Day Twelve: Todos Santos!

Mister was up several times during the night, feeling miserable - pobrecito! He finally fell into a deep sleep, just in time for everyone else to wake up. Lionel went to the store to pick up some essentials - coffee! And he returned with fresh corn tortillas, still warm! Ah, the beauty of Mexico once again...even the corner market has fresh homemade tortillas!!


Mister slept for another hour or so more, then we had breakfast of chorizo, eggs and potatoes. Today we are going to look at a property that Lionel has had his eye on for quite some time. In is located just north of town, and it was originally $275,000 USD for 316 acres, but has dropped as of late to $125,000. He decided to ask about it at the realtor's office to get the scoop, as well as directions. The only problem, the realtor said, was that there was a squatter on 2 acres and that they had been unsuccessful on moving her. We were sure that an old lady in a shack wouldn't be too much trouble, and if we liked the property, we could work something out.

The above picture is of a "flat cow" we found along the way. And Lionel is toasting to the "Maestro". It is a Baja 1000 tradition.

Armed with a map and directions, we set out. The drive was a gorgeous tour through many thriving examples of indigenous flora. Several small ranches, cattle farms, and even a tiny village were plopped down this dirt road along the way. We chatted with a gentleman tending his beautiful garden, in awe of the pristine location, and then...we found the property.

Two abandoned homes mark the entrance. One was completely collapsed, full of the personal effects of the former resident, including a gorgeous hand carved bedframe. If we had had the space, I would have taken the headboard with us, for sure. The other house was empty, with no signs of use in a very long time, but it was livable, and locked up tightly. At least the bedroom and living areas were. The kitchen was open on one side and full of pots, pans, and an old propane stove...all still appeared to be in working order, although covered in dirt and dust. The living space/bedroom area was neat and tidy...beds made, stuffed animal on the pillow...as though the residents would be right back. But no one had been here in ages. I wonder what happened to them?
We hike our way down a path to the water - water! Yes, water flows, and by appearances, often gushes through this part of the property. This is important in Baja, well, anywhere really, access to water. The fruit trees are thriving - grapefruit, figs, oranges, mangoes, and a few others we were unable to identify. This would make a lovely retreat.


We explore further, wondering where the old lady's shack is and how we would be able to work with her, around her. We pile back into the car to drive further up the property, hoping to find the small waterfall that was pictured on the MLS listing. Instead we find the old lady's "shack"...all seven houses, multiple animal corrals, cattle, chickens, goats, and multiple families!!!
The "little problem" was not just a little old lady squatting in a shack on the creek, this was a thriving community. They aren't going anywhere! And no one is going to make them.

The picture below is a family we met after we left the property. We do not know if they are part of the family that lives there. They were kind enough to pose for a photo.


Oh well - to the beach we go- vamos a la playa!!

Above is Sis in the surf shop, El Diablo Blanco. Below is Mist, obviously enjoying the beach!


We head to Playa Cerritos - once a "secret" surf spot - now flanked by hotels and even two surf shops. The kids and the mutts splash and play, enjoying the last of the day before heading back to the hotel for dinner. Tonight's menu, grilled lobster with chayote squash, onions and corn tortillas. The kids and I cool off in the pool while Lionel makes dinner, then we eat and ZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Day Ten: El Requeson to La Paz!

Today was a rough and rude awakening! Up WAY! before sunrise to Sis, petting my head and talking nonsense about a hammock and a wet blanket. Turns out she had wet her bed. Poor thing! Then, to top it all off, but kids have sand irritated eyes. Mister's eyes are completely crusted over and it takes some work with the wet wipes to work the crust off so that the poor kid can open his eyes. The wind has been nearly intolerable, thank goodness for our palapa, so that we have a bit of a hideout from it!

We begin to break camp, much to the disappointment of our Canadian neighbors, the Bridal family, and our nuevo Mexicana familia, who has is quite taken with our "gueritos" and have even dubbed Erin the "Chiquita Pamela Anderson!"

