Sand Dollar

 

Jan 30

January 27, 2007

We are again parked in paradise. The weather here in San Felipe has been great. Blue skies, blue ocean and warm weather. I did not know what a sand dollar was and so asked the fellow next door if he knew. He said he and his wife had gone to this beach down the road and found lots of them. Wow, was he right. Raymond and I traveled there this afternoon and gathered quite a few of them. (Raymond says we got about 50, but I don’t think it is quite that much). They are quite unique and they each have a 5-pointed star in the middle of them and it looks like a 5 leaf flower coming out from the star. It looks like someone painted them on. They are quite fragile, so will have to pack them carefully for the trip back home.

January 29, 2007

Yesterday was a day of rest. We left San Felipe early this morning and had no trouble crossing the border back into the US. The customs inspector wanted to know where we came from and where we were going. He only wanted to look in the trailer. He peeked under the bed searching for smuggled Mexicans coming into the US. We thought we might lose our vegetables but he never even asked if we had any. We are parked in some sand dunes where everyone is riding their off road vehicles. Tomorrow we are headed to Quartzsite.

January 30, 2007

We drove from the sand dunes of California to Quartzsite N33°45.026 W114°11.732
It was cloudy all day and this afternoon it rained! Not much, but enough to send us into the trailer to keep dry. The temperature went from 17° to 12° for heaven sakes!

Mision De San Francisco De Borja Adac 1762-1818

 

Mulege to San Felipe

January 24, 2007

Yesterday we drove from Mulege to Bahia de los Angeles and we are camped in Daggett’s Beach Camping GPSN28°58.308 W113°32.482

The beach is just over a little rise and the water is very blue. This is a fisherman’s paradise we are told, although tonight we decided to eat out and they apologized for not having any fish as the seas were too rough. I was thinking I might be daring and try some fish tacos but since they didn’t have any fish I opted for cheese tacos and they were really good. Raymond had beef burritos.

Today we had a back road adventure and traveled about 70 kms of rocky and sandy roads to the Mision de San Francisco de Borja Adac. The first church was made of adobe but Franciscano priests built a portico made of cantera stone (sandstone) in 1773, which still bears the code with the Franciscan monks’ emblem on the supported arch (thought I would throw a bit of history in). They are in the process of renewing it and we both thought the rough ride into the site was worth it.

Tomorrow we are heading north to Ensenada and hope we will again be able to get cel phone service.

January 25, 2007

We left Bahia de los Angeles this morning and after a long drive arrived at Ensenada. We had a total of three military checkpoints that required us both to get out of the vehicle so they could search it. They also looked in the trailer once. The interesting thing is that they have never looked in the back of the truck. One of the fellows was interested in our Arizona playing cards so Raymond gave them to him so he could play poker. We are parked at El Faro Beach Motel and Trailer Park GPS31°46.481 W116°37.040
We went to Mario’s Restaurant and had a delicious dinner of shrimp. Tomorrow we will head to San Felipe.

Side Note: As we traveled today we counted a total of 6 dead dogs by the side of the road. Animals are allowed to run free in Mexico and their lives are short. We treat our pets as members of the family and the Mexicans don’t seem to have any attachment to their dogs at all.

January 26, 2007

We had a good trip from Ensenada to San Felipe. We went through two more military inspections. The first time I did not have to get out of the vehicle and Raymond just showed them the trailer. We went about ½ km and passed through the second one and they just waved us through as they knew we had stopped at the previous one. We are camped at the Villa Marina Campo Turistico GPS N30°54.581 W114°42.538We will be staying a few days and then traveling north to Mexicali and going through to the States

Return to Paradise

January 21, 2007

We have arrived back in paradise – Playa El Coyote campground on the beach and we found a spot to park. Today was absolutely beautiful with clear blue skies and warm temperatures. We sat out in the sun all day and hope that tomorrow is just as nice.

Caravan coming up the hill

 

LosBarriles

January 17, 2007

We continued our journey traveling to La Paz and then south along the west coast. We were going to stop at San Pedrito RV Park and so drove down the road that we thought went to it. The road was very sandy and not well maintained at all. But our book, Camping Mexico’s Baja, said this was a great place to stay. We then decided it was not worth it, and were looking for a place to turn around when the truck got stuck in sand. Two fellows stopped to assist us and with wheels spinning and sand flying, Raymond got the truck out. We later learned that the campground was closed.

We could not find any other campgrounds, so we continued on to Cabo San Lucas. Ten years ago we spent our honeymoon here and thought we would revisit the area. When we were here before we were really pleased with the simplicity of the place and although we knew that it would not be the same, we were amazed at the change. The developers have move in and there are nothing but beach resorts and condos. We drove through Cabo and thought we would try to find a campground nearby and take a day trip back. We drove on in search of another campground that was listed in our book. We followed the instructions given and again found ourselves on a sandy road. We never found the campground, so assume that it also has been closed. Raymond managed to turn the truck and trailer around and we continued our search for a campground. We had now been on the road (and stuck in the sand) for about 12 hours and it was getting dark. We drove to Los Barriles and asked some people on the street if they knew where an RV park might be. They gave us directions and at last we found a place to stay for two nights – East Cape RV Resort. We decided that we would not make the day trip back to Cabo San Lucas as it had changed so much and we wanted to remember it as it was. We had our anniversary dinner at a restaurant by the East Cape RV Resort. We both had shrimp and it was delicious! On January 18 we toured the town of Los Barriles and rested for the day.

