Merry Christmas 2012 from Los Barriles

We'll be sitting on the beach, with our feet in the sand, drinking cervesas for Christmas. We have found an RVing "family" to spend it with - 2 couples travelling together from Washington (with 5 dogs)  & a German woman  travelling alone with her dog. We have been enjoying their company - meals out, cervesas by the campfire & trips out exploring. They have shown us a lovely waterfall & pond at the end of a dry arroyo that appears out of nowhere, tumbles down the rocks into a stream that slowly disappears again. Another trip involved going to the dump where we watched cows pulling open plastic bags & eating the garbage! We have plans to enjoy "Christmas pizza" in El Triunfo with them on the 25th.
We've watched a "dune buggy, etc." race through the sand - spectators much too close to the action, but exciting. Out our front window we see dozens of kite-boarders  -which means that it's awfully windy! We also see "flying" manta rays near the shore - they leap out of the water, the fall back in, kind of like skipping a stone along the water. Could be warmer, but still wearing shorts,( sweater required, even with the campfire, which is next to the community Christmas tree.)
Robin & I did a day trip to Cabo Pulmo - hoping to return for a snorkelling trip as it has the only coral reef in the Sea of Cortez. Another delightful Mexican road - first paved, then full of potholes, then the pavement ends & the washboard sand begins. Lovely beaches but lots of waves that day. Excellent taco lunch (picture to follow).
We plan to move to an RV park just outside of Cabo San Lucas on Dec 26. If it seems OK we may stay there 1 month - it would be a treat to have full hook-ups & WiFi every day. After that it's the long road home - Robin keeps telling me that it will then be my turn to drive - not likely!
We miss family & friends, but we look forward to catching up in the spring, we hope everyone has a wonderful Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Still Living the Dream!

Tecolote - turtles & snorkelling with sea lions

We left Loreto Dec. 2 (on the Sea of Cortez) & crossed over (not thru) the Sierra La Giganta mountains accompanied by thousands of yellow butterflies. We passed through the middle of the Baja peninsula to Ciudad Constition, crossing many arroyos (dry stream beds) seeing evidence of massive amounts of water, leaving boulders on the road. Glad we were not here in hurricane season. We made a day trip to the Pacific coast - 55 km to San Carlos, a small fishing village where whale watching later in the winter is popular. We found it strange to see cacti growing so close to the ocean, we saw many large birds - crested carracas, vultures & ospreys & collected more shells.
Next to La Paz, back on the Sea of Cortez, a large city, which we bypassed, as did all the big trucks on their way to the ferry to the mainland. Another tiny, curvy road. We set up on Tecolote Beach - great long sandy beach, free camping amongst the sand dunes - stayed 10 nights. No services except for a few beach resturants, very peaceful. We drove in to La Paz for shopping, more tacos & to mail Christmas cards ( Dec 5, hopefully we don't beat them home).
We did an amazing boat tour - to Isla Espiritu Santo - beautiful scenery as we motored around the islands & we snorkelled right next to a sea lion colony - quite intimidating having sea lions swimming just below you & comorants (big birds) diving next to you. Lots of colorful fish in every size as well. Lunch of ceviche tostados ( I wasn't going to eat "raw" fish but I'm still alive & well) on a secluded beach & then we were very lucky to have a large family of dolphins swimming alongside the boat on our way back.
We also lucked out as we were invited to participate in a baby turtle release - a local beach resturant protects a site where turtles lay eggs & when they hatch they keep them until dark & release them into the ocean (no pelicans at night) - unforgettable!
I have experienced my first Mexican haircut - cost $6.50, non English speaking hairdresser so not quite what I wanted, but it will grow. I'd like to color my hair also, but I can't read the instructions & I'm afraid of the results!
We rented a 2 man kayak on our beach & decided to venture over to Balandra Bay (we thought it was "right around the corner"). Not quite- it took about 1 hour to paddle there & longer to return as there were a few whitecaps & some good sized swells by then. I snorkelled part of the way back - overall a good time, but pretty sore for a couple of days. We have decided that a 2 man kayak is the way to go - two people paddling is much easier & one can rest if the one in front isn't watching!
Feels a bit more like winter, we have had a few cloudy, cooler days & 1 full day of rain. We moved to a full hook-up campground in Los Barriles to recharge the batteries, fill with water & catch up with internet, then back to free beach camping just outside of town.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays - still Loving It!