They have been playing with her all morning, even snapping pictures with her. She is quite the attraction!

The familia has even offered food and drink to them, and the bonus, kept them out of our hair so that we could get packed up and ready to go.
Lionel bought lobster from the pescadero with the pickup truck ~ 2 kilos of spiny tail lobster for $140 pesos. Bargain! Finally, the car is packed and we are off! Adios, El Requeson, it's been fun! We head south, with intention of hitting Loreto and deciding how much further to go. We get to Loreto around 1, pick up lunch at Taqueria Dianna's, and continue south to Cuidad Constitucion. Once there, we decide that we still have a lot of daylight left, and we push on to La Paz.
This has been by far the warmest day of our trip, and Mister seems to be feeling the brunt of it. Add to the mild-overheating his gooey eye from the sand, which seems to have given him a minor infection. We get to La Paz shortly before sunset and head to the malecon (the seaside promenade, kind of like a boardwalk) to find a hotel for the evening. The following picture is my attempt at photographing the large sculpture at the entrance to La Paz. On one side it is a whale tail, and on the other, a bird of peace ~ La Paz means "the peace".

We find a hotel, after two failed attempts...the first two we had chosen on recommendation of the Moon Baja guide book were no longer open. So, we came to Hotel Perla. An historic hotel on the malecon, built in 1940, the Hotel Perla is one of the largest hotels that we have stayed in. The rooms were simple, yet comfortable, and with the added bonus of secure parking, we were quite satisfied.
We all got cleaned up for dinner, and headed downstairs to the hotel's restaurante, La Terraza. The restaurante sits right on the main drag of the malecon, and is an open air establishment, so we could watch all of the cars cruising while we ate. It was fun to see all of the cars and identify which ones were families and which were teenagers and young adults looking to pick up chicks. It wasn't difficult to distinguish them! There were quite a few vehicles all decked out with neon lights, flashy rims, and all kinds of bling. This is the first time we have seen anything like that, but it is also the first time we have stayed in a major city!

Dinner was delicious! Camarrones and pulpo al ajillo (shrimp and octopus in garlic sauce), Fish tacos, and a hamburguesa for the kids. After 254 miles, we were ready to settle into our beds in room 202 for a good night's sleep!

Day Nine: El Requeson!

Today is a day for just hanging out and enjoying the beach! Ah! Relaxation! We awoke just before sunrise, with Miter's left eye sealed shut with goo. Ick...looks like the poor guy got some sand in his eye yesterday and it is irritating him pretty badly. I give him a good face scrubbing, and hopefully, that will do the trick.

Several families have arrived in the stealth of night, and the beach is filling up with local Mexican families and gringo families alike. Much to my surprise, though, most of the "gringos" are Canadian. I'm not sure if there is another slang term for Canadian Gringos...I'll have to find out! It is disheartening that there aren't many Americans...guess that the media fear factor is in full swing. Don't travel to Mexico, it's dangerous!!! Blah!

We make a hearty camp breakfast of eggs, onions, and potatoes, and the hot camp coffee tastes so very good. The locals are gearing up the beach for the weekend and for the upcoming Semana Santa ~ Holy Week. They are bringing in Porta-potties and multiple beach vendors selling everything from jewelry, blankets, t-shirts and hammocks, to shrimp, scallops and lobster! Anything you need, these guys have it, and if they don't they will get it for you! The helado (ice cream) truck arrives, and of course, we HAVE to have ice cream on the beach! One cup for each kiddo, for $14 pesos...just over a dollar. Try that in the US! Lionel bought fixin's for our dinner, scallops and shrimp from a fisherman's pickup truck for $100 pesos. Freshly harvested seafood for less than ten bucks! Sweet!!

