In Photos as we went.......

La Jolla near La Bufadora

Ceilito Lindo beach
Bay of LA
Bay of LA 
Weird clouds mid peninsula
Malarrimo's at Guerrero Negro
Osprey on nest
Back of flower
Concepcion
Santispac
Santispac
Santispac Gull
Santispac
Santispac beach vendor
Mid Peninsula
Los Barriles
Los Barriles - duct tape hat surfer
Los Barriles flyer
Los Barriles paddler at sunrise
Cerrito Beach surfer
Cerrito Beach
Dung Doglet
Sea of Cortez beaut
San Ignatio "Stop 'n Go"
San Ignacio whale
Asuncion beach
Asuncion blowhole
Asuncion sunrise
Asuncion restaurant
Asuncion Sun Ring
Asuncion beach birds
Ojo de Liebre Sunrise and Pelicans
Ojo Lagoon Loner Pelican
Ojo Whale
Guerrero Negro again
El Peb Sand Art
Long mid peninsula road

It's over :(

x - All roads lead .......

Home!

Yes, we are home again after one incredible journey........ It's hard
to explain everything we have seen in a way that would do it justice.
Not even the photographs do that. Someone asked me where my favorite
place was, what my favorite thing was on this trip... Well,
everywhere, all of it...

The idea of going to Baja initially did not attract me at all. The
picture in my mind was of abject poverty mixed up with horribly
beautiful bodies, clad in skimpy bikinis, draped on umbrella festooned
beaches while ego inflated body built young men played beach ball
showing off their bronze tanned bodies and perfect white teeth. It
did not attract me at all. But Frank wanted to go - he had been
wanting to go for a long time. He swears he had a different picture
in mind! :) I have to say that the thought even scared me. Coming
from a poverty ridden country, I was not keen at all to go back into
one voluntarily. Gosh, that sounds snobbish, but its true. What is
also true is that unless our fears are faced, they stay there and even
grow and in these last few years, I have started facing mine squarely
besides, I looked at some photos on the internet and drooled. Oh boy
am I ever glad we did this one!

Everything about this trip was wonderful in some way or another.
Leaving the house in the early morning light, still yawning, shivering
from the cold and wondering if I left the coffee pot on again, is
quite a feeling.....The ice roads in Oklahoma, stopping off with
Joleen and Billy for a few days and then down south to the border were
all adventures in themselves. And the direct line south and into
another world....... It was comforting having Mike and Karen crossing
the border with us - they were the couple we met up with the night
before and just having a face we knew while trying to navigate the
border, its paperwork and the language barrier was a great help.

Almost immediately the poverty, living conditions and color everywhere
had me slack jawed with both horror and wonder and the camera
furiously clicking. The roads were another thing that got me all
wired up too much of the time, but they got us all the way there and
back too! The views along the toll road to our first night on the
gold flecked, hot springs beach was simply amazing. The color of the
houses and buildings set against the blue ocean and cloud speckled sky
actually got me silent as we spent our first day in Baja. Then on to
the sand dollar littered beach of Celito Lindo and the most wonderful
meal and our introduction to Margaritas - now a staple food on board
the motor home and at the house too.

The Sea of Cortez....... that name in itself is just beautiful,
bringing up mental pictures of the kind that got my feet itching to
walk in it...... and they did, again and again and each time was as
special, as beautiful and as awesome as the time before.. We were
first there at the Bahia de Los Angeles, then at Bahia Concepcion, our
Paradise at Santispac, Loreto and then at Los Barriles with its long
white beaches and crystal clear waters. Each time I laid eyes on that
water, I literally felt lighter, softer and caught myself humming and
smiling from ear to ear...... I just cannot help it! The sky actually
is a different color - just a tad more blue over the Sea of Cortez -
we could tell where the coast line was even as we were driving through
the desert filled with cactus. The sunrises were absolutely awesome -
the colors deep and rich and they grabbed me and held me long after
the sun was up in the sky. Yes, I saw all the sunrises in Baja!
That's quite an accomplishment for someone that normally does not
manage mornings too well at all........ But after the first one, it
was not hard to wake up to see and feel that wonder.. I particularly
loved when there was a boat in the sun's path on the water, or a
paddler or surfer. There is nothing quite like making the first set
of footprints in the sand and then standing on the waterline as that
sun rises, sending its path right to your feet, making even them
glimmer with its awesome gold. That quiet, the promise of a new day -
totally wonderful and there were times when I found myself a tad
tearful when I thought of the many people in my life while standing
there watching another day start. The sunsets came with almost a sigh
- a gentle one that nicely rounded off the day. I think I have a
lifetime or two of captured sunsets and sunrises on my computer.......
one each a day should get me through many years to come.

The Pacific coast was beautiful - I love the sound of the pounding
waves and the hope of finding some lost treasure or special shell. As
we scooted around Cabo San Lucas and north again, we headed over some
mountains and I just knew the ocean lurked just behind them, and I
found myself stretching up in my seat as far as I could to catch the
earliest glimpse I could. Cerrito Beach was down one awful road, but
had some beautiful waves, keen surfers and dark brown ragged rocks for
the waves to crash up against. Our last night at the Pacific coast
dealt us those glorious patterns in the sand and a good ole
sandblasting too!

The whales..... oh those whales. I think that was the highlight of
the trip - touching those whales and seeing that big gentle eye
looking up at us as it lazily floated right below the tiny little
boat..... That was awesome. They breached right next to us and
wallowed around and spoiled us with their contact. So incredibly
special.

