January 31, 2015 - Playa Los Cerritos to Cabo San Lucas

Did I tell you it rained yesterday? Well, it continued all night and included lots of thunder and lightening. I had dreams that the ocean came up and our RV was floating – now that was NOT a fun dream!  A few surfers showing up about 7 this morning and the one surf schools arrived with boards to rent, but it looked pretty gloomy. We decided to go ahead and head south to Cabo San Lucas and hope for better weather. After we pull onto the highway and started heading south, some of the clouds started to break and if you look very closely to the picture above, you will see a sliver of a rainbow! Further down the road, we passed what appeared to be a single family home – with their own waterslide!We arrived in Cabo San Lucas about 10 this morning and are camping at the Villa Serena RV Park. They are about the only RV park in the area that isn’t filled with full-time rentals. This is the first park we have had trouble with the electric running too high and our power monitor has shut it off. Thank goodness for that investment! It prevents the power from surging too high or going too low and causing damage to our microwave, refrigerator, or anything else we have plugged in. They also have terrible internet service and they charge $23 a day, which is high for Mexico.

We did take the scooter off and after it rained (yep, another downpour) and lunch, we took a run back into town and walked around a bit. The sprinkles started after about 30 minutes, so we headed back and hope to head back to town tomorrow! Reading and sleeping seemed to be what was on tap for the day. We need to find a spot to watch the Super Bowl tomorrow, but really don’t want either team to win!! We’ll keep you posted!

January 30, 2015 - Playa Los Cerritos

Today was cloudy and wet – as in rain wet. We woke to overcast skies and even the surf-school guys left by 10 this morning and took their rental boards with them! Even the beach vendors didn’t set up! We took a small walk before the real rain started and decided to check out the hotel on the hill overlooking the beach and our little parking area.
There is a stairway up from the beach so up we went. Supposedly, it was originally built as a single family home, but the guy ran out of money. Someone bought it and finished it into a small hotel.
We walked through the courtyard, through the into the seating area and outside to the pool and bar. WOW – What a view!

We could see the beach and our little parking area below.

Back to the RV by lunchtime, and the rain began in earnest! We watched a movie, read, and I quilted. A pretty lazy afternoon.

Some of the hard-core surfers have been at the beach most of the day, and around 5:00, the sun was trying to peak through the clouds, so more cars arrived with surfers. We can see them from the RV, so we stayed in and stayed dry!

We will pack up and head south to the Cabo San Lucas area tomorrow.

January 29, 2015 - Playa Los Cerritos

It was cloudy this morning when we got up, but we still took a long walk on the beach – probably close to two miles round trip. The surfers were out in full force, taking advantage of the good waves.

Back to the RV for breakfast and the sun was starting to come out, so we changed into swim suits, lathered up with sunscreen, took our mats, and sat on the beach. It was then time for lunch, and repeat! While on the beach this afternoon Tobey got a little jealous – there were two guys flying an ultralight around and landed on the beach a couple times. He has always wanted to learn how to fly one since he went up as a passenger years ago in Hawaii.

We did take another walk down the beach and met a couple from Canada and their two dogs. They are staying at the RV park next door because their rig is too big to get into this parking lot! It was sure fun watching their dogs play in the water – even though their German Shepherd was afraid of the waves!

The sand on this beach is a mixture of tan and black and made some really cool patterns.

Another truck camper pulled in late last night – two fellows from Boulder, CO! Their camper is pretty interesting – it is an XPCAMPER, made for trucks. Everything runs off diesel – the stove, water heater, and even refrigerator. It is on a 4x4 truck and even has a snorkel so it can go through deep water. Pretty cool. You can check it out at www.xpcamper.com. It was fun talking to them about their adventures.

For us, it looks like another quiet night here and we will probably repeat the whole thing tomorrow!

January 28, 2015 - La Paz to Playa Los Cerritos

As we got ready to leave the RV park this morning we got a good look at one of the other RVs in the lot. It is owned by Germans – and they appear to be ready for any kind of terrain!
We only traveled 84 miles today. We left La Paz and headed south on Hwy 1 until it met Hwy 19 where we took the turnoff for Todos Santos.

