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Published: March 1st 2007
Another night of jungle “music” but this time with the whinny of horses. But, again, sunshine!
Mike thinks that we are great candidates for a new movie called Baja RV. Throw in Robin Williams and some other funny “extras” along w/ our “adventures” and it could be a real success! Everything that has happened to us seems like it was destined to occur as part of our “adventure”--people we have met, stupid stuff we have done, incompatible travel partners (NOT the Brits-they were great!), Mike’s night wanderings and “hearing things” , paranoia that someone is walking around the RV trying to break in….AND TIRES!!!!! That should be the theme of this whole trip! Almost every town we go in, Mike HAS to go in and check to see if they have the size that we need. And EVERY time I tell them that they won’t have them, we STILL have to ask. Well, yes, indeed, they have had the right size available but only in a Japanese or Mexican brand! The warranty won’t do us much good in the US now, will it? But, boy, do they want to sell them at a “good price”.
We may have also
met the ultimate Baja man yesterday. He pulled his truck camper in next to our RV at the RV park. The camper was packed to the gills with all sorts of “stuff”. In the front seat was a stuffed dog which was to provide protection for our new neighbor named Steve from California. Steve just had a small “path” in his camper leading up to his sleeping area. Attached to his truck was a 20 foot trailer with NO sides also packed to the max with furniture, gas cans, water tubs, an antique wringer washing machine and who knows what else!! Everything strapped down with blue tarps and bungee cords. Mike’s new best friend, Baja Steve. Steve is headed to his palapa home in Cabo Pulmo near Cabo San Jose. Steve offered many interesting tips for Baja travel. Mike got a real kick out some of them. One of Mike’s favorite is Steve’s habit of carrying 2 wallets. One has old invalid credit cards w/ a little cash and the other is the “real deal”. If he ever happens to get robbed, he is prepared! He also keeps a knife and a tire iron under his seat and then adds,
“…….but the Baja is very safe”. Steve talks and talks and Mike is a captive audience and a real magnet for these types! Steve is a fountain of information and we may know almost every detail of his life: his wife’s poor upbringing, his mother’s health problems, insecticides and pesticides to use, the cure for his arthritis w/ a formula that you can only buy at pet stores, how his brother was murdered and his dad passed away in the same year (NO, I did not dare ask!), his life as a mechanic………..just to name a FEW!!! These are the characters that we attract.
Yesterday, Mike decided to wash his truck because there was plenty of room and water available. He spent a considerable amount of time cleaning it up all in the company of Baja Steve and his stories. Well, when we got up this morning, the truck was once again encrusted in a thinner layer of dust than the day before! Steve piped in that he only washes his truck “when it rains in the Baja” which, of course, is almost never during this time of year! As we got on the road for about an hour,
we realized that good old Steve was on our tail! He followed us to La Paz and then went on his way. When we stopped along the side of the road for a stretch and a break, so did Steve! He offered Mike some more “driving” tips.
On to La Paz……the roads were STRAIGHT with just a few small hills so it was a “boring” drive! Ha ha! No, it was a welcome relief to not have to worry about semis coming at us on those 90 degree angled curves! The road was relatively smoother than the previous stretches of highway thus far. The landscape was kind of boring too --flat, cordon cactus. Very dry. As we got closer to the water, of course, it became greener and we began to climb again encountering a few more hills and those horrible TOPES!! But they do slow everyone down on the curves, so it is a good thing. We ended up going through downtown La Paz. La Paz has about 170,000 inhabitants. I was thinking it would be a LOT bigger. It is clearly a tourist town with lots of shops and hotels. The whale’s tail-dove marks the entrance to
the city. There is a lovely waterfront malecon for strolling and exploring the older part of town a few blocks from the water. It must be at least 2-3 miles long. The city really did a nice job on the malecon. The restaurants and shops have a real European feel to them. Off the main street is where the locals do their business. There are lots of non gringo stores here!
The best beaches are outside the town. And we found the BEST one at Tecolote. We had heard about it from a guy in Concepcion. Otherwise we would never have found it. It is a public beach with NO amenities---but with a view like we have, who needs “amenities”? We are just a few steps from the water, our own palapa, a couple of good restaurants down the way……..I keep saying that I have found my paradise…..and THIS just may be it!!!!! It is a close one to Concepcion………..but this is so AWESOME!!!! We arrived here at around noonish, parked and then just beached it the rest of the day. There are about a dozen other rigs here so that is a good thing. ………………….The sunsets were
quite a show! And we will fall asleep to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore…..what a symphony!
27 Feb La Paz
We had a pretty uneventful day starting at about 7 am. We laugh because we are generally late night folk but here since we have no TV or internet, there is not much to do after about 8 pm so we try to stay awake till about 10. Then we awake at about 3 or 4 am and wonder how long it will be before we get to “really” arise! We laugh each night about it!! We call it the night that never ends…..
It was an absolutely perfect day here, about 80 degrees on the beach. First we went into La Paz to tour around a bit and do some email and make a couple of calls. Some were not successful but Mike was able to call his mom. Then we returned to our RV to find the beach invaded by the locals. They were literally on top of us, right in front of our RV! There was a group of about a dozen young men who engaged in beer drinking,
soccer and marijuana. We were a little concerned at first but then realized that they were just having fun. Their choice of rap was a little offensive and we figured that they probably had no clue what any of it meant. Then the rap gave way to more traditional Mexican folk music so we enjoyed that a lot. When I went out to take a picture of the sunset, they were all waving so as to be in the photo!
We also stopped at the Baja Ferries terminal here to check on rates to Topolobampo on the mainland. We have to determine if it is going to be reasonable enough to cross over and then drive up the mainland. We have been told that the toll roads alone in Mexico will be approximately $200-300!
We continue to be mesmerized by the beauty of this place. We both went swimming in the crystal blue waters. The temperature of the water is about 70ish. I did a little shelling but there are a lot of stones and rocks here. We ended the day with a campfire on the beach.
During the night a huge wind came up and you
could actually feel the trailer sway!! It blew and blew all night. But the day started with a captivating sunrise. At 6, the temp was 63. Not a bad way to start the day…………..Looks like another perfect day ahead!
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jan hoey
non-member comment
cuidad la paz
Loved all the wonderful commentaries and pics. I have seen La Paz on House Hunters on HGTV. Someone bought a place right across the street from the Malecon. But they looked elsewhere and it seemed housing was reasonable. however, i don't know what it would be like to own property there ie. restrictions, Mexican laws, etc. you are right - you could do a screenplay for RV - Baja mexico.