s - Coast to Lagoon

After a date with the sunrise in Bahia Asuncion, we left there with
coffee warming our stomachs, heading to Laguna Oja de Liebre,
otherwise known as Scammons Lagoon. We had heard a lot about this
campground being a lovely place to stay and we just had to go and see.

The first part of the road was pure washboard with the microwave oven
bouncing loose in its foundation, the fridge and three other cupboards
bouncing open and spewing their contents all around. I blocked the
doglets under the table so that nothing would fall on them and we
danced our way over soft sand and rub-board for what felt like ages.
And, like everything else, that ended too and we were back onto the
tire eating road for a while. This is a fascinating piece of tarmac
to navigate. The sand dunes blow over the road and I am sure this is
the base camp for all road eating monsters, or at least their training
ground. And soon we were back on Mex 1, heading north.

The houses along the way are just incredible. I don't know that one
can call them houses at all. One was made entirely of doors and many
are just shanties, put together with paper, corrugated iron, doors,
wood and anything else that can be found around here. One thing we
have noticed is that there are no old cars lying around. In the
States, everywhere is littered with rusting, upside down, wheel-less
vehicles in various states of disrepair. Not here. There are
obviously many wrecks along this road, but the only place we have seen
any real evidence is in the mountains where its impossible to pull the
truck back out. I wish the USA would find out how they manage their
old car problem and follow this example.

Today, right outside the Laguna Ojo de Liebre, our odometer registered
that we had done 4000 miles since leaving home...... is that all??
Wow - we were both surprised, it feels like a good many more miles
have gone under these wheels this time.

And then we turned off to the lagoon - another road that could do with
some grading, but hey, by now Frank just cranked Skilpad into low gear
and enjoyed the scenery. About 4 miles down the road there is a tiny
little shack - just big enough it seems, for one man to sit in.....
There we were told just to follow the road for another 20 miles or
so..and we did. Through more salt flats and a very weird scenery -
there are no cactus here and all the scrub is very short and sparse.
The salt makes big crystal circles in the water and gathers in heaps
along the shoreline of each section. Driving down this road, we were
not far at all from the road to Bahia Asuncion and the salt flats
seemed to spread from there to here. The road was more of a sand road
and much of it single lane. It's very interesting to have the whole
rv slipping and sliding from side to side while it feels as if the
wheels are just not managing to get a grip at all....... very
interesting, rather like sand surfing with the rv. Everything becomes
quiet during those times, like we are all holding our breath to see
whats going to happen next - quite nice and peaceful too. :)

And then the lagoon appeared in front of us. Almost immediately we
could see whales spouting everywhere. There were thousands of birds
along the edges of the lagoon and the building at the entrance is an
attractive one with some lovely designs on it and a huge whale
skeleton in front. We paid our $5 camping fee and went to find a
spot.......and then came back for a meal, a look around and to find
out about another whale tour. The fish meal was simply delicious!
Back we went to the area we had found, grabbed the doglets and took
off for a walk. As we got to the lagoon, just a few steps from the
rv, both doglets headed straight into the water - so we got them
swimming even deeper and scrubbed some of the last weeks dust and dirt
off them. They did not mind the swimming, but when it started feeling
like a bath - well, that was something else. And we walked along the
lagoon for a while until the sand became too soft and the beach part
ended in scrubby stuff and thousands of birds. Anywhere you looked in
the water was a whale blowing or breaching.... mostly too far away to
see clearly or worth taking photos of, but they were there!

The camping part is really very nice here - there are palapas that one
can came next to or put up your tent inside and then on the lagoon
side of the road are these easily accessible and very level places
that nicely fit one to three campers if one was traveling in a group.
We had one to ourselves and it gave us a lovely lagoon view. When the
tide went out the birds flocked to the shoreline, picking at whatever
they could find there..... and with the sun setting and turning the
receding water into a silver shimmering slab, the camera clicked away
happily. I caught an awesome sunset too - the sky sported colors from
blood red, orange to that glorious blue that seem only to arrive with
sunsets and sunrises.

Early the next morning - not sure of the day anymore - we were up and
headed to the entrance area where the tours started where we were met
by a bus totally full of school kids also going on a whale
tour.......aaaaaarrrgghhh. For a while there we thought we would have
to wait for a later time, but they got us on a boat with only 8 of us,
which was great. Almost immediately we knew this one would be
different from our last amazing whale trip. The wind was a lot
stronger and the water was not settled at all. There were many, many
whales everywhere around us and really close, but only one came up to
the boat briefly. This was the first time one of the ladies on the
boat had been on a whale tour and I had so hoped that she would get to
touch a whale - and she did! It was glorious hearing her continuous
'wow's as she watched them spouting nearby, especially as we watched a
mama and baby playing around. We saw many whales breaching and
sometimes it seemed as if they just hung there, looking to see what we
were doing. There was a dolphin that hung with us much of the way,
dodging the bow of the boat and dancing through the water..... The
whales have a gentle wafting, floaty sort of way of swimming -- uuuup
and doooowwwn, while the dolphin has a much more playful way about it,
zooting through the water at high speed, always just ahead of the
click of the camera shutter. It was a good trip, but nothing like the
previous one and it emphasized how incredibly fortunate we were last
time. It seems as if when there is wind and the boat is rocking
around, the whales don't want to come too close... But we got to see
them, got to touch one and it was a lovely three hours out on the
lagoon. The camera's are both going to need a good professional clean
up, especially as one of the whales blew literally a foot away from me
and soaked us all.

We had thought of staying another night at the lagoon, but the wind
was howling and the sand blowing and there was no point really sitting
pinned inside the rv for another day - so we headed out, back into the
town of Guerrero Negro and the campground we had been at before. We
knew there was internet, power, water and a really great restaurant.
Another lovely lunch was had, photos downloaded, a gorgeous snooze and
then we walked a way up the road to the store for some supplies - you
know, ice cream, margarita mix and other stuff like milk and bread
too. I just love the stores here - this one had everything in it
too..... the meat was all freshly cut and laid out on paper where one
could pick up what you needed - no pre-packaging at all. Right next
to that were huge bins with rabbit, dog and cat food and other animal
food too. Then around the next corner were the drinks and fresh fruit
that just makes my mouth water - yup, we got more guavas too. The
papaya's looked lovely, but we had an 'agricultural check ahead of us,
where they take most of your fruit, so we passed up on that. So many
interesting things in these stores - from toys to food and everything
inbetween - even the tractor that brought the heavy stuff in just
drove in the back door, into the store and unloaded - interesting.

After loading up on what we needed and could carry we headed back to
the rv via the little back roads and interesting stores and houses and
strange plants. I kept thinking of you, dad, while we walked these
smaller roads away from the main drag where most visitors stay. The
people are wonderfully friendly, the washing hung so colorfully on the
lines, adding an almost surreal dimension to a very dusty and sandy
town. The bouganvilla plants are everywhere in an amazing array of
different colors all happily growing wherever they want. There are so
many little stores that one can just plonk yourself down and enjoy a
meal or a fruit drink and we wondered how they all survive - none
seemed too busy at all.

And so we gently passed the day until dinner time when we went back
for more of their delicious food. Frank had shrimps and I had Carne
Asada which was delish - both accompanied by a really good margarita
which we both think was made double strength! And then we were
serenaded again by three banjo players, singing Coo-coo-roo-coo-koo
Paloma. It was lovely and their banjo's beautiful all decorated with
mother of pearl inlays. I asked for photos with them and they were
only too happy and the one guy wasted no time flinging his arm firmly
around my shoulder and sporting the most gorgeous smile!

These photos sparked the taking of a good many others of some of the
other guests there - all with really interesting stories of their
travels here and further down the line - I emailed them their pictures
as well as some of the whales to Jess from the whale tour. We had a
really good evening and, filled to the gills with great food, good
drinks, lovely stories and much fun, we headed off for a good nights
sleep after a really busy and lovely day.

Sheesh, but this vacation thing can get tiring! But someone has to do
it and we are only too happy to volunteer!

Love and light
Annie

http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

r - On to Bahia Asuncion

And so, early in the morning after walking the doglets, we headed out
of San Ignacio and headed further north again. It's not that we are
on our way back, just the the road only goes one way - down and up
again. Yes, that's one way, depending on which way you are going :)
So when we scooted past Cabo San Lucas at the bottom end of Baja, in
essence we were headed back home again. But not really. Yet. This is
"Annie speak", if you are confused now, just wait till I give you some
"Annie words". :)

I have had a good few questions about the ceiling in the lounge that
fell in. This ceiling is in the house in Tennessee and Steven says
that the ceiling tiles, a good few of them, fell down making a big
mess that he oh so kindly vacuumed and cleaned up. There is drywall
above that (thankfully!) so the insulation did not come down as well.
It was old and not surprising that its fallen. Now, why are we not
heading home to fix this mess? Because its down - its got nowhere
else to go, it cant get worse than that and if it does, we probably
would not get there in time anyway. So - no, we are not cutting our
time short here or anywhere else we are thinking of going....... just
tootling along until the time is right and that 'something' clicks and
says "ok, its time". We never really know when thats going to happen
but its normally sometime between now and then.

