Cascades to Grand Coulee

We spent two nights in the Cascades. Taking the advice of our guidebook, we stopped at the park information center in one of the little towns and got the lowdown and maps. This ended up being very good advice, because there isn’t a formal entrance station or kiosk to the park. This park, much like Olympic National Park, is mostly wilderness. Lots of trails, and only one road that bisects the park into a big chunk and a small one. The road actually doesn’t go through the park per se at all. It follows the Skagit River, passes three dams, and is designated “recreation area”. We stayed in Colonial Creek Campground. It sits right on Diablo Lake, and our campsite had the lake in front and Thunder Creek running alongside. It was easy walk to the gravel beach to launch the kayaks. The lake is very scenic, vivid green, lined with pine trees, rocky cliffs, and snow-topped mountains looming above it all. Yesterday morning when we went out, there was still fog on the lake and in the valleys between the mountains. Very cool to paddle in. There was only about 25 yards visibility—you went from smooth, dark water into the mist—paddling behind Steve, it looked like he was going to drop off the edge of the earth. It would have made a perfect cover for Kayak magazine. There is a lot to explore in this area—some great-looking trails, and lots more paddling; but Steve did something to his back so we weren’t able to do all the things we wanted to. Yet another place to come back to! Yesterday, we took a very short paddle, then loaded up the kayaks and headed east on Highway 20 over the Cascades. We camped near the summit on the eastern slope, about 12 miles from the town of Twisp, where we stopped to do laundry and grocery shop. Then, this morning, we drove to Grand Coulee, and found one of the few spots left in the Spring Canyon NFS Campground on Roosevelt Lake, about three miles east of the dam on the south side of the lake. Steve’s back is much better today; the kayaks are off the RV and ready to go.

The scenery and temperatures are very different from where we’ve been. No more rain, fog, moss, or damp. The terrain and vegetation looks very similar to Utah’s mountains—quite dry, lots of sage, not many trees. In fact, looking out the RV window I am reminded of Jordanelle or Rockport reservoirs. There is a nice sandy beach here, and the water is quite warm, also very different from where we’ve been—the ocean and all the lakes we’ve paddled so far have only been about 48 degrees—not at all appealing for swimming. While paddling yesterday on Diablo Lake, I got grounded on a sand bar and had to get out of my kayak and pull it to deeper water. My feet were aching and numb, even though I only waded ankle-deep for less than 10 yards!

We plan to stay here for two or three days, then move on. Our tentative next stop is the state park on Moses Lake. I hope to meet up with my friend and fellow quilter, Jo Roman, who lives in the town of Moses Lake. We met through Quilts of Valor—she machine quilts all the quilts I piece for servicemen and women wounded in Iraq, and has also quilted some of my “keeper” quilts. We’ve gotten to know each other through email; it will be fun to meet face-to-face.

On to the Cascades

Our time was up on San Juan Island and we reluctantly said good-bye yesterday morning. It had taken us a couple of days to get into the swing of things there. At first, all the information we didn’t know about tides and currents seemed overwhelming, and, between that and the rain, we were reluctant to venture out with the kayaks. But after we watched group after group of obvious neophytes leave from our beach and return, damp but safe and happy, we got braver. We found the currents and tides not a problem, and paddling in the rain no big deal. In fact, it was nice. Our last morning, we woke up to a light fog and misty rain, and went for one last paddle. It was magical. The sea and the sky were the same color, and with the fog, the sensation was almost one of being suspended in space. Big ships, their foghorns sounding low and shrouded in mist, were barely visible farther out in the strait

Things we loved about San Juan Island: sunsets, kayaking in all kinds of weather, and the wildlife. There were orcas in the bay, baby seals on the beach, and a mama black-tail deer and her twin fawns, still dappled with spots, wandering around the campground. We will go back.

We left our campsite and drove back to Friday Harbor, where we got in line for the ferry and had about an hour to kill. We found The Blue Dolphin, which boasted having the best breakfast in town. Since it was the only breaskfast we ate in town, we don’t know if that was true, but it was fabulous! We didn’t order anything fancy—just bacon and eggs—but everything was cooked perfectly and served piping hot. A bonus was that they served two types of hashbrowns—shredded (Steve’s preference) and homestyle chopped (mine!). Both were obviously home-made, not frozen. Yum!

After grabbing a couple of lattes (did I mention that there is an espresso stand on every corner in Washington), we got back in the RV and waited to board the ferry. The ferry was delayed some, and after a bit we found out why. Last to get off was a semi pulled half a house—one of those manufactured jobs. It was long and wide and tall, even with the roof off. I can’t imagine what it must have cost to ferry it over! Once we were loaded on, the rest of the trip was smooth sailing. We de-boarded in Anacortes and drove to Deception Pass State Park, where we stayed last night. Today it’s on to the northern Cascades. Steve says he’s tired of mountains, trees, rain, and windy roads, but it’s either that or down through Seattle and Tacoma, which means traffic and congestion, which he hates, so the Cascades win. Before we get too far away from civilization, we’ll fuel up, hit a supermarket, and find a laundromat. We don’t have that much to wash, but everything is kind of damp from rain, and with the high humidity here, nothing gets dried out. While one load is in the washer, I’ll throw another—towels and quilts mostly—in the dryer to dry out.

Geography Lesson

For those unfamiliar with the Pacific Northwest, I thought a quick geography lesson might be in order. Place your right hand on a flat surface, palm down. Extend your thumb so it’s at right angles to your fingers. Your fingers are the British Columbia mainland, and your hand is Washington State. Your thumb is the shoreline of the Olympic Peninsula, the tip being Neah Bay and Cape Flattery, the furthest NW point in the lower 48 states. Keep your right hand where it is, and make a fist with your left hand. Place it, knuckles down, above your right thumb, so the thumbs are parallel, about an inch apart, and the tip of your left thumb is about 2 inches from your right hand. Still with me? Good! Your left hand is Vancouver Island. The San Juan Islands are located in the curve of your right hand between your thumb and fingers. San Juan Island is the westernmost of the islands. If the tip of your left thumb is Victoria, San Juan Island is about a half inch up your fist. There! Now you know where we are!

Ferries and Fog and Orcas, Oh My!

Today is Wednesday, July 18th. We left Frank and Judy’s in Poulsbo just in time to catch the 9:30 ferry out of Kingston—we were the last vehicle on! A quick trip across, then about an hour drive up to Anacortes for the ferry to the San Juans. They don’t run all that frequently; we missed the 11 a.m. by about an hour, and the next one wasn’t until 3:10, so we paid the fare, got in line, and just hung out. There was actually a nice, rugged beach there, so Steve and Ellie went exploring while I got out the Featherweight and sewed. Since they charge extra for both height and length, it cost us $150 to get the RV on. Ouch! Well, at least it’s a round trip fare. And if you take into account four days worth of fuel that we won’t be using while camping, it comes out almost even.

The ferry ride to Friday Harbor took a little over an hour, and it was beautiful. Smooth and quiet and not smelly. We cruised past little islands covered with evergreens, and cabins tucked in pretty little coves. Lots of sailboats of all sizes and some big power boats too, but not overly crowded. Very picturesque. Friday Harbor is a pretty little town, but the streets are narrow and not fun to explore in an RV; besides, we were a little anxious about being able to find our campground, so we didn’t dawdle. The island is fairly small, and we had a good map, so it would have been hard to get too lost. San Juan County Park is on the opposite side of the island from Friday Harbor, about 10 miles away. Not that far, but the roads are very narrow and winding, with little or no shoulders. There are lots of bicyclists on the road, and the speed limit is 35, so we took it easy and eventually got to the park and found our campsite and got set up.

San Juan County Park is on the center of the island’s west coast, perched on the edge of Small Pox Bay. Despite its unfortunate name, it’s quite lovely.There’s a little cove with a boat launch, and a wide open meadow above the bay with strategically-placed picnic tables and huge driftwood logs for admiring the ocean view and watching for whales. You can see Vancouver Island. Bicycling, kayaking, and whale-watching seem to be the main activities here. Many of the commercial kayak trips launch out of this park. The activity in the late afternoon is to sit up in the meadow with a snack and a drink and look for the orcas. We’ve seen them from shore both days so far. They are unmistakeable—their black dorsal fins stick up 6 feet above the water! Every kayaker we’ve talked to has seen them from their boats, as close as 10 to 25 yards away.

Although when we got here Monday, it was beautiful and sunny, we woke on Tuesday to a steady drizzle of rain. That didn’t seem to stop the commercial kayak tours, but we were a little reluctant to go out in the rain because of our unfamiliarity with the currents, tides, etc. The storm cleared up in the late afternoon and the sun came out, so we schlepped our kayaks down to the bay , maybe 50 yards from our campsite, and paddled off, heading south against the current. The current didn’t seem too bad and we paddled about 45 minutes or so before deciding we’d better head back. At first, we couldn’t locate our bay and panicked a little—wow! We must have gone further than we’d thought. We then spotted our bay practically right in front of us—we had barely gone anywhere even though we were paddling hard. We laughed and paddled back, riding the current. We definitely have a lot to learn about sea kayaking.

We had a paddle all planned for today, but again woke up to rain, harder and steadier than yesterday. It’s now mid-afternoon, and it’s not raining as much, although it’s still quite overcast. No wind though, and the water is calm and smooth. I imagine we’ll give it a try in a little while—it’s getting to be time for the orca show, and it would be fun to be out there with them instead of just watching them from shore.

