L.A. Bay and Cataviña

I woke up this morning thinking I might see if the folks in the other rig in camp were also headed north, but they left before I’d even finished my breakfast. So, about 8:30 I took off on my own for L.A. bay. I thought it would be an 84 mile drive, but that was the distance to the junction. That left another 40 miles east, but on a well-graded, newly paved road through scenic hills, ending with dramatic views of the bay. My excitement for the morning was having to stop to let a steer cross the highway!
When I got to L.A. bay, the 5 RV parks I checked out were all empty! Apparently the season is definitely ending. I hung around for a couple of hours, had some lunch, but then decided I’d rather end the day closer to home than spend the afternoon there – especially since the wind was picking up, so beach time wouldn’t be that great.
It was an easy drive back to Mexico 1 and north to Cataviña, where we had stayed March 7th and 8th. Shortly after I parked, Tom & Joanne and Cliff & Diane pulled in. So the five of us socialized for a while, until it got dark and a little chilly. It did take a walk back in the arroyo. The wild-flowers are mostly gone, but the cactus are in full bloom. (I barely survived a chance encounter with a cholla! ) Anyway, it looks like I’ll have people to travel with tomorrow. Yeah!

North to Guerrero Negro

Today was another driving day. I’d only intended to go as far as San Ignacio – maybe not even that far if I ran into someone else headed north. So I left Loreto at 8:30 and drove to Playa Santispac, in case I knew anyone there. There were 4 or 5 rigs on the beach, but no one I knew. Drove on to Villa Maria Isabel in Mulegé, where the park was empty. Later, I found the same result at El Padrino in San Ignacio. Just north of there I stopped for the second Puesto de Militar (military post) of the day, where they entered the rigs making sure I wasn’t smuggling drugs or weapons!
It was after 1 pm by now, and I was clearly going to keep traveling, so I stopped had a delicious bowl of soup – Knorr’s cream of poblana chile. I ended the day at Mario’s in Guerrero Negro, a large RV park with only one other rig in it. I’ll see if they’re going north, and I’ll also check the RV park in town. My plan for tomorrow is to drive only 85 miles, to the Bahia de Los Angeles, which is said to be one of the most beautiful spots in Baja.

North to Loreto

There is not much for the blog reader today. But since I try to journal everyday, I can tell you that I spent an hour or so downloading Skype software, only to find that the microphone on my ibook is not working! Then spent some time trying to help Sarah find out where to refill a prescription. Finally on the road around 10:30, I had an uneventful drive back to the Rivera del Mar RV Park in Loreto.
One of the eye-catching sights in Mexico are the roadside shrines. In the States, these are often a cross, adorned with flowers, usually at the site of a traffic fatality. Mexico has these, also. But often a small shrine is built, with a photo, or statue, of Mary. Although only 2 or 3 feet tall, these can be elaborate. Then there are the “over-achievers”, as shown in the photo. This one had no signage, but usually they do have a sign remembering the one who died nearby. But sometimes these are also ‘thanksgiving’ shrines, fulfillment of a promise made during a prayer like, “If I get through this, I’ll build you a shrine!”
The road today alternated between farm country and mountains. I didn’t take a farm photos, but here’s one of the Sierra Giganta just south of Loreto.

Back to La Paz

Got up, had breakfast and made my decision – to travel Mex 19 through Todos Santos on the Pacific Coast, continuing on to La Paz. A sign of the changes in Los Cabos is the new, huge, Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club across the highway from Vagabundos del Mar. With rising real estate values, RV parks look to be a thing of the past in the area.
I was on the road by 9 am and pleasantly surprised by my celphone around 10:30 – Jackie was on the ground at SFO and about to be picked up by Melissa. Her layover in Mexico City was apparently a rough one. We’d been told there were sleeping rooms to rent but, if there are, she was never able to find anyone who knew of them. She had a hard time even finding someone who could direct her to United Air Lines! But she survived (of course!) this unexpected “adventure”.
I stopped in Todos Santos for to wander around, look at the Mission church, and have lunch – a sandwich in the rig – before continuing on to La Paz. The most interesting sight of the day was this crashed car with a sign inviting people to enjoy Christmas (!) with responsibility – use seatbelts, don’t speed, don’t drive drunk.
In La Paz I found Sarah, Pete, Cathy, and Jim – who I’d expected would be here, but also four other couples who had been on the rally with us. They’ve been moving south more slowly, but expect to head north in a few days. I expect to continue north tomorrow.

