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
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