Fun on the Olympic Peninsula

Today is Sunday, July 15th. I don’t know where the week went! We had a nice day—Tuesday? Wednesday? I’ve lost track-- with Frank and Judy touring the museum and Chief Seattle’s grave in Suquamish, and then Judy and I got to “tour” the quilt shop in Poulsbo, which is a wonderful—great selection, nicely laid out, etc. I bought a few half-yard chunks of fabric and a couple of fun patterns, including one for a hilarious fish-shaped oven mitt—guess what many of my friends will be finding under their Christmas trees come December! They next morning we headed off for the Olympic Peninsula. Our first stop was Neah Bay, out on the northwestern tip. It’s a little town on the Makah Indian Reservation, and has a really excellent museum and cultural center there. This museum was unique in that there were lots of artifacts that were hundreds and hundreds of years old. This is unusual for the Pacific coast tribes because the damp climate meant that things rotted away instead of being preserved. However, several hundred years ago, a mudslide buried a whole village that was only recently discovered, and everything was protected from the damp by the mud. It’s been really interesting to learn about the coastal tribes because their culture is so different from the Plains Indians and the desert peoples of Utah and the southwest.

Neah Bay is described in one of our guidebooks as a “rather bleak” reservation town, but we didn’t find it so. The RV park we stayed in was certainly nothing special, but it was right across the street from the marina, so we wandered around the docks looking at all the fishing boats. There was also an espresso shop, and a restaurant with fabulous onion rings and fresh fish and chips. On the beach next to the docks, along with the obligatory seagulls, were bald eagles—4 or 5 adults and at least that many more juveniles. The campground owners, Rita and Roger, said they’ve counted as many as 45 there at a time. One of the local fishermen cleans his fish on the beach for the specific purpose of luring the eagles there so he can collect their feathers. There were also bald eagles just hanging out in the trees surrounding the campground. Very cool! The next morning we headed out to Cape Flattery, which is the most northwestern point in the lower 48 states, and were treated to dramatic views of the Pacific Ocean. After that, we headed down to the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park.

Olympic National is home to three temperate rainforests; there are only two others in the world—one in Tasmania and one in Chile. To qualify as a rainforest, you need to get at least 100 inches of rain a year. Hoh gets 140 to 160! It is like no place I’ve ever seen before. Trees are huge here—spruces and firs that grow 60 to 100 feet in other places are 200 to 300 feet tall here. The forest is lush and achingly green. Ferns, mosses, and lichens are everywhere. In fact, the forest floor is so thick with growth that baby trees have no place to take root. Instead, they start out on top of stumps and fallen trees that have been covered with nutrient-rich mosses. As the seedlings grow, their roots wind down around the sides of the log until they reach the ground. Eventually, the “nurse log” rots away, leaving weirdly-formed tunnels and holes between the now-thick and exposed roots. There are several nature trails right at the campground//visitor center that we were able to hike. We took lots of pictures, but mostly of the forest floor—how do you take pictures of something that’s 200 feet high?
We wildy underestimated how much time we would need for the Olympic Peninsula. There were two other rainforests we wanted to explore, as well the part of the park that borders the Pacific Ocean, but, because of our hard-won reservation at San Juan County Park, we had to leave these places for another visit. This morning, after one more short hike in the rainforest, we drove back to Poulsbo. Tomorrow morning, we’ll hop on the Kingston ferry, drive about an hour and half to Anacortes, and catch the ferry to San Juan Island. Last night in the campground, we met a couple about our age who are ardent kayakers, and have kayaked out of San Juan County Park. They say it’s great, and also that we are practically guaranteed to see orcas when we kayak there. We’ll keep our fingers crossed!

Back in the USA

Back in the USA!
We left the Clearwater KOA, filled up with Canadian fuel for hopefully the last time, and headed for the border near Bellingham, Washington. The drive was another beautiful one—through the North Thompson and Fraser River Valleys. Lush green mountains and forests looming protectively over broad rivers bordered by farms. We saw horses, dairy cows, and an occasional llama. As we crossed a little bridge on the edge of the town of Chilliwack, a black bear burst out of the undergrowth on the side of the road and loped across the road right in front of us. Steve slammed on the brakes as the bear hurried off down the bank on the other side and disappeared. Despite the farms and semblance of civilizatin, It’s still wild country.

We crossed back into the States without incident, except for having a half a kilo (about a pound) of ground beef purchased in Canada and intended for supper that night confiscated by the Agriculture inspector. They are worried about Mad Cow Disease. He was very nice about, though, and apologetic. We then drove about 20 minutes to fuel up, asked about nearby campsites, and were directed to the Lynden KOA. Another very nice facility with lots of shade, although not as private as our last site. Our spot was on a little lake—more of a pond, really; kids in surrounding campsites were having a great time paddling inflatable boats around it. In the evening a little flotilla of Canada geese floated over, and yesterday morning as we were packing up to leave, we spotted a muskrat swimming and feeding in the middle of the pond.

Since Steve brought up the idea several days ago of spending some time in the San Juan Islands, we started researching it via internet. We got a list of campgrounds, started calling around, and ended up being frustrated and disheartened. The public campgrounds—state and county—had very limited hours to call for reservations, and every time we tried, it was either the wrong time or the lines were busy. The private resorts, besides being very pricey, were equally difficult to reach. We were told that people make reservations up to nine months in advance. It seemed hopeless. So we phone Steve’s brother, Frank, who lives in Poulsbo, on the Kitsap Peninsula, and decided to hang out there a day or two while we figured out our next move. After a pretty drive through farmland and a short ferry ride, we arrived at Frank and Judy’s. They had gone out to do some shopping, and we beat them home, so while we were waiting, I dug out the cell phone, and tried one last to rech a couple of the San Juan Island campgrounds I hadn’t been able to connect with. I finally reached one, and, to my utter amazement, when I asked, without much hope, if they had anything available at all anyhtime in July for two nights or more, she replied that the county park on San Juan Island had a two night opening for the 16th and 17th. I couldn’t believe it! Before I could give her any information—disaster! I lost cell phone reception and the line went dead! It took me ten minutes to regain a signal, and many busy signals and redials before I was able to connect up again. BUT, the good news is, she dug a little into her computer and came up with a FOUR day slot instead of two days! So wse are now booked into San Juan County Park from July 16th to the 20th. It’s right on the ocean, and lots of kayak tours leave from that very park, so we ought to have a great time. We’re hanging out with Frank and Judy today, exploring Port Gamble, and tomorrow we’ll head off to check out Olympic National Park

We ended up staying three nights at Whistler’s Campground . Although it’s a huge place(781 sites!), it doesn’t feel that way at all. The campsites are arranged on loops of 12-20 sites and are large and forested. Our site was backed by a stream and some woods. While Steve was setting up camp, I took Ellie for a walk behind our site; we came upon a cow elk feeding near the trail. I don’t know who was more surprised—her or us—but she didn’t seem to mind us being there, and put calmly put her head back down to feed. I went back to the RV to get Steve and the camera, and she hadn’t moved. What a nice welcome! At the outdoor program that night (which was on bears, but paled in comparison to the Clark’s Nutcracker Suite), I asked the ranger guy about places to kayak, and he gave us several options. The next morning, we headed up to Pyramid Lake, a few miles outside the townsite of Jasper, to give it a try. The lake was another stunningly beautiful one, ringed with snowy mountains. As we launched the boats and started to paddle off, I spotted a mama loon and her two fuzzy brown chicks just floating out there, presumably having a swimming lesson. I was able to paddle up quite close and they didn’t seem to mind. Unfortunately, the camera was in Steve’s boat; he hadn’t seen them and had paddled off in a different direction. Darn! We paddled all around the lake, which took about two hours. At the far end was a little floating island “garden” of plants, about 6 feet square, obviously man-made. We couldn’t figure out what it was. That night, as I thanked the ranger for his recommendation and told him about the loon family, he said the “island” was set up as nesting habitat for loons, because their nests along the shore kept getting washed out. The loons seem to love it, and there is now a stable loon population on the lake.

The next day, we headed off for the ranger’s other recommendation—Maligne (pronounced Mah LEAN) Lake. This one was farther away—about 20 miles—up a beautiful narrow limestone canyon that followed the beautiful Maligne River and passed several more lakes. Maligne Lake is the largest and deepest lake in Jasper National Park—22 km long and 94 meters deep. It’s long and narrow and deep green-blue in color, and again, stunningly beautiful. There is a tour boat concession and picnic area at one end, but no trails along the shoreline; the only way to really see the lake is by tour boat, canoe, or kayak. There are about 8 primitive camp sites along the lake which are only accessible by canoe or kayak. The tour boats are the only motorized craft allowed on the lake, and there were amazingly polite, giving us a wide berth and slowing way way down to minimize waves. We had a nice two-hour paddle until the wind came up on the way back. It was tough paddling, and I got pretty wet with water running down my paddle onto my lap, since I hadn’t put on my spray skirt. The water in that lake is freezing cold, and I wads pretty well chilled by the time we reached shore. Even with warm, dry clothes and a hot shower, it took me the rest of the day to get warm.