Erin and Tristan frolicked in the sea and sand, making friends with all of the other campers, adults and kids alike. They also pet or walked every dog on the beach! My little social butterflies! We met Chad and his girlfriend, whose name escapes me at the moment, who were sailing a small 22' sailboat from San Felipe to La Paz. They were a very nice couple with great travel stories to share. Come to find out, Chad is an adventurer of sorts, too, and has traveled by PANGA from California to Panama. Can you imagine?!

The Dona of the beach house comes by to collect the fee for the palapa. We get it for two nights for $80 pesos. What a deal! Many of the families that came in last night are packing up and moving on, making room for the new ones that are coming in today. The celebration of Semana Santa is second only to Christmas in Mexico as the biggest holidays! So, we are expecting to see more and more families setting up camp on the beaches here in the next few days.

Our new neighbors start setting up their spot. They are the Bridal Family, Joe and Michelle, and their two boys, Benjamin and Charlie, in from Quadra Island, Canada. The boys instantly take a liking to the mutts and the kids, and they spend the better part of the afternoon playing together. Erin is feeling a bit grumpy, as she got a good blast of sand in the old ojo and it's been irritating her to no end. She and Mist have a siesta before get ready for dinner. Dinner menu tonight: shrimp and scallops from the pickup truck along with rice, beans, onions and tortillas! Beach yummels!We turn in shortly after sunset, as the wind has picked up again and well, it's dark! Buenos Noches!

Day Eight: Mulege to El Requeson!

Woke up at 7 am to a beautiful day in Mulege! We were not in a hurry to go anywhere, as our destination this evening was Concepcion Bay, about 20 miles south. So, we enjoyed our surroundings at Hotel Serenidad. Breakfast at the hotel restaurant was not as good as our dinner. Lionel and I chose what we thought were different, authentic Mexican breakfasts: Huevos a la Caballo (eggs with salsa, beans, avocado and ranch cheese) and Molletes (Mexican toast spread with beans, covered with grated cheese and salsa. What we were served was basically the same thing: eggs on a fried tortilla, covered with salsa and a spoonful of beans on the side. The only difference: mine had peas on top :) Oh well, not every meal can be fabulous, right? At least the coffee and the kids pancakes were good!
We watched several of the personal aircraft take off from the airstrip and chatted with some of the pilots. It was good day for flying, and these guys were definitely taking advantage of it. Lionel had to take his Psychology test for school (how terrible to be taking his online course in Baja!) so the kids and I showered up and went for a walk around the grounds. He then took the kids swimming while I updated some of our blog.


The kids then began to "garden" while we packed up our things and loaded up the car.


The hotel landscape is accented with many artifacts from the past, including this old mill wheel.

We were on the road at 12:30, ready to drove through some of the prettiest coastline in all of Baja! South of Mulege, the mountains tumble right down to the Sea of Cortez, where the water is the prettiest shades of blue and turquoise. There are many secluded coves with sandy beaches, most of which are dotted with tents, campers, RV's and palapas. Some are even further developed with small communities. We chose the beach called El Requeson, where there is a sand bar that stretches across the sea to a small island. There aren't too many campers, and there is one open palapa - so we decide to set up camp.




There is still a lot of daylight left, so we casually set up our spot. After all, we have traveled long and hard today ~ a whopping 22 miles!! :) The palapa is the perfect size for our sitting and cooking area, and makes a great hideout from the wind. There are three outhouses to the back of the beach, and several trash cans. The beach is very clean, and obviously well taken care of by the family that lives here.


Our palapa even has a garden! Believe it our not, there were tomatoes and cilantro growing here! It took all of Sis's self control NOT to pick the itty bitty tomatoes!
Our "palapa-eye" view to the sea. Yeah, this IS livin'!

A nice older lady named Rosa came by, selling her handicrafts. We purchased two necklaces and one bracelet handmade from seed beads and shells, for $130 pesos...$10 USD. Then, we set up the tent. Surprise! Sis found Mister's kitty, who had apparently found a hiding place in the nooks and crannies of the tent. Hooray! After a hard day of driving (haha) the kids snuggle into the tent to read.
We played the rest of the day away on the beach, then cooked a yummy dinner of carne asada, pinto beans and onions with fresh tortillas. We then turned in early for a good night's sleep!