January 19, 2007
We left Los Barriles early this morning and drove all the way back to Palapa 206 RV Park. We will continue our journey tomorrow traveling back to paradise – Playa El Coyote campground on the beach and hope we can find a spot to park.

Los Barriles

 

Looking for love

Looking for love…..
This fellow was in full bloom as he tried to interest the peahens, chickens and even the rooster in a bit of fun. He was totally ignored by everyone! He put on quite a show with his tap dancing and prancing. Finally he gave up and went in search of food instead

Looking for love in all the wrong places

 

Paradise

January 14, 2007

We are still camping in paradise but the wind has found us and today we are back in long pants – for heaven’s sake it is 13°C. Yesterday we climbed a steep hill in order to locate a geocache. I thought the climb was challenging, but Raymond just trotted along. Zack walked most of the way, but when it got too challenging for him, Raymond carried him. I didn’t get the same treatment – I had to fend for myself! The round trip was just over 2 kms.

It is beautiful here by the water but the land is up for sale and the developers will be moving in to fashion the place like Cancun, etc. What a shame! We are pleased that we got to stay here before it lost its simplicity.

It was windy and cloudy so we decided to do a short trip in the back country. Our guide book said the road was graded No. 2 and it was for a short time. Then it became nothing but a rocky trail. We drove for what seemed hours and honestly thought we were lost. There were trails going off all over the place but we stuck to the most worn track and finally found our way back to the main road. Of course we had to stop along the shore so I could search for seashells.


January 15, 2007

We are on the move. This morning we packed up and traveled on to CD Constitucion and we are parked in the Palapa 206 RV Park. GPS N24°59.599 W111°39.311
This city is the largest we have been in since we left Ensenada with over 45,000 people. This RV park is run by an English gentleman and is a very clean place. We are going to stay here for a few days and will take a day trip to Puerto San Carlos maybe to see the whales. We had to get water today and we are very pleased that they have bottled water outlets as we were a little concerned we couldn’t get bulk drinking water. Raymond said they washed our 5 gallon container before filling it and that they had masks and rubber gloves on.

Paradise

 

Jan 12

January 10, 2007

Yesterday we went whale watching in the morning but we didn’t have much luck. We could tell there were whales in the water but none wanted to give us a show. We saw porpoises and seals. It was a pleasant 2 hours out on the water.

We traveled into Guerrero Negro to find a bank and get some money. It was a lot cleaner than the towns we saw in the northern part of Baja. We visited a small kiosk to get some fish tacos but they didn’t have any fish. We ate beef tacos instead and they were very good. They also gave us some of the hottest peppers I have ever tasted! We also visited a roadside stall to get vegetables – the locals did not even give us a second look. The little kids stare at us, but if you just give them a big smile they will just smile back.

Then we traveled to San Ignacio. It has loads of palm trees and here is a picture of the mission in the main square – supposed to be the most impressive mission church on the Baja.

On the way to Santa Rosalia we heard a loud bang and Raymond immediately stopped on the road. One of the trailer tires had blown so we pulled over onto a space by the Sea of Cortez. Raymond got it fixed and we were on our way. He got one of the locals to put the new tire on the rim. He didn’t speak English but wrote 20 in the sand so Raymond paid him 20 pesos ($2). We also stopped today at a Laundromat and tomorrow we will take all of the laundry and he will wash and fold it (we talked to an American who was leaving his laundry and he said they do a great job – this will be a first for me!). Not sure of the price yet. We are staying in the RV Camacho N27°13.163 W112°12.503. We are parked on an inlet of the Sea of Cortez and there are many pelicans, sea gulls and cranes. The fellow that looks after the camping site went fishing this morning and gave us three fish for supper. Raymond went to waters edge to clean the fish and the pelicans swarmed. I took lots of pictures. Everyone we met has been very friendly and talkative.

Kevin, thanks for the info about the cell phone - we will try and get a phone card and phone on a land line soon.

January 11, 2007

We have arrived at Mulege in the Bahia Concepcion and are camped on the water’s edge in the Playa El Coyote campground N26°42.452 W111°54.096
We got our laundry done and they did a great job – we were quite impressed. We have now reached ‘paradise’ and hope we will be able to continue on our trip in a few days. One of the locals was selling baked goods on the beach so we purchased some and they were quite tasty. Another one was selling t-shirts and blankets so we purchased some shirts. Now that they have found that we bought some stuff, they will be telling all of their friends that they have found a gringo sucker and watch them flock here tomorrow. The bartering was fun!

