Trip Summary & Highlights

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

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

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 (2^nd 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 17^th 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)