This morning we left Jasper and headed off to Clearwater, BC. It’s a 5½ hour drive, but it seemed to go much faster because of the beautiful scenery. Once we left the park, we also left the most rugged of the peaks behind as well. However, they were replaced by lush green mountains, pretty mountain valleys and meadows carpeted with wildflowers in all colors, and wild and majestic rivers. We are now camped at the Clearwater Valley KOA and Resort. It’s the nicest KOA I’ve ever seen. The front part of the park is typical KOA—pool, store, gameroom, miniature golf, etc., although the campsites are large and shaded. We are camped in the back of the park on a secluded site surrounded by trees, ferns, and wildflowers. We’ll stay the night and then move on, although exactly where is somewhat in question. Turns out that Canada doesn’t yet carry the ultra low-sulphur diesel that our rig requires. The diesel they do have is hard on our engine and may cause damage that will not be covered under warranty. The bottom line is that we have to get out of Canada. We’ll be looking at the map and figuring out the shortest distance back to the States. Once there, we still have lots of options. Our vague plan is to head to Anacortes, and, if we can get reservations for one of the campgrounds in the San Juan Islands, to take the ferry over there and spend a few days kayaking. If we fill up with fuel at Anacortes, we theoretically could continue on the ferry to Victoria and do a little touring on Vancouver Island before taking the ferry back to Washington. Then we’d still have plenty of time to explore the Olympic Peninsula and the Cascades. Stay tuned.

Jiuly 5th

Our night in lake Louise Campground turned out fine. The trains didn't seem to be running during the night, or, if they were, we didn't hear them. The best part about Lake Louise Campground was the evening program at the ampitheater. We though "Ho hum, another ranger talk," but it was something to do because the evenings are very long here--it doesn't get dark till 11 p.m. Well, it turned out to be the funnest ranger program we'd ever been to. The topic was the relationship between the whitebark pine, the Clark's nutcracker (a bird), and other wildlife. Sounds only mildly interesting, right? Well, it was a hoot! The ranger (they call them "wardens" here) did an amazing job. After she showed us slides and we learned to identify the whitebark pine and the Clark's nutcracker, she pulled out the costumes and asked for volunteers. First, she talked to a tree, and then to a Clark's nutcracker. Guess who was the nutcracker--me! Steve made me volunteer. I wore a baseball cap decked out with eyes and a long black beak. I had a mesh bag filled with bright orange ping pong balls danglind under my chine to represent my "sublingual pouch" that I use to store pine nuts. We had a script that I read, telling the audience all about me. It got even sillier than that. To illustrate the process of collecting and hiding seeds, we were treated to a performance of "The Clark's Nutcracker Suite." A kid in a tree costume, holding up a pladstic "pinecone" bsket filled with more ping pong ball "pinenuts." Frisbees at either end of the stage, to represent hiding places. Two little girls with a Clark's nutcracker hat, AND a tutu. And of course, music--The Nutcracker Suite. The "birds" were leaping and twirling, grabbing "nuts" from the tree and "hiding" them in the frisbee. It was hilarious and adorable. And of course, I didn't have my camera--who ever brings cameras to ranger talks?

We are now camped in Whistler Campground, Jasper National Park, just outside of Jasper, Alberta. The highway between lake Louise and Jasper is called the Icefield Parkway, and is supposedly rated as one of the most scenic highways in the world. I believe it. Imagine the Grand Tetons (my favorite mountains!). Hundreds of them. On steroids. Sprinkle liberally with serene turquoise lakes, each a miniaturized variation on Lake Louise, and dot with pale blue rivers, milky from glacial slit. Punctuate with an occasional waterfall, and have an elk wander across the highway every now and then. That's the Icefield Parkway. Just as I would decide that I had more than enough pictures of mountains, we'd go around a curve and another breathtaking view would appear.

Yesterday we went into Jasper to do laundry and get some groceries. Everything is very expensive here. Groceries cost about twice as much, or more. Examples: a dozen eggs $2.79. Half gallon of orange juice $4.59. A half kilo of lean ground beef (about a pound)$4.99. I asked at the laundromat for a fabric shop or yarn store, and she said, "Well, there's a quilting store two blocks down the street." Joy! Turned out to be a combination quilt shop and yarn store. I didn't buy much, but it was fun just to be there.

Today it's off to fina a lake to kayak in.

July 3rd

We did two more hikes in Kootenay Park yesterday—one relatively short one to Dog Lake and a longer, steeper one at Simpson River. Both were beautiful, in different ways. Simpson River was the site of a lightning-ignited forest fire in 2002. So instead of a heavy, old-growth forest, it was open and sunny. Lots of baby trees and wildflowers. After the hikes, we were exhausted. We drove to a nearby campground and collapsed for the rest of the day. Steve watched a DVD—Memphis Belle—while I got out my little Featherweight sewing machine and worked on a Quilt of Valor.

This morning, we left Kootenay and drove into Banf National Park. Didn’t seem like it could get any prettier, but it did! We are definitely in “the good part” now. Very tall, craggy mountains with beautiful rivers and lakes below. We drove to Lake Louise and then to Moraine Lake. Lake Louise is gorgeous and justifiably famous, but I must say we both preferred Moraine Lake. The lake is smaller, but is the same deep turquoise blue, and the mountains surrounding it were even taller and more magnificent than the ones around Lake Louise. And being a little off the beaten path, there were fewer crowds. Lake Louise was quite a zoo, and everything was very pricey. We thought it would be fun to rent a canoe and see the lake that way, but it was $40 an hour!!!! Instead, we walked the lakeshore trail a ways. We had planned to take the hike to the teahouse above Lake Louise, but it was a steep trail several miles long, and neither of us felt us felt up to it after our hikes yesterday.

We’re staying in the Lake Louise campground tonight. Not our favorite campsite. It’s huge campground—several hundred sites, and although there are lots of pine trees and shade, it’s pretty close to the highway and you can hear all the traffic noise. Also, there are train tracks right outside the campground, and the trains blast their whistles as they go by, every hour or so. Should be an interesting night! There is electricity, which is the first time we’ve had it since we left Salt Lake, but the internet connection is extremely slow, and I still haven’t been able to post a blog.

Not sure yet what our plan is for tomorrow. We are definitely moving on, but don’t know which direction. I want to go west to Yoho National Park and take the guided hike to the trilobite beds, which are world famous. We also plan on heading up north through the Columbia Icefields and on to Jasper National Park, and would have to do some backtracking if we go to Yoho, so we’ll see what happens. Either way, it’s bound to be great!

On the Road Again!

We left home June 26th for a six-week summer vacation. We had originally thought that this was to be our Alaska summer, but it turned out that we had less time and less $$ than we had anticipated, so readjusted our plan accordingly. At the Life on Wheels RV Conference in Moscow, ID last summer, I attended a seminar on touring British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. In the opinion of the presenters, Mike and Teri Church (authors of the guidebook that became our Baja bible), British Columbia’s scenery rivaled Alaska’s. The slides they showed were spectacular, so we thought we’d give it a try. However, trying to see the entire Pacific Northwest in just 6 weeks seemed a bit daunting. We decided to leave the Oregon coast for another time, go from east to west to make sure we spend as much time as we want in the Canadian Rockies, and then see as much of Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula as our remaining time allows. We figure we can hit what we miss when we do the Oregon Coast—maybe next year?

Our big news is that we are no longer in the Royal Palms. We’d had our eye on the Winnebago View since it first came out, less than a year after we bought the Palms. We liked everything about it—the layout, the quiet Mercedes diesel engine, the fact that it was over a foot narrower which made it much easier to drive –everything except the price (don’t ask!). But the narrow roads on the Baja Peninsula, where we definitely want to go back to, and the rise in fuel prices made us rethink. Steve did the math and figured that we would actually be saving money by spending it. My kind of math!!! Within a few weeks of getting back from Baja, we traded in the Royal Palms. Our new house on wheels doesn’t have a name yet. Royal Palms II doesn’t seem to fit. We’ll just wait to see what comes up.

So here we are, on the road again. Our route so far has taken us up through Idaho and Montana and now into Canada. We stayed one night at Flathead Lake and a couple of nights at Glacier National Park, which Steve had never seen and I hadn’t been to since my VISTA days. While there, we did a couple of great hikes. We especially enjoyed the one to Avalanche Lake. We left Glacier yesterday and crossed into Canada via Eureka on the Montana side and Roosville on the Canada side. If you get to Eureka, we recommend lunch at Café Jax. Because of the holiday weekend—Canada Day is July 1st—all the campgrounds we came to were full. We spent the night in a daisy-filled meadow off a dirt road a couple of hours into British Columbia. It was great, although Ellie was less than thrilled. Turns out there was a den of coyotes nearby. We didn’t see them, but we heard them yipping and barking and howling, and Ellie wouldn’t leave safety of the RV without one of us, and then only reluctantly.

Today, we drove into Kootenay National Park, which is the south next-door-neighbor to Banf and Lake Louise. The scenery is breathtaking—and we supposedly aren’t even at “the good part” yet. We saw a black bear right next to the road. Tomorrow morning we’ll do a short hike from our campsite at McDonald Meadows to Dog Lake, then a longer hike on our way to another campground inside this park. One of the great things about Canada’s national parks is that unlike the US parks, dogs ARE allowed on the trails, as long as they’re on leash. This means Ellie can hike with us instead of having to be locked up in the motor home. The last picture is Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park.

Home again!

