Back to Baja

When we pulled into San Diego the week after Thanksgiving, I could never have guessed that it would take two months to make that final step into Baja. However, two months later, here we are.

We certainly enjoyed San Diego and Southern California, as well as our trip back home for the Holidays and our Hawaii adventure too, but they all ate up time. Of course we have few real deadlines in our travel schedule, but we did commit to Spanish classes in La Paz and now we’re actually arriving a few days behind our intended start date. I guess we’re on Baja time already…

Once again we crossed the boarder in Tiajuana and once again it was an easy process. This time instead of a physical examination of the van, we were escorted to a huge x-Ray machine where the van was scanned while we sat in a concrete bunker. No problems, but I sure wish I could have see a picture of that x-Ray. We have stuff stored in every corner of Brienne and I can only imagine how it looks on film. Heck, I probably would have found some lost items…

Once in Mexico we cruised south to Ensanada where we decided to camp for the night. We stayed at Estero Beach Resort and absolutely enjoyed the resort amenities. We were the only RV in the campground and had the pool and hot tub all to ourselves. The restaurant was busy with hotel guests (who have their own pool/hot tub area) and we feasted on some classic Mexican food. The tortilla soup was, without question, the best I’ve ever tasted.

In the morning we enjoyed a little more resort time before breaking camp to head to El Rosario. The campground in El Rosario barley qualifies as a campground, but they do have a realitively flat place to park. It’s definitely not a place to set-up camp, but works great as a stop for the night.

In the morning I woke early for a quick pee break. Unfortunately, the door lock broke, stranding me in a tiny bathroom with nothing more than a key in my pocket. A key is not a screwdriver and after 30 minutes I had made some progress, but was beginning to strip the philipshead screws. Additionally, as with most door knob screws, the further you back them out, the less space you have to work with. The only window was a 8″ x 12″ opening 7′ off the floor. Not an option. Since Marcy’s situational awareness is almost non-existent, I wasn’t planning on her figuring out that I had been gone for too long. My only hope was that when the kids awoke that Marcy might bring them to the restroom and not use our Portapotty. Just then the only other camper came by to use the restroom. I explained my situation and requested a philips screwdriver. he grumbled something in reply and left…20 minutes later he returned with…no recollection of our conversation. Sleepwalking idiot. After explaining things again, he returned with a screwdriver that we were able to push through the screen window. Two minutes later I was free. Marcy and the kids were enjoying breakfast in the van without any concern for my whereabouts. Oralé!

From there we traveled south on Mex 1 all the way to San Ignacio. We were hesitant to stay at a place named “Rice and Beans” and spelled in English none the less, but it actually turned out to be a great stop. We enjoyed some beers from the bar and Marcy hammered out some work while she had wifi. A motocross tour joined the festivities and added some interesting stories to the mix. The next morning we all rolled out, headed south.

Our initial plan was to spend the night in Bay of Conception a little south of Mulegé and put our new kayaks to good use. However, as beautiful as this area is, I simply can’t stand the thought of being parked on a remote beach, miles from everything, except 50 other gringos that turn this into an all out campground. Additionally, the north wind was whipping down the bay and helped convince us to continue south to Rattlesnake Beach near Puerto Escondido. We did get the kayaks unloaded in hopes that the morning would bring calmer weather, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

On to La Paz with a quick coffee/work break in Ciudad Constitucion. Pulling into La Paz felt like arriving home.

It was good to be home.