeous view of the lake for a couple of hours before heading down to the dining room for breakfast. Even if your room doesn't have a view, the dining room is a wall of windows so you will not miss out.
It had snowed lightly most of the night but the day was partly sunny and I was excited to go on a hike in the beautiful Olympic National Park! I had chosen the Gatton Creek Trail as it is one of the trails that goes right from the Lodge. I had wanted to do the Quinault Loop but it was mostly closed due to down trees.
Hiking in the Olympic rain forest is soooo gorgeous! The moss is 100 shades of green and the trees reach tall to the sky. There was no one on on the trail that morning so the forest was quiet and very peaceful. There was just a bit of snow on the trail and I thought it was beautiful!
But almost as soon as I crossed the bridge at Falls Creek the snow on the path was much deeper. I mean it was still just up to my shoelaces but I was surprised. The trail only had an 800 foot elevation rise but as I went up the snow was deeper; completely obscuring the trail.
I kept expecting it to clear, not sure why! But at the ½ way point the snow was up to my ankles and I was also having to duck under branches laden with snow. Luckily someone else had hiked the trail the day before and since it hadn't snowed much I could still see their footprints. It was the only way I was able to stay on the course!
This "easy" hike ended up being a real slog! And because no one else was around, and I had spotted some cougar tracks, I was also a tad nervous and was whistling non-stop in order to give any kitties warning of my approach.
As I came down from the modest elevation the trail was fine and the surrounding trees were stunningly draped in moss again instead of snow.
By the time I made it to Rain Forest Village I was exhausted and my touque and puffer were soaked. Luckily my new waterproof hikers did their job and my feet were dry and toasty.
I stopped by the 1,000+ year old "World's Largest Sitka Spruce", which has lost its top and is looking pretty bad compared to the last time I saw it, and then walked along South Shore Drive back to the lodge. 5 ½ miles later I was done!
The lodge doesn't serve lunch on weekdays in the off-season so I changed into dry clothes, grabbed my laptop, and headed to the Quinault Internet Cafe in nearby Amanda Park. I was able to get some work done and have a pretty decent taco salad! Back at the lodge I worked for the rest of the afternoon in front of my fireplace.
Before heading to the Great Room for a martini that evening, I walked out to the lakeshore to take in the view of the setting sun. The light was just incredible!
Sitting around the fire, the other guests were very talkative, kinda like when you are on a cruise! 😆 Everyone was giving each other advise on what to do and see, as well as talking about all their prior visits to the lodge. And everyone complained about the dining room prices! I was happy just to sip my drink and listen.
I had some excellent (and still completely overpriced) fish and chips in the restaurant that night before heading back to my room. There aren't a lot of other options in the area, especially being off-season, but next time I'll try the Salmon House restaurant, which is just a short drive away.
On my last day I had arranged a late checkout, so I spent the morning working and then hit the dining room right before they finished their breakfast service for my "brunch".
I had such a nice time at the lodge and will definitely take advantage of the BOGO again, maybe this fall. It's such a beautiful property and they also have an indoor pool which I didn't have time to check out!
Before driving home, I followed South Shore Drive out to Merriman Falls. The 40 foot falls are right next to the road so no hiking required to view.
From here I drove another 5 ½ miles to Bunch Falls; South Shore Drive turns into a dirt road out here,which was quite slushy. I hadn't realized how far these falls were so I was a little concerned driving my sporty car on the icy road with not another car around. But passing through this section of forest was very pretty.
Bunch Falls are right by the Olympic National Park sign and before you get to the bridge which takes you to North Shore Drive. As the roads out here were pretty messy, doing the Lake Drive Loop was not an option.
It was time to hit the road and get back to Seattle. As I drove out, next to the river, I slammed on my brakes when I spotted the largest bald eagle I've ever seen, sitting high in a bare tree. I mean I have seen hundreds of bald eagles and this one's size really shocked me!
As I got back into my car I spotted another huge one down the road! And on the drive out, one more! No matter how many times I see one I'm always in awe!
Lake Quinault offers the BOGO deal yearly October thru March.