Well, we made it! One night in Yuma, one night in Quartzite, one in Mesquite, and arrived home yesterday. In Yuma, we walked across the border into Algodones, MX to get some prescriptions filled and see a dentist. What a trip! There is a huge parking lot right on the border where all the snowbirds park and walk across. It was practically empty when we walked by at about 9 a.m. and totally full a few hours later when we came back. Walking the streets of Algodones was like walked the streets of Sun City West--they only people there under age 60 were the Mexican locals. It looked like something out of a movie. You've never seen so much white hair and bermuda shorts. The other amazing thing about Algodones is that, unlike any other place in Mexico we've been in, they don't like pesos. We had all these pesos left over from our trip that we needed to get rid of, and it was tough.Everything there is priced in dollars, and they only reluctantly converted the prices to pesos for us. I did buy a few souveniers, including a beautiful little rug from Oaxaca for the half-bath that we're remodeling when we get home.

In Quartzite, we stopped at Discount Solar to purchase a new solar panel for the Royal Palms. Steve had scoped them out on our trip there last fall--their prices were much lower than anywhere else. They were able to install it in less than an hour and we were on our way. We already had a small solar panel, but this one has more than doubled the voltage being transferred to our battery, which means we don't have to be quite as careful when we're camping without electrical hook ups (like at the beaches).

This is the last official post of our Baja trip. I'll let everyone know when the vagubundos set out again. Thanks for checking in, and for all your kind words about this blog. See you next trip!

Norte

We left Guerro Negro and crossed into Baja California, the northern state on the Baja Peninsula, essentially retracing our steps from two months ago. Three military checkpoints so far on the way back—we are getting to be old hands at these. At one of them, the soldiers had several dogs; a couple were on leashes and looked all business, but one was in a makeshift doghouse and had about ten of the cutest puppies you’ve ever seen, looking about the right age to take home. Steve had to drag me away.
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We had filled up with gas as we left Guerro Negro because the next Pemex station is several hundred miles away. I had thought we were pretty well empty, and was surprised when the bill was only $45—I had expected $60 or $70. There must have been a bubble in the tank or something, because by the time we hit Catavina, about 2/3 of the way to the next gas stop, we were close to empty, and without a prayer of making it. This must happen fairly frequently, because, lucky for us, there were several different guys with battered 5 gallon gasoline cans in their equally battered pick up trucks, ready and waiting. Hector gladly siphoned off 10 gallons into the Royal Palms, saving the day and only charging us $31, which is not all that much more than the gas station rate. All gas stations in Mexico are owned by the government, and the price is the same at every one, not only within the same city, but also throughout the country. Currently the rate is 65 cents American a liter.

Our next stop after Catavina was Cielito Lina RV Park in San Qunitin, near the beautiful Pacific sand dollar beach called Santa Maria. It was slow going between there and Ensenada because of off-road motorcyclists competing in the dirt hills near several little towns along the way. Lots of trucks with motorcycle trailers, vendors, and observers parked alongside the road. It must have been a very big deal, because when we got to Ensenada, all the campgrounds and RV parks were full, even the crummy ones. So we forged on ahead past Ensenada towards Tecate. We spent an enjoyable evening at a free RV park on the grounds of Rancho Sordo, which is a school for deaf children. The park was apparently built to house visitors and volunteers helping at the school. It had lots of shade, full hook ups, and amazingly, was free! The guidebook said donations were welcomed, but nobody showed up to accept one; we have their mailing address and will send something when we get back.

The border crossing at Tecate was uneventful, other than waiting in line for an hour. The border guard gave us a cursory inspection and waved us through. We are now camped in a free BLM camping area just east of Yuma, AZ. We had planned to stay in the Yuma areas for several days to try and get our broken mirror fixed and get some dental work in Algodones, just over the border into Mexico. However, we just got word that Steve’s 95 year old stepfather died. There’s no way we’ll be able to make it back to Utah in time for his funeral, but we’ll need to hurry things up a little and will no doubt be back by the end of the week.

Grey Whale Visit

Bad luck and Still More Whales

The Bad
We lost the left mirror on the Royal Palms yesterday. It was pretty scary. I may have mentioned how narrow the roads are here--18 feet total, which means 9.5 feet per lane, and no shoulder. The Royal Palms is 102" wide, not counting the mirrors, so when you do the math, you see there's no room to spare, especially when a big truck is coming the other way. That's what happened yesterday. This big black truck actually went over the center line, and, although Steve saw him coming,with no shoulder, there was no place for us to get out of his way. His mirror hit ours with a horrendous bang and sheared it right off. It even scraped the side of the Royal Palms; luckily no damage except a black mark. We weren't able to retrieve whatever might have been left of the mirror because there was no place to pull off and/or turn around for miles. When we got to the next town, Steve removed the center rear view mirror and duct-taped it where the old one was. It isn't great, but at least he can see behind us again. The other "ouch" about this mishap is that the mirror unit will cost $350 to replace. Steve has emailed a couple of RV places in Yuma to see if we can get it done as we're going through there on the way home next week. Otherwise, we'll wait till we get home.

Still more Whales
Guerro Negro, where we are staying now, is one of the three spots on the Baja where you can take tours to see ballena gris (grey whales). Most folks say ist's the best place--it has the largest population of whales--1000 or more-- many of whom are "friendly." The lagoon where they hang out to give birth, breed, and just hang out is a protected area--you have to go with a guide--no private boats, even non-motorized ones, allowewd. Many many peopole report being able to actually touch the whales here. We went out this morning to try our luck. The ride out to the lagoon wss interesting in itself. The lagoon is located on the edge of some salt flats, and there's a huge salt plant out ther that you have to drive right through the middle of to reach the boats. Also, the lagoon is surrounded by salt marshes, and there are birds galore--herons, egrets, ibis, and many osprey nesting right along the road. We got to see several nesting pairs and their babies perched on the edge of thier nests.

We climbed aboard a small panga with Capitan Cito and five other touristas, three from Germany. Within 15 minutes, we started seeing whales, and at times were totally surrounded by them. There are lots of rules to protect the whales. You can only get within 30 or 40 feet of them, and then wait for them to come and check you out. The captain puts the motor in neutral or turns it off completely, so there's no risk of harm to the whales. And there can be no more than three boats approaching the same whale, so as not to scare it away. We had lots of whales within 15 to 20 feet of our panga, and several times, right next to it. I got sprayed with whale spit (not really spit, but water from the blowhole). By patting gently on the side of our panga and splashing his hand in the water, our capitan was able to catch the attention of a curious baby whale, who came in for a closer look. He (or she?) stayed around for nearly 10 minutes, swimming back and forth under our boat, rolling over first on one side then the other to look at us out of one eye, then completely sticking his hed out of the water several times as well. He was almost, but not quite, within touching distance. Darn! He was huge--almost as long as our boat--already covered with baby-size yellow barnacles, and absolutely adorable. Later, we went further out in the lagoon, near the entrance to the Pacific Ocean. That's where the males mostly hang out. They arn't as curious or friendly as the moms and babies and don't come as close, but boy, do they put on a show! We saw many of them breaching, which is when they leap out of the water, exposing up to two-thirds of their bodies. And, while we were just bobbing around eating our box lunces, we watched a pair of them "play," to put it politely. Steve says I have a dirty mind and that playing was all they were doing, but Capitan Cito agreed with my take on it.

Tomorrow it's on to Catavina, home of the boulder fields.

Recent Photos

Click on the pictures for a better view:


Junkalito Beach. One of natures perfect places



This dog was retrieving for his master. Right now he's rolling a huge rock about 50 feet back to her with his nose.



These pelicans are waiting for their fair share of the proceeds from today's catch.

Sandblasted at the Beach

We left Loreto on Friday after a banking semi-emergency. We were trying to stock up with pesos at an ATM and the machine swallowed our card "by order of our financial institution." We knew this was bogus because we'd been using it just fine until now. The electronic skyway between Mexico and the US still leaves a lot to be desired. We had a similar, but not as serious, glitch, about a month ago, when the machine kept rejecting our card, and a collect call to our bank in the US couldn't find anything amiss--we were able to get $$ the next day just fine. Since the card-swallowing ATM was not at the bank itself but in a kiosk on the outskirts of town, we were hard-pressed to figure out how to get our card back. We ended up just notifying our bank that it had happened, and went to our emergency cash stash in Steve's sock drawer. We were able to convert most of that to pesos, and, between that and my Visa card, will be just fine. Might be a few less souveniers, unless they take plastic, but other that, we're ok.

An hour and a half after leaving Loreto, we were back at beautiful Bahia de Conception, this time at a picture-perfect beach called Playa El Requeson. And I mean the "picture-perfect" part literally--this particular beach is on many postcards of the Baja, and, in fact, is on the cover of one of our guidebooks. The beach is a sand spit connecting an island to the mainland at low tide, and divides the pretty little cove in two. Kayaking and snorkeling are said to be great here. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find out. The wind came up, and it's been blowing hard for days; any boating is impossible. This morning, we regretfully moved to an RV park in Mulage, along the river. The wind is still howling, but it's more sheltered here. I have a dive scheduled for tomorrow. I think it will be a dive from shore at Playa Los Burros to a wreck not far out in the cove, so the surf shouldn't be an issue. The dive shop owner, is either British or Australian--talks like Crocodile Dundee and yes, his name is Mick. He is a very colorful guy with lots of stories. When I went to the dive shop in Mulage to schedule my dive, I petted his fat old dog, Lady, who was sleeping in the sun on the porch as I walked in. Mick reported that although she doesn't look like much, she literally saved his life. Last September, a hurricane came through this area. Mulage didn't get much of the wind, but they did get all the rain. The river that runs next to town flooded and became a torrent; apparently there were several fatalities because they flood hit about 3 a.m. when everyone was sleeping, and destroyed many homes along the river. Mick says he was sleeping soundly when lady came and woke him up. When he got out of bed, the water was up to his knees; by the time he and his wife made it to the back door to exit, it was up to his neck. They swam to higher ground, using one hand to pull themselves along the vegitation and the other to hold onto the dog (Mick) and the kitten (Maria). Along with being filled with mud, there was some structural damage to the house; it's almost fully repaired, and they hope to move back in within the next couple of weeks.