Los Barriles to Los Cabos

We decided to go out to breakfast this morning, at the nearby Cafe Paradise, then walked the beach for some fresh air and exercise. The mobula rays were flying again, although not as many as the previous afternoon. Back at the park mid-morning, we packed up, said our goodbyes Pat and Cindy, and headed south towards Los Cabos.
Mid-day we were in San Jose de Cabo and I wheeled the Lazy Days through the narrow streets of the centro and happened on a large almost vacant parking lot – 20 pesos for an hour, but 40 pesos for us because of our size! We parked, walked around, poked our heads into some shops offering over-priced curios and found a nice street-side cafe for our last lunch together in Baja California. It was a little touristy, but in a nice way.
Continuing south, we stopped at Villa Sirena RV Park to meet Chet and Mary, fellow Lazy Daze owners and friends of Sarah and Pete. Then on to Vagabundos del Mar, where we spotted two rigs with Baja Sí stickers while we were parking.
Jackie finished packing and we rode a local bus out to the airport. She got checked in, we shared an airport sandwich, hugged goodbye at security, and I rode the bus back to the park. Tomorrow morning I’ll have to decide which direction I go from here.

La Paz to Los Barriles

It is only 2 hours to Los Barriles, so we had a leisurely morning and got underway around 10:30. By mid-day we were passing through the town of El Triunfo, a former gold and silver mining center that now seems like something of a ghost town. A few shops, a church and a small museum (closed), but many stone and brick buildings that are empty shells. There were some local artisan shops – Jackie bought a nice pair of earrings. Then on to Los Barriles, a small beach community on the Sea of Cortez. The RV park is run by two norteamericanos who also run a sport fishing business. We walked down to the beach and watched the most amazing sight of flying mobula rays swimming and leaping high into the air, about 100 yards off shore. Pat and Cindy got a ride out in a small boat and took some awesome close-up photos. They’ll probably show up tomorrow on their web site at everysmilesamemory.com
This evening, Jackie is packing a suitcase. Tomorrow we’ll drive to Los Cabos and she’ll fly home from the airport at San Jose del Cabo, connecting through Mexico City.

La Paz

Today was another magical day in Baja. We left the RV park around 9 am for the 30 minute drive to Playa Tecolote, where we’d heard there was a great cruise. We learned that for 550 pesos (about $50) we’d have a 4 1/2 hour ride around Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida viewing various sights and stopping for snorkeling and lunch on a beach. We left the playa around 10:30 with 6 people on board, then made an unexpected stop at a beach near the south end of Espiritu Santo to pickup 4 people. They had been dropped off the previous afternoon and had camped overnight on the island. We then proceeded counter-clockwise around E.S. and P to the north of it. Our first big stop was in a rocky cove with hundreds of sea lions, including pups. This was our snorkeling spot – coral, tropical fish, and the occasional seal lion swimming with us! The only down-side was the cool water – not really cold, but I wished I’d had a “shortie” wet suit. After about 30 minutes, we continued around Isla Partida to a warm sandy beach and lunch of ceviche, marlin salad, ham and cheese sandwiches and soft drinks. Slightly warmer water, so we swam a little also. After an hour or so, we continued cruising past interesting rock formations and other sights. Then, heading to open water we thought we were returning to Tecolote only to find we were moving into a school of hundreds of porpoises breaching, diving, rolling and just putting on the most marvelous show. Finally it was time to return to port.
We returned to camp, cleaned up, and then drove to La Paz Centro and strolled the waterfront, where we saw the most amazing sand sculpture of the last supper. We watched the sunset on the bay over magaritas, then people-watched through a leisurely dinner in a terrace restaurant. Life is good!