Santispac Sunshine

We are currently in Loreto, have finally caught up with laundry & will update our adventures. We actually had some iffy weather, foggy with a bit of rain as we travelled to San Ignacio - we also heard a "clink" as we just ticked mirrors with a big bus! No damage!
 San Ignacio is a date palm oasis with a church built of lava that has walls 4 feet thick & a lovely garden with name tags for all the strange plants & cacti - very helpful. We just stopped for a short visit then proeceeded down Cuesta del Infierno  -(the grade to hell) to Santa Rosalia. This is the steepest hill in Mexico, definitely more than our 6-8%. This town was a copper mining area, lots of huge abandoned buildings, old wooden houses & a church designed by A.G. Eiffel, same guy who designed the Eiffel Tower. Apparently the church was prefabricated, set up for the World's Fair in Paris in 1889, then taken apart, shipped to Mexico & put back together - not much to look at, but cool story.
We stayed at San Lucas Cove, a fishing camp - the campground we were looking for (per our trusty book) - is now a strip bar & maybe a bit more.
Onward to Bahia Concepcion & Playa Santispac - so far the best spot to camp! Beautiful sandy beach with palapas, calm water (good for relaxing on my floatie), friendly people, Mexican fellows who arrive daily behind the RV with fresh fish, shrimp, scallops, veggies, eggs, cinnamon buns, souvenirs & water to fill your tank. All that was missing was beer delivery - for that you had a short drive to Mulege or grab a chair at one of the 2 beach resturants. All of this for $7 per night! No services, but you can`t have everything! We spent 4 glorious nights there & will spend more on our return.We set up next to a couple who live in OK Falls, a 10 minute drive from Penticton - small world.
We have quite a shell collection, not sure what we will do with them, now Robin is collecting choya wood - old dried cactus, maybe for carving.
We tried kayaking, loved it & will now be looking for used kayaks. We got a look at a huge turtle- just it`s head- when we were out kayaking. It would have scared us but we knew it was out there.
We have time for lots of reading, doing a bit of biking & definitely caught up on sleep.
Had to throw in some thing about food - excellent ice cream!
The beach pics are Santispac. Our RV is one on the left.

Hard to believe it`s December, as we ``Live the Dream``.

It was a halibut of a catch!

WiFi again, so a quick update. We've made it to Guerrero Negro today, just had fish & shrimp tacos & orange ice cream! Our journey has taken us thru Rosario, where we had lobster burritios at Mama Esponitos, then into the land of boojum trees - cirio cacti that resemble an upside down carrot with orange fluff at the top - very strange indeed. Catavina, where there are huge hills of boulders, surrounded by many different cacti, great for more pictures. So far we have only seen 1 dead cow on the side of the road, no auto accidents, thank goodness. The road continues to change - from narrow to actually quite like home, but then quickly back to crap! We measured the lane - 9ft 2 in. We spent 3 lovely nights at Bahai de Los Angeles - facing the Sea of Cortez, with sunrise out our front window. We watched pelicans diving for fish, picked sea shells & met some interesting folks.
The highlight this week has definitely been fishing for halibut off shore - out at sunrise, temp up to 27 by 9:30. Yesterday Robin caught 4 puffer fish, unfortunately toxic (lucky we found this out in time!) Then I caught 2 halibut, today Robin caught another halibut. We have eaten some, delicious! We also were lucky enough to see a group of dolphins swim by.
We have been thru 3 military check points, today they actually came in & searched. We are off to Bahai de Conception probably tomorrow - this is where the real beach camping happens, but likely no WiFi. Will catch up after that.

Still loving it!

San Quintin - pinos, strawberries & beach

Went to sleep listening to crickets, woke this morning at 5:00 hearing a very vocal rooster. The valley we are in is agricultural, covered with huge fields of strawberries (picture), squash, tomatoes & pinos (cucumber - this discovery took a lot of gesturing with the guard at the gate). A lot of this is grown in equally huge greenhouses, the fields are surrounded by 5-6ft fences made of black plastic. A strange sight indeed. We spoke with a very informative tourist officer who recommended La Lobera - a large sea cavern housing a group of seals. We didn't facor in the drive out there - 5 km of a definite 4X4 road, but the end result was spectacular - not only a group of seals begging us for food, but an "otherworldly sight". The walls of sand, lava & rock have been carved by water & wind into curves & outcrops. We have been rock-hounding, especially since dinosaur & wooly mammoth remains & ammolite have been found here.
Yesterday we decided to walk to La Playa (the beach) - it took an hour each way, through garbage strewn scrub, then sand dunes but we made it, sharing it with a Mexican family & a couple fisherman a ways down. Robin, of course had to get soaked, searching for shells & interesting rocks. We walked through a herd of goats & another of sheep along the way, free & being herded along. Lots of pictures of the kids & lambs. We have a resturant next to the campground - Posado Don Diego, having a Sunday buffet. We enjoyed it, despite not really knowing what wewere eating!
Spending time reading, relaxing, watching the hummingbirds coming to the feeder we brought.
There will be no internet for a while, heading to Catavina, then Bahia de Los Angeles, on the Sea of Cortez for more beach, sun & sand.

Still "Living the Dream!"