We parked and walked around the historic center of town. Todos Santos was established in 1724 as a visiting station for the mission in La Paz. It later became a separate mission, but was destroyed in the Indian rebellion in1734. There are no ruins of the old mission left. In town, there is a pretty village church, civic plaza, and municipal buildings. The infamous “Hotel California” is also located in the historic district, however, we heard it doesn’t really have any ties to the Eagles' song!
There are lots of art galleries and artisan shops selling everything from Talavera pottery to Michoacán jewelry – all imported from mainland Mexico! We stopped at a local fish taco stand and had lunch – it was a really popular place with locals and tourists, alike. The tacos were pretty tasty – $18 pesos or $1.25 USD each.

 
We asked about camping at a beach north of town and were directed to La Pastora. We took the 20 minute drive an found a beautiful beach, however, camping was far from the water and the location of dune buggy tours.

Back in the RV and heading south, we stopped at Playa Los Cerritos. There is an RV park behind a hotel development and well away from the beach and they wanted $20 USD to park with no electric or water.

We drove a little further to the Beach club and they said we could park in the public parking lot just north of them. Well, the parking lot isn’t pretty, but it is close to the beach, and the beach is pretty, and it is free. There are three other RVs in the lot, and two just outside the fence, so we won’t be alone.

We walked on the beach a while, then stopped and sat to watch the surfers and boogie boarders. There were even surfers at sunset, which was fun to see. We plan to stay at least one more night so we can enjoy the beach tomorrow.

GPS: 23.33134N, 110.17802W

January 27, 2015 - Loreto to La Paz

The one thing Tobey and I both forgot about the Riviera del Mar RV Park was how noisy it is being in town at night! Some of the other RVers were up late in the palapa behind our RV sharing a few drinks, the neighbors behind had music going all night, dogs barking, roosters crowing, and the trash truck making its early morning rounds! Neither of us slept well, so we decided to move on.

Just south of Loreto is the Nopolo Resort area so we took a short detour through to check it out. It is an area that was chosen FONATUR, the government agency created in 1974 to develop sustainable tourism. Cancun was developed by FONATUR, but the Nopolo area will be hard pressed to compete with Cancun. There were lots of beautiful looking homes and condominiums, some restaurants, golf course, tennis courts, but it was still a very quiet area. We continued past several lookout areas where we had good views of the islands in the Sea of Cortez. 

We stopped in Ciudad Insurgentes for lunch where we got three gorditas de Nopal Huevo to go with a salad.

Gorditas are a Mexican flatbread made from cornmeal and ours was stuffed with pork and peppers in a tomato sauce. They were really tasty and filling. ($45 pesos – about $3.25 USD).

We passed through several “geological regions” as we made our way to La Paz. Mountains, plains, plateaus, and flat areas – even an area of “Zona de Neblina” (fog). Fortunately, for us today, there was no fog!

South of Loreto the mountains were shrouded in the clouds. Near Km G-83, the eastern coastline of the peninsula is steep, rocky, and majestic.

This is the Llano de Magdalena – (the plains), which were south of Ciudad Constitucion. Again, the closer to La Paz we got, the coastal mountains changed to a lighter pinkish color with bands of volcanic ash.

We did encounter road construction in the last 15 miles before La Paz. Lots of road construction! Much of this construction was underway before Hurricane Odile, but the hurricane definitely hampered progress and caused further damage. We were careful not to get too close to the right edge of the road – it was quite a drop-off!

Once we hit the gravel, it continued for more than four miles, teased us with a few miles of blacktop, then another four or five miles of gravel!

At Km H-21 we passed through another agricultural inspection station and back onto a wide, paved road the rest of the way into La Paz. This is our first view of the bay and city!

We are dry-camping at Campestre Marantha, on the northwest side of La Paz. Cost is $200 pesos (about $14 USD). We made reservations for an electric site on our return trip because we plan to be here during Carnival and spend a few days.

GPS: 24.09767N, 110.38714W

On a side note:
Yesterday when we left Santispak, we passed these two guys on their bicycles, going up a VERY STEEP grade! We weren’t able to pull over and get their picture, but this was taken by Richard Clarke and he posted it on a forum which I belong. He saw them later in the day on a flat stretch of the road and was able to stop and chat with them.

 
Joff (left) from London is on his second world tour on his penny farthing. He previously cycled from England to eastern Asia. The final destination of this tour will be Argentina.

 
Felix from Austria (right) is on his way through Mexico. His girlfriend mistakenly reported him missing several days earlier to the Mexican Embassy. The police caught up with him that day. Turned out he had no phone signal to contact her.
photo by Richard Clarke

January 26, 2015 - Santispak to Loreto

It rained off and on all night and we woke to cloudy skies. We decided to go ahead and head south to Loreto in hopes of getting some sunshine, and we did! On the 71 mile drive, we passed several beach RV camping areas, but were pleased with our choice at Santispak and plan to stop there again on our return trip north.