Anyway, whales still fresh in my mind and after one really deep and
happy sleep, I woke up to a Frank-n-cooked delicious breakfast again.
The sun was just rising through the palm trees as I got up before
fully waking up. Well, the slow wake up did not happen as I put my
foot squarely on a squeaky toy one of the doglets had been playing
with! I nearly had a freaking heart attack but it woke me up in a
caffeine free way...

And so we headed towards the Vizcaino Desert area and Bahia Asuncion.
We passed through yet another military check point and this time we
had two cupboards opened up. Nothing moved and the only questions
were where we came from, where we were going and what were the dog's
names....smiles all around.

The mist closed in really thickly for much of the way and it was like
driving through soup with the cactus making spooky appearances all
along the way. It cleared as we came to the town of Vizcaino and we
turned west off the Mex 1 highway. This road seemed fine, until the
first pothole.......and then the next and then there was more pothole
than road. And then the dunes covered much of the road in places and
the potholes got worse and worse, taking over much of the road and
forcing us to do a zig zag dodgem car style driving while watching for
other traffic ahead and behind. The last thing we needed to do was to
swerve to miss a pothole and collect, instead, a car trying to pass.
It was some interesting driving and at times there was absolutely no
way to miss all the holes, so Frank had to pick which ones to hit.
Many split second decisions made....

There were really cute little orange, white and purple flowers lining
much of the road and its sad that there really is no place to pull off
and take photos. Most of the roads are like this - even the newly
constructed roads don't have many, or any, pull off's. Many of the
sticks to make the fence posts here are cut from cactus and many of
them along this stretch of road were growing again! So there you have
a fence with a frilly piece of cactus growing out of the top of each
pole........ strange in a funny way.

The big tall cactus mostly disappeared from this stretch and a
different sort of chubby tree grows everywhere..... its much more
desert like than the other places we have been through down here and
one definitely gets the feeling of it being rather remote. And then
we turned onto another road that was newly done - what a pleasure.
for a while. Some of the dips, or arroyo's had not been paved over
and on one particularly bad one, there was a horse just standing
patiently on the side of the road. He was not eating or anything,
just watched as we came along. It was almost as if he was waiting for
someone to wreck their vehicle there, and then they could use him as
alternative transport... we laughed. And Horse hung his head a bit
lower as we passed, never moving a step.

The good road ended and we were diverted to a smaller, roughly graded
road that alternated between really bad rubboard and soft silty
sand............. there is nothing quite like feeling the motorhome
losing its grip and the rear end slipping as it struggles to get
through the sand. And then we were here - Bahia Asuncion.......
The long beach stretched out in front of us just before we headed into
town where the road is beautifully paved! We went to find Shari, who
is the lady I had been talking to on the before even heading down this
way. They have a simply awesome place right up on the rocks with a
view that really, well.......... rocks! The whales parade past their
place, blowing and breaching and showing their stuff. The waves crash
against the jagged black rocks as the seals bark from their island
just a short way offshore. And Juan is adding on to their building
with incredible rock walls! It just awesome.

As soon as we were settled into the campground we headed for the beach
and the first thing I saw there were the most beautiful shells! They
are those conical ones that if you scrape all the gunge off the
outside, they shine with a silvery mother of pearl type coloring -
mother of pearl, but muted in a way. Just beautiful. Anyway, we soon
found out that there are hundreds and hundreds of them everywhere
here. Not many other shells at all, none that are whole. The sand is
black here and its very fine and silty and it covers all the broken
shells on the beach that have not escaped the breakers yet.

We have walked for miles and miles along the beach here - its just
lovely to hear those waves rolling in with the gulls screaming at them
and fighting with each other over ocean finds. One of the things they
gathered around was a huge squid that was lying up on the beach.....
we did not get too close as we did not need it for bait and it smelled
quite ripe already. There are a few gold flecks in the sand here, but
not nearly as much as further north but the water is clear and not too
cold either. Definitely not warm enough for me to even think of
swimming. We both gathered healthy tans on the walks and definitely
feel fitter than we did a month ago.

Yesterday there was a ring around the sun for almost half the day. I
know I have read something about this phenomena, but just cannot
remember. It was lovely and the palm tree outside blocked the sun
beautifully so I got a good few really nice photos of it too. There
were chipmunks in the palm tree and Allie was really bugged by
this.........she would stand on the step of the rv with her head
turned in puzzlement. Quite sweet.

The little clubhouse here has a fascinating array of books, many of
which I would love to read, but I knew we would not be here long
enough to get through any of them. Maybe I will remember the names and
hunt them up at home again. There is also a shower in here and Shari
said that it needed a bit of coaxing to find the sweet spot to get it
nice and warm. So last night I decided that I was going to give it a
go......I turned that handle, gently this way and that while holding
my arm under the water.... after a while, I swore it got warmer, so I
decided that it was not too bad. What I did not realize is that my
arm had adjusted to the totally cold water and..... well, I had a very
quick, very cold shower! As I was dressing again and shivering
loudly, my eye caught a switch near the door and the label said
clearly - "shower hot water"... aaaaaaahhhhhhh. So I flipped it, got
undressed again and had one lovely hot shower!

We were invited to join a going away party for a couple that had been
here for a few weeks and were heading back home to Canada...... Shari
organised us a ride with our neighbour and we spent an evening
surrounded by really lovely people. The food was simply delish, the
sunset beautiful - a lovely evening all in all. Except for one
thing..... when I went to use the bathroom, finished up and flushed -
it was then that my eye caught the VIP - very important paper - that
said, really clearly, not to put any paper in the toilet at all!
Nothing happened in my mind, but my hand reached out into the toilet
bowl and frantically grabbed the toilet paper that was now happily
swirling around and around in the toilet bowl, definitely headed to a
place it was not allowed! The eeeeewwww factor kicked in right after
the soggy paper hit the trash can and I found myself insanely
giggling, hoping no one would hear me and wonder why I was frantically
washing my hands over and over again ........ boy was I glad that a
"number two" was not called for!

And we found guava's! They are simply the most delicious fruit on
earth, but we can only find them at an astronomical price in the
USA......... Here they are much smaller and absolutely wonderful. I
think I must have eaten about 20 on our first day here. We went to
the store to get some necessities and it was fascinating to see that
much of the things are still hand packed here. The bologne was packed
in zippy bags, the meat was in a big bowl in the freezer and you could
just take what you needed. There were bags of something that looked
like flower that were also hand packed and labeled, tied with a knot
in the top. On the same shelf were candles, unwrapped soap, a
washboard like my great grandma might have used and other things that
I just knew would not be allowed anywhere near a store in the USA.
There were clothes, new and used, pots and pans, new and used, knick
knacks, toys and everything you could think of - all in a tiny little
store. The eggs were stacked up in big trays and we picked out only
10 and could buy them separately like that. It was really a blast
from the past going in there - I just loved it.

Our first night here we went to a little restaurant just a block or
two from where we are parked. The first place we tried did not seem
to understand that we wanted to eat there, so we left and looked for
somewhere else...... As we walked in the door, we were very relieved
to be greeted with "hello" as well as "hola". There sat an American
couple also visiting the area and they had a fair bit more knowledge
than we did of what our host was asking. The meal was simply lovely
and we chatted with the other couple, swopping stories and places we
had all visited.

Today we went for a 3 hour walk all over town..... it was lovely. The
sidewalks are narrow so we walked pretty much single file down the
road to the other coastline. There was a set of steps and a small
beach to visit. We had run out of paved road by now so it was easier
to walk - especially as we had the doglets with us this time. We
walked, saw the whales spouting off the coast as they headed northward
again, heard the seals barking, the gulls screaming and heard that air
whoosh as the pelicans swooped in to check out the doglets.

It was a good long walk with lovely fresh air, slightly tinged with
the smell of fish and with the sounds of music floating on the air and
a good many fishing boats moving around on the water. The weather was
absolootle gorgeous - perfect weather for an amble. The people we met
along the way were all friendly and again I so wish I had learned some
Spanish before coming here! Some of the houses are beautiful, not
fancy, but painted lovely colors and gardens with flowers and plants -
others are shacks and its sad to see the absolute poverty all around.
There are a good few people coming in here to visit and then buying
property and building some really lovely houses. The view over the
ocean is just stunning and there is a peace here that just sits so well.

The kids play in the street till after dark even, everyone greets
everyone, always with a smile or hand wave..... it's like old times
where the right things counted, only its mixed in with so much
poverty. I had to wonder who have it better.........those who had
everything material, or those who had the culture of yesterday with
the respect and understanding that came with those days.... In many
ways its definitely the latter, but I have to wonder when I see and
hear of the conditions these people live in. I think that so often
its the people that make a place good or better or bad........and this
place is great! They even have a mermaid in town......... for that
you will have to wait for the photos!

Anyway - our stay here ended with a few of us over at the house across
the street, a few beers, a lovely sunset and then the goodbyes. It's
been a lovely time here but we are ready to move on again - itchy
feet. In the morning we will head to the lagoon in Guerrero Negro.
Last time it was too cold to go there and the time and weather is
right for a spot of dry camping - no power water or internet for a day
or two....but we get another whale watching tour. Whooo hooo!

Now I am headed to bed again, the waves pounding on the shore and the
weather starts twinkling like little gems in the sky......

Love and light
Annie

http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

q - Whales Galore!

