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!