Cabo Wabo Baby

From God´s marbles we traveled to the outstanding Bahia de Concepcion. WOW! I can only be amazed by the beauty of it all. Josh and I promptly found a bungalow right on the water and positioned our beach chairs exactly along the sun´s vector. There we stayed for almost 3 hours before moving slowly but surely towards dinner. The hike to the next camp place was about 2 miles - lovely walk during the day, a little frightening at night with no moon and only a flshlight to keep us from falling off a cliff into the freezing water. However, I saw more stars than I ever have before in my life and we lived to tell about it. Leaving the Bahia was a sad day, but our next stop was well worth the move.

Loreto is a small university town with a great old time downtown including cobblestone drives and walk platzs. We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves until we realized our camera was not with us and was left at the lunch spot. In a panic we raced back to find no camera and no trace. After an hour of upsettedness, we asked some white kids that were in the cafe if they knew of the lost camera and one of them had it! And...he had taken some great pics. We win! Would love to go back to Loreto now that our blood pressures are back to normal.

Los Barrilles - The for-mentioned Bob and Lynn told us about this RV park they were heading to to spend 6 MONTHS. Figured it had to be worth checking out. It was amazing in that so many RVers decide each year to come all the way down Baja to hang out with other non-Mexicans in an, albeit, beautiful place, but park right next to each other for the months upon months they are there. Really an interesting chemistry. We were almost bum rushed as soon as we got the tent up; everyone wanting to find out who the new young ones were in the Hawaii plated Durango. First things first, we walked toward the beach and made it only as far as the first Pacifico(beer) where we promptly met Mike and Haley at the outdoor bar on the beach. Mike(Miguel) is a Mexican national living in Cabo for the last 26 years, but lived in San Diego long enough to be able to relate to the new kids(us). Haley is an expat from Canada. They came to Los Barrilles for a vacation from Cabo - if you can believe that! Well, a few beers moved very quickly to Hornitos tequila. Per Mike, Hornitos does not leave nasty hangovers like other tequilas. The night was short over dinner and more Hornitos, but my hangover seemed to last an eternity. Josh is a firm believer in the Hornitos theory, I was not sold.

Needless to say, I was not in the partying mood when we hit Cabo the next day. However, I did understand why Mike and Haley went to Los Barrilles for a vacation. I liken Cabo to a prettier and richer Ensenada. Lots of us whities and lots of money rolling around. I can absolutely see flying with the girls or the boys for a long weekend of nothing but dancing, fishing and drinking. However, from the drive down we are well aware that Cabo does not hold all the beauty in Baja. Not even close. We did spend 2 days in Cabo, one in a hotel - the rightly named Siesta Suites (plenty of Siesta there) and the 2nd night with Mike and Haley. Our 2nd night in Cabo was our night out. Since Mike is a chef in town, we asked him where he thought would be the place to go.... a sushi place!! It was fatanstic!! Lots of chili and calantro sauces as well as local Dorado(Mahi) and Tuna dishes. Yuuuummmy. 2 nights in a real bed was like being in your own bed after summer camp - - sooo nice.

Post Cabo we drove the 2 hours to the small town of Todos Santos. The Lonely Planet talks about Todos Santos as the new Santa Fe, NM. In fact, half of Santa Fe probably snow birds in Todos Santos over the winter months. This small town has many wonderful galleries and pricey silver. It all is lovely if you want to spend a fortune bringing not so much Mexican art home from Mexico at not so Mexican prices. Our RV park was in town and the neighbors from British Columbia were so friendly. Again, we were the babies of the place so we made friends instantly. Jim and Barb (both retired) spoke to us about whales at the beach. Although our LP said nothing of the sight, we knew it was whale calving season so we walked with them at sunset to the wonderfully secluded beach and there they were. Hundreds of whales. They were absolutely AMAZING. Only 300 meters from the beach, these huge creatures brought there young in to teach them how to roll in the sand and talk off the barnacles from their bodies. I can not explain the awe of these huge creatures breeching and spouting for the full 2 hours we watched. A highlight of the trip by far. Our wonderfully central campsite soon became not so wonderful after Josh could not get to sleep for hours due to the barking, mooing and cock-a-doodle-doing that went on ALLL night. Poor thing. Our neighbors assured us that we would get used to it all if we just stayed a little while. Despite the beauty of the whales, Josh was not convinced. Plus, we had a ferry to catch.

The ferry ride was long and there was plenty of anxiety to get on with suspicious tickets, a customs registration and loading place-time on the confusing side. We got on right before half the big rigs in the State of Baja and enjoyed the sun. The night was rough, we knew it would be sleeping in the "salon" section which was movie theatre chairs with more leg room. My worries included Josh´s notorious seasickness which fortunetly was prevented by a special Pharmacia cocktail. Not much sleep was had, but nothing that a little siesta on the beach and Superbowl anticipation couldn´t overcome.

We arrived in Mazatlan the next day after taking the overnight ferry. It was exactly how I remembered it when I went for a senior trip thing back in the 90s. A little dirtier, a little more gringofied. Checked into a dirty, cheap hotel - did a recon for the PERFECT sports bar and staked our claim at the pool table seating. There I proceeded to meet our 2nd group of Iowa peeps and talk about shopping and eating in Mexico while the husbands got a little crazy about the game. I will not mention what happened after the game, but it was not pretty. Let´s just say the referees are going to get a very nasty letter from the Walters.

We have fantastic pictures to share and will post later when we have a computer that is up for the challenge. Hope all is well.

"Don´t drive faster than your angels can fly"

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