Baja Magic

Well, yesterday and today clinched Juncalito Beach as both Steve`s and my favorite place on the Baja. Monday the wind died down, and we awoke to a calm, glassy sea. We took the kayak out and had a great time kayaking over to a little island and doing some snorkeling. Not as many fish as I`d hoped, but lots and lots of starfish in all sizes, colors, and configurations. My favorite was a white one with orange dots, studded with clove-like black bumps. I also saw a rockfish ( ? ). Very ugly in a very cool way, camoflauged and blnding almost perfectly with the rocks he was hudled up against. So yesterday, we decided to go out again and explore farther along the coast. As we got out a little ways past the island, we started seeing whale spouts, then whale backs, and decided to kayak out closer to them. There were three or four other boats out there, just driftng, motors off, watching the whales as well. These were blue whales and finback whales, and they made the grey whales we`d seen look like pipsqueaks. One got pretty close--30 or 40 yards from us--and then surfaced and rubbed against one of the other boats nearby. One of them was so long that we thought at first it was two whales, not one--it had to be a city block long. Blue whales are the largest creatures on earth. To sit out there in our kayak, surrounded by water and silence, except for the breathing of the whales, is a feeling beynd descripton. Magical. Humbling. Magnificent. I felt honored to be in their presence, corny as that sounds.

Then, this morning, after we had packed up and we were standing on the beach saying our goodbys to Len and Betty Kerr, our friends from B.C. whom we keep running into), there was a flurry in the water just offshore. We looked to see what the commotion was abut, and saw five or six dolphins, including a mother and baby swimming together. We must have watched them for ten minutes before they slowly swam away, looking for fish and followed by a flotilla of pelicans hoping to get in on the action.

We are now back in beautiful Lareto and will staay for two nights. I`m trying to get a dive in tomorrow, but it`s only a maybe. I`m having a hard time hooking up with a dive shop that has a tour going out tomorrow. One guy is supposed to get back to me, so I`m keping my fingers crossed. If it dosn{t work out, my last chance will be Mulage, where we`re headed after this.

Juncalito Beach II

It’s Saturday, not sure of the date, maybe February 24th? We are camped on Juncalito Beach, a little south of Lareto. There’s a little island out in the bay we want to kayak to, but the wind came up this morning, so it’s a no-go, at least for today and probably not for a few days. The wind on these beaches seems to come in 3-day spurts. There are about 20 RVs camped here, most of whom have been here for several months or more. The couple next to us came down at Thanksgiving. They have a big 5th wheel, a little red rubber boat like the one we used to have, and two huge Golden retrievers named Keeley and Gunnar. There are no services at all on this particular beach—no sewer, water, or electricity—but the people who stay here hae it down to a science. Most of the have an array of solar panels to charge up their batteries for electricity, as well as large holding tanks for water and sewer. Some have elaborate (and expensive!) reverse osmosis systems to process bad water, even sea water, into drinking water. There is a “real” campground a mile or to away, not on the beach, where you can go are dump your black water tanks and fill up with water for about $7, so a lot of folks do that every couple of weeks. The RV a couple of sites down from us have a satellite system and internet service. For $15 a month, they will route your laptop into their system so you don’t have to go into town to connect. We gave them a couple of bucks to cover the time we’re here, so I’m typing this as I watch the waves on the beach out of the front window and the hummingbirds at my feeder out the back. Not long after we arrived here yesterday and got set up, a young woman drove down the beach in a battered pick-up with her little boy and girl She was taking orders for her homemade tamales, to be delivered hot and fresh “Domingo tardes” (Sunday afternoon). The price was 8 pesos (about 80 cents) apiece. We ordered 3 chicken and 3 beef, so there’s Sunday dinner.

We will probably head to Lareto on Monday or Tuesday. I’m hoping to dive either there or Mulage. My dive in La Paz didn’t work out. The evening before I was to dive, I came down with a head cold, including a badly plugged ear. You can’t dive with a plugged ear—it’s not only very painful, you can burst an eardrum—so I had to cancel. It’s almost better now, so I ought to be good to go in a couple of days.

Lotsa Pics

Click on the pictures for a better view:


This is Ellie’s favorite thing to do. It’s also her first cattle tank in Mexico.



A little ranch located at the end of a canyon we biked up.



The View of Cabo San Lucas Bay from the COSTCO parking lot



The little things that make life worthwhile



Turtle crossing. No cars allowed



This is hole 6 of the Los Cerritos Beach Golf Course. It has an avid membership that play every day and keep the ‘greens’ in excellent condition.



FORE! People arrive to stay at Los Cerritos Beach as early as October (from Moab) and stay as long as 6 months (Salt Spring Island British Columbia).



There were about 8 whales very close to the shore. We were told they come here to rub the barnacles off.



The whales were only about 50 to 100 feet away. Sandy would have jumped in if the waves hadn’t been so big.



That’s a whale in that wave.



Los Cerritos Beach a surfer’s favorite



Our neighbor Randy, from Sandy, Utah, offered to let us use his Boogie Boards but, alas, it was cold and windy on the appointed day.



There were lots of people with new kinds of equipment which would let them fly over the waves.



Vultures sitting on cactus just like in the movies



Shut up Franks. Next to the Hotel California a big landmark in Todos Santos. We ate burgers and watched a John Wayne movie in Spanish.

El Tecolote II

Steve missed the Sea of Cortez, so we packed up yesterday and headed back to Playa el Tecolote, near La Paz. I was sorry to leave our mountain campsite--there wer a couple of hikes I still wanted to do, but it´s a place we would definitely come back to if and when we come back to the Baja. We will only be here a few days this time--it´s time to start a slow meander back north, revisiting some of our favorite places and checking out some of the ones we passed up on the way down. I´m in La Paz today dropping off laundry and getting some groceries. I also arranged to go scuba diving tomorrow. The dive sites are out by Isla Espiritu Sancto, where we took the boat tour to the sea lion colony. There is a shipwreck out there that we may dive, plus three other ships that were deliberately sunki to make a reef. We may dive at the sea lion colony as well--won´t know until tomorrow. Steve stayed out at the beach, and is planning on doing some sea kayaking or mountain biking while I´m in town.

Today is the last day of Carnival in La Paz--the equivalent of Mardi Gras. The malecon is lined with vendors, game and food booths, with a large grandstand set up for music. It´s kind of a zoo, but also kind of fun.

Cabo San Lucas and Rancho Verde

Sunday, February 18, 2007

We hadn’t heard anything good about Cabo San Lucas except the Costco store and the Vagabundos del Mar RV Park, so we decided to check it out by car before committing ourselves to camping there. Good thing we did! The drive there was very slow, over mountains and behind big trucks.The RV Park was well-groomed and beautifully landscaped, but other than that, it was like being in a stateside trailer park—teeny sites and RVs lined up with almost no space between them. No thanks! The harbor at Cabo San Lucas is beautiful, but marred by high rise hotels and resorts that block the view of the water. We didn’t go into the downtown tourist area, since Steve is not a big fan of that kind of shopping, or any kind for that matter.

I am only slightly embarrassed to say we enjoyed Costco immensely. It is set up just exactly like the ones in the US, so we knew where to find everything, even though all the signs were in Spanish. All the DVDs had Spanish titles—Pantera Rosa (The Pinik Panther) and Los Simpsons. We were going to buy one if it had been dubbed in Spanish, but no, they were the regular English versions with Spanish subtitles. The books were mostly in Spanish, though, including all the Harry Potters. I looked for some baby books for Jackson in Spanish, but they didn’t have any. There were also lots of local products—torta rolls, chocolate flan instead of 3-layer chocolate cake, and a whole aisle of jumbo-size cans of chili peppers. The food court surprised me—I thought it would have Mexican food, but no—the offerings were just like the ones at home—pizza and hot dogs and very berry sundaes.

So, we decided to pass on camping in Cabo, and instead, headed back toward LaPaz to drop down to Los Bariles on the Sea of Cortez side. On the way, we got sidetracked, and haven’t made it there yet. We stopped for a “quick overnight” at Rancho Verde RV Haven, in the mountains about 20 miles from Los Bariles, and fell in love with the place. The campsites are huge, with lots of trees and greenery. There are about 15 sites total in the park, and only 3 others are occupied—we can’t even see our neighbors from our spot. Right outside our picture window is a little tree, where I’ve suspended my bird feeders and speared chunks of oranges on the branches. We get orioles and hummingbirds galore, and the other birds are beginning to find us too. The hooded orioles are probably my favorites so far. They are bright yellow-orange in color, with black and white wings and tail, and an elegant, velvet black mask that extends like a bib under their chins. They have a sweet tooth, I mean beak, and love the oranges. They also raid the hummingbird feeder for nectar, but have a hard go of it because their beaks are too big to get all the way in to effectively suck out the nectar, so they have to content themselves with little sips at a time.

