Cabo San Lucas at last!

Short drive today to Cabo, down the coast of the Sea of Cortez, thru San Jose del Cabo, and a bezillion traffic lights, and then to our campground, which is right next to the Villa Serena Restaurant. 

We buzzed into town, scouted tours and activity prices for our guests, and explored. It had been 4 years since we had been here, so some things had changed, infrastructure improved. Parking is a zoo as always. The marina is lovely, good shopping and a nice place to have a leisurely lunch and people watch.

Tomorrow a busy day: breakfast, then glass bottom boat ride, then super bowl party!

Los Barriles, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Wow, we have been busy beavers! On 1/29 one of our caravan guests had a traffic accident in La Paz, and Bill has spent the last 4 days getting him back on the road with the caravan. Very complex situation involving insurance, courts, etc. Without boring you with the details, I've made 4 trips to La Paz from Los Barilles, about 75 miles one way, and spent all day every day for 4 days getting our guest loose and repaired and back with the caravan. Hence, no pictures to speak of. The green angels have been absolutely stellar, as well as the office of tourism in La Paz, to resolve things. Much less pleased with the Mexican insurance company, who could have stepped up to the plate with another $400 in settlement money to avoid a tremendous amount of hassle for us and our guest. Hmmm...

Our rigs are parked right on the beach, within a few feet of the surf. Gorgeous view of the Sea of Cortez, and a very nice spacious campground. Lots of gringos here, and a half dozen nice restaurants. We frequented Tio Pablo, owned by Paul (US expat) and his wife, and had excellent food. Our last nite we had a choice of TWO lobster tails, pork, or shrimp, plus a HUGE margarita, a salad, and flan for dessert. Yum. Did we have fun? U be the judge!!

Yeah, the people are as fuzzy as the picture! Tomorrow we are off to Cabo San Lucas, hope we have no more issues... Hello to all. ;-)

And, just to make you smile:

See U in Cabo!

Lazy in La Paz

Long drive from Loreto, the group took about 5 and a half hours. We are staying at a very nice RV park north of town called Campestre Marantha, right on hiway 1. Plenty of room to park, well kept, a pool and an outdoor kitchen, excellent. Run by an American ex-patriate. The group enjoyed a margarita and snacks on arrival. The next day, most had a relaxing morning exploring town or at the park, while we set up restaurant arrangements and pre-ran the exit to Cabo. In the evening, we carpooled to a nice restaurant right on the water, and watched the sunset while we enjoyed dinner together. 

At 9 this morning, January 28, we all boarded a tour bus with guide and driver for a city tour of La Paz. We started at a weaving factory which makes and sells hand woven sarapes, tablecloths, and rugs. They use cotton and wool, and their equipment looks like something you would see at the re-enactment at Jamestown. 

Next stop, the mission. La Paz is the capitol of Baja California Sur, and a city of nearly 300,000. If you can't find it here, you can't find it in Baja. Walmart, Sam's Club, Home Depot, etc. A nice street on the waterfront is the place to be at night. The mission here took 83 years to complete, as you can see from the various colors of stone and different masonry on the tower.

Our tour continued to the Ibarra Pottery Shop. Mr Ibarra opened it some 50 years ago, and still works there, along with his daughters and grandkids. All pottery is hand-made, hand-painted, and double fired. Glaze and paint are lead-free. We couldn't resist picking up a few pieces. Virtually all his wares are sold from his shop here in La Paz.

                                      below is Ibarra's 11 year old grand-daughter, working with the moulds.

Off to the market, where we walked through the fish shop, butcher shop, and vegetable stands. Bill bought some fresh cheese to share at happy hour.

Now to the whale museum, where we learned that 80 per cent of the marine animal life on the planet spends time in the Gulf of California at some time or other. We saw the skeleton of a blue whale, grey whale, and a killer whale. Blues are BIG!

At a waterfront restaurant for lunch, we enjoyed tacos (of course!) including marlin, shrimp, lobster, yellowtail, squid, and so on. Yum. Jim and Bill made a new friend!

Tomorrow, we head toward Cabo, and camp on the beach for 4 days, so probably no internet for a while. Hope you are all enjoying this as much as we are!

Our second day in Loreto

Everyone really enjoyed having a down day today in Loreto. We started off with a pancake breakfast, sausage, fruit, and coffee. There is a nice covered patio where we ate and socialized. Nancy and Mary, our wagonmaster's wife, headed out to make restaurant arrangements, and Jim and I scouted out a route to exit on our way to La Paz. We had the propane truck in to top off our tanks, cost is about $2.50 per gallon here :-). Half a dozen of our group chartered a boat for a trip out to the island offshore, where there is an abandoned salt mine. Jim and I and Nancy headed a group of a dozen or so to go to the mission south of Loreto up in the mountains. A scenic drive up the mountain on a new road which sustained some damage from the hurricane this fall.

The mission was established in 1699, and the present church built in the mid 1700's. It is one of the prettiest missions in Baja. After a tour of the mission, we sat outside at a cafe, and enjoyed a soda or a beer.

While we were there, we met a man who is running from Cabo San Lucas to Tijuana, 50km at a time. Today was a rest day, so he was cycling. They are making a film of his  adventure! 

We ended the day with an informal social, BYOB, and went to bed early for a 7 hour drive to La Paz tomorrow!

Loreto, Mexico

Loreto is a nice sized town with an excellent Plaza shopping area and a good selection of restaurants. 

There are boats to charter for fishing or sightseeing. The campground is very pretty though a bit cozy for the big rigs! This is a nice area to visit, and we will be here for two days. Whew! 

We went to a great little street taco stand and had fish tacos for lunch. Had an impromptu happy hour at 4, then we all went out to explore and find a place to have dinner. The next morning, we cooked a pancake breakfast for everyone on the patio, with fruit, sausage, and coffee. Perfect spot for it. Nancy and Mary went out to scout the restaurant we'll be using on the return trip, and Jim and I planned the exit route and topped off the propane tanks on our rigs.

Mulege and the Bahia de Concepcion

Another long run today, 183 miles to Mulege, about 4 hours. There is a really long steep grade coming out of the mountains and down to the seashore near the end, we all shifted down to first gear. It will be a hard climb on the way home! There was a hurricane thru here a few months ago, but they've done a good job getting the roads back in shape, only a couple of spots we had to go slow through a wash. Great Mexican dinner upstairs in a local restaurant, with Margaritas, of course!

Through the Sonoran Desert to Guerrero Negro

Up again at 6:30 to thump tires while Nancy made breakfast and closed the coach. Travel briefing at 7:30, then off again from Catavina to Guerrero Negro, a dusty little town on the Pacific Coast just on the edge of the bay where the whales gather.

 We are just here for the night, as we will be seeing the whales on the way back. 146 miles today, but took 5 hours. We are ready for our margaritas!