Baja 1/18/2012

We took a road trip up the San Bartolo arroyo today. We saw turkey vultures having a late lunch, a herd of goats and their dog manager, and enjoyed a beautiful Baja day. We have gone up to San Bartolo before, but this year, the bamboo has really taken over where the water springs up. We were able in past years to walk to the big pool at the end of the trail; this year we gave up trying to get through the bamboo. I drove our lil Jeep back, first time driving it. I now know how to put it in 4-wheel drive but don't know a thing about the 'lockers'... and probably wont for a long while.... I've included photos of Mike and Elaine - these off-road trips were one of the big things the brothers wanted to do this winter. Last page I put up a photo of our Mexican dish with some vegetables... this time I am including a painting of a collection of the Mexican pottery and veggies. Too much fun! We hope you are having fun too! Happy trails....

Baja 1/12/2012

We are settling in pretty fine at Onda Rocks house. I put up a couple of shots of the local goat herd. They seem to roam our road pretty much on their own. They call a yard just south of our road home, meaning a fenced yard, but it has an open gate and they roam at will. Pretty amazing to see them hold up a couple of cars as they mosey across the road. I also have a photo (seems I can't figure out to to 'straighten it up) of Roger reading in our front patio. The inset is done in tile and of the Madonna. Tomorrow the big Lord of the Winds festival will be held on the beach and in town. The photo of one group of kiters shows only one small group. The kites are all over the beach into town, and folks are out there on the water practising. There are sail boarder out on the water too. There are big colored triangle floats laying out the courses. ' I also included a photo of our veggies and Mexican dishes. This looks good enough for either dinner or a painting! Part of our Mexican adventure is water and electricity cut offs, at random times and for unknow lenghts of time.... however, we wouldn't be any where else!... Happy trails...

Baja 2012 Jan 9

We arrived at Onda Rocks, our casa in Los Barriles 1/7/2012. We stopped at the Hotel Serenidad just south of Mulege' on the 5th. I've included a few photos of the hotel. We took a break from long driving days and just kicked back here. We drove on to Ciudad de Constitution on the 6th, staying at Palapa 206 in their 'motel' rooms, which were sufficient to our needs. We decided to skip sightseeing in favor of going straight on in to Los Barriles, arriving on the 7th. We had a great lunch at a roadside stand in San Antonio, and then on Los Barriles. We were early and the gates to the property were locked. However, we finally got in and started the unpacking process! We are just a driveway off the beach, and like our new home very much. It is very much Mexican, sort of funky in style, but fits us perfectly! Mike was our chef for our first at-home dinner... great shrimp stir fry w/ rice. That man can cook! Mike has set up his 'office' in one of the single bedrooms and I have the second one as a studio, a place to store my painting supplies and our extra empty containers. We played Mexican train last night after dinner. How great is that!! We hope you enjoy our adventures and have... Happy Trails....

Baja 2012 Jan. 2,

We crossed the border at Tecate' about 10.30 am. You can see from our photos, that our trusty kayaks are loaded (and so are all the rigs !). A quick breakfast at the casino coffee shop braced us for the journey. After an uneventful but long drive we stayed at the Hotel Jardines, in San Quintin. You can see what a beautiful place this is; not particularly large, but the grounds were beautiful and the rooms very nice. We took Hiway Mex 3 out of Tecate',then onto Mex 1 to San Quintin. We got excellent recommendations and directions from folks on the Baja Pony Express internet newsletter. On the 3rd we were on to Guerro Negro. We stayed at the Malarimmo (?) Hotel and RV park. We were in our rvs last year when we stayed there. We had a great dinner there and crashed early. Yesterday, the 4th, we were in San Ignacio, staying in the hotel part of the hotel/rv complex. Again, last year we were there in the RV section, in our rigs. Weather was so perfect we had a great dinner on the hotel patio. We took the afternoon to drive out to the San Ignacio Lagoon, hoping to see whales. This side trip did give the guys a chance to give the 'lil' Jeeps an adventuresome ride for some 4 hours (total, out and back). No whales, but a beautiful view of the lagoon on the Pacific side of Baja. Today we just south of Mulege', at the Hotel Serenidad... and again beautiful weather. Roger and I both graduated to shorts.... Mike and Elaine started that trend yesterday. The roads are much improved and of course everything looks bigger (wider highway, taller trucks etc) but that is because we are in reg size autos, not higher up in RVs! Passing those big trucks is not so hard this time...lol Hope you have something wonderful planned for 2012...Happy Trails....

Baja 2012 packing up

The last week of December we were very busy, unloading the RV and getting it into storage, as well as getting the Jeeps into travel-mode. Course the little Jeep needed a few things, got it's first 'bra, new tow package, a tune up package, etc etc. Big Jeep came in for it's share of attention too. I had to put up one picture of the clean deck, as we thought there for awhile, that we would never see the new carpet again! The shadow photo is one I took out the window of the Wrangler... it is of the kayaks atop the Jeep, in great sunshine heading down the road to the Quechan Casino, where we met Roger's brother Mike and his wife Elaine. The 4 of us were traveling down to Los Barriles. We are sharing a house there and the adventure along the way. We crossed the border on January 2, 2012. What a way to start the New Year! I plan to post more photos of our trip, so if you would like to join us... check in on the Koehn Road Trip, 2012. meanwhile, Happy Trails.....

Visit to Leavenworth area

After our stay at Mill Bay RV park in Manson, WA for most of October, we moved on to the Thousand Trails park outside Leavenworth, WA. The weather turned "fall-ish" in a hurry, with rain showers and low hanging clouds. We did go to the Octoberfest on Saturday. The artist stalls were fewer than in years past but there was still a nice selection to browse. At the pavillion we enjoyed some 'German" style music including the yodels. On Sunday we went to Plain, WA. just a few miles from the park. I've included some photos of the Civil War re-enactment camp. This village went all out for the event, which lasted two days. There was a 'battle' twice each day. "Soliders and camp followers" were available to talk to between engagements and provided interesting facts and stories about the war. We had lunch while there, but it wasn't army food; the ice cream cone was great!

We are back in Puyallup at the moment, having some maintenance done on the coach. We'll be in this area until our newest grandson is born. Jason, Candi and Max are in the final countdown now as the baby is due in November. Meanwhile we hope you have... Happy trails...

September at Lake Chelan

We are spending the last 2 weeks of September here at Mill Bay RV park in Manson, WA. We are here as guests of Roger's brother Mike and his wife Elaine who are members of this park. We are right on the lake and have full hookups, including cable. Just too perfect. The weather has been great. I'm including photos of the water volleyball games that go on every day. I paint while Roger is out there getting wet! We have kayaked on the lake and hope to do more before we leave. From here we will go to Leavenworth to the Thousand Trails park there. On a drive into the foothills above Manson we picked up a huge bag of gala apples from a farm stand. We hope to get a good box load in Leavenworth before we leave. I also hope to make the Fall Leaf festival in Leavenworth too.
We are making our plans for our winter in Baja again this year. We will drive down and are renting a condo outside Los Barriles with Mike and Elaine. The Baja Magic has worked on the Koehns big time! We will be spending our time until December in the Enumclaw area, as we are excited about our newest grandson's arrival. Jason and Candi are expecting Nov 23. So we have a lot to look forward to and to enjoy right now! Happy trails....