The food was simply delicious everywhere we went. We ate at the local
restaurants near the campgrounds and each and every one was absolutely
wonderful. I think we ate more fish and other sea food in a month
than we have done in years. At times the restaurants were more
refined, with waiters in uniform and shiny black shoes and a trio to
serenade us during the meal.....other places were much more home grown
with kids doing homework at one table while mama cooked our meals in
the kitchen next door. Nowhere did we see a paper straw covering and
at times I quietly wiped my fork off on my t-shirt, but none of it
felt wrong - it all has such a wholesome feeling to it - a 'real'
feeling. Life is different in Mexico and a bit of dust on the table
is no big deal, nor are the flies that happily buzzed around. It was
strange, but none of this bugged us at all and we were never worried
about eating any of the food. The shops here had their meat all open
behind the counters, looking beautiful and natural and not all
prepacked and filled with chemicals to keep them looking good. At
Guerrero Negro we could see the food deliveries coming in the back
door of the hotel in buckets as they were caught and brought in to be
cooked.

The mountains and the desert, and the roads through them, are very
unforgiving and it makes one realize what a treasure common sense is.
There is no room for stupidity here, barely a margin for error. If
you get into trouble, its not going to be mild. Just a flat tire
would be a big issue on these roads, especially if it happened on one
of the many mountain roads. Coming around the mountain was really
interesting because no matter how careful you were, if someone coming
the other way was not - you were cheese - squished cheese! Or if the
'road munchers' had visited, you had to be extra careful. Well, it's
pretty much like that on all these roads. There is definitely a
feeling of self responsibility here. But we also knew that if
anything did go wrong that any number of people would have stopped to
help - its just like that here.

The miles and miles across the peninsula from side to side, were
filled with things to see.... from little "dung doglets' to humongeous
cactus that have been there for many a year and stretched their arms
out as if to take in as much sunshine as possible. The different
types of cactus plants were stunning but they all had a 'dont touch
me' attitude about them.... we did not try, but through the camera I
got a really good look at them.. Huge bolders, barren areas, craggy
mountains - there was not a moment that I was bored at all.

Its a fascinating place all in all....... The people are incredibly
friendly with "Hola" floating everywhere, greeting waves were free and
easily come by and kids still have that natural respect of yesteryear
in the USA and still play outside. At one place we stopped to ask for
directions and I saw a young boy with a handful of guavas - I nearly
levitated right out of my seat! After asking if thats what they were
and him giving me the Mexican name, he quietly and with a beautiful
smile, handed me the biggest one. I could have kissed him right there
and then as I sank my teeth into this awesome fruit. The stores are
filled with things, unwrapped soap, washboards, handpacked flour and
other goodies that had handwritten prices and smiley faces on them.
The fruit smelled like fruit and we could buy just 4 eggs if we
wanted, not having to take all 12 in the box. There were spices and
things that I had no idea what they were and sometimes even the smell
got my eyes watering. There was no point in buying any of this as we
had been told it would all be confiscated at the border. Next time we
know better!

We found everyone that we came into contact with, extremely friendly
and very happy to try to communicate with us, even if it did feel a
lot like an insane and often pointless game of charades. They were
all patient, laughing kindly at our efforts to learn and eager to
teach us. I was so sorry that I did not have a better understanding
of the language...... we missed so much because of that. The
excellent salespeople who visited us at almost every stop along the
way with an incredible assortment of beautiful goodies to sell, were
only too keen to pose of photos and wanted to know where we came from
and where we were going. We bought many lovely treasures from a good
many of them - pots, blankets, serapes, shells and other goodies that
all travelled safely back home with us.

Even the military stops were surprisingly easy and we had no problems
at all - well apart from when I got glowered at for asking about
taking a photo of them! I learn fast...... The guys that looked in
the rv were polite and friendly and also keen to communicate with a
great sense of humor too. Walking down the road and seeing a hummer
coming at us with a machine gun pointed in our general direction did
make for a slight hiccup in our steps the first time but they are just
doing their jobs and in no way, not once at all did we ever feel
threatened at all in any way.

Baja is dusty - its a fine dust that filters into everything but the
type that we quickly learned to live with. Anyone who has followed
out other travels knows that Frank and dust are not buddies at all,
but this time it was different - as a matter of fact, the motor home
got its first wash of the trip right before we stopped back at home!
The wind blew much of the time, sometimes blanketing the towns in dust
and everyone walked with something over their mouths. Grass is non
existant here, except for a small line of it down the main road of
Bahia Asuncion. Dust and sand was everywhere, in everything and its
going to take a really good cleaning to get it all out of the rv but
it all quickly became part of the wonder of Baja.

Somehow the color of the buildings, the clothing and the gorgeous
bouganvilla beat back the dustyness and this is what I will remember
most........the blue of that wonderful clear water, the sky, the color
everywhere, the long ribbon roads through the most beautiful
countryside and the people; the black and white sand beaches flecked
with gold with pelicans wafting by; the deep and rich colors of the
sunrises, the eateries all along the roads, those awesome whales, the
taste of fish tacos and the twinkle in the eyes of almost everyone we
met....... The tan will fade, the knick knacks we bought will become
normal, but the feelings of the sun on my skin on those long beach
walks, the water between my toes and the sound a a thousand hello's
will live through the many photos we took along the way.

