Visit to La Paz

We are n La Paz now, at an RCI timeshare just outside the city. We left Los Barriles 1/22/11, making a stop at the Bay of Dreams for lunch. This is a resort complex I guess, on a beautiful bay, out in the middle of nowhere. There is a golf course, a few buildings in a residential portion of the property, and a great restaurant with a gorgeous view of the sea. This route also took us away from the mountain highway to La Paz, so though it was a longer drive (somewhat) it was new country for us and not all those winding curves! We checked in to the La Concha (The Shell) and checked out the beach. There is a very nice pool, outdoor bar with food service and service right to your palapa from the staff. The food is excellent and so is the service. However our bed is like sleeping on the floor and there is not a comfortable chair to sit on in the living space! We have spent wonderful days on the beach on cushioned lounges, and I wanted to take the cushions in to sleep on! We've driven into La Paz a couple of times. Roger is still favoring his left leg so we are not doing much walking on the famous maleco'n. He did manage to find a coffee house though and get a 'fix'... however, this is Mexico and not Seattle. They are more into Mode'lo cervesa than mochas or lattes. For the most part the weather has been just beautiful. I did buy a hoodie sweatshirt and was glad to have it today as we have a little overcast. This weather would be a warm day in Washington, but how quickly we have become accustomed to WARM weather, every day, all day. I think tomorrow we will head back to Los Barriles. I am getting too spoiled with all the great service. Having to cook a meal or make my own bed will be hard to get used to again! Remember not to waste today, it wont come again... happy trails...

Baja Lord of the Winds 1/13/11

First day of Lord of the Winds competiton here in Los Barriles. This is an international competition including both kite boarders and wind surfers. In some of the competitons, both types of surfers are in the race. Remember that you can click on any photo to enlarge it. The kites are very colorful and the wind surfers look like butterflies on the sea. Because they have to be translucent so the sailor can see where he/she is going, the sun shining through the colorful sails is quite beautiful.

This is day one of the events. We just drove down the beach a way, parked and walked among the participants, the spectators etc. There are lots of vendors with 'refreshments' but there is no pressure, and crowd was having a great time with no rowdiness (well, at least not at 2 p.m.) We will go back tomorrow to see more of the events. We will also take chairs and settle in more comfortably. The wind was really blowing out there too; I'm sure I got a good 'sandblasting' on my legs! These photos also give a good view of how great the weather has been down here....lots of sunshine. And we see these folks in front of our beach "all the time".... happy trails.......

Baja 1/11/11

I thought today I would show you that life isn't all just play and fun! We have to shop, stand in line, pay our bills and show the newbies the sights! Some of these photos show our shopping - the vendor and his wife come into the park, set up table, calculator, and boxes of great produce, fresh eggs, home made tortillas and tamales... yummy. We customers line up, make our choices, get it weighed, and pay our bills. It is also a time to catch up on what other folks here are doing, what they are cooking etc. They come about noon on Saturday, I am sure to be here when they come... much better fruits and veggies than we can get in town at the market. Yesterday we took Roger's brother Mike and his wife Elaine up the arroyos; we were able to drive very close to the waterfall in San Antonio arroyo. We were busy taking photos and getting our feet wet. There was more water here today than when we were here with Danny and Linda in December.

Los Barriles is all geared up for a big wind surf/kite surfing weekend; big international competition for both types of crafts. The main events will be south of our park, but we can look down the beach and see quite a bit; and a walk down the beach to get into the full event is easy. Today (Wednesday) many surfers are out on the water and the free beach north of us is pretty full of both participants, wannabes, and watchers. We are lucky to have such a grand spot to see it all. Well, I guess that makes it sound like another day in paradise.... I will work hard to get some photos of these wonderful colorful kites and sailboards.

Happy trails....