The road from the campground in San Ignacio to the lagoon -Laguna San
Ignacia, inside the Bahai de Ballenas, was 65 km of one hellava
rollercoaster ride........ We started off by being greeted by Carlos
who could speak as much English as we can speak Spanish. Out came the
milk crate to help us up into the van and off we went......Within the
first 2 miles I was convinced that at least one wheel was going to
come off and maybe even the roof! That thing rattled and shook and
hiccuped and danced over boulders the size of cars! Well, almost.
Carlos swooshed that van down roads that don't deserve that name. At
times we screamed over blind hills and were going sideways like a crab
around the corners as the sand grabbed the back wheels and we slid on
around... It was incredible. The grader had obviously not been there
for a good while and in places where the road got too bad, another
road was created on the side of it! A simple and great solution when
there is so much space one can use too. One place had three roads to
choose from - he seemed to know the 'best' one to take. Funnily
enough I was totally unfreaked about this all and happily sitting in
front thinking that if he wrecks - its his vehicle! It was truly a
ride to remember - both ways! The way out of town to start this
roller coaster road is through a small lane, lined with beautiful palm
trees and campgrounds on either side, which made us drool...... then
through the small town that is lined on either side with little
tienda's selling everything one could think of, past the town square
and an incredibly beautiful Mission.....more on that later..... and
onto the road.

And so we arrived at the lagoon where there are a good few 'houses'.
These are more like shacks pasted together with anything at all - all
squiff and multicolored, paper and plastic, tin and wood..... The
brightly multicolored washing hung on the lines at almost every
place. A good few permanent places were small rv's now up on blocks
with all sorts of things gathered outside. This is the town that is
here for the people who pull out the oysters and other fishy things in
shells. There is, however, a restaurant, but we did not eat there.
We were greeted with huge smiles and lifejackets, shown to our boat
and pushed off the rocks with jaunty yells of 'see you tomorrow!'

And another totally incredible experience started. It took about 10
minutes of very fast motoring to get out of the shallow greenish
waters and into the whale area and once we got there, there was not a
moment that we did not see a whale around! We were totally surrounded
by these huge creatures, blowing and gently gliding through the water
all around us - thats quite a feeling to be so surrounded by something
so big that it could seriously ruin one's day in half a heartbeat. It
did not take long for the first whale to come up to the boat. They
actually come to the boats to rub up against them, getting the
barnacles off and also, it seems, just to be petted. The little boat
we were in was about a third of the length of these incredible
creatures and they were so amazingly gentle around the boat, even
though they did rub themselves and move the boat a little, the guide
knew just how to keep us in the right spot.

The whales would come directly towards us, then sink down, gliding
almost spookily below to come up on the other side right up against
the boat. We touched them, scratched them and I even managed to hook
a barnacle off one of them. Its difficult to get a good photo while
trying to take it all in, and awesome to see how they rolled around
right below and next to the boat. A good few times, water and spray
shot out of their very strange and elongated blowholes, just inches
from the boat - we got a few photos that even have rainbows in them.
For a good long while we had two whales, one male and one female,
playing around us, moving from the bow to the stern of our little
boat, as if to give everyone a chance to touch and scratch them. At
times they would move away from us and flick tails at each other
creating enormous splashes that got us all ducking and shielding our
cameras. They would roll up on their sides, looking at us all in the
boat and then one huge fluke would gentle rest against the boat - and
the camera's clicked in double step, especially when they blew right
next to us as well.

I don't think there is a way to describe the feeling of touching a
whale. Yes, its wet, cool and ....... not quite slimy - well, like a
fish............ but thats not all it is.... There I had my hand on
its mouth, on its fluke, stomach and back, scratching slightly and
seeing its eye, just watching.. It's a very weird and totally
wonderful feeling. It was definitely a situation where the whales had
come to see us, allowed us to get close and then when they were done -
well, they left. They were definitely in charge. I loved watching
their tales swish from side to side just under the water and kept
sending them a message "come on baby - show us some tail!" but they
never did a full "tail exposure", not close to the boat anyway.

Further away, but not too far, there were a few whales breaching,
throwing themselves into the air and making this ginormous splash as
they crash landed back into the water. All around us were whales
spouting and arching their huge bodies out of the water, just enough
to get the cameras clicking again. Anytime someone of the boat
pointed out a whale, four others were pointing out eight others -
truly amazing..... While looking for the whales initially and
navigating around them, we could hardly hear the engine of the boat,
so when the guide revved it up a bit, pointed its nose back to the
shoreline and picked up speed we were all almost disbelieving that 3
hours had passed by and very disappointed!

Its as if we had been honored by these creatures, they came to us
willingly and allowed us to see and pet them..... I have to admit to
being totally in awe of them and very grateful and thankful that they
visited.... On the way back to the shore, we had to slow down a good
many times to let some whales go past the bow and we did stop a few
times to watch other breaching whales - but it was definitely over and
I was grinning from ear to ear all the way to dry land.

There was not a single moment when I was concerned, worried or
scared........ I would just have been terribly sad if the boat had
tipped and I had lost all those photos!

And so we got back to dry land and the ride back to the rv. It was
difficult having virtually no way to communicate with Carlos and the
drive was and hour and a half each way through some fascinating
scenery.....so much hand language was used, sounds and ......... well,
it was rather like a game of charades when neither side knew if the
other person got the answer. We managed to understand some questions
and answers and I will never visit another country without first
knowing at least the very basics of their language. It's just wrong
and I know we missed out on SO much not being able to talk to Carlos.
There were some little villages along the way and its quite scary to
see where some people live...... no water, no electricity, a road that
is a vehicle eater, endless dust and nothing for miles and miles
around. We could see three volcano's and the lava that had spewed
from them in years past, there were dry arroyos all over, strange and
huge cactus and places where there were puddles of salt, all
crystalized around the edges with the most incredible blue and green
coloring in the middle. So many questions burbled to my tongue, but
most would have been impossible for Carlos to understand what I was
asking, so I did not.

And then we popped back into the town with our brains still jiggling
around in our skulls and our rear ends able to spend more time on the
seat than in the air. I had managed to ask Carlos to stop at the
church/mission, in the town. I really needed to see one of these and
well, Bea had put in so many requests on even the angle of the photos
of a church for her and here was an opportunity not to be missed! See
what I do for you, Bea! :) So we stopped at the very impressive
Jesuit Mision de San Ignacio de Kadakaaman, a well preserved and
totally beautiful church made in 1786 of lava rock. All the doors
were wide open and the inside was simply stunning! even up on the
roof......... Outside in the yard grew orange and lime trees and
there were the smallest of steps up on the side of the building that
led to a huge wooden hand carved door...... Ah, it was a a beautiful
place to be, beautiful and awesome in a way different from the whales
- just as deep but in a different way. Just amazing. I have posted a
few photos of it under the whale watching heading - its impossible to
verbally describe this place.

And so we landed back at the rv, doglets happy to see us, Carlos happy
with his days earnings and us thrilled at an incredible day. I shoved
in the camera cards to download the photos and discovered that between
us, the whales, the drive and the Mission - we had taken 1555
photographs! aaaaaaarrrrrgggghh. How does one begin to find the good
ones out of that bunch? Frank had my 10 megapix camera and I could
not help but grin when I heard him clicking away all day long.. he
got some really good photos!

We measured our lengths on the bed for an hour or two while the photos
loaded and then headed back to the hotel for supper. We had noticed
two pots on the counter the night before and tonight they told us they
would sell them for $20 each... Sold! So now we have two lovely pots
stowed away on board as well. We had an early night, especially as
the internet connection did not reach the rv very well and it had been
one seriously beautiful day.

Oh - I have loaded a good few albums of photos yesterday and today -
whales included...... And I loaded that whacky photo I was talking
about the other day... It's on the front page when you first go to
photobucket. If anyone can guess what this is - let me know :)

And on to Bahia Asuncion we went............
love and light
Annie
http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

p - Over the mountains we go.......

Ok - so I am not the relaxed, happy go lucky, at ease with everything
person I thought I was........ all of you that know me can stop
laughing now! But seriously, geez, this worrying thing really gets
old. Last night I spent dreaming, or rather nightmaring, about going
over the cliff today - yup, yelling all the way down........ Remember
when we left our Paradise, Katies Bay? The views were awesome and
they were all of Franks side. He commented then that I was not going
to like the drive back on that side of the road and this sparked a
restless night last night.... So it was with some trepidation that we
started out this morning right after I heard this peck peck peck at
the back of the rv, went back to see what was happening and there was
an absolutely wonderful woodpecker happily having a go at the dead
cactus wood we have tied to the ladder on the rv! It was beautiful,
but did not stick around after seeing me coming.

Anyway - we headed on up the road, through Loreto and Muluge (say it -
Muh La Hey) and into San Ignacio. I only had two little moments where
I fully understood what a menopausal hot flush is and the rest of the
time I was just in absolute awe of the scenery. Soon after we started
out, we came up on a military checkpoint. There were quite a few guys
with guns all around there today and the last thing I wanted to do as
we pulled in there was to get up out of my seat - even to fence the
dogs under the table. I did not want any of those guys thinking I was
hiding stuff or anything......and so we sat watching the car in front
of us being gone through with a fine toothcomb..... they even knocked
on the roof to see if it was a double roof. And then it was our
turn. There is a language barrier, but they can see that we are all
relaxed and once they come in and see the doglets, well, the smiles
break out. I have never felt so stupid, inadequate and mad at myself
for not being able to understand them! It was so relaxed this time
that after they told us we can go, I asked if I could take a
photograph of them..... I made a point of showing that the camera was
pointed away from them as I asked but still, the words that flowed
from the one that seemed to be the main guy made my camera drop like
a stone in my lap. Of course I could not understand it, but I was
left in no doubt that it went something like.........'make my day - I
just dare ya!!" The others all frantically waved their hands yipping
no no no! Well, I am so incredibly grateful that I asked before
snapping a pic and as we pulled out they waved, all friendly again.
(phew). There's one question I wont be asking again...