It was with mixed feelings that we left Baja......... thrilled to have
had the opportunity to see and experience some of an incredible part
of Mexico, and very happy to be back in the USA where everything felt
a lot easier. This trip has made me even more grateful for everything
we have, for the opportunity as well as the easy life so abundant
here. It has also given me a much deeper understanding of why the
Mexicans keep coming here - I know that I would if I were them. The
poverty and conditions of living over there had me gobsmacked much of
the time. At first I took countless photos of homes that people here
in the States would not even let their dogs live in....and then I had
to stop. I found myself almost unable to keep seeing these conditions
without it affecting me. One lady said that she had seen more poverty
in Canada than here in Baja - she might be right, but I have never
driven so many miles and seen so much poverty stretching endlessly.
In other places I have always been able to drive through the poverty
ridden areas and into the 'better areas', but here - well, it just
does not work that way at all.......it seems utterly endless. And
driving through all the states on the way home and seeing all the
different shades of green, the trees budding, the shade, wide road and
the rich fancy buildings, shops and churches lining the roads, I
thought of the many that lack the choices, opportunity and ability to
have what is so taken for granted on this side of the border.

So, with a computer bulging with photos, happy smiles still firmly
pasted on our faces, golden tans and a very dusty motor home, we
headed back to Tennessee and arrived here after first dancing on the
beach, driving long hours on smooth roads, stopping off in campgrounds
that somehow shut the real world out - a gentle and relatively slow
return to life. The doglets were thrilled to get home and were quite
frantic to get in the front door and check that everything was still
here. Sophie bounded through the grass, barking at the fence, the
trees and each and every blade of grass...... Allie slowly walked
around the house and garden with disbelief and then sighed and went to
sleep.

This was truly a wonderful adventure, every single day of it. We
drove a little over 7000 miles and took 12 839 photos! We saw so many
totally awesome things and places and ate so many fantastic meals and
those margaritas! We met a bunch of beautiful people and deepened our
appreciation for our life and gave us a new understanding of the lives
of others. Now its time to sit and digest it all and, yes, re-live it
as I print the photos to hang up all over the walls of the shop to
keep reminding us as we move back into a more 'normal' daily life. I
will post the last of the photos in the next few days.....

It was really interesting driving today - as we came closer and closer
to Tennessee, I sat up straighter and as we came over that last hill
into Soddy Daisy, I laughed out loud because I was humming again! And
here I thought I only hummed at water......... this is good. I found
myself excited to see the grandkids again, my sister, mom and kids!
Steven and Laura just bought a house and Lisa and family looking for a
new place to live and Joleen should be home for another visit
soon..... the shop is already promising to be busy and the fruit trees
are blooming again and that grass is sooooo green on this side of the
fence. Life really is so incredibly good

Thanks for coming along with us, thanks for your comments and
encouragement - you all made it easy to keep on writing and sharing
all the miles and smiles.. I hope you enjoyed the ride.

So - till next time........
love and light - lots of it!
Annie and Frank and doglets

http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

w - Dancing in the sand..

Monday morning we got an Emu and yesterday, about 5 peacocks to wave
us on our way out of the campgrounds....... now all safely on my
computer and ready to be looked at close up. That Emu really has a
haughty look about it - an "I dare you to come closer" look! I kept
both me and my camera a safe distance away. The peacocks did not like
Allie at all and fled to the rooftop of a shed and into the trees.
They look like a turkey - a big blue turkey and did not spread their
feathers for me either. I looked and looked for a lost feather, but
nothing - I bet they are all picked up before they even hit the ground!

And so we tootled on to the beach at Padre Island. This is a National
Seashore and protected area and not even the cell phones had signal
there - its beautifully quiet and peaceful. Frank suggested that I
text the kids and I did manage to get and sent a few before it totally
locked up. But, by lunchtime we were walking down that beach.......
miles and miles of beach. It was glorious. The sun shone and lit up
the water, the birdlets skittered across the sand with legs that
seemed to whirr in a blur as they poked their beaks into the sand for
whatever it is they eat. A good many let us get fairly close, but for
the most part Sophie did a really good job of keeping the coast clear
for us - literally! She chased those birds and chased them full
tilt through the water, not caring that her lead is only 6 foot long!
Eventually she got the picture and would stop short of the limit and
bark at the birds who by now had also got the picture and landed just
out of reach of her - I swear they were laughing at her. After a
while we took the lead off Allie, let her go free, added this to
Sophies lead and gave her and us more space.... The birds took only
one close call to get the new picture!

We found a crab, a live one, and after looking at it from a few
different angles, Allie became a full blooded Rottweiler! She told
that crab its history and its future and refused to let it head back
into the water - she yipped and nipped and grabbed it and flung it
onto the dry sand........ quite a show she put up. It was funny and
she walked with a little high step after we finally dragged her away
from a very tired, but unhurt crab who gratefully and carefully edged
its way back into the waves.

There were a good many bluebottles otherwise known as man-o-war's,
strewn along the beach, They really are lovely and when the sun
catches them and lights them up, its like discovering another treasure
along the way. The waterline was littered with tiny, beautiful,
multi-colored shells and pieces of seeweed and some bigger shells that
were just too brittle to carry all the way home, but that shone
multicolors at us as the sun caught them. The ocean slapped itself on
the shoreline with perfectly white waves, literally working itself
into a lather.. Bubbles blew across the hard sand, also catching the
sunlight and giving us hundreds of tiny little multicolored lights in
each cluster.

