Morgan Family Trip 2017 Summary
It's super fun to look back on the trip & review
where we went & what we did. To start, here are some numbers:
Trip Stats
Approx.
distance flown around the world: 28,955 miles airport codes
longest
single flight:
LAX to AKL 6,510 miles (12 hours, 30 minutes)
SJO = San Jose, Costa Rica
longest
travel day: 32hrs - hotel to SJO, to LAX (9hrs!), to AKL,
rental van, to house LAX = Los Angeles, CA
AKL = Auckland, NZ
AKL = Auckland, NZ
van
mileage (9
weeks in Europe): 9,401
km = 5,400 miles country nights / diff. places
most
borders crossed in 1 day: 4 (Croatia, Slovenia, Austria,
Italy; tied with: Costa Rica 31 7 pass-through-only countries
Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland) New Zealand 18 6 Andorra: small church group
Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland) New Zealand 18 6 Andorra: small church group
number
of countries visited: 20 (20 countries in 20 weeks!) Thailand 15 6 Monaco:
exotic gardens
longest
time in 1 country: 31
nights - Costa Rica (2nd
place: Italy) Cambodia 2 1 Vatican
City: museum tour
Spain 9 2 San
Marino: hike & McD’s
Nights
away from home: 139 (20 weeks = 4.5 months) France
13 6 Slovenia:
shopping, Lake Bled
#
of different accommodations: 45 Italy 23 8 Liechtenstein: post office closed!
longest
time at 1 house: 20
nights
(Casa Nirvana in CR) Croatia 2 1 Luxemburg:
burgers & fries
Austria
4 1
# of
wards/branches attended: 14 Germany 12 4
longest
trek to church: 2.5hrs 1-way (Weisel to Frankfurt) Switzerland 4 1
Belgium 1 1
Iceland 2 1
Trip Highlights
Now let's look at the top highlights & lowlights!
There are so many, but I'll keep it to just a handful per country.
Costa Rica Highlights Lowlights
Casa
Nirvana:
cool beach house with outdoor living & kitchen 1st night at Casa Nirvana: Avery
suffers an attack from a beetle with huge pincers
Santa
Cruz Ward: Young
Women overnighter at the Thelin's house! No
Running Water: washing hands & dishes with bottled water; Paul cleans
the toilets
Monteverde
Cloud Forest:
tree-top walking, zip-lining & Tarzan swing Playa
Avellanas: Avery, Kyra & Cannon struggle in the strong current of the
Pacific
Kyra's
Birthday Olympics: family competition on the soccer field Leaving Casa Nirvana: Jesus saves the
day! Chuz hauls our flat tire on his
moped to
Playa
Biezans:
monkeys along the path down to the white sand beach the local
garage for a $5 fix (a fun save for what could have been a major
disaster!)
Mediterranean
Map: jogging
into LA to a Christian bookstore
New Zealand
Davidson
Dairy Farm:
a friendly welcome, a real home, steak dinners Longest
travel day: Stuck outside our house in Auckland after 32 hours of travel
North
Is. Adventure:
zorbing, luging, mountain biking on forest paths Geothermal Wonderland: a hot, stinky walk
through steam vents & bubbling lakes
Te
Anau House:
“best house ever,” most normal, toys galore, on park Frankton Motor Camp: no reservation booked
after walking a mile from the airport
South
Is. Adventure:
Milford Sound Cruise, hiking to glaciers, kayaking, Movie Bust in Wanaka: Princess Cut, a Christian film that won no
canyoning, speed boating, rock crawling
& bungy jumping for Carley awards for acting
Thailand/Cambodia
Street
food: pad
thai to mango smoothies, cheap & readily available! Chinese Bottleneck: Mob tourist push into the
Grand Palace in Bangkok
Chatuchuk
market:
souvenirs galore, family massage with upgrades High-rise
Fright: apartment on the 17th floor with balcony of death
Krabi
beaches:
long-tail boat rides to remote islands, picnic, snorkeling Chang Mai House: spacious
but cockroach city, especially in the kitchen
Elephant
Tour: feeding,
riding & playing with elephants in Chiang Mai Angkor Wat: neat, but not so serene like the pictures; too many tourists