Today we saw more rv's on the road than any other day so day all put
together. Obviously the caravan tour season has started and all the
pretty little nooks and good campgrounds are overflowing now. Boy
would we be hate to be driving behind a string of 20 other rv's! The
other thing we have noticed is that there are very few dead cars along
the road. It seems as if they are quickly picked up and pulled into
scrap yards or such. The only place we see any of the wreckage that
obviously occurs on this road is on the mountain roads where pulling
them out would be impossible. Todays mountain crossing showed us four
tractor trailers crashed way down the side of the mountain. Makes one
shudder.

The cactus seemed to be a lighter shade of green this morning and the
shrubs and trees growing at their feet a darker color which made for
some really lovely contrasts what with the sunshine on the mountains.
They are incredibly jagged, cold and very impressive, to say the
least. The cactus grows up to a certain point on them and then
nothing grows any more. And then we arrived at those incredible
views that I have been so looking forward to...... the green cactus
stood tall and bright in the sunlight and in stark contrast to the
stunning blue of the waters of the Sea of Cortez... The wind blew and
the road narrowed, the trucks rumbled past us and I took photos!

That water! Its just totally unbelievable...... the yachts anchored
in the bays, the white sand, the wind whipping the whitecaps to a
frenzy and the birds dancing and floating in the wind with no cares at
all.... I know it's weird, but the sky is actually a different color
above this ocean..... the water changes from a deep rich blue to a
light and airy green with all the shades inbetween. On almost every
little beach were a good many rv's and palapas and many looked like
permanent structures. The fishing boats bobbed happily in the waves,
almost all with a bird of sorts perched possessively on the bow. It
catches my breath to see how beautiful it is here and its so tempting
to pop down to one, or all of the beaches and stay another week or
six. One place was just a sand spit between two islands with the most
awesome light blue water on each side and all around the island. We
started to head down that little road and then noticed that there were
only two or three people out and they were all thickly bundled up
against the wind - and so on we went. There is no point in stopping
if we are going to sit pinned inside because of the wind.

We passed by "Katies Bay" on the Bay of Concepcion as well, and it
looked even more beautiful than before - coming around that mountain
road, way above the bay and seeing it in all its glory was totally
breathtaking. There were new yachts anchored in the bay, the four
little fishing boats still floating at the end of the beach, but the
whole beach was totally lined with campers of all shapes and sizes! We
have been so lucky to miss the crowds so far. When we were there a
tourist bus pulled up and out streamed about twenty folks, all in
shoes and socks and with little clicky cameras that they could not see
through because of the sun. They all got off the bus and milled
around in a tight group as if something was going to jump out at
them. One or two ventured the twenty steps to the waterline. I
remember thinking "get off my beach!" and then laughing..... and
again, we were so lucky to have that place almost to ourselves.....

Passing through the same little places again is not boring or even the
same - seeing it from a different angle is like seeing a whole new
town again. And even on the second time through, it stuns me totally
how much is crammed into so little space. So much is happening, so
many things to see and so much character expressed in such an intense
way. With the wind blowing like it did all day today, the towns were
dulled by the blowing dust everywhere. People walked at times with
their hands over their mouths and their clothes whipping around them
and only the gulls seemed to think it was fun! Muluge has a canal
that is lined with date palm trees and beautiful green everything and
its very lovely to drive through there. Santa Rosalia is right on the
coast and although there is no beach to walk on, the little boats
litter the main road through town and the stores all seemed to be
huddled up together against the wind as the wavelets crashed up on the
stony shoreline. Again, the color and character shines so brightly
through the dust and trash all over. The poverty is stunning and its
difficult to see a 'house' that has been patched with tin and plastic
and wood pieces and anything else and people still living in it with
brightly colored clothes hanging on the line to dry, and not
feel........ well, stunned. And also so incredibly thankful for where
we are and what we have.

After Santa Rosalia, the road led us inland again, over "Mountainous
Horribilus" first where I took another 200 photos and at times had a
hard time not puking at the lack of anything on my side of the road.
These mountains are even more barren than the others we woke up with
this morning. These are more sandy colored and ......... thats not
their real name, by the way - just what I felt about them. They are
powerful and stark and not even unforgiving, just absolutely unfeeling
an unrelenting - there is a definite beauty in that too. There are
active volcanoes that make up this mountain section and again, my map
does not tell me the name of the mountain range, but the lava lay in
huge area's with the trees and cactus and other plants getting a good
grip on them now.

We came over these mountains with a big huge wide truck behind us,
breathing fire up our tailpipe. The road was really narrow and Frank
did not want to risk letting him try to pass, so we screamed down this
narrow little road, with the wind tugging at the wheels and singing
through the roof vents, staying ahead of big bubba behind us.
Finally we found a pull off that would not break the axel and took a
break. We wandered a little way away from the road, looking at the
cactus and taking photos of some little flowers. The cactus here are
not blooming yet, but there are purple and orange and white little
blooms everywhere along the road. Very pretty. And I took one photo
that is going to make you all laugh........ I will put it up as soon
as I get a connection and let you know when its up. I could not
resist... Sorry, but I am going to leave you guessing as to what it
is and why I took it. :)

The rest of the drive into San Ignacio was on fairly level roads and
we slowed down a good way and tootled into town. After downloading
the over 600 photos of the day (well, I did not squeak and squeal all
the way!) we went for some lunch at the hotel next door. I had some
awesome grilled fish and Frank had something with beef. I don't think
that this was what either of us ordered, but we had a definite
language barrier with the lady that took our order - even pointing did
not seem to work - but the food was deelish and the Tecate beer went
down well!

Slowly we are learning some Spanish words and I think I will learn
more once we are home......I really feel so inadequate not being able
to communicate with anyone here! They are all so happy and helpful
and full of laughs with a twinkle in their eyes - even those guards
today said something that was obviously funny and I was left totally
in the dark! It's a very stupid feeling.....

And tomorrow - well, we are going on another whale trip! This time
its down to Magdalena Bay on the Pacific coast. They say its
absolutely wonderful there and the whales are everywhere. It seems as
if we will be the only ones leaving from here - its an hour and a
half drive to the bay. The camera's are charged and ready and so are
we. Another couple who were eating dinner when I was asking about the
whale tour just shook their heads and said it was absolutely
incredible. Sounds like another good day ahead.

So with Frank already gently snoring in the back, two doglets splayed
out on the floor and also doing the heavy breathing thing, I am off to
bed. Its beautiful and quiet here with the occasional car going by.
The wind has settled and the stars are twinkling.

Nighty night
Love and light
Annie
http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

o - Balenas! Balenas!

And there we sat on brightly colored chairs, under brightly colored
enormous beach umbrellas gently flapping in the breeze, all planted in
the sand, margarita in hand and watched the whales swim by just on the
other side of the breakers of the Pacific ocean! Just a minute
before, I had seen these huge creatures really close to shore and then
the cry went out - Balenas! Balenas!! The waiters all yelled gently
and pointed with huge grins on their faces and an excited jump in
their step, everyone stood up and a few even paddled out to get
closer. And we watched as the whales wafted on by, blowing and
creating a really good show. Of course I did not have my camera there
with me! Ah well.

We arrive here at Cerritos Beach and Surf club around midday and
parked in the general parking area as the rv park had been closed for
a few years. We knew that it was closed but I had been in touch with
Darin from Cerritos and he said it was fine to park outside for a day
or so..... Within minutes of stopping we were out on the beach and
seeing what there was to see. To the right was a rocky point where
the waves crashed very dramatically and the waves were the highest and
the surfers the thickest. Right above these rocks is a cliff, not too
high, that has a huge, I mean Huge, house built on it. I believe its
commonly known as 'The Castle'. What a view that place must have!
Apparently its a Canadian guy that built it and there are other roads
around the hills all around this castle, with cement mixers going up
and down and a good few trucks parked up there with people looking as
if they are all discussing serious things. And below under the
umbrellas, the mood was much lighter......... happily so.

To the left, the beach stretched out endlessly with beautiful waves
slapping on the wide beach and very few people. Above the beach there
is also some serious development going on with condos being built all
up and down the coastline. There are almost no shells here either and
it reminded me of a song a friend named David used to sing.... "where
have all the flowers gone?" Where have all the shells gone? We found
some small really lovely ones, but nothing like the shells we expected
along the shore here..... But - we had gold flakes again and they
danced and glistened in the clear water, pulling back into veins as
the waves pulled out before coming crashing back again. These flecks
stick to everything like glue and I love it! Our feet and legs
glistened as we walked and the shells lit up in the sunlight.