Peligans

 

Jan 8

January 7, 2007

We are safely tucked into our camping spot at Ojo De Liebre Lagoon Campground GPS N27°44.765 W114°01.270 . It is located south of Guerrero Negro. We can look to the west and see the great Pacific Ocean. Tomorrow, or the next day, we will go whale watching.

Last night we stayed at the Sonora RV Campground. This morning we drove to the virtually abandoned onyx mining site called El Marmol. On the site is also an old school house built entirely of onyx and it is falling apart. Onyx looks like marble when it is polished and is quite pretty. There is also a cemetery. We found our geocaching treasure box located here.

We also did some geocaching in the Catavina boulder fields. There are huge masses of granite boulders for miles and here we also located the largest Cardon (cactus) in Baja.

This afternoon we crossed over the border between Baja California and Baja California Sur. The military was not in sight, but the Agriculture Department men took our oranges, bananas and potatoes. We think they just wanted something for their supper! They also charged a fee to spray our tires. This is supposed to combat the spread of farm diseases.
Oh, I forgot to tell you that we went through a military checkpoint yesterday and they wanted to look in the trailer. Raymond took them back and I stayed in the truck. They checked a few drawers and tapped on the walls above the TV area. We were surprised they didn’t want to look into the back of the truck.

The cel we have tried 1 403/01 403/001 403/010 403 need code to get out of BAJA. We have service
but asked in Spanish what we need!!!!!!!!!!!

Jan 07

 

By the Sea

This is the view from our campsite high above the Pacific Ocean. It has been extremely windy. Last night Raymond was up at least 4 times to check that the trailer wasn't blowing off the hill. One of the other tenants of Lomas Del Mar camping area, said that he had been here two months and he has never seen the weather so bad.

Yesterday we went to the Immigration Office and got our tourists cards. If you don't get them when you cross over from USA you have to pay a fine (which we had to do). We are now officially tourists for 180 days. You are supposed to carry them with you at all times in case you are asked for them. Today we went geocaching and there was a military checkpoint on the highway. I had left my tourist card back at the trailer and I was scared they would ask for it. Luckily they didn't. They just asked where we were going and when Raymond told them, they just waved us through.
This picture is the Pacific Ocean thundering onto the shore at the Blow Hole at La Bufadora.

Our GPS location at the moment:
N31°43.285 W116°41.071

NOTE TO ANYONE:
We have Kevin's cel phone and we are having trouble phoning home. Would anyone know what we should be doing in order to complete a call to Canada from Mexico? 

Camping in January

Last night we stayed at the Rancho Sordo Mudo which is a deaf school run by a missionary and his wife. Here we are parked among the palm and orange trees. I picked an orange and ate it but it wasn't quite ripe so tasted pretty tart. The two pictures below were the washroom buildings and I liked the art on the walls.

 

In the wine country

This is the first time we have been to a wine vineyard and for $4 American we got to taste five white wines. This is Raymond leaning on the counter to hold himself up after all that tasting. Everything tasted really good but we controlled ourselves and only bought 3 bottles. When I paid for our purchases, I almost had a fit when he told me it would cost $255 but he advised me that that was 255 pesos not dollars!
Below is a picture of the winery .
 

Sketching in QUARTZSITE, AZ

 

Quartzsite Time

January 2, 2007

We have spent the last few days at Quartzsite, AZ and the weather has been great except for yesterday when we had a very strong wind. It cools off at night (one night was -3°) and the daytime temperature climbs to 19-20°. We now put our shorts on during the warmth of the day.
We did some geocaching around the area and one time when we were searching for a hidden treasure we nearly got bogged down in a wash. Raymond had to drive like hell to get through the loose gravel/sand. We didn’t get stuck but it sure was a bumpy ride! We are heading out tomorrow, driving to Yuma and then over the border to Mexico

 

Camping Time 2

December 30, 2006

Raymond was anxious to post something so he did not even wait for me to finish typing our adventures on December 27! Here is an amendment to that date:

Today we drove from Helena to south of Salt Lake City, Utah. What a circus it was driving through Salt Lake – people driving like maniacs, five or six lanes of traffic going at breakneck speeds, vehicles bobbing from lane to lane – it is a wonder that many people aren’t killed on this freeway every day! I THOUGHT THE DEERFOOT WAS A NIGHTMARE, THIS WAS TEN TIMES WORSE! AND WE HAVE TO DRIVE BACK THIS WAY!

Now on with our trip – Quartzsite, AZ N33°45./36 W114°11.776

Molly is doing well. The steroids seem to be helping her and she is having a great time sniffing all the new scents.

We are camping in the desert at Quartzsite, Arizonia. It was warm here yesterday but we have not put on shorts yet. Quartzsite has a huge flea market starting the middle of January so we are a little bit too early to get the ‘bargains’ they will have for sale.

Going geocaching today and just taking it easy for the next few days before we head into Mexico.

Camping Time