Spain/Andorra/ Southern
France
The
corner bakery:
the kids running down for fresh bread & pastries Barcelona Arrival: getting train tickets,
trekking at midnight looking for the apartment
Barcelona
plaza: dancing
to the cellist in front of the cathedral Barcelona
Street Noise: garbage collection at 3:00 every morning
FC
Barcelona game:
the fun of watching Messi, Suarez & Neymar live Metro Police Checkpoint: Paul's metro ticket
lost in the machine, jumped the turnstile
Fower’s
Farmhouse: fresh
homemade chocolate chip cookies & milk Big
Van Scratch: within an hour of leasing the van, the narrow parking garage
won
Libby’s
Farmhouse:
idyllic bread & breakfast country commune Nothing
Open: unable to find anything open for lunch; cold ravioli never tasted so
good
Italy/Vatican City
Dolceaqua: cool medieval house, castle
& town; gelato on the plaza Narrow
streets: driving through unbelievably narrow streets, passages & sharp
turns
Siena: Tuscan villa with cupola
master bedroom, backyard dinner/games Genoa
Traffic: a 3-hour drive became 6 hours of stop & go traffic after
Easter weekend
Rome
Night Tour:
ghostly stories of medieval Rome at midnight Parking
Problem: circling for a spot, wondering if we’re legal, paying for free
parking
Tres
Lasagnas:
17century restored stone house, backyard kickball Vatican Tour: crowded, rushed,
indecipherable guide; finding Cannon in the museum
Budoia
B&B: the
best homemade bread, pastries, yogurt, fruit, granola Coliseum Collapse: Cannon takes a spill off the
curb onto the cobblestones, exhausted
A
Day in Venice:
an informative tour guide, cool boats & waterways Locked Out: our key was left in the keyhole on
the inside, saved by the dental x-ray
The
Dolomites: a
short hike to the mountain pasture with majestic view
Austria/Bavaria
The
Sound of Music Bike Tour: sun, fun sites & an enthusiastic guide The Eales Nest: Hitler’s mountaintop retreat
with a panoramic view (when not cloudy)
Top
of Germany:
train & tram up the Zugspitze for a beautiful view Dachau: a sobering visit to a concentration
camp, learning more about the Holocaust
Castles: Hohenwerfern, Neuschwanstein
& Linderhoff extravagance Munich
4th Ward: Mother’s Day downer, pouring rain, no invites so we could leave
Legoland
Germany: 7
hours of fun & rides for Kyra & Cannon
Switzerland/Germany/Belgium
Grindelwald
Valley:
cliff walk with Eiger view, go-karts, trotter bikes Post Office Closed: unable to mail postcards in
Liechtenstein, lunch in the parking lot
Paragliding: floating down 3,000ft from Murren to the valley
floor Traveling
Blues: tired of traveling; we can’t change it so make the best of it
Rothenberg: medieval castle town, night
watchman tour, vending machine Beer
Truck Spill: stopped for 2 hours on the freeway waiting for the cleanup
Bastogne
War Memorial:
a fantastic audio tour through WWII survivors Rafting
the Rhine: Sven was nice, but we just drifted & avoided cruise ships;
Paris/Normandy/Iceland
Bodo
Apartment:
cool loft beds with large great room with huge windows Paris Metro: Kyra gets caught in the automatic doors as
we rush onto the metro
The
Eiffel Tower:
waiting for 10pm when the lights sparkle for 5 minutes Peddlers: the constant approach of men trying to sell
junk, such as fidget spinners
D-Day
Anniversary:
Omaha Beach & the National American Cemetery Paris Bike Tour: a lackluster guide, difficult
traffic maneuvers,
Costco
Lunch: pricy
hot dogs, pizza, donuts & almost some cake Canceled
Events: parachute jump & beach landings that didn’t happen do to
weather
The Blue Lagoon: a huge natural hot tub, face masks, before heading
home Toaster Pizza: the kids used the toaster
to warm their frozen pizza (oven breaker tripped)