And then we had a delicious sandwich and that margarita under the
bright umbrella on the beach.... The young guys who were waiters made
me think of the term 'cabana boys' - young, sun bleached hair,
incredible tan, surfer boys. They all had this air of excitement
about them, smiling, laughing and with a spring in their step. It
must be a simply glorious place to work when so young! I expected
there to be mostly young people here, but was quite surprised to see
that it was close to 50% "not young" (like us) people. Lovely! The
beach right around the clubhouse was filled with people of all sorts,
kids and dogs too. Volleyball was being enthusiastically played - how
come there is always a very slender, very attractive girl involved in
this game?? Others were laid out tanning, one lady was getting a
massage right there on the beach! What I really loved was that there
was no screaming from the kids, no unruly behavior at all - everyone
was having fun, enjoying life and sunshine as well as a good many
drinks being passed around.

After lunch, we rested for about an hour and then headed out on a long
walk with the doglets too. Allie discovered the little crabs and
frantically dug up every little hole she could find - sand flying
everywhere sniffing loudly, with her butt way up in the air. We think
she sent the crabs flying too as everytime she quickly lost interest
and went dashing to the next hole. Sophie just kept trying to tame
the waves. We walked a good way until realizing that the beach was
hard and probably good for riding the bicycles, so back we went, left
the dogs, got the bikes, dragged them across what felt like 6 miles of
very soft sand, hopped on and.......... well - after about a quarter
of a mile we were exhausted! This was like riding uphill in
quicksand.......so we pushed them for a good while longer, scouring
the beach for shells and anything of interest. Shells we did not
find, but we came across a couple tanning in the buff..... I have the
cutest of pictures of them walking quickly away over the dunes! Yes -
I did! :)

A good few whales passed us by, showing themselves by the huge puffs
of sea spray. This time I did have my camera with me, but they were
much much further offshore and I didn't think I would get anything
worthwhile - but I tried. Oh boy, am I impressed with this camera!
Whoo hooo - I can see those whales even though I could not with the
naked eye. only my eye was naked! We also went to explore the rocks
for a while -there are lovely little pools up there teeming with sea
urchins, small fish and other thingys that one really does not want to
step on. I have always loved these little tidal pools, but did not
spend too much time exploring them as the tide was coming in and the
waves were crashing up close and I had my camera with me....... So
while Frank bathed his feet in the sun warmed water of a pool, I found
a big tall rock and watched the surfers dance the waves. Surfing can
look so incredibly elegant and then one split second later, all that
goes for a loop and a very inelegant posture happens! I got a good
few photos of both. The last walk of the day was for sunset, and
again, it was just beautiful.

We had a gentle and early evening, neither of us hungry and both very
tired. Frank was in bed about 7pm and by 8pm, so was I. We had no
power or water, but I could tap into the internet from the club, so
managed to get a few emails off before happily getting horizontal and
giving my feet a break.

This morning we woke up early to the sound of enormous crashing waves
and the sun rising through the windows. We headed out on another long
days drive. The road in and out of Cerritos is interesting in an rv.
Our speed did not even register on the speedometer and we could almost
see the cactus growing as we crept by. It's like driving on a
rubboard, but obviously cars don't have the same problem at all. Just
north of Todos Santos, which is just north of where Cerritos is and
still on the Pacific side of Baja, everything was green and lush, for
a little while. We took another wrong turn going through one little
town up here and ended up once again on the interesting roads through
the lessor traveled section of town. Its really very quaint and
lovely, even though it also shows up the utter poverty that is so
prevalent all over the peninsula.

The little outdoor eateries that are everywhere are obviously a happy
meeting place for many people. The bouganvillas are all over the
place, showing off their awesome colors and the cactus are blooming
here! Beautiful little yellow flowers...... Hopefully we will get
some really good photos of them up at the Catavina boulder fields a
bit north of here... Bakkies/ pickups/trucks dot the roadways with
oranges and peanuts and sugarcane and there are many little tourista
shops too.

There is a brand new road - 4 lanes! from a bit north of Todos Santos
all the way to La Paz. It was very weird and felt very 'un Mexican'
to have such a beautiful road but absolutely wonderful. It's really
obvious that this whole place is going to explode with tourism in the
near future. We passed many work crews that consisted of about three
guys with huge knives or rakes, cutting down the dead grass on the
roadsides.... what an endless, mindless, demoralizing job! And dusty
too..... And I missed a brilliant photograph of a white plastic chair
well embedded high in a cactus..... There has just got to be a story
there!

And before we knew it, we were back in La Paz again, on the Sea of
Cortez side of the peninsula. All the gas stations, Pemex, are
numbered and one of the books I have, have basic directions to get
through some of the towns and list the number of the Pemex to look out
for to turn at, so I navigated us smoothly through town - it was much
easier this time. On the way down we came through here on Saturday,
Valentines Day when everything was nuts. After La Paz, the road heads
back inland and we drove many miles up the middle of Baja. We passed
through Cuidad Constitucion, where we stayed a night last week and
then took a right at Ciudad Insurgentes, being led back again to the
inner coast.

We had two pretty close calls with huge trucks today........ the first
two of any real closeness. The first was when a truck that was
overtaking us, simply did not get all the way out of our lane. I saw
him coming up on us really fast with his whole side still in our lane
and we thought that this was it! Frank took us all the way to the
side of the road and beyond and he missed our mirror by an inch! Boy
did we cuss him out...... and then shortly after that we were
approaching a 'curva peligroso' (dangerous curve) when a truck coming
from the other direction nearly turned himself over by going way too
fast. We were very glad to see his wheels touch the road again and he
pulled himself to his side of the road.

Traffic has been surprisingly heavy all day today - I don't remember
it this heavy on the way down. There are many trucks and cars but
very few RV's. We cruised right on over the mountain range called the
Sierra la Giganta. And they were. It had already been a long day and
I asked Frank to really creep over the mountains for me, especially
when I was on the outside parts. He said that he would as long as no
big trucks pushed him too hard. My answer? "Make the trucker happy
or make me happy - who do you want to sleep with tonight?" We cruised
slooowly and smoooothly and gently over those mountains - it was
awesome!

The scenery here is really other worldly...... cactus reaches for the
sky all over the place but many other types cover the ground in many
different forms and shapes. The occasional bouganvilla brightens up
the landscape with its show-off color and the hills and mountains rise
high in a ragged, jagged way. There is nothing gentle about this
area. It's remote, dry, unforgiving and awesome in many ways. And
every now and again there pops up a little building, a little house
turned into a llantera, a restaurant, and most times there is a car
and at least someone sitting in one of those white plastic chairs
under a palm leave roof, chatting away to someone... It's so barren
out here and I wonder if most of the people here have ever even seen a
lawn. There are a tremendous number of shrines along the way, all
paying homage to someone who died on the road. Some of them are
simply a couple of tires with a bunch of flowers on a stick in the
middle, and others are very elaborate, beautiful and filled with
flowers, candles, pictures and statuettes. We stopped at a big one
today and I took a few photos, but it feels kind of personal,
especially when I noticed that some of the candles were burning...

As we gently tootled over the mountains (smile), even the sky changed
color to a different blue, and we just knew that the Sea of Cortez lay
below them. Oh its beautiful, with its islands dotting the blue, the
yachts anchored in the bays, the rv's parked along the beaches and the
cactus between us and all that. And so we landed for the night in a
park at a little place called Puerto Escondido (Pwer-toe ess-kohn-dee-
doe), population 100. We found a place that has full hookups and the
most absolutely awesome water pressure and unlimited hot water. What
showers we had! Funny how our 'requirements' for a campground change
over time.... before it was at a beach or beautiful place - tonight it
was for a shower! My hair had started doing things that got Frank
snickering at every glance and not even my perfume did a good enough
disguise job anymore! Most of the showers along the way had almost no
water pressure which made hairwashing almost impossible and the shower
stall in the rv is packed full of things, so we had just ........
well, lets just say that a washcloth bath does not do it all and we
were in bad need of a good shower. Tripui Rv park has the bestest
shower we have had in Baja!

And after trying to catch the bright yellow birds flitting all around
here, I am now going to call it a night... Its been a long day, with
another ahead of us. We are hoping to get to San Ignacio tomorrow and
maybe even get a whale tour from there. But first, the road is going
to take us up the coast line for a goodly way, past all those awesome
views that were on Franks side last time..

Love and light
Annie
http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

n - To the Point and beyond...

Earlier this morning I found myself waking up while sitting on the
cold sand near the waters edge. Frank had told me that the sun was
rising, I got dressed, grabbed the camera and headed down here
again.........and then woke up. I had even forgotten to put my
glasses on and after a quick check was happy that I was fully
dressed! And I captured yet another perfect sunrise.........Many of
the photos have that magical circle right around the sun and also that
moulten "I am still forming into a ball" effect of the sun trying to
break free from the horizon while it threw the most beautiful colors
of orange, pink, silver, gold and yellow into the sky and on the
ripples of the water all the way to my feet. There is a little boat
anchored right offshore which made for a wonderful prop and the paddle-
man arrived again and added to the scene. The rays were jumping this
morning, creating golden flecks as their splashing ruffled the almost
perfectly still waters... Just glorious!