There are miles and miles of dirt roads and hiking trails here, which we’ve only barely begun to explore. We’ve heard from some others camped here (yep, more Canadians) that Los Bariles is very expensive and not that great, so we’re going in by car today to check it out, buy groceries, and do laundry. If we like it better than the Canadians do (there is a beach), we might move. Otherwise, we’re very happy where we are, and will probably stay until Wednesday, and then maybe go back to Playa El Tecolote for a few days before meandering our way back north.

The Beach, More Whales, and a Bandito named Raoul

The Beach
It’s Tuesday, February 13th, and we’re still here at Los Cerritos. For the past several days, we’ve said, “Okay, we’ll leave tomorrow,” but then a reason always comes up for us to stay on “just one more day.” My favorite thing to do here is walk on the beach. It’s a long, shallow crescent, about 5 miles from the points on either end according to the guidebook. The RV camping area is about a half mile from the day use beach at the upper end where the surf shop and restaurant/beach bar is. Every morning, first thing, Ellie and I walk for about a mile the other way-- that end of the beach is empty, with just a couple of houses way down, at about the place we turn around. There’s not much going on down there, unless you count the little sand crabs throwing the sand out of their holes and coming out to peek for predators, or pelicans gliding over the water, or cormorants standing close to the water, with their wings half-spread, drying in the morning sun. Cormorants don’t have as much oil on their feathers as other birds do, and they get waterlogged when they dive for fish. This makes them heavier, and helps them dive deeper after fish, but they do have to dry out. In the early afternoon, we take another walk, this time in the opposite direction. This is always entertaining, as there’s always something going on. There’s a guy in a wheelchair who is staying in our RV camping area who wheels himself down the soft, sandy trail to the beach every afternoon with his two Labrador Retrievers in the lead. The guy has a squash racquet and a tennis ball, and uses the racquet to hurl the ball into the surf. The black Lab bounds into the waves and retrieves the ball, dropping it on the sand. The yellow Lab then picks up the ball and carries it over to the guy, and they do the whole thing over again—tag team fetch! Further down, a young woman in a bikini with a hula hoop dances to music from her IPOD as she keeps the hula hoop going without any apparent effort. Today there was a kite-boarder, and I stopped and watched her for awhile. Once we get down to end of the beach, we sit and watch the surfers for awhile, then turn around and stroll back. Sometimes I go for a swim, but it works out better if I take Ellie back to the Royal Palms first. She doesn’t like swimming in the surf, and gets very upset that I’m out there. She races up and down in the shallows, whining and pleading for me to come back. One day she was so distraught that she went and snuggled up to a woman sunning herself on her beach towel to get some help or comfort, or maybe both. The woman was NOT a dog person, and was not at all sympathetic.

There’s entertainment in camp, too. The long-term campers have set up a 9 hole par 3 golf course and are out there every morning. There’s a paperback book exchange outside one of the big RVs, and we’ve been over there to trade in some of the paperbacks we’ve finished. And if we’re sitting outside the Royal Palms reading or relaxing, somebody is always stopping by to introduce themselves, chat, and give a recommendation for a great restaurant, bakery, etc. in town. Today Steve met some people from Minnesota, and yes, they talk just like Frances McDormand in the movie “Fargo.”

More Whales
We were supposed to leave Los Cerritos today, but yesterday I went into Todos Santos to get my nails done. While I was waiting my turn, I got into a conversation with an American woman who lives in Todos Santos six months of the year. Her house is near the estuary and beach where the grey whales come in close. She said in the late afternoon, they come in very close to shore to try to scrape off barnacles. She said she got up the courage to go in swimming, and that a baby came up within 5 feet of her to have a look! I told Steve we had to stay one more day so we could go watch whales. So this afternoon we drove the 15 miles into Todos Santos, got directions to the beach, and set off to watch whales. This beach is only a few miles out of town, down a very narrow, sandy lane. We parked at the end, and walked down the beach to the estuary, a long river-like channel where the ocean backs up into an oasis-like setting with palms trees and mangroves. And in the ocean, right in front of the estuary, 50 to 100 feet from shore, were the whales! We saw heads, tails, backs, fins. Big ones and little ones, swimming slowly or seemingly just hanging out. I can’t even count how many we saw. It was awesome in the true sense of the word. Unfortunately, it was extremely windy and the waves were huge—much too rough to go in swimming; otherwise, I would have been in there in a heartbeat. What an experience!

A Bandito Named Raoul
When we got back to where we had parked the car, a local guy came up to us and said that he had been watching our car, protecting it from banditos, which he said were prevalent in the area. He appeared to want a tip for doing this. We ignored him, but as we went to get in our car, he pointed out that we had a flat tire. Extremely flat. Steve got out the jack and went to work, but the guy, who introduced himself as “Raoul,” insisted on helping, and more or less took over. Steve tried to tell him we didn’t need his help, but it became easier to just let him We began to get suspicious when examined the tire and couldn’t find a nail or glass chunk or anything that would cause a puncture. We became even more suspicious when I gave him 20 pesos ($2) for helping and he was not happy—demanded 100 pesos ($10). We ignored him and drove off. Our suspicions were confirmed when the guy at the tire repair place (llantera servicio) showed us the puncture—it was a small, straight cut on the edge of tread, pretty obviously made by a small knife. Raoul had stuck a knife in the tire when we were at the beach and then expected us to pay him for helping us change it!

I want to emphasize that this has been the first time since we’ve been here that any Mexican has been anything but kind, friendly, and helpful. When I drove into La Paz alone last week and got a flat tire (a legitimate flat—there was a 2 inch long screw imbedded in the tire!), a guy in some kind of public utility truck who spoke no English gave me a ride to the tire repair shop several miles away, explained the situation to the repair shop guys (who agreed to come and fix the flat), drove me back to my car and refused to take any money at all. While I was waiting for the repair guy, another man came up and offered to change the tire for me and would have done so if the repair truck hadn’t pulled up just then. Yesterday when I was getting my nails done, there was a lot of construction noise—it was a new business, and they were still putting on the finishing touches. With one of her employees translating, the owner, who spoke no English, apologized profusely, and said I could come back anytime for a free half-hour massage to make up for having to put up with the noise. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow. We were going to leave for Cabo San Lucas tomorrow, but we understand the RV park we want to stay at is full until Thursday, so I guess we’ll be here at Los Cerritos “just one more day.”

February 5th and 6th

Gorditas

The lady on the square in front of the cathedral was making gorditas, a gordita being a stuffed tortilla. The whole process, from watching her make them, figuring out what she was putting in them, and finally eating them, was really fun. As my sister, Susie, exclaimed when we drove through the wrought iron gates of LaCaille in Salt Lake City for brunch once,”Oh, I see. It’s not the meal, it’s the experience!”

The gordita lady had a large, bowl-shaped griddle, possibly made from a steel drum and fueled by propane, set up next to a card table, which held all her ingredients. Each gordita was made to order. First, she would take a small fistful of tortilla dough roll it into a ball, and then flatten it in her tortilla press. Then she picked the newly-made tortilla up in her hand and piled whatever fillings you wanted on it. The choices were champillons (a chopped onion and mushroom mixture), chicarones (pork cracklings), chorizo (spicy sausage), minced veal, and requeson, which appeared to be a soft, ricotta-like cheese mixed with cilantro. After the fillings were in place, she brought the edges of the tortilla up and around to seal them all in, then re-flattened the whole thing in the tortilla press before putting it on the griddle to cook. When it was done on both sides, she served it up with shredded cabbage, a little mayo, and some salsa on a plastic plate. You ate it right there, sitting on the chairs she had set up, then handed the plate back to her husband, who wiped it off and put it back on the stack to re-use. All this for 150 pesos ($1.50 American) apiece. And they were delicious!

Swimming with Sea Lions

Yesterday, we took the boat tour around Espiritu Santo, which is the large island four miles out from Playa El Tecolote, where we are staying. There are over 900 islands in the Gulf of California, most of them protected, with limited access, and this is one of them. We went out in a panga with six other people—an Italian couple, a French couple, and a Mexican couple. Our capitan, Jesus, didn’t speak much English, but the Mexican guy, Rene Alejandro, spoke excellent English, which he said he learned growing up in Tijuana and watching American TV and reading comic books, and he translated for us. The island is very wild and desolate, and is uninhabited except for one little area where fisherman live and fish. The highlight of the trip was visiting the sea lion colony on the far side of the island, donning our snorkeling gear, and getting into the water to swim with them. It was a little scary at first, especially when the big males swam by—they are HUGE! They didn’t seem to pay us much notice, but the pups (born last May/June) were very curious. They would swim around and around us, right side up and upside down to view us from all angles, then dart off after a buddy, come back, and repeat the whole process again. After our swim, we motored over to a beautiful little cove for lunch and sunbathing. Lunch was another adventure in eating for us—two kinds of ceviche (fish and shrimp) and pickled marlin. There were also ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread for the timid, but Steve and I both went for the more exotic. It was great!

Today we are just hanging out on our beach, relaxing. We’ve been here a week now, and will probably move on, still heading south, to Los Barilles, tomorrow.

