Tucker’s Baja Escape

      Today was another day that started with strong wind and heavy clouds with a few more showers but nothing like the day before. Many of us walked out some but there were still lots of book reading time. An interesting side light was this huge walking stick insect which was on the back of Kurt and Diane's Class C.  He stayed for hours perhaps to dry out and be protected from the wind which was still pretty strong as the sun began to come out. The cloud display during this day was spectacular.  Slowly the world started to dry out but the wave continued to boom throughout the day. We were glad we had a respite from the bad weather as that evening we began to prepare the trailers for the departure for Los Barriles at 8:00 in the morning. This was a great stop at Tecolote and one we will remember. 

     We had a slow morning walking on the beach and enjoying the weather though it was becoming more windy and some high clouds were moving in. Our planned trip today for today was to Balandra Playa just about 3 miles away from our camp.  We took all our chairs, umbrellas, lunch and water, and, of course the dogs. The two cats stayed behind to protect our camp though they have been know to nap during their duties. We were to learn that Balandra is a favorite of La Paz residents and many families were enjoying the outing. It was a Thursday but looked like at Sunday at the beach with all the kids in the water. This little Bahia is famous for it being shallow all the way to the other side. People were walking across, and if you were pretty tall you could be only chest deep at the deepest point.  There were vendors walking up and down selling hats, fruit, and renting umbrellas to people. It was very warm on the beach and most families were in and out of the water to cool off. The children

  Kurt stepped out early this morning to watch the difference in the weather and the brave kite boarder doing magnificent moves across and waves and back.        Our weather change happened last night. It was foretold by the strong breeze off the water last night during our get together.  This breeze usually dies down at sunset but last night it continued even as we went to bed. It was an odd night. At about 11 or so, Tucker awakened us with a low growl, he reserves for important alerts. I turned on the light, saw two men walking the beach at the back of the trailer. It was most probably an innocent stroll but, for the first time since we came to Mexico, we got the news that we needed to be more aware of the things we leave outside our trailers as some campers had had somethings disappear. One of our group found their tailgate open in the morning after they had certainly closed it the night before. Nothing has come up missing so far and our RV camps have always been relatively safe a

  Wednesday November 24, 2021       Today we set out from La Paz for Playa Tecolote or Owl Beach with a grocery and gas stop along the way. The Soriana supermercado was huge. It is a Baja Sur type big Walmart but with a much better grocery selection.        Christmas was already in full swing in the store  with all our familiar Christmas carols, jingle bells and frosty the snowman music.          I am not sure how the people of Baja Sur relate to those songs but they must signify Christmas, at least to the store operators. Everywhere in Baja Sur the decorating has begun. They were putting in poinsettias along the malecon yesterday in Las Paz. The larger garlands were being hung across the streets. There is no Thanksgiving holiday so in Baja Sur they move straight from Dia de Los Muertos to Christmas.        This drive was a much shorter one than yesterday, only 45 km or 29 miles. We basically skirted Las Paz to get to Tecolote. Once again we were able to park our rigs on the packed

     Today we left the RV park at 10 am with all but 4 off us in a van. Liz and Bill explored in their jeep they pull behind their Class A and our "wagon masters" stayed behind as did the puppies, Cleo, PiPi and Tucker. They got to sleep the day away in the trailers. The van took us to a taxi stand deep into the heart of the Malecon or Beachwalk near the big colors letters that announce LA PAZ.  The water along the Beachwalk was so clear and appeared to be quite shallow for aways out. As you can see there were lots of small and large sail boats anchored out a way from the beach. That is a bench you see in the foreground were one can just sit and enjoy. Along the walk was a playground devoted to kids with disabilities as the swings, merry go round and teeter totter were all designed to accommodate wheel chairs. It was the first playground any of us had ever seen.  There was also a small pier that jutted out a ways to accommodate the larger yachts. You can see still more sailbo

Driving and getting there when you are traveling overland part of the adventure and also the challenge. Last night we all prepared for day's drive, drained our black and grey water, started unhooking the utilities. Greg was especially inventive in getting his black water to drain and used the method of the Mexicans who seem to be masters at making it work with whatever is at hand.  Greg gathered pieces from everyone but got the job done. This park had one of the more difficult drains we  have encountered so far.  This little patio was just outside our door and that is our pickup parked in the little space. We will be coming back here on the way home through Loreto. It is a small but joyful park with our laundry ladies across the street. The whole thing is very human scale. Side story, Saturday, I thought the women in the laundry shop lost my favorite shorts, I only have two for this journey. We had picked up the laundry on Saturday and I panicked. The women at the laundry could not