Much higher on the beach was the good stuff - the floats, the rope,
many coconuts, huge long pieces of bamboo that I even carried for a
while before thinking "why?" and laying it down again. Frank strung
the floats we found all together and dragged them behind him as he
scoured the dunes for more treasures. He did find a stove, but it had
definitely seen better days. Much of the debris behind the dunes were
from the recent hurricanes and the smaller stuff from the oil rigs we
could see just offshore. We found a good many hard hats - one even
had the name Moxy on it..

After a few hours of walking, we needed to get the doglets back home.
In our haste to get on the beach again, we had forgotten to bring any
water and they were panting pretty hard - Allie even conned us into
carrying her for a way! So we headed back to the rv which was
beautifully cool with all its windows open and a lovely breeze
flitting through. Doglets collapsed, Frank cooked lunch and off we
went again - this time on the bicycles. The wind had picked up and it
became a job to ride the beach so we headed back to relax instead. I
had the camera with me and got a good many lovely photos of the birds
around here. The pelicans would glide silently above us in a loooong
straight line, sometimes veering in a bit closer to check us out and
other times moving away. It was kind of eery to see their shadows
first, sliding along the dunes as they headed north. There were many,
many such north-bound lines of birds.

Frank picked up quite a sunburn on his back and we decided to head out
from there early this morning...... After watching yet another
beautiful sunrise, this time from the comfort of the bed, I plotted a
route northwards, as much of it along the coast as possible. This
road took us on a very short ferry ride before leading us onto
Galveston island. I love going on the ferries but this time it was
weird. We were right in front and looking out of the windscreen, we
could only see water - and then Frank turned around for something! My
instinct was to grab the steering wheel - it was really weird and way
too short. But - I knew there was a ferry at the end of Galveston
Island, so on we went. And then we saw a sign that said that the road
was damaged, drive at your own risk. After looking at the vehicles
coming out of there, we decided that it would be totally ok. And it
was. Until we got to the part where they detoured us off the road -
and on to the beach!!

We danced in that sand - in the motor home! I swear that the rear
end of the rv came around and kissed the front lights. We sashayed
along what was nothing but thick, soft sand with a distant point of
exit back onto the road. The bikes fell over and Franks jacket joined
the treasures of the beach and we were literally swinging around like
on a racetrack as my potential call to the wrecker service played
through my head. At one point there were four of us in different
vehicles all doing this insane dance, eyeing each other and wondering
whether insurance would actually pay for the repairs at all! Out of
the corner of my eye I saw a spot that looked like solid ground and
Frank wrestled the rv, revving dramatically onto it where we got
turned around. After not enough time to think much and with many more
graceful swishes, swings, flying sand and revving motor, me with my
white knuckled hands clutched the seat and camera, sweat pouring out
of my toes and Frank muttering to himself, we got back onto the road
we had so trustingly left just a few minutes before. And decided to
brave going through Houston after all. SIGH.

It was a retracing of about 40 miles but we really did not mind too
much. After tootling along on smaller roads and through small towns
for most of the day, it was not too bad to be on 'grown up' roads for
a while again. There are still a good many houses standing with severe
hurricane damage. Most of them look as if they have just got tired
and started leaning - so sad to see such big and otherwise healthy
looking houses so totally un-liveable. We took the toll road
bypassing the worst of Houston, found ourselves in a solid traffic jam
due to roadworks but got through there with relative ease. Thats
another nice thing about this rv - when we get into a traffic jam, I
get something to drink and some snacks and it makes it so much easier
than just sitting there....

At many places along the way today, we passed by different sorts of
bodies of water, sometimes a bay and sometimes we drove right
alongside the ocean with its never ending pounding waves, dunes and
white sand..... and each time the water came into sight, I caught
myself humming. It's difficult not to be entranced by the sunlight
glistening on the water, showing off the fishing and crab boats in
silhouette, gently bobbing away. The one time I did not hum at the
water was when we went over this insanely high bridge on the toll
road... I have never been higher than that apart from in an
airplane! Well, almost... It was rediculous - there was no side of
the road at all and the barrier was a really stupid little wall thingy
that would just help flip you over the edge if you hit it.... and only
an inch or three from our front wheel. I was really glad that the
traffic jam started after that bridge.

Today's ride was really full of different things - long horn cattle,
pink octopus on a roof, cactus growing out of other roofs, beautiful,
incredible trees that looked dead and skeletal but were just waiting
for warmer weather till they showed their colors again, huge ancient
oak trees and interesting little buildings, just to mention a few
things. The roads were lined with delicate pink poppies and some
other crisp little orange flowers, we drove through incredibly gentle
places and then past what looked like a mess of a refinery until we
found our way to Beaumont, Texas where a nice looking rv park
presented itself to us...... along with a stunning colored sunset.

Even the doglets are tired today - it was a good day all in all - even
dancing in the sand.

love and light
Annie

. http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

v - To the coast again.....

Early on the first morning back in the USA, I took the doglets for a
walk in the campground we were in..... and after just a short while
passed three others also enjoying the morning air.. A healthy and
hearty "Hola!" and a wave jumped to my lips, but I held back and
instead floated them a more sedate and proper 'morning'. Well - what
happened next totally surprised the heck right out of me.... I was
totally ignored! I mean absolutely totally and thoroughly
ignored....... It was strange, but I did not take this personally,
but again had to bite back some words. How can people be so
incredibly insecure in themselves that they cannot even spare a
'morning!' in return?? Stunning. After our time in Baja where we
were almost constantly waving and greeting and smiling at everyone,
this really slapped my thinking cap right back on and I had to wonder
which is the more civilized country.