And so we packed up and left Los Barriles........ It was time for us
to move on again and we had planned a long drive today - all the way
around the point of Baja, passing through Cabo San Lucas and up to a
campground on the Pacific coast. On the way we went over the Tropic
of Cancer and there is a monument. Unfortunately I did not think that
we were that close already and we were whizzing by the monument before
realizing it! No turn around places at all created a bit of a
disappointment, but I did nab two photos as we screamed by at
40mph.......... The monument is simply a big round rock/globe painted
white that sits behind a fence that looks like its all done up with
different color tinsel, like one uses on a Christmas tree. It's right
on the ground and there was no way we could have got close to it for a
pic anyway, so ........

The views today were almost bland after the blue waters, or is it that
we are just getting used to cactus and mountains and desert? The
cactus now have the buds almost all ready to flower - should be just a
day or two and they will be in bloom. There are untold numbers of
pickup trucks (bakkies) parked at the side of the road selling
delicious looking oranges and naartjies. We have some and will have
to part with whatever we have in excess when we head into Baja North
again, so there is little point in buying any - great pity! The road
leads inland and we left the Sea of Cortez behind almost
immediately.... The traffic also increased dramatically and in the
towns surrounding Cabo San Lucas, we were treated to the most
incredible driving I have ever experienced. Red lights and stop
streets literally don't count for anything, and when we stopped we
were herded on by multiple horns honking - there are no lines or dots
or anything marking lanes and many times someone would just edge in
next to another car, creating a three lane road where only two lanes
belonged, at a push! And if someone had stopped at a store along the
road and needed back in the traffic flow - no problemo! Just
reverse! Yes, into the traffic! It was quite amazing and an
education in driving too - there were no wrecks, very little horn
honking and no fingers out of the windows either.... Everyone just
adjusted to whatever anyone was doing around them, no matter what it
was. Accepted chaos? It got us laughing almost all the way through
these towns.

Cabo San Lucas is a typical tourist place. Big money, big hotels,
lots of development and a huge cruise ship sitting in the bay right in
the middle of it all. They have done an incredibly beautiful job with
all the bouganvilla plants everywhere, creating splashes and designs
of color all through the town..... its lovely. And the walls they
build - there is some really lovely work done with those. One thing
that surprised us there is that there is still so much development
going on. I mean that its not been done before now. It's obviously a
place that not too long ago was kinda smallish but has now been fully
discovered. This is sad in a way as many of the hotels and buildings
going up are going to totally block the ocean view. Progress? One
thing I do love about it here is that the beaches are totally public -
all of them. No one is allowed to block access to any beach. I wish
America was like that too....

While driving through Cabo, one notices that there is a strong traffic
police presence and we also came across two truck loads of militia all
in black uniform, holding on to their really big guns while sitting in
the back of the trucks as they sped through town. There were about 5
in each truck, all facing a different way and I have to say that they
were quite impressive. We did not want to tangle with them at all,
but I did sneak a photo or three......

And then we missed a turn to get out of Cabo San Lucas and ended up on
tiny back roads that were lined with the most interesting little
stores and houses and people and color and electric wires going
everywhere and cobbled roads and brightly colored clothing and broken
houses still being lived in and stores with no roofs and little
eateries everywhere and hills that the rv screamed to get up
and............. it was awesome! This was really a place that we
could have stopped and walked around in, but no parking anywhere!
Well, there was, but that would be doing what so many others were
doing and that is double parking just anywhere they needed to
stop.... The roads were even named with signposts at the corners of
each one, but the dust was so thick that there was no way to read them
at all. Brooms are a very well used item here and many were whisking
the sidewalks all up and down the roads... a never-ending job, it
seems. I wonder how all the color and vibrancy still stands out so
clearly in all the dust? That little drive was one of the highlights
of my day :)

And then we popped out onto the right road again and soon were greeted
by the Pacific ocean. The 'real' ocean always makes me breathe
deeper, brings a sort of quiet to my soul and makes me want to just
sit and listen to that never-ending pounding of the waves. So many
things change in life, but not the waves, they just keep on coming.
And it looks as if everything along this coast is for sale..... there
are huge gates held up by very decorative wall posts and then nothing
- this, we have learned, is the precursor to some or other major
development. In many places there is simply a wall built. A pretty
wall, but nothing else. And the for sale signs dot the landscape. We
can just imagine what this is all going to look like in another 10
years or so.

The road up this section is not really close to the ocean so I spent
my time squinting across Frank's nose to try and see those waves and
on one stretch we even saw whales blowing....and then the hills hid
them again. What we could see looked absolutely heavenly! The blue
waters, edged by huge white breakers, rocky coastlines in places, wide
white beaches and we had to look through enormous cactus to see it all
- really incredible scenery.

And.............. no wait - this email is getting waaay too long. I
have to laugh when some of you write and say that you have been
reading my 'books'.....:) So I will carry on in the next one.....

love and light
Annie

http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

m - liquid glass and sunrises..

Oh boy - this is one seriously beautiful place. At night time the
stars twinkle in the sky that is unbroken by any light pollution -
they seem to have different colors and its almost like seeing gems up
in the sky. Its so incredibly quiet here and the very slight dune
even muffles the sound of the waves while its dark. There are still a
good few campers in the park, but one would hardly know it. The sun
rises in the morning with the most incredibly beautiful orange
coloring and a silence that is nowhere else but at the seaside
sunrise. This morning I woke up in time for yet another date with the
sun......and it was just as beautiful as can be. There was a guy in a
little paddle boat and he obligingly rowed right into that path of
light the sun lays down leading to the shoreline. There was a
beautiful orange halo over the sun as it came up this morning and
turned the sand and water into gold. There are very few things as
special as standing along the seashore, being the first set of
footprints in the sand....... very special.

What a way to start the day. And with freezing feet I headed back to
the rv to be met by scrambled egg and toast and a huge pot of steaming
hot coffee. Thankfully Frank found the toaster and he no longer
toasts it by holding it over an open flame - tastes muchos
betteros.... And so yet another awesome day started. We sat around
for a little while debating whether to move on today or just hang out
and relax for another day. The day won and we are still here. A good
long walk up the other side of the beach sounded like a great idea and
off we tootled with doglets in tow. Sophie immediately started
barking endlessly at the waves so we used The Dog Whisperer tactics on
her and she calmed down and behaved like a semi normal doglet after
that.

When we walk down to the beach and go left, its a short way on sand
and then the beach becomes a rocky place...... all the way along to
this side we can hear the rocks being tumbled in the wavelets as they
get pushed ashore and then dragged back again. There are no sharp
stones here - all nicely rounded by the water and wave motion. The
sound is lovely and gentle too and reminds me of something that I just
cannot put my finger on. We had walked along this way the other day
so went the "white sand and blue water way" to the right this
time....... oh boy, what a treat this was. After two days of really
good winds for the windsurfers, today was a day for us - just a gentle
breeze and perfect temperatures and endless open beach. The coast is
like a wavy line, creating little bays that we wound our way
around....... each "bay" not very big at all, about a rugby field, I
would say, but the water is the most incredible blue and like liquid
glass near the shoreline.... It's amazing to watch the waves coming in
and almost being able to see right through them.

Pelicans cruising just inches off the water wafted past us and we
watched at the rays flew or jumped or did whatever they did. We are
not sure if they were being chased by something but there were many
and they just kept on flying right on out of the water.. One pelican
veered off his path towards us and Sophie really thought she could
catch it! And we walked and walked, never seeing a point where the
beach would end. There are some lovely buildings along this stretch
but they don't encroach at all on the feeling of the beach. The piers
are on big wheels - never did figure that one out and the colors of
the buildings are more muted here. There were a good few really tall
palm trees around which really were lovely in the sunset too.

We quickly felt that our tan was being improved and after just over an
hour and a half were quite happy to turn around and head back again.
There are literally no shells along this stretch of beach - a few
rocks here and there, but mostly just the awesome clear blue water and
miles of endless white sand. I did find a bright blue little fish
though and Frank carried her home for me in his pocket. We were
really hot by the time we got back to the rv and after debating it for
a very short while, reached for a Modelo beer - it was only 11.30am!!
It was glorious as it slid effortlessly down our throats. Our feet
started throbbing from walking on the rougher sand that is a bit away
from the shoreline and we decided to go and lay down for a few minutes
to give them some rest. 3 hours later I woke to the smell of Frank
cooking strawberry pancakes! And so we gently passed the next two
hours nibbling on these as our feet were propped up on the couch and
the day gently slid by.... Allie hid the toast we were going to feed
the birds and Sophie ate her food with her back legs in the air!
Dunno - sometimes I just don't know..