Day Two: Yuma to La Mision, Baja California!

We got checked into our hotel, the Howard Johnson's Yuma, at about 8:40 pm. We had enough sense to settle into the room, change into our swimsuits and jump into the hot tub. Fantastic!! After about an hour or so relaxing, we made some sandwiches and got ready for bed. A lovely and restful sleep was to follow.

We rose bright and early at 7:30, ready to hit the continental breakfast at the HoJo! We got our fill of mini blueberry and lemon poppyseed muffins, oranges, bananas, and hard boiled eggs, along with coffee and apple juice. We then packed up the car and piled in for another long day of driving. But, with the knowledge that we will at the beach by the end of the day, the drive doesn't seem so bad. Now, to get through the desert and Tijuana!

We are on the road at 9:37 am, stopping for gas before we leave Yuma. Gas here is $2.86 per gallon. We "get out on the highway" and are soon in California. The desert is beautiful this time of the year, and we are all quite comfortable driving along. This is a nice change, as usually we are crossing the desert when it is sweltering! We gas up in Campo, where gas is $3.20 a gallon. Big difference in Cali. We also make a few important phone calls: to my parents and to the bank. We are getting closer to our border crossing and need to let our financial institutions know so that we will be able to access our money South of the Border. Don't cross the border without letting your bank know! They will flag your account and it will be difficult to retrieve any of your money.

At the Border Checkpoint along the highway, West I-8, the sign indicated their successes for 2009: 3567 Immigration Arrests. 370 Criminal Arrests. 9952 Lbs Drugs Seized. 15 DUI Arrests. Looks like they have been pretty busy. Although, I would have thought they would have had more arrest and seizures. We then stop at Border's Bookstore and Wal-Mart for a few last minute items, then prepare for the joy that is crossing at Tijuana!

Traffic was backed up forEVER! I thought it would take a million and a half years to get through. And of course, we are in the left lane, and we need to get over to the right lane, so that we can stop at the Migracion Officina to get our FM-T's (tourist visas). Getting across five lanes of stopped traffic was not going to be easy. We do our best to ask the other travelers politely if we can get over, and most comply. Of course, there's always the one or two jackasses that act as though you are truly hassling them and they just cannot fathom the idea of letting someone pass. We were even honked at angrily by a couple of Nuns! Craziness. Finally, after about 45 minutes to an hour, we were through the border and stopped in the Declaration Lane. This is where you need to go to get to the Migracion Officina. With our FM-T's in hand, we made a beeline around Tijuana, past the giant "Buddy" Jesus statue at K-38 in Rosarito Beach, and arriving at La Fonda Hotel and Spa at 4:30. Ahhhh! We are home!

We happily settled in OUR room, room 3, to unpack a few things, then hurry down to the beach for the last bit of dayligh.We played with the mutts on the playa, flew a kite with some nice kids from California, found some seashells and sea glass, then went back up to the room to freshen up a bit and make our way to the restaurant for some delicious dinner. Outside the restaurant, were our old friends, the lovely Senora that sells flowers (we met her when Mister was first born and she rocked him to sleep, and we have seen her every trip since) as well as the Senoritas that sell jewelry and trinkets. Of course, they had smiles as big as the day is long, and Sis, Mist (and Mom!) needed some new bracelets :)

Dinner was amazing, as always: Fried Whole Fish, Chicken Cordon Bleu, and a Mexican Combo Platter for the kids. Fantastico! Lionel and I enjoyed a refreshing cerveza or two, and listened to the live guitarist, while Sis fell asleep in her chair, covered in Mexican blankets, and Mister was about to do the same. When the meal came to a close, both kids where asleep and we were ready for bed, too. Of course, with another 209 miles under our belts today, the soft snuggly beds, and gentle crash of the waves quickly lulled us to sleep.