Last Night in San Felipe

 We left Gonzanga Bay and the cursed wind at about 8:30 am. Few of us left with regret at leaving. I plan to research the weather in that area and find out if that was just a weather front that caused the wind to roar out of the mountains behind us or a normal event. From the looks of the area and barriers against the wind, I suspect it is a normal occurrence. 

      Our drive today was a little over 3 hours through mountains and, at times, along the coast of the Sea of Cortez. There are small structures on the beaches and some old trailers among newer but it was not very populated. The weather is getting cooler as we move north toward the border. Our destination today is at Victor’s RV Camp in San Felipe. Jim and I have been #2 in the lineup since the first day since we missed a right turn leaving the Mexican border. Well, today, as we all left the gas station a few blocks from Victor’s, on our own, I managed to have us follow the road left instead of right and wander a few blocks with Kirk and Diane #6 following us. Jim pulled up our GPS since in San Felipe we have data and got us back to the park were the rest were waiting for us. As a navigator, I have become “wrong way Corrigan.” So we remain #2. 

      Today in San Felipe, we all did some walking and exploring as we are near the small town and our park is very close to the beach and the Malecon. Our main effort seemed to be finding and researching the “best” restaurant to have our last dinner together before our border crossing tomorrow.

 We have been together on this adventure for 40 days. We have enjoyed adventures and just sitting in the sun or in front of a fire telling stories and getting to know each other. We have shared addresses and talked about our children. We have been supportive when someone is hurting or concerned. Our dog travelers, Pipi, Cleo, and Tucker as well as our kitty travelers Pebbles and Nibbles have gotten to know the group like their family and have been part of our morning briefings before we leave on the road in our caravan. (Well, perhaps not the kitties). Cleo and Dave are improving everyday. Cleo who was in shock after her attack in Bahia de Los Angeles is now back to her beach fishing. Dave’s foot which was bitten in the attack is healing but he is nursing a sprain with no complaints. Kristina, who suffered a sprain the night we left Portero near San Diego is now almost healed. She has been a trooper. She just kept going, working around the sprain by keeping it braced, is now doing well. We are all pulling for her as she lost her passport in the first days of the trip, reported it lost, and tomorrow we cross the border. She and Paul will be #3 in the lineup so we stay together. 

     We left at 5:45pm, as a group, to walk down to Matilda’s or Danny’s Bar depending on if you enter from the front or from the beach. It is really a very large palapa outfitted with propane heaters but open to the sea on 3 sides. They had arranged a table for all 16 of us as we all arrived in a party spirit. Many of us started with margaritas as we have made it a goal to sample them across Baja to determine the best. We were joined by a singer with a guitar who knew how to sing “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” in Spanish. Many of us joined in English or really poor Spanish. He was great and added to the fun.

Note the "killer" margarita in the foreground. Sorry for my focus, I think I was as involved in the singing as the others!

Paul's camera got the best pictures. Stay tuned for his blog. Bill, from the right, Liz, George, Mary and Ruth. Dave is just above the camera. 

 It was a wonderful ending with a closeness that certainly was not there when 16 strangers got together 40 days for a trip we could only envision through a summary of destinations and places we might explore. We have had near misses on the road, trucks that “kissed” Bill and Liz’s RV, then passed inches from the trailers ahead. We worked as a team on the radios to get passing cars safely by us and waited for each other so no one was left behind. As #2 Jim and I even had a couple of times when Dave and Darlene had to pull over, quickly radioed up coming travel and we briefly, thankfully, led the group alerting to traffic coming in the on coming lane. We have all learned something we did not know about this place called Baja California Sur y Norte in Mexico. We have communicated both in broken Spanish and in English with the people we have met in the stores, gas stations and restaurants. There are many different circumstances of life just like anywhere else. This area, which needs tourists to visit to maintain their vitality has suffered. They have also suffered some devastating hurricanes from which they have not totally healed. There are gentle open people and a few  you need to have your guard up when you are dealing with them. We have learned stories from them that touch our hearts. I am leaving with a fondness for this place and hope for them and us in Norte America that we will be able to make it a better place for all.