And then it was time for the sun to say goodbye again and off I
tootled with the camera in hand while Frank vacuumed the rv. Well!
Someone has to do the hard work and I did not want his feet to suffer
any more hardships by another stroll on the beach, so I
volunteered :) And again, what a beautiful end to another awesome
day. Frank joined me after a little while and we watched the sun
throw its colors over the horizon, turning everything pink and a
lovely light blue. The pelicans coasted on by, some gulls gently
called to others as they flew on inland somewhere, the ray's still
flew and a family of dolphin gently swished their way across the lens
of the camera. We sat on the edge of a slight rise and just soaked up
the softness of the evening. Doglets gently dug holes or just lay,
enjoying the cool sand, next to us and it was as if time slowed down.
I even saw what I think was a seal or sea lion or something - it was
quite a way out but was following the one little boat that was playing
out there.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we are headed out of here and on to a little place
called Los Cerritos Beach Club, just south of Todos Santos which is on
the Pacific coast. We will drive through Cabo San Lucas which is at
the very bottom point of Baja and if we see something we like, we
might stop over there but we hear that its very built up and busy,
teeming with tourists and touristy stores, but who knows. There is
also a Walmart along the way and I really do want to stop and get some
superglue - I have to glue this cut in my foot together so that sand
stops embedding itself in there. No band aid stays on worth a flip
and I am definitely not going to be wearing socks and shoes on the
beach. So - maybe tomorrow we will be where there are shells and
proper waves and so on. This morning I was sort of sad for a while
when thinking that we will be leaving this incredibly beautiful
coastline for the last time, but then I remembered that we will be
spending at least another two nights on the Sea of Cortez on our way
back up north and I have all those awesome views on my side on the way
north - wonderful. There are still so many beautiful places to see
here and we are in no rush to get home at all. Especially since
Steven tells us that the ceiling of the lounge in the house fell in!
At least we know that we wont be bored at home when we get there......

One more sunrise at Los Barriles and we will be heading out early in
the morning after charging up everything, filling tanks and dumping
others.... I have loaded up a good many photos again tonight.
Obviously I am 'click-happy' with the camera, but I have been good and
am only uploading a small portion of the photos I have taken. Hope
you enjoy.

Love and light
Annie

http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

l - Los Barriles - Sunshine and windsurfers

After a lovely evening and a good nights rest, we picked some limes
and oranges growing in the campground before heading out again.
Lime's are very necessary to the Margarita's that Frank makes and the
oranges, well, they just looked delicious. I chatted with the owner,
Patty, for a while as Frank unhooked and got the rv ready to roll
again and then with a final wave, we were on our way further south.
The mist was eerily swooshing around everything, making the cactus
look like ghosts standing all along the road beckoning us to go their
way. There was a strange rainbow thing that had no colors but was a
distinct bow in the mist and it stretched out just like a real proper
rainbow..... it followed us for a good few miles and, yup, I got a
good few photos of it too. All along the road are fences, held up by
any sort of old crooked sticks with about 4 strands of wire stretched
between them. These fences sometimes go on for miles and miles and
other times just cover a short stretch, ending abruptly and leaving
everything behind them now open. Not that there was anything but
cactus anyway. Well, between these wire strands were the most
beautiful spiderwebs! They were huge and beautifully build and there
was absolutely no place to pull over and get any pictures....... The
weak sunshine that was able to get through the mist, lit up these webs
like lights all along the way..... There were also many birds perched
up on the very top of the tall cactus plants, some with their wings
spread wide to dry or warm themselves and others that were just teeny
tiny little things surveying their land.

I did not much enjoy the drive of the day at all. I found myself
tense and uncomfortable, even at the slow speed Frank was doing
especially for me. The roads seemed narrower, the trucks bigger and
the curves even curvier. The words "Curva Peligrosa" were there every
time I blinked - we gather that means dangerous curve, or something
equivalent judging by the curves that follow these signs. The road
eating monsters loved this part of the roads too and many times the
sides of the road just dissappeared into a black hole and a good many
times we were met with a huge tractor trailer coming around one of
those peligrosa corners - always the blind corners of course, where
you don't see the truck until it snorting right up your headlight and
my palms become instantly soggy while my heart finds its way back up
from my big toe. Frank just calmly steers around the corner with a
smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Sometimes I really do want
to kill him!

There are literally no places to pull off along the road for many many
miles and I really don't think about what would happen if we
needed...... nope - not going there. Not even here. But because of
the lack of pull off places that we could get the rv into, the doglets
had a very long stretch to wait for a p-break. Sophie came out a few
times with a deeply pleading look in her eyes and I swear her back
legs were crossed.... but they held it all in beautifully until we
finally got them out. The roads today were littered with Topes -
Serious Speed Bumps. If that is not bad enough, each tope is
announced by what feels like a mile of pre-topes...... these are
either row after row of cats eyes all across the road or simply much
smaller speed bumps - about 20 of them....... all to make sure you
slow down enough for the main one. Sophie decided that she did not
like these at all and came out of her bed each time to bark loudly and
continuously at them as everything shook and rattled and made the most
incredible sounds in the rv. Allie just sits and does her wimp thing
in her cave bed I made her, never showing her face till we stop.

It seems that when the cactus grows upwards, it sends a little round
new section out of the top - this then grows and fits in with the
section below and the process is repeated, so there are many very big
cactus plants - all fat and wide and seemingly as big as they can
grow, with almost perfect little round pieces right on the top. It
looks quite weird. We went through another military checkpoint where
one of them came in to look around, asked a few questions that we
could not understand, we gave a few answers that I am sure did not
match the questions and they waved us on our way again while shaking
their heads and saying even more that we could not understand.

And then we came into La Paz (Law-Pahs). This town has a population
of around 170 000 and I swear they were all out there to greet us!
Geez.......... this was something else after driving for miles seeing
nothing and no one. First you drive past a really impressive and huge
whale tale statue with an enormous arch over it....and then the town
happens.... There are little eateries all along the roads. These are
no more than a palm tree leaf covered shack with plastic chairs and
tables in the shade. I bet one could get anything there at all and
the smells were quite delicious. Seeing as it was Valentines Day too,
the balloons danced in the wind everywhere and at every corner at
least three people here holding roses for sale. The road through the
town was wide but, I am sure, not meant for the three lanes of traffic
that was crowded into it, and thats not counting the cars parked on
the side either! Its so full, so busy, so alive and sooooooooo - well
just incredible to drive through these towns... It's freaking
frightening too when, even in the middle of town, a four way stop is
totally ignored and one does not know whether its wiser to stop or
just keep on going through it like everyone else!

Finally we popped out of the other side, on the correct bypass road
and breathed deeply again. The little houses, or apartments, were
build all along the roads on the outer parts of town and it was really
interesting to see how they were designed. Even though they were all
built together, each place had a full height wall between them and the
neighbors giving some privacy.. Also, each house had a water storage
tank on top and many of them had their bright clothes hanging on the
lines outside to dry, which just added more color to everything.

We had decided not to head to the beaches right outside La Paz, as it
was weekend and probably busy, so we headed down to Los Barriles and a
campground that Antonio from the Misiones RV Park had recommended.
Antonio had cooked us the awesome meal the night before and she highly
recommended Playa Norte RV Haven right on the beach. And here we
are. We are not camped on the beach right now, but just one row back
from it, which nicely shelters us from the wind, which is supposed to
stop blowing tomorrow.

Yesterday and today was spent mostly walking the beach and scrounging
between the rocks, taking photos of the windsurfers and just
relaxing. We have had afternoon naps both days which is wonderful and
we have both started some serious work on our tans too! The sunshine
is simply glorious.........One lady windsurfer had a itsy bitsy teeny
weeny bright yellow bikini - over her wetsuit! It looked so funny.
Another guy had a cap on while he was surfing to keep the sun off the
back of his neck - when I looked at the photos it was an ordinary cap
like so many people wear backwards - but his was all covered in duct
tape! I got some lovely photos of them jumping the waves and some
literally flying a good 10 - 20 feet into the air doing twirls and
full acrobatic circles up there! There are not many shells here at
all and the ones we found were really small but totally beautiful -
mostly while coral and beautiful purple twirly whirly ones. There are
also gold flecks in the sand here, but not nearly as much as at la
Jolla Beach Camp outside Ensenada.

Sophie has decided that the waves need an education and she spends her
time on the beach running full tilt for the length of her lead and
then barking madly at them, even biting them if they get too close to
her. She is not shy about chasing after a retreating wave and when one
just sort of fades away into the sand, she looks at us in puzzlement -
where did it go? Allie just looks at all this with a superior look in
her eye, behaving very well and trotting daintily at Franks heels.
She really can be a prissy little thing at times!

There are the most beautiful colored bouganvilla plants everywhere,
some deeply entwined with some of the thorny trees around making them
look as if they are all blooming and pretty. We hear a million birds
in these trees, but have only seen a few, all incredibly bright yellow
and fast as lightening. The campground is not really full at all and
its lovely at night to hear the breakers meeting the sand, no dogs
barking and a lovely quiet. The stars are bright and beautiful and the
wind seems to rest at night too. I take the doglets out for a quick
walk late at night around 11pm and its pitch black outside and so
incredibly peaceful.

We took the bicycles out today to go to the little local mini-mart for
some supplies today - its not easy riding in sand at all but makes for
some interesting skidding and created a good few laughs too as we each
nearly met the sand face first. We needed to take the bicycles so
that we could easily get our supplies back home....eggs, beer etc.....
One of the things we were looking for was flour, but not knowing what
its called or how its packaged I decided to do a bunch of sign
language with what we thought was flour and a loaf of bread. Oh boy -
another Mexican that absolutely knows that I am certifiably insane!
Eventually we agreed that the package of what I had was good to make
tortillas with. yeah! Tortillas need flour right? So we bought it,
brought it home and wanted to make some pan bread. It was lard!
Well, it felt like flour in a tightly sealed bag. Sigh. No pan bread
and the lard hit the trash can in record time. We ate nuts for supper
instead.