Los Cerritos

This entry will be out of order because I´m sitting in the labanderia (laundry) using their computer while my stuff is getting clean and using their computer. The laptop wouldn´t plug in there, so Steve left with it to find an internet cafe, and I have two blog entries saved on the laptop and ready to paste in.

We are staying at Los Cerritos, a gorgeous beach on the Pacific side of the Baja, a little south of Todos Santos. When we first pulled into the camping area, we were bummed out--it was just a parking lot and seemed kind of trashy, and we thought we wouldn´t stay more than a night. However, someone left, and we were able to find a better spot, with an unobstructed view of the ocean. You can´t park on the beach here--too soft, and the dunes are in the way, but it´s close by. The whales come by here, and a big form of entertainment is to sit on the dune or the beach and watch for spouts. Some are as close as a couple hundred yards from the beach, and we see lots of spouts, some whale backs, and an occasional tail. The far end of the beach has huge rollers, and is popular with surfers. It´s been fun to walk down there and watch the action.

Yesterday when we pulled in, we were happily surprised to find Len and Betty Kerr, our ¨neighbors¨ on Playa El Tecolote. Yesterdaay was Len´s 65th birthday, and we decided to go into the little town nearby, El Pescadero, to celebrate. We got a recommendation from one of the other Rvers camped near us. To get off the subject for a minute, that was an interesting story. He´s been coming down to this same beach for 14 years. At first he and his wife used to drive down, but now they leave a truck and their 5th wheel at a storage area in the town, and just fly down and pick it up, spend 4 or 5 months, then put it back in storage and fly back home to British Columbia. Oh, and speaking of British Columbia, 90 percent of everybody we´ve met is from B.C., and I´m learning to speak Canadian, at least British Columbian, along with Spanish. ¨Yeah¨ always comes in pairs, as in ¨Yeah, yeah¨ instead of just ¨Yeah;¨ if you´re nervous about doing something, you´re not a wuss or a wimp, you´re a ¨jam tart,¨ and if you don´nt check in with them when you say you will, your kids will ¨have a bïrd¨not a fit.

Now back to the birthday bash. We drove into El Pescadero and found the place, La Choya withoug any trouble. It´s a teeny place, bright orange half-walls of stucco, and a palapa-style roof. Maybe six tables. Two sisters run it, do all the cooking. No English spoken.There were only about 5 things on the menu, which was written on a large dry-erase board. We weren´t even sure they were open because the sisters were out front, washing down all the chairs, but they invited us in, not letting us sit down until they wiped down some chairs for us. Steve, Len, and Betty wanted beer, which they didn´t serve; we were told to go across the street, buy the beer at the beer bar, and bring it back. Can you see that happening in Utah! We were the only customers in the place, and the food was prepared as we waited. It was amazing!Steve and Len had the house specialty--chili rellenos--which were stuffed and dripping with cheese. Betty had camarones (shrimp) sauteed with garlic. She counted--there were 20 good-sized shrimp on her plate. I had the chicken in mole sauce, and it was to die for. I´ve never had mole that good. I asked her what was in it, and didn´t understand a word of what she told me. She left, and a minute later, came back with all the ingredients to show me! Chili negro (black chili), cinnamon, cloves, sesame seeds, and raisins, simmered a long time. Our meals were served with rice, refired beans, salad, and warm tortillas. And for dessert, she brought us each a smal plate with chopped apples and jicama drizzled with strawberry jam. Light and refreshing. The price for all four meals? Forty dollars American, and that included a generous tip. After dinner, they introduced us to their families, who live right there, with hugs and smiles all around. It was a really special evening.

Tonight it´s watching the sun set over the Pacific and looking at stars.

Even more recent photos...

Click on the pictures for a better view:


This is our camp site near La Paz.


This was a pretty road/trail. We are east of La Paz near Pitching League (Picilinque)


When we turned back I discovered that we'd been followed by some stealthy character.


The fish are biting...

Recent photos 2...

Click on the pictures for a better view:

This is the first time I´ve ever seen a school bus pulled over by the police.


Downtown Loreto close to old town. Loreto is a beautiful place.


Sandy snuck away and was later found in a fabric shop. She looks guilty don´t you think?


This is a panga. It is used everywhere in Mexico for just about everything. These guys had been out 25 miles fishing overnight when we saw them returning home.


Ballena Gris. The moms would saunter along with the baby following closely behind.


Whale tail

Sunday in LaPaz

We drove in again today to pick up our laundry and do some more catching up on emails. While Steve was doing his thing on the computer at the internet cafe, I walked across the street to the cathedral, and happened to be there at just the right time to attend Mass. I got there about 15 kminutes early and easily found a seat, but by the time Mass started, the church was filled to capacity. The experience was lovely; it ended up being a High Mass (where many of the congregation's responses are sung, rather than spoken), accompanied by a guitar, an accordion, and a tamborine. There were no missals or hymnals, but everybody seemed to know the words and the tune. It was lovely--happy and reverent and uplifting all at the same time. To my surprise, my Spanish is good enough that I was able to identify which gospel was being read, and even got the gist of the homily. The priest was an excellent speaker--I wish I had understood more.

After Mass, since Steve was still "computing," I asked the girls at the counter where "la tienda de telas" (fabric store) was. They showed me on the map I had,and, since it was only a few blocks away, I walked down to check it out. After consulting my handy dandy phrase book, I was able to ask a clerk to direct me to the "algodon" (cotton), and I picked out a couple of pieces. It itsn't great fabric, but the quality seemed better than the stuff I saw in Loreto, so I bought a meter each (a little more than a yard) for under $2 American a meter.

It's lujnch time, so when I finish this, we'll find someplace to eat. There's a little old lady with a table and charcoal grill set up in the square in front of the cathedral, and she's selling whatever it is she's cooking. Nothing written on her sign rings a bell, so we will smile and point, I guessl. It will be an adventure.

La Paz at last!

Hello from the City of Peace! La Paz is a truly beautiful place. The malecon (waterfront walkway) stretches for three miles along the beautiful turquoise Gulf of California. There are palm trees, benches, sculptures, little lookout piers all along the way. I´m sitting in an internet cafe by the town square, right across the street from the cathedral. Pictures next post.

We are camped on Playa Tecolote, which means Owl Beach, about 15 miles outside of LaPaz. It´s very scenic (pictures next post) and the camping is free. There are quite a few RVs camped here, and everyone is very friendly. In fact, it´s hard to walk all the way down the beach because people stop you and want to visit. Almost everyone we´ve met here, as well as elsewhere along our route, seems to be from British Columbia. The couple in the RV camped next door to us on the beach are from Vancouver, and live on their 40 foot power boat there. The guy, Len, just retired, and he and his wife, Betty, are on their first Baja trip, just like us. We´ve spent the last two days just hanging out and relaxing--walking on the beach, riding our bikes, and general hanging out. Today we came into town to grocery shop and do laundry. The waiter at the place we had lunch--fish tacos, of course-- drew us a map to the labanderia (laundry), which we found without too much trouble. Then the fun began! The lady inside spoke absolutely no English. My Spanish is coming along, but the trouble is that, although I can usually ask for what I want in Spanish, I can only occasionally understand what they tell me back. Eventually, I figured out that she was the proprietress, and that she was using all four of the washing machines. Doing the laundry myself was not an option-- she would do it for me. Somehow or other, we were able to negotiate a price--about $10 American for tres loads, and I could pick it up after 7 p.m. tonight. I was proud of myself, because I was able to ask (and understand her reply) in Spanish what the hours were tomorrow (Domingo) and Monday (Lunes), and agreed that we´d come back Lunes and pick it up. Phew!

Now it´s off to the supermarket and then back to the beach.

Streets of Loreto Part 2, Junclaito Beach, and Whales´Tales

We had a great time exploring Loreto. The city has been occupied since the 1600’s, and was the capital of Baja Sur until the 1800’s, when a hurricane destroyed most of the city and they decided that La Paz was a safer bet. The old, historic part of town has streets of cobblestone and interlocking cement tiles, lots of little shops and cafes, and just oozes charm. The mission is still there—Our Lady of Loreto—and is beautiful. We couldn’t go in on Saturday because of a funeral being held there. After the funeral mass, they loaded the casket into the back of a pickup truck, and piled all the flowers and wreaths on top of it. Then, with a police car escort, the truck made its way slowly through town , presumably to the cemetery, with all the mourners walking alongside and behind it. On Sunday morning before we left town, I walked over to the mission hoping to go to mass, but I was about 45 minutes early, so I just went in and said hi to God, and left. Other great things about Loreto: a bakery 2 blocks from our RV park, a bookstore/fabric shop (the fabric was very poor quality, so I didn’t buy any, but it was still fun to come across a fabric shop in Mexico), and excellent fish tacos. Actually, we’ve eaten fish tacos in almost every town we’ve stopped in, and I haven’t had a bad one yet. They sell everywhere for 10 pesos (one dollar) each.

We didn’t go very far when we left Loreto—just about 14 miles down the coast for a couple of days of dry camping on Juncalito Beach. There were quite a few RV’s parked there, both right on the beach and tucked away in some palm trees, but we were able to find a secluded spot at the north end of the beach and settled in for a couple of days of relaxing.We had actually planned on spending only one night there, but I got a touch of tourista, so we stayed an extra day. How I got it is a mystery—although we had forgotten to add bleach to our water that day, all I did was brush my teeth with it. Steve used the same water I did with no ill effects, and his stomach is usually way more sensitive than mine. But Imodium did its magic, and we were on the road again.