Ensenada, Mexico the beach at last

Spent a couple extra days in Yuma, bike riding, wandering around the huge market again (without Robin), checked out their Farmers Market. We were amazed by the huge fields of lettuce - apparently Yuma provides 75% of the world's lettuce in the winter.
After Yuma we were in California, drove thru an area of gigantic sand dunes, in places they drift onto the hiway. At one point we were at 57 ft below sea level - quite the change from 9000 ft above a couple weeks ago. We set up camp close to the border & drove the car across to do our Immigration paperwork  - smart move, no where to park, scary roads & not great signs - we got our bearings so when we went across the next morning it went smoothly. Can't say that about any of the roads - the books are true - narrow (9.5 ft lanes), no shoulder (sometimes the white line looks like it's painted on the grass), potholes to swallow a car & wavy. I doubt that I will drive again until the US, Robin is doing well & says he's not really nervous! We still have both our mirrors.
We camped outside Ensenada for 3 nights, on the sand, listening to the waves, facing the ocean - amazing & worth the crappy roads. We found the fish market, bought fresh fish & shrimp & ate our fill of fish tacos there. We walked along the malecon looking at boats, watching the sea lions & listening to them bark. We happened to be there for the Baja 1000 - a 1000 mile race thru the desert & mountains on dune buggies, motorbikes & souped up trucks. Quite the party atmosphere, lots of people & fun looking at the fancy cars. We have been eating tacos from street vendors, so far we are well. No problems getting pesos from the ATM once we figured it out. Things are definitely cheaper, especially fruits & veggies. Gas is approx. 82 cents per litre. Yesterday was cloudy & cool, hi of 15C, today warm, sunny, 25C. We are staying in proper campgrounds in Mexico, not much for hookups & the bathrooms are a bit scary (old, cobwebs, small) but generally clean. Today we actually have WiFi & I hope it keeps working until I post this. We passed thru out first military checkpost today - the guy was friendly, spoke decent English & waved us through.
Internet too slow, so just 2 pictures - the view from our RV window on the beach campground for 3 nites! and the fish market.

Having fun, but missing the family.

Yuma - Cacti & Sunshine

Nov. 9/11  We have been away from WiFi for a few days, so will catch up from the Yuma library. We spent a day outside Flagstaff visiting National Monuments - first some cliff dwellings inhabited 1100-1250, then to Sunset Crater Volcano which erupted last about 1000 years ago. We walked over lava fields & learned more about the volcanic history of the area. On to Waputki where we walked around & into pueblos built out of red rock, a 3 storey "house" & an area with 100 rooms. On the way to Phoenix we stopped at Montezuma's Castle - a 5 storey cliff dwelling built into a limestone cliff - quite the sight to see! We saw our first palm trees of the trip outside Phoenix. We spent 2 nights in a casino parking lot, hot 87F. We met up with friends from Penticton who winter in Casa Grande, had a nice visit. Had a surprise in the campground - a rather large black widow spider walked over Robin's hand when he was hooking up the water! We have seen cotton fields, cotton bales, a road runner (bird), citrus trees (no, we didn't swipe anay!) We bought dates, oranges, pomegranite from farmers. I won $80 in a casino & actually cashed out! We wandered the HUGE Arizona Market where they sell everything from clothes to RV stuff to dollar store junk & more. We walked across into Los Algodones, Mexico for a look- there are more dentists, pharmacies & optical shops in a 4 block radius than anywhere else, also lots of tourist shops. We bought beer & fresh shrimp. Today we toured The Peanut Patch - tasty, bought some fresh peanut butter. The weather has cooled from 90 to 70's with wind & dust storms. We plan to cross into the Baja in 2-3 days, looking forward to this.

 We are healthy, happy & Living the Dream.

Grand Canyon Views

Zion National Park, Utah was our next stop - where you look up, up & up some more. Breathtaking cliff sides along the road, rock in rainbow colors - red, yellow, white, grey & pink. A one mile tunnel trip to enter, vegetation from cacti to pine trees to ferns, a red asphalt road, all wonderful to see. We hiked 3 trails, one called Weeping Rock, where water seeps out the rock layers & drips down the rock face, nourishing plant life clinging to the walls, as we walked behind the "rain". We had an unexpected sight on one hike, right on the edge of the trail - a TARANTULA! Of course Robin had to put his hand ever so close!
After Zion we travelled towards Arizona, red rocks, red sand and rocky areas continued, some volcanic. We stopped at Little Hollywood Movie Set Museum - the site of many, many western movies & TV shows - we wandered among the Wild West sets.
We drove thru the massive Navajo Indian Reservation seeing women selling their handicrafts along the hiway.
We are now based in Flagstaff, AZ - the Grand Canyon is spectacular! We spent the day there, hiking along the rim, in awe of the sheer size of it. Unfortunately there was a planned burn on the North Rim, so we were looking thru smoke a lot of the day. The canyon is 4000-5000 ft. deep, so hiking to the Colorado river is not a trek to be undertaken in just one day. We visited some ancient Anasazi ruins, drove along Desert View & climbed the Watchtower for more unbelievable views.
We have been browsing the shops in Flagstaff & admiring the Native artwork & crafts.
RVing is going well - we stay in Walmarts, rest stops & the occasional campground, the weather still freezes at night but up to 15-20C midday. We just opened an email from Jen & Adam, with pictures of Ty & Emma - these are still the best sights so far!

PS.. Got my first pension cheque this week!