Anyway, I photographed the fake yellow flowers someone had stuck on
the cactus there - it looked really cute, and then we headed further
east. We tootled along the highway that was littered with other rv's
going in all directions and many of them parked as permanents in a
vast variety of campgrounds all along the way. It is quite astounding
to see this many rv's on the road. There are little colorful flowers
everywhere along the road, which is lovely and wide and the trucks
pass one safely at least three feet away from our mirrors - bliss!
The brush is small and dusty and there are a good many cactus plants
everywhere - and the road stretches like a never-ending ribbon over
the hills way in the distance in front.

We scooted through Arizona, through the Yuma Desert, over mountains by
the names of Gila, Growler and Sand Tank Mountains, north of places
that go by names of Why, Ajo, Gu Vo and Sells. We passed through
Tuscon, bypassed the Saguara National Park, over the Dragoon
Mountains, through the Coronado National Forest (did not see a tree
anywhere) and into New Mexico. Who names these places out here? Some
have the weirdest of names and I would just love to know how they came
by them, others sound simply romantic. The scenery here is definitely
not jaw dropping at all - mostly a few cactus of differing sorts,
mountains or hills that are brown up close but seem to be that distant
blue when far away. We drove along a loooong, straight section that
warned of blowing dust and zero visibility - but none of that
happened, thank goodness. The dust devils danced everywhere, but were
friendlies , not like the lady at the gas station who thought we were
taking way too much time to get and pay for the gas! It was funny
watching her - she stormed out of their vehicle behind us, glared at
me with pointed eyebrows as I sat patiently in the rv and stalked to
the store where Frank was paying. When she was about three steps from
the door with her personal little black cloud swirling furiously just
above her head, Frank waltzed out, receipt in hand. Boy did she ship
herself around so quickly that she almost lost that cloud...... ah
well, so it goes.

We stayed at a KOA Campground just East of Tuscon on Saturday night.
Campgrounds here are not like those we stayed in in Baja - these are
all well tended and customized to suit the camper in any way possible
- not luxury, just neat and .......... well, we are so incredibly
spoiled here, almost sadly so. It was lovely being in the basic
campgrounds in Mexico where the only power plug was waaaaay away and
the power cords stretched from every camper in the hope of getting at
least enough juice to recharge batteries. Some of the campgrounds had
wires lying open and we simply did not hook up then and early nights
were had. Not here - its all 'proper' and quiet and clean - almost
sterile. Like its missing something.....

We found a food store and stocked up on some much needed items and
many that were not needed at all, but we were hungry by then and
everything looked so good! We also looked for an rv wash place, but
the only one we found was not tall enough to get the rv into it. Ah
well. The wind blew and Frank fought the steering wheel for many miles
through vineyards, flat roads with no scenery at all and I fought the
battle against my closing eyelids. I have never slept for a single
mile in all our trips - but this road, well, its definitely something
else! We stop at a good few of the rest stops along the way, not only
for us but to let the doglets out to stretch their legs too, but its
cold and at one of the stops I could almost hear Sophie saying "you
want me to pee in this wind?? Not a chance!" as she ran full speed
back to the rv - and held it in for another 100 miles! Both doglets
also picked up a gazillion stickies - those tiny little thorns that
immediately imbed themselves deep into their fur and between their
paws.... it took a good 45 minutes to get them out!

Those jet streams created by the airplanes flying by, gently wafted
into each other creating what looked like proper clouds in the pale
blue sky..... quite pretty, but got me thinking about how much this
would change the weather etc - it was a long boring road. And then we
went through El Paso........ what a place that is! We could see the
huge Mexican flag flying high just on the other side of the border
fence, that separated the farmlands on either side. That place is
cram packed full of everything and everybody and going through there
is like being on a roller coaster - there is no way you can slow down
or stop, change direction or get off and you just know you are going
to die! Aaarrgghh....

Yesterday we went through a Border Patrol Checkpoint where they did
not even get us to stop at all, just smiled and waved us on and then
today the whole interstate was fed into one lane for yet another
check....... dogs walked around and again we were just waved through
like all the other cars and trucks - not one was stopped or looked
into - but I guess this makes our borders more secure or something?
And this brings me to another point....... after seeing how the people
live in Baja, if I lived at or really close to the border - there
would be a constant supply of water and snacks in an easily accessible
place! I am not saying its right to come across the border illegally,
just that I now have a much deeper understanding of why they do.

The one road sign made me chuckle for a good many miles....... it
announced two different towns just ahead...... "Truth or Consequence",
was the first and the next line read "Elephant Butte". Well, thats
like a question........ Dear, do I have an Elephant Butt(e)? The
answer is either the truth or huge consequences..:)

Last night, Sunday night, we stopped off early again, around 2.30pm at
a campground in Texas somewhere. We passed over mountains with lovely
names, but they are not mountains as in big and high, rather hills
that the rv does not even change gear to get up.... Some of the names
along this first stretch of Texas are Sierra Vieja Mts, Devil Ridge
and Wyle mountains - I have to admit to even looking forward to a bit
of a climb again and a screaming downhill, but no - just open roads,
smooth as a baby's butt(e) and wide as my mouth at times....... Boring
as heck but I have learned to be very careful about what I ask
for.... :)

Blondie is plugged up and working again - well, apart from early
mornings....... then she changes her mind about 10 times in 15 seconds
before settling on a direction that is normally incorrect. It's as if
she then grabs a quick slug of coffee and bingo - all is well again
and she will tell us that we are now on the interstate that we have
been driving down for a good few minutes already. Ah well, we forgive
her this as she has been excellent through the major cities - even
San Antonio at rush hour this evening - talk about a really insane
place with roads that look like a maze, cars that have people in them
all with neck problems as they totally ignored my frantic efforts to
get their attention by leaning half out of the window and waving at
them so that we can get into their lane! I swear everyone here has
an 'ignore code' that kicks in when they hit this part of town. There
was not even time to sweat, but my toes did curl.....