We left Juncalito Beach yesterday, still heading for LaPaz, but took a side trip to San Carlos, on the Pacific side, to take a whale-watching tour. The one RV park in San Carlos has closed down, and we were wandering around wondering what to do because we were advised that it wasn’t safe to boondock on the beaches around there, when we stumbled upon the whale-watching operation. The owner, Fito Gonzalez, generously offered to let us stay in the parking lot there. So, after making reservations for an 8 a.m. whale-watching tour, we moved in. Later in the evening, after he had closed up and everyone had gone home for the day, we were visited by the local policia, who were out patrolling, and, although they didn’t speak English, made it clear that this was private property and we couldn’t camp there. I explained to them in my best Spanish (which isn’t saying much) that we were booked for a whale-watching tour at “ocho manana,” and that Fito had given permisio for us to stay acqui. Miraculously, I was understood AND believed!

This morning (January 31st, I think), dawned bright and sunny, with no wind and calm seas. We climbed into a panga (an open boat that looks sort of like a driftboat) with a single woman from England, a vacationing Mexican from the mainland and Luis, our panga driver, and headed out into Bahia de Magdelena to look for whales. It took about an hour to get out to where the whales were, and then the fun began! First, we started spotting spouts off in the distance, then an occasional dark back, and some tails. Before long, there was whale action all around us, and we could see them clearly. Most of the time, the whales were 30 or so feet away, but some came as close as 15 or 20 feet, and one swam right next to our panga and came up about 8 feet away. It was VERY cool.

We left San Carlos after the tour and drove the 45 minutes back to Ciudad Constitucion, back on the highway, Mex 1, that goes to La Paz. We camped in a little RV park just off the highway. It’s an interesting place. The owners, a British guy and his Mexican wife live on the premises, as do what appear to be her parents. The parents have chickens and peacocks, who parade around the grounds. Berta, the woman owner, speaks excellent English, and told me all about herself. She was a secretary at a company in this city, and met her husband when he came here to work for that company. They’ve been married for 11 years. They have an adorable 6 year old son who looks totally Latino, and I did a double-take when I asked him his name, and he replied “Nigel.” He is bilingual, and speaks unaccented English and correctly accented Spanish.

The Streets of Loreto

We just drove in about an hour ago, and I´ve already fallen in love with this place. It{s a beautifl little city (pop. 7200), very clean and scenic, on the Sea of Cortez, lots of palm trees. We are camped in a little RV park, run by a family who lives on the premises. The beach and malecon (waterfront walkway) are just a few blocks away. There is a fishing fleet and a harbor full of pelicans--my favorite bird--dving in the harbor. I´m off to take Ellie for a run on the beach to chase some seagulls. Steve is coming along to supervise because someone said there´s a woman selling puppies on the beach and he does{t trust me. Especially since we are camped right next to a guy who "adopted" a mexican puppy right here in the RV park that was skinny and wandering around without a home. More later!

Recent photos...

Click on the pictures for a better view:

San Ignatio under the Date Palm Trees


Cocoa Bay where we are now.


My friend Juan who joined us for cocktails at 5


Ellie having fun in the bow of the Kayak

Another ho-hum day in Paradise

Warning: do not read this if you are prone to fits of extreme jealousy or depression.

Sandy writes: Let me describe our stay in Mulage so far. We are camped right on the beach and have our own palapa, which is a three-sided shelter thatched with palm fronds. Yesterday morning, we woke up to a beautiful, golden sunrise over the bay. We decided to take the kayak out for a spin, and spent a couple of hours paddling up the bay to the next beach and around an island. It was Ellie’s first kayak excursion, and, while, she wasn’t thrilled, she did stay in the boat and eventually got comfortable enough to nap.

After our kayak trip, we were relaxing in the shade of our palapa, and the vendors started showing up. First it was a woman selling vegetables and tortillas out of the back of her pickup. We bought an onion, a potato, and a bag of fresh flour tortillas. The tortillas here are nothing like the ones in Salt Lake—they are paper thin and delicious. Then, pretty soon, along came the ice cream man. He had a little ice cream truck that announces itself with music, just like at home. But along with the usual ice cream bars, he offered cones and banana splits with homemade ice cream. Being lunch time, we decided to go with the banana splits. We couldn’t believe our eyes when he handed them over—FIVE scoops of ice cream (vanilla and pistachio, chocolate sauce, peanuts, and of course, the banana. It must have weighed a pound. We could have easily split one, but I am sorry to report that we each ate a whole one. Not long after we’d finished “lunch,” the fruit guy came by, selling oranges (2 pesos each—20cents) and orange juice that he’d squeeze right there for you. We bought 5 oranges. Then came the first of three or four people selling fresh shrimp and scallops. The shrimp were HUGE, and cost 12.50 for a kilo, which is about 2 pounds. We bought a kilo. I cooked some up for supper last night—sauteed in butter with onions, mushrooms, and rolled in our fresh tortillas with verde salsa. They were to die for. And we have lots leftover for another meal, or two or three.

Today we woke up and the bay was calm and glassy, so we took the kayak out again, sans Ellie. We paddled out to Isle de Coyote, about an hour’s paddle. There is a pretty little beach on the island, and apparently a hike to an overlook, but we didn’t do those this time. After we returned, we lunched on cheese quesadillas with the last of our tortillas, hung out on the beach for awhile, then came into Mulage to hit the bank, market, and internet café. Steve is delighted to find that “good” beer is only $1.50 a bottle,m and he is happy sitting in an outdoor bar while I’m typing this.We’ll have an early dinner and drinks here before going back out to Los Cocos.

There is a lot to see and do here, but Steve is getting itchey feet—LaPaz is calling to him—so we’re moving on tomorrow. I hope to stay longer on our way back. There is only one road, so we have to come back the way we came, at least as far as Encenada.

Oh, by the way, it was Steve who got led to the bathroom by the dog, not me.

Entertaining the Troops

Entertaining the troops

Because the weather has been cold and windy on the northern Baja Pacific coast,

we decided to barrel down the road and get to the southern part of the peninsula and the Sea of Cortez as quick as we could. “Barrel,” however, is not what you do in the Baja. The guidebooks told us to allow 6 ½ hours to go roughly 200 miles—the stretch from San Quintin to Guerro Negro, and we thought that was crazy. Turned out the estimate was right on.The roads are extremely narrow and winding, with no shoulder and often a drop of a foot or more onto the land alongside. And the speed limit is usually 50 mph maximum, or less. It was white-knuckle driving for Steve all the way. We’ve turned inland from the Pacific, and the country is wild and desolate. Lots of tall cactus, century plants ablaze with bright yellow blossoms, and these really cool weird trees? cacti? called cirios or boojum trees. One of the guidebooks describes them as upside-down prickly green carrots, and that describes them exactly, except that they are huge—some are 30 feet tall. They apparently are found nowhere else on earth except the Baja.

The Mexican government is apparently cracking down on guns and drugs and we’d been told to expect to be stopped and searched at some of the military checkpoints, which seem to crop up randomly along the highway, often in the middle of nowhere. It’s a bit intimidating to drive up to a roadblock with soldiers wearing desert camoflauge and carrying machine guns, but we’ve been waved through each time, until yesterday, when we were stopped and politely asked if they could check our vehicles. I put Ellie on leash and walked her back to our tow vehicle with me because she was growling at the soldier who entered the Royal Palms. After the soldier finished checking out the Jeep, we stood around outside waiting for the guy in the motor home to finish his inspection. There were about five soldiers standing there near me, so I told Ellie to “sit.” She immediately did so, which caused grins and admiration from the soldiers. One of them pantomimed a “sitting up” pose, which Ellie does nicely, so I had her do that. More grins. I then put her through her whole routine—lie down, crawl, shake, roll over, and roll back the other way. They loved it. About this time, their compatriot had finished inspecting the motor home and came over. “My” soldiers made me put Ellie through the whole routine again so the new guy could see. After that, they waved us on our way with lots of “muy bueno perro”s (very nice dog) and good will toward all.

Today we made it to San Ignacio (89 miles, 2 ½ hours driving time), a real desert oasis. It looks like something out of a movie about the Sahara. We are camped under some date palms, right next to a beautiful, calm lagoon. A black-crowned night heron spent the day dozing in the palm right in front of us, and now that it’s dusk, just took off to catch himself some dinner. We had a great late lunch of chicken tacos in town, so will probably forego dinner in favor of microwave popcorn with a DVD movie in a little while. Tomorrow we will be camped on the Sea of Cortez. At the campground in Guerro Negro last night, we had dinner and drinks with a couple from British Columbia, John and Patsy Solly, who were heading home after 3 months on Bahia del Concepcion, near the town of Mulege (pronounced Mule a hay). They were raving about the place and had pictures to prove it, including a whale and a pod of dolphins that came to say hello while they were sea-kayaking in the bay so we’re going to check it out and hopefully stay there for a week or so before wandering down to La Paz..

While we were visiting San Ignatio I followed signes to El Bano (bathroom). It was inside a very ancient store where there were 2 very ancient proprietors. The explained in Spanish and hand motions that I should follow their dog. I was starting to laugh but the guy opened the back door and the dog shot out in a flash so I hurried and followed him. The little dog led me down a walkway, then a ramp, then around a corner to another walkway and when I got to one spot he looked at me and ran back. I looked up and there was the El Bano! Smart dog.