Sanispac Beach/Sea of Cortez 1/13/-1/14/10

Santispac beach is at least a mile wide, and have several loops extending it. We are at the far left in the photo, and this is our caravan (all 17 I think of us) plus a couple of other folks who were there. We spent two wonderful days here. The sunrises were absolutely gorgeous! And sunrise doesn't come until about 7 a.m. so I got to see them too. This was a dry camp, which was no problem for us.

Folks drove into Mulege' in the afternoon to do laundry, shop and have lunch; we follow our wagonmaster John around like a clutch of ducklings.. he know where the good places are! We dropped off our laundry to pick them up second day, all done and folded... this for the price I would pay to wash and dry myself in AZ. Claudia's Laundaria is the pink builting with the wrought iron rails above. I bought two embroidered shirts, Mexican style... can't wait to wear them. The church in the photo was built in the 1700's and is still in use today.
The river in the photo flows down from the mountains above Mulege'. If I got my info right, last season's hurricane rain flooded this river and wiped out many cottages along it. The water came to within one foot of the bridge in the photo. They are rebuilding the area, but you can still see many downed palm trees and piles of 'stuff' still in the works. Roger took a couple of photos of me painting and I also have a photo up of the pelicans who visited. First night there was a big bon fire on the beach. Wagonmaster Dusty helped some folks dig up clams and roast them on the beach. This was just the most wonderful 2 days. Warm weather, and perfect setting. We did have some high winds in the evening and later that night, but like Brigadoon, only at night!

We wanted an adventure and we certainly are having one. We are now in Loreto, and getting into the park was a real challenge for our leaders, who had not been informed of the major construction going on.... however, our group is so patient, and relaxed, we just lined up like good rv-ers, and waited for instructions! I bought a kilo of lobster tails, and a kilo of HUGE shrimp here in the park today. I will seek out my gourmet chef friend, and find out what to do with the lobster tails.... and feast! I can handle the shrimp....

happy trails.... more adventures to come....

San Ignacio

We stayed at the "Rice and Beans" Hotel and RV park outside San Ignacio. Drove into plaza to see the ancient fica trees, the historic church, museum of cave paintings, and generally see the town. The cave paintings are replicas of paintings found high in the mountains. It is a 3 day mule trip and requires a government permit to see them. They are some 20 ft. up on the ceiling of the huge caves. Even the replicas are very impressive. I had a lobster dinner and Roger had the Carne Asada (steak) at the hotel that night. Hotel resturant and bar are in one small space, but the food was worth waiting for! I had to include a photo of one of the little tourist shops on the square. Streets were very narrow, and Mexicans 'cruise' through their stop signs... very interesting driving here.

Next day we were off to Mulege', Sanispac beach on the Sea of Cortez. Two magnificent days on the beach. More to come!

happy trails.....

Baja Day 4 & 5

We arrived in Guerro Negro on the west coast for 2 day stay. By the way, Google came up in Spanish today! Anyway, we had a great dinner here at the resturant at Malarimma (I think) hotel and rv park. In the afternoon, Roger and I drove out to the Scammons Lagoon to see the old lighthouse and estuary. Lots of birds, folks fishing off the old piers. Dinner was terrific! That was yesterday. Today we were in the 8 am group to take the whale sightseeing tour. Very chilly, you can see from photos that we are all bundled up but the day was perfect and the water calm. My photo taking of whales is awful, but you get the idea, I hope! I've deleted lots of 'sea' (no whales in it) photos. This afternoon we walked into town for "Baja's best fish and shrimp tacos" according to our wagon master Dustin. And they were yummy! Bought some produce at the local markets and loafed the rest of the afternoon. We leave tomorrow for San Ignacio which is a unique and historical town. It is supp0osed to have a wonderful mssion and traditional plaza. Then on to Bahia de Concepcion for 2 days of dry camping on the beach. You know I will be taking more photos!