So another day is over and yet another one looms promisingly ahead. I
will put some more photos up tomorrow again.

love and light
Annie

http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

Francisco and his store...

k - Cobblestones and sunshine

And so we left our little Paradise Cove and headed south again,
munching on the awesome banana bread we had bought from one of the
vendors that kept bringing us stuff. If one chose to live there
permanently everything would have been brought to us and we would
simply never have to leave that beach at all! The only thing was that
there was not too much beach to walk..... but it really was
beautiful. We left all the blinds open so that we could see out as we
lay in bed - the stars were incredible! Joleen, Steven and Lisa, I
thought of you all - all the dreams and wishes to enjoy still. There
was no other light around and the sky was crisp and a deep black - for
a while. And then a light crept up on to the underside of the few
whispy clouds that had arrived. The light got brighter and lit those
clouds to a beautiful silver! Of course I could not just let that go
by, so I got dressed, grabbed the camera and yup, stood outside taking
photos of the moon rising over the Sea of Cortez..... Sounds awesome,
hey? It was :) A few short hours later an indescribable sunrise
appeared, turning the sky into blood red streaks and even turning the
water a deep and beautiful color. The birds seemed to squawk in a
muted way and the quiet was just lovely. The water lapped gently onto
the sand as all along the beachfront the campers woke up, stepped
outside and stretched. I could almost hear their soft ooh's and aah's
as they sat and watched that new day start in such a beautiful way.
We knew it was Thursday because we had headed to the restaurant to
grab a bite to eat the night before, only to be told that they are
closed on Wednesdays! At least we found out the day :)

We went for a short walk and then it was time to head further
south...... We still have a fair way to go to reach the bottom of the
peninsula and although we don't really have any time limit, we would
like to find a beach with lots of walking space and hang around there
for a few days at least and get tanned and lazy.... ok, more tanned
and more lazy :) So off we headed, me twisting my head and camera
around to get a view of this magic place one last time..... and to see
all the other little magic coves along the way - ours was the
best.... The drive to Loreto, also on the east coast of Baja, took us
closely along the shores of the Bahia Concepcion - what views we were
handed for mile after glorious mile! The water was an incredible blue
with gulls and pelicans lazily wafting just inches above the tiny
waves. Islands dotted the bay, some close by enough to see their
shorelines and others sort of misty and hazy in the distance. The
view being mostly on Franks side, I had to learn patience and knowing
that we would have to drive back up this road with this view on my
side in the next few weeks, made it easier.

There is very little traffic here - we see perhaps one every 10
minutes or so and thats either one passing us on coming from the other
direction. We went through another military checkpoint and this time
it got me thinking of all the times I had read about how awful and
scary these stops were. We were told that they will ransack the rv,
destroy stuff while holding us at gunpoint, that it was one of the
main reasons not to come to Mexico..... Oh wow - how wrong that all
is. These guys are courteous, full of curiosity, businesslike and
very friendly.

Right after this last checkpoint one of the drawers that are in the
section above the drivers cab, fell out - spewing its contents all
over the place and making little Sophie yelp in surprise! Thank
goodness it was not camera stuff or breakables in there and that it
did not land on our heads either. Now they all have a very solid
strip of silver duct tape holding them closed. All of them!

And then the road took us inland for the rest of the way until it
dropped us back down into the town of Loreto. I am not bored at all
with the views of the mountains and the cactus and the small
settlements - they are all lovely, but I have run out of ways for now,
to describe the shuddering poverty, the awesome mix of colors of even
the poorest of towns and the grandeur of the mountains. I find myself
taking more photos of cacti as the road gets worse - helps me not see
where the 'road monsters' have chomped away at the side of the ribbon
leaving absolutely no space for error at all. Frank is not only
driving fantastically, but he is handling my occasional squawks better
than I do!

Anyway - so here we found ourselves at the doorway to Loreto - a real
town with all sorts of stores, extra roads, a gazillion people and
cars going everywhere! There are no lines in the roads marking the
lanes and I doubt they would mean anything at all anyway. After
finding a gas station and filling up again we headed towards the
Loreto Shores RV Campground which was on the other side of this town
of very narrow roads, cars going every direction and the most
absolutely fascinating looking little shops everywhere! We wove
ourselves through the traffic, sucking in our thighs at times and
wondering what the heck we were doing here at other times. The road
took us through a very dusty dry arroyo (dry river/gulch) and up the
other side to more interesting things to see. There was a school
where at least half the kids seemed to be in uniform and they were
actually playing outside! The building was painted all bright and
beautiful with ocean scenery and the typical screaming kids were
everywhere. Lovely to see.

We parked, set up, and took the doglets for a walk along the beach.
Except this was no paradise beach at all! The sand is brown and harsh
with stones and very few shells, the water flops onto the sand in a
very listless and uninterested way and there were patches of slimy
green seaweed that did not smell good. There were a good many half
fish undulating in the water too which did not make me want to wade
and........... well it just proved that we were totally spoiled by
Katie's Bay! The view was also nothing like we had expected. So we
headed back home to ponder our options and there we found a load of
extra energy, washed the bicycles and headed into town! Down the
dusty road we went, being met by multiple "Hola"s along the way and
much laughter at the way we answered....., down across the arroyo
collecting about a ton of dust and into town. Oh boy, what an
interesting place this is! We quickly found the open air market
stretch that was very hard to miss, and slowly pedaled our way from
shop to shop.

The roads here are cobbles and brick - just amazing. Lamp posts are
sometimes a good third of the way into the road and palm trees
literally growing through the buildings, there are stop streets
everywhere but we have learned that these are just suggestions and
definitely optional. The stores have their beautiful blankets,
pottery dresses and so many other things out on the sidewalks. The
art work is stunning and there are two different types of things to
see - the local and hand made items or the 'industry stuff'. We rode
past an absolutely incredible building - a Mission that was built in
1697 and I just knew that we would have to come back with my camera
again later or the next day. So after looking around, and not wanting
to buy too much, we headed home, me with both my feet kicking me all
the way for not taking my camera along!

So early this morning we got ready to head to town again, with the
camera this time. It was a lovely sunshiny day and the wind had died
down totally and we were once again greeted all along the way as we
ambled past houses with huge orange trees in their yards. There is so
much dust around that one can hardly see that they are oranges! Down
through the even dustier arroyo and back into town......... I got a
good many photos of the buildings and shops and we did some lovely
shopping too! Some of the buildings have half all broken down, but
the other half standing, and the shop is open and functional. Its
amazing to see how everything is used in this town, even though there
are huge holes in the roof, it works - so use it. One shop we
visited held us there for a goodly while. The owner, Francisco,
showed us many of his handmade blankets and explained how they
transfer the design to the loom..... its all done by hand and some of
the bigger blankets take him up to 6 days to make! He showed us the
difference in the feel of the hand made items and the commercial items
made in mainland Mexico. He also sold us a bottle of good grade
tequila and two lovely big margarita glasses all beautifully hand
painted. He really has a fascinating shop filled with beautiful
goodies - I could have spent hours there just looking, but it was time
to head back again and to head out too.

We went to the bank to get more Peso's and wound our way back home
through some very interesting traffic. No one really seems to pay
much attention to stop signs or where in the road they drive, but
everyone gets their turn and traffic flows pretty darn well. There is
an almost constant honking of horns as people greet each other above
the multiple different songs being played through speakers out on the
sidewalk. Goodies from the stores decorate the sidewalks and
Francisco assured us that it was totally safe around here. And again,
this place has such a good feel to it. The fruit and veggie stands
are a design in themselves, filled with everything imaginable and then
some. We ended up walking much of the way in town as riding on
cobbles, looking at the stores and taking photos all at the same time
proved to be a bit of a problem..

Anyway - we headed home with our treasures and big smiles on our
faces. There is a house right at the entrance to the campground and I
am sure the people there sat waiting for us again - loud hello's, much
laughter and happy waves again. And then we packed up and headed
south. And again we were handed simply awesome views, impossible
mountain roads, enormous cactus plants of all varieties and little
settlements all covered in dust. I aimed us towards a campground in
Ciudad Constitucion which is in the middle of the peninsula again.
The Mex 1 highway zigs and zags across a good few times. I had hoped
to go on a whale watching trip from here, but they have no busses
running from here and the road is not the greatest to get to the place
where the tour starts...... ah well, another time and place.

We are now at Misiones RV Park and were a little tired and grouchy
when we pulled in, but the evening greatly improved. We had a nap
after taking the doglets for a much needed walk and were then ready
for some supper. So off we tootled to the restaurant right here in
the campground where we ordered a margarita and some food - both were
fantastic. As we finished, another couple came up and recognized us
from the San Quintin stop over. They joined us and we had a lovely
evening of much talking and laughter. The supper was delish and it
was lovely sitting outdoors under the palapa - this is a huge round
roof on stilts - the roof made from palm tree fronds and the sides
from something woven too. Very interesting.... you will have to see
the pictures to see what I mean. Finally it got cool enough to head
home again under another beautifully clear sky studded with stars all
bright and twinkling. We also found a lime tree and there is an
orange tree in the site right next to ours and the lady here said we
are very welcome to pick some of both!

Tomorrow morning we are heading south again and will probably spend
the night right on the beach outside La Paz - again on the Sea of
Cortez side of Baja. What a wonderful way to spend Valentines Day!
So - happy Valentines Day to you all........ I hope its a day filled
with love and warmth and a good few hugs to boot.

love and light
Annie
http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09