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!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
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.
.
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.
.
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.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, March 5, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
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.
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.
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