 As I write this our Rivera Del Mar RV park in the area of Loreto where the residents live, is slowly filling up with the people who came through the border from Canada and US on the 8th. We were one day ahead so we have run ahead of the many following us. That is good and bad. Our park, though we had a reservation had some electrical problems, we had to run an extension cord, and it has been clear we are the first wave. One expatriate greeted us with so glad to see you, you are the first caravan since the Covid shutdown. This blog will have a lot more pictures than usual as we finally have a more reliable date connection. I will start with Saturday. Paul, Kristina, Ann and Greg, and Jim and I took a tour van with Oscar our driver to the San Francisco Javier mission which is up a very twisting grade to a higher place in these rugged mountains which has a spring that provides a water supply. You could tell the few places that have water as the date palms brought by the "missioners&

        Loreta is a major town on the Central Baja South coast which is actually on the Sea of Cortez while Santispec is on the Bahia de Concepcion or a bay off of the Sea of Cortez. It has a population of over 20,000 and for many years Northern Americans from Canada and the U.S have wintered her and many have established homes here. The fisherman discovered it in the 60's and it remains a destination for those in the Northern climes. Like Santispec, it is cool at night, heats quickly in the morning till about 2:00 pm then it cools with the breeze in the after and evening. At the grocery story we were among at least as many English speakers as Spanish. Many of the expatiates are bilingual as they spend more time here than in the North. We are able to find many services here, including a laundry, propane, banks and, of course, great Baja food. Must say, a couple of us had emoladas last night. It is like enchiladas but with a mole sauce. I have alway been intimidated by just the reci

  November 17, 2021 Wednesday        Weather shift today, at least for a while at the heat of the day. Wind came from over the water, very cooling, especially in the shade. There is a catamaran, yacht, and a sailing boat in the little bay. I walked deeper into the water and watched the “minnows” and some larger fish swim in schools and feed in the sand kicked up by my feet. A couple of locals came by while I was out in the water and offered green clams they had cleaned and caught. I was a bit hesitant. Kurt and Diane bought some juice from a vender yesterday morning and less than two hours later were really hit with “the revenge.” This is the "crew" from Woodland, Kristina, Paul, Jim and Judy experiencing Armando's at the Santispec beach. They are known for having the "deadliest margaritas." One OK, two you are on the edge, three it is a good thing you only have to walk across the beach to your trailer!         There have been lots of water adventures by our

  N ovember 16, 2021 Tuesday            Third full day at the Santispec Playa and it is warmer. It took longer this afternoon for the breeze from the mountains to come up and cool us. It usually seemed to come up by 11:00 am or so and today it was warmer as the breeze did show up till about 1:00 pm. All you need is a walk in the water or a little shade and it is just fine. Today several of us drove to Mulege separately to do errands. Old Mulege is very interesting. One way streets as they are so narrow, much like some old European villages. It is hilly and some areas along the river have flooded so many times, they have been abandoned but a way from the river, the town goes on. Jim and Judy went in to get purified water and had to learn about the congested streets. They are so narrow that one lane is for parking and the remaining space is the street which explains the one way streets. When we got our water, the man selling it to us helped us back out into the traffic from his littl

  November 15, 2021            I am writing this from Santispac, a beach that is protected by being in a small bay of the Bahia Conception. We had a short drive  but challenging drive from Rice and Beans RV yesterday. Part of getting here was crossing from the Pacific side of Baja over inland mountains and desert followed by a steep descent to the Sea of Cortez. The area proceeding the steep decent is named Cuesta del Infermo as it passes through the rough volcanic area dominated by Las Tres Virgines. The Devil”s Grade required us to take it very slowly, geared down or some using truck breaks on their RVs. All the memorials to the dead at certain curves in the road were a bit unnerving. This was one of the most challenging grades many of us had experienced but as luck was have it, it was relatively short and we all did well.  Just as we left this morning, we spoke to the Baja Racers who had worked all night doing repairs. They are a Mexican team who have high hopes.          We ha

        Since we could not go on the Salt Tour we left at 10:00 am rather than our planned 1:00pm time. The Salt Tour of Guerrero Negro was to view one of the largest salt production facility in the World at 7 million tons and year and 26 tons a day.  It employs many people from this area. We drove for about 3 hours to San Ignacio to the RV park.  Through the entire drive as we do on all drives, our leaders communicated with us on their radio, with the number 8 trailer giving a heads up when a vehicle wanted to pass us. The leader would then tell us if clear and then the left turn signal would be turned on by number 8. We did that with each trailer has the passing vehicle got behind us. We would wait for the all clear from lead vehicle then in succession would let the passing car know it was clear to pass. The passing vehicle would often hopscotch behind each trailer and make the way to number 1 to get around us. Mexico has an interesting system. Flashers if we were slowing to turn. Le