This stretch of the trip today was so incredibly boring that not only
was I fighting my eyelids again, but I had to make up things to pass
the miles away. My camera was mostly clutched in the vain hope of
something, anything, to take a photograph of, but it lay there, not
finding much at all.. So out came the crackers......... how many
miles can I make one last.....the first one took only 3 miles at 61
mph, the second 5 miles and by the 4th I decided that I should make a
change - there are only so many ways one can suck a cracker into
different shapes before it dissolves before too many miles have passed
by, so out came the clementines. One clementine can last a pretty
darn good many miles but the best was my bread roll with marmite that
took me 24.7 miles to eat! I should not stay on Texas roads too long
at all, or I should find a different game. These past few days we
have noticed a good many of the same vehicles either passing or being
passed by us again and again- so much so that at the rest stops we
greet each other and passing at the start of the day brings forth
happy waves and big smiles like old friends...... See? I told you it
was boring!

And so this evening, in the middle of San Antonio, aka Hell, we
changed interstates and headed almost directly south on Interstate 37
towards Corpus Christi and the beach on the Gulf of Mexico. Not being
a morning person at all, I surprised myself by getting excited about
the prospect of being able to see a sunrise over the ocean again!
Just what did Baja do to me?? There is a National Seashore, protected
area, right off the coastline here and its glorious. We were here for
just two days in 2003 in the sweltering heat and have always wanted to
come back again in more decent weather. There are miles and miles of
untouched white beach, littered with shells and floats and wood and
all sorts of stuff. One can walk all the way to the Mexican border
too - its a long way, but possible. And the weather is going to play
along beautifully this time with temps up in the low 80's during the
day and 60's at night. We are only about 100 miles away from the
coast tonight, so by lunchtime tomorrow we will have our toes in the
sand again and I know I will be humming as I do when I see and smell
that ocean!

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

pics

Little Dung DogBahia Asuncion Sunrise

u - Up and out........

Subject: u - Up and out........

Last night we wafted off to sleep with the motor home rocking quite seriously in the wind and the sound of the sides being blasted by the sands blowing off the dunes on the beach.  This morning we woke up to grit even in our teeth and the bed felt more like sleeping on the beach..... the temperature was great last night and we had left the roof vent open.  Ah well.  Frank says "we have got to get the beach out of the bed!"  He really has to be careful just how he says that or it comes out totally wrong!  :)  I took a quick walk down to the waterside right as the sun was rising and saw some really incredible sand art......  The winds had swirled the white and black sand together making a beach full of the most fascinating patterns - all with tiny, almost unseen, gold flecks.  Out came the camera.........  I found a few sand dollars on the wet sand and a bit of seaweed here and there, but nothing much else at all. And the wind started up again..

So after taking a brisk walk with the doglets around the campground, we headed out of there.  It would have been good to stay there for a day or two more but definitely not with the wind also hanging around.  Frank has been great about adjusting to the incredible amount of sand and dust around, but this was just too much, even for me.  The sand down here sticks to everything and after I walked this morning, even wiping my feet on the outside rug did not get it off at all..... we have a small hand broom at the door and have to brush quite vigorously to unstick the sand.  It's weird, the dust and sand is even on stuff in the refrigerator!  Too much, too much.

On the way down south a few weeks ago now, we noticed one particular fence that had a blue background and something in front of it - well, today we saw it again and I took some zoomed in photos...... its cardboard boxes hanging in front of the blue plastic!  And then there was another cardboard box fence.... quite amazing that they hold up so well - I guess the weather just does not bite here as it does at home.  There are a good many things we notice while driving around..... the walls of the schools have lovely paintings on them, bright colors and whales, flowers and people........  there are many people gathering in little groups to eat or chat or walk together, rather unlike home where everyone is too busy to stop and chat too much....  there are little eateries everywhere, many are not permanent at all - a car pulls up,  the trunk opens, out pops a table and the makings of a tortilla or burrito, spices and a drink - bingo, a gathering happens.... many fences are not fences as we know them, they are made from boxes, billboards, doors, corrugated iron - anything that will stand up...  the   businesses are all multicolored with no regard to the next door color which makes for a glorious patchwork of color all through the towns.. the streets are swept by hand..... the weeds on the sidewalks all along Mex 1 are cut by hand, many miles of it....the guys riding in the back of the Federale truck with their guns are not trying to look fierce in their balaclavas, they are just trying to stay warm in the early morning air..... many rocks along the way are painted with religous  art or animals and other odd things........washing machines are outside items, it hardly ever rains here...

Some of the topes (speed bumps) are painted on, but they look real enough and we are not prepared to guess which ones are real or not, so we slow down to a crawl over them all...... we do get honked at by the locals at the painted on ones and many times the people on the side of the road stand there grinning at us as we realize that we have been duped once again.