Baja - day 3 ..1/9/10

Well, cave paintings, bunk house dinner, and climbing rocky trail were part of today's adventures. Canada may have moose warning signs; America may have deer or elk warning signs, but Baja has Cow warning signs (with horns). We have never seen any of these animals at the warning signs, I guess they take them seriously... however, we did see roaming horses on the road and here in the park today.

We saw a marvelous 'rock garden' area on the way to San Quintin... with Boojum (don't know scientific name) cactus and some called "cardon' cactus that look alot like the AZ seguros, but with many arms coming from the base. We are dry camping again tonight. I did manage to get a photo of the horses in the parking area. Of course it appears I have not yet learned to get all photos upright!.. but that's Roger and me at the foot of the cave where we photographed the 400 yr old (or more) cave paintings. Dinner tonight was here in the rv park (loose term) put on by the family that tends this park. Very authentic and yummy! Turning in early tonight, all this fun is wearing us out!

I did include my latest painting, finished while still in the KOA park in Chula Vista. Tomorrow we go on to Guerrero Negro Malarrimo campground. We will go through a military check point and agriculture inspection. They are very serious here... very strange to see soldiers w/ guns and camouflage! But everyone is very friendly and no problems so far.

Happy trails.....

Baja Day 2

S

Here we are, at a "lenny' break (seems Lenny had to stop a lot on prev tour)...we arrived at El Pabellon RV about 2 p.m. Again, we are just across the dunes from the sea. Here is Roger checking out part of a wreck (boat of course) That night we had a potluck on the beach w/ John, Becky, and son Dustin providing margaritas! We had a sumptuous meal, I can tell you! The surf was singing to us all night, and my photo of it in the morning, says it all. We loved walking the beach, I picked up shells, had a great dinner and slept like a rock! Have to give credit to friend Elma Jean for her Tang salad receipe which I shamlessly passed off as my own for part of our offering for the potluck. What a hit!! I also made deviled eggs, which went over well too. This was a dry camp again, so no long term cooking involved.

The photo top left is of sunset at park. At right is "Trusty Dusty" one of the group wagonleaders. He approved of my deviled eggs, which I appreciated!

This second day was relaxing on the beach and a great pot luck. The roads are very narrow, and we take it easy, going in two groups, about 20 minutes apart. This allows local traffic a chance to get around us and we use cb's to keep in touch. The most unusual thing about the driving is that we signal with our left turn signal when the road ahead is clear and the vehicles behind can pass. Very narry, winding roads, so this is very important. I confes we are having a grand time.....

happy trails....

Baja trip, day 1 1/7/10

these photos put up last, show up first... I have a lot to learn.... they are of estuary, our view from site at Estero Beach w/ Roger, and one of the hotel across the water. Very beautiful....

Trip of a life time down to Baja California, Mx. with Baja Winters tour group. 18 rigs. starting a big adventure! Photos of us lined up to buy trolley tickets to visa office in Tijuana... then we cross the next day (1st actual day of roadtrip) at Tecate'. 3rd photo is our fearless leader, Becky Smith... husband wagonleader John is ? Our site at Estero Beach was perfect!... we looked out our windows to the estuary and sea beyond. We went to the resort resturant for a great dinner, with some rabid football fans taking in the game at the bar during happy hour. Almost no tours have gone down this year and the locals are really hurting for business. Regardless, our service and food were great! The trip through Tecate was a little tricky, but we all made it through. The sites at Estero Beach were worth it all....

we are on

happy trails.....

Seaport Village, 1/2/10

On Monday Roger and I went to the Seaport Village at San Diego harbor. It was a beautiful warm day, and lots of people were out and about. Cruise ship was in harbor and so there were lots of 'cruisers' there too. One fun thing was a sidewalk showman who had a wonderful collection of exotic birds. Roger met up with one of them. I took a lot of bird photos as I hope to paint some of them.

Tomorrow I think we are supposed to have our first Baja group meeting. Will rush to get laundry done one more time before we leave.

It's getting exciting, so looking forward to getting on the ROAD!..

happy trails....