There are a good many pickup trucks heading south fully laden with household furniture and goodies - there must be a great many people moving south!  We thought we might stay along the coast again, near our first stop in Baja that had the hot springs on the beach, but the wind still played around too much which makes it really unpleasant on the beaches, so we headed on through the insanely busy town of Ensenada without getting lost this time, took the turnoff to the Mex 3 and enjoyed some new roads again.  We had been advised by a good many people not to go out of Tijuana as the wait was over 4 hours much of the time, so we headed east to the Tecate exit.  We plugged Blondie in and she showed us nothing, but the arrow did this lonely little dance in the center of the screen as we wound our way through the Mexican mountains.... a real ditzy blond she is!

The first part of the Mex 3 is under re-construction and took us a while to get through there at 10 miles per hour, but the road was not bad at all and the views were just gorgeous through the vineyards.  The rains that chased us south earlier than we planned at the beginning have painted everything a beautiful green!  It looks so lush and inviting, especially going through these gentle hills, all the different shades of green popped in and out of view as we tootled around the corners at a very comfortable speed.

One town is pretty much the same as another from the view of the passenger seat in the rv, but it still amazes me just how many people are out and about, how much is happening all over the place and how even through the dust and grit, its all so incredibly interesting!    The little places we went through today on the Mex 3, seemed to have more little churches than any of the other places, or maybe they were just easier to see?  Most of them are fairly plain little buildings, painted beautifully with lovely bells hanging from the towers.  It seems that most of these small towns are fairly isolated, with a good distance between them, but none of them were as ramshackle as many we have seen further south.  Maybe its because they are closer to the border.....  I did notice more bars over the windows of the houses up this way - but even they look more quaint than efficient.

So after a couple of hours of really easy driving through beautiful countryside that had no cactus in it at all, we arrived in Tecate which is right on the USA border.  This all happened much faster than I had bargained for, but while thinking about it, I realized that I was ready to head north of the border again.  Well, it's not like we had a choice at this point - there really was no where to go apart from either forward or backward - no campground and no viable alternate road to keep us in Baja longer......   So we started looking for the signs to the border crossing.  They really do not make it obvious at all and even though we did not get lost or take a wrong turn, it was close at times!  Just a small sign in a not too obvious place pointed the way out.  Blondie woke up and told us that we were now on "Thing Road" and headed kinda sorta in the right direction - she changed her mind every two minutes or so.... we ignored her, switched her sound off and just smiled.....

And over a hill we came to find a loooong line of cars at a standstill and some guys walking up and down selling food and drinks to everyone waiting to head north.  We got a couple of burritos each and watched as people went about their business.  This road we were on runs parallel with the border fence which was just about two feet from my window, and which had some lovely paintings on it all along the way.  On the Mexican side, the businesses were open and bustling, colorful and all painted with advertisements.  There was a place to exchange your money - the rate is really good right now for the tourist to Mexico - places where one could call the USA and many other just plain normal businesses.  On the USA side, we could see big fancy houses, greenery and no people at all - just the border guard vehicles driving along the road.  There were no problems, no issues, no incidents at all.  We did not have long to wait, about 30 minutes, before we were ushered forward and handed over our passports, driver's license and me my green card.  We were duly waved into the secondary inspection site where a very nice lady who was about to leave for the day, put us totally at ease and came inside to do her inspection.  We lost our last lone orange, the spam (thank God!), three eggs and the cactus wood we had found.  All in all a great deal.

They did not ask about the doglets, they did not ask about all my shells or Bea's sand, they did not ask about the guavas, they did not ask about the tequila............and I did not tell.

So after winding our way through a beautiful and gentle narrow road where I proved to myself that I am truly over my NRS (narrow road syndrome), through the Imperial Dunes Recreational Area  of California where hundreds of rv's with their four-wheeler toys were parked and having fun, we find ourselves somewhere along the highway at a campground alongside the Colorado River that has the most glorious hot showers with unlimited water!  Oh how awesome it is to get the grit out from under our fingernails and from inside our ears.....  The things we take for granted.....  Now for a bath for the rv tomorrow morning.

And so we are back in the USA again in beautiful sunny weather and not quite ready to head home yet where Katie tells me its really going to be cold.....  It was another lovely day, especially as I got to speak to my three 'kids' again, catching up on their many exciting happenings and doings.  And "Mo-Crow" stood on a huge boulder just north of the border and welcomed us back home again and then flapped off east bound  - guess he does not do Mexico, boy did he miss lots!

love and light
Annie

http://photobucket.com/BajaBaggs09

t - Boulder fields and sandy beaches

What a day!  We left Guerrero Negro early this morning, passing the hummers camped next to us that evidently had issues as there were at least three human behinds sticking up in the air as the mechanics tried to fix stuff gone wrong.  Boy those guys had loads of camping stuff on the roofs! We soon came to the border between Baja Sur and Baja Norte -this being the agricultural check where we had to give up most of our fruit.  So we stopped and waited, and waited.  And then - well, we waited some more.  They guy in the office did not even look up or wave us on or anything so we slowly pulled away, half expecting a bunch of camoflauged  people to rush out and make us come back. But no - our fruit was safe - even the guavas!  Wow - that was an early morning bonus  :)

The scenery here was much different from before, all small and scrubby stuff - made me think that ostriches would do well here.  There were a good few Osprey nests with these gorgeous birds sitting in them and I got some pictures of those as we slowly ambled up the road.  There really is no place to pull of and stop to get these photos while standing still, so I take about 10 at a time, hoping to catch at least one that is useable.  And then the Joshua trees and the sisal trees and the cactus arrived again.... The Sisal trees are all beautifully lit up at the top with bright yellow and the cactus... well - this is how I saw them......

The cactus fields here are like a community of people.... some big, some small, some short and some tall.  Some thin, some thick, some standing proud and straight and others leaning precariously.  Some being held up by others,  some tired and bent over touching the ground while another stood straight as an arrow right next to it.  Some cactus had their arms spread wide while others held theirs closely by their sides, some were just newly budding while others where ancient and old and have been around many moons.  All of these were mixed together - different sizes, different types, different shades of green - yet all working together making one beautiful scenery and oh so similar to a human community.  This is the Sonoran Desert Vegetation Region and its littered with strange Boojam trees. There are many different types of cactus here and many of them are starting to flower and have a haze of red about them - the barrel cactus is especially pretty.  Those very big, fat and tall cactus have a fleshy outside and we see that there is a core piece of wood that often stands straight up even after the rest of the plant has died and fallen away. Many places are decorated with this cactus wood - its gorgeous with holes all around it.

The boulder fields are just amazing.... there are huge bolders littered everywhere with every type of cactus growing in amongst them.  There is no real way to describe this, except that it seems to be from a different world.  The green of the cactus stands out clearly from the color of the boulders.......  These are humongeous boulders, not just rocks.  Its a very strange area to drive through, totally fascinating and very very unforgiving.  There is a campground right behind these boulder fields and we had planned on staying there, but once we saw it, decided to move right on down the road.  There were no cactus really close and also no other campers there - it just felt like a lonely place to stay.

Since we were through here on the way south, everything has 'greened up'.  There is this awesomely beautiful haze of green, gently shimmering between everything.   The road wound its way around the remote feeling hills here in a really lovely way.  I think I am almost cured of NRS (narrow road syndrome) by now.... almost.....  I found the drive today really great - even though Frank said that the trucks today 'had his attention' as they seemed to hug the middle line more than further south.  A good many times we passed road signs that had been planted literally a foot apart from each other, one right behind the first.  Sometimes the signs said the same thing, but not always.  Its as if someone were given a road sign and told to go and put it up - with no plan or particular place pointed out.  There are many signs warning of cows on the road and today one had a coyote painted on top of the cow picture as if it was being pounced on and another had a ufo painted above the cow..... interesting what people do. I will put those photos up on the site soon too.

This stretch of road is one that has no gas stations for around 200 miles and all along the way are hand-painted signs "Gasolina" are found resting against patched together buildings or pickup trucks that have small containers of gas to sell.   There is no price written on there, but if you need gas here - no price is too high!  This stretch also seems to have more than its fair share of little eateries along the way - all with tables and chairs and tablecloths and eager cooks.  The road is now lined with green grass looking stuff along with purple, orange and yellow flowers - really pretty.  And we noticed a strange stripe in the sky too - it stayed there for a good while and was rather strange..... just a light grey stripe from way up high towards the ground - got photos of that too.

And there, along side the road, stood what looked like a tree stump, standing straight up, surrounded by a wall built from small boulders and a sign that we could not read.  Looking at the photos it does not look like a petrified tree but I would love to look it up and see what that was all about.  There is so much going on here, but they don't supply the places to stop a rig like this so that we can go and see, so often we pass by a place, wondering what we could have discovered there.  There are many, many miles between places that we can stop along the roadside and we have all had to cross our legs for a good long distance before being able to stop and either see something alongside the road  or use the bathroom.  Well, for me its easy - I can get up and go while Frank is driving - but then who would watch the road?  Just kidding.  It's am uncomfortable feeling sitting on 'the loo' while bouncing around such narrow roads, so I tend to wait till we have stopped.

We wafted over yet another hill today, only to be met with a bunch of Federales!  We both caught our breath as there were about 7 car loads of them parked on either side of the road - but they just looked at us as we cruised on by, not making any effort to get our attention or make us stop.  Normally if there is an inspection point, one is warned well ahead of time, so it was rather unexpected to see them all there.  We also passed three other vehicles manned with machine guns today - none threatening at all, just there....  And then we had to stop at some roadworks....... the hill was rather steep and when Frank pulled on up the hill when they waved us on, one of the drawers filled with stuff above our heads came out and I caught it with my head.  One really does see stars when that happens!  I am just glad it did not do that while we were screaming around a corner with a truck approaching!  Anyway - all the contents spread themselves all over the place, sending Sophie yipping back under the table.  That drawer is now back in place - duct taped so firmly that I am not sure it will open without a blowtorch!

And so we headed back towards the Pacific coast, putting in gas again at El Rosario before heading up along the coastline.  It's good to see the ocean again and tonight we are parked right next to the beach with the surf pounding away at the El Pebellon Campground.  The wind was blowing so hard when we arrived that only I braved the walk to the beach as the sheets of sand swirled around everything.  We watched the sand blowing outside the windows in huge clumps and had to keep everything closed to keep most of it out.  Still, there is a sheen of sand everywhere and every time we put something down and when I move the mouse of the computer, its got that crunchy, gravelly sound.  Frank has been great on this trip, not being too bugged by the incredible amount of sand and dust around, but he has said that one of the first things we will find when back in the USA is a carwash!

So with the sound of the surf, now only a gentle wind left, pitch black outside apart from a sliver of the moon and the twinkly stars I am heading for bed.  I loaded a good many photos last night and will do more when we get another internet connection that can handle photos again.

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