We did pass through areas of large cardon cactus and saw lots of turkey vultures sitting on top of them.

We also had a great view of Sierra Giganta, the giant peaks of the Peninsular Range Mountains.

At Km F-0 (also Km G-120) we arrived in Loreto. We are camping at Riviera del Mar RV Park where we stayed 10 years ago. It is in town, only about 6 blocks from the historic district, and is $230 pesos per night which includes water and electric. (about $16.50 USD.

Loreto is the oldest permanent Spanish settlement in all of the Californias. Junipero Serra started his expeditions to settle Alta California here, and Loreto was to serve as the military presidio, the residence of the Father Superior of the peninsula’s missions, and the seat of its civil government until 1829. In 1829, the town was destroyed by a hurricane and the capital was moved to La Paz. In the mid 1990s, Loreto became the headquarters of the Parque Nacional Bahia de Loreto and the government started working to promote tourism in the area.


 
After setting up, we walked into town and saw the civic plaza, city hall museum, and the Mision de Neustra Senora de Loreto Concho which was completed in 1752. We walked down to the malecon and walked along the waterfront.


We then headed back into town and picked up some groceries before heading back to the RV.

A local fisherman came in and we bought a kilo of whitefish for $150 pesos. ($10 USD). The owner of the park came to buy some also and she told us it is very good and she always buys from him.
We walked back into town for dinner and ended up at Islas Loreto on the malecon. I had tortilla soup and Tobey had the fish of the day (parrot fish) which was cooked in a orange liquer, butter, and parsley sauce. Both of them were very good and we walked home with full tummies. ($280 pesos – 20 USD)
We plan to leave in the morning and continue heading south, but will probably stop here again on the way north. We are both feeling better and hope that by tomorrow the colds should be left behind!
GPS: 26.01768N, 111.34603W

January 25, 2015 - Playa Santispak

It was a pretty lazy day today, which is a good thing since I have managed to catch Tobey’s cold.
It rained a little overnight, but we woke to beautiful skies. We took a walk down the beach and visited with a couple from Canada and met their Aussie, Maya. It made us miss our Penny, but we know she is being well taken care of by our moms. Last report Penny was going for long walks, swimming in the lake, and take long naps. Lucky dog!
The RV park here is really little more than a leveled off sand parking area on the beach, but it just fine for us! We are camped in the cluster of RVs in the picture below. There are also some more beach parking areas past this road.
After breakfast we sat outside and read, enjoying the sunshine. We did see three or four dolphins in the bay, which was really cool. Later, we talked with another couple who are camped here, and they told us that they had been motoring around in their little dinghy and there were probably 200+ dolphins out there, swimming all around them. I want a kayak so we can get out and see that!!!

A little while later, three Mexican guys came back to shore in their boat and were selling fresh scallops they had just caught, so we bought some. One kilo of scallops for $150 pesos – just over $10USD for 2.2 pounds! We cooked them in garlic and butter tonight and they were pretty tasty.
This afternoon the clouds rolled back in, so I took myself inside to read and rest. Tobey walked the beach a bit and rested, too.

We have decided to head south to Loreto tomorrow, but plan to stop here on our way north later in the trip and spend more time.

January 24, 2015 - Vizcaino to Santispak RV Park

Today has been a bittersweet kind of day for us as we made our journey. One of our dear friends back home passed away two weeks ago and his memorial service is today. We loved sharing our travel stories with him and he was an avid follower of our blog. He always said he thought we were on a type of pilgrimage when we traveled, and who knows, maybe we are. We will miss his thoughtful questions and insightful observations. RIP, JHP, our dear friend.

When we pulled into the RV park last night we came in through the hotel entrance which was not a good choice. The driveway was very steep and we scraped bottom on our scooter ramp. This morning, they opened a gate at the south end of the property so we could make an easy exit to the street. Our scooter (and we) were much happier!

It has been a cloudy, windy, and chilly day today! Heading south from Guerrero Negro, the km markers are counting down, so we left Vizcaino at Km E-144. Near Km E-67, we were able to see the 6,547-foot high Volcan las Tres Virgenes (Three Virgins Volcano).
It was known to erupt in 1746 and emitted smoke in 1857. Around Km E-42, we stopped and were able to see some of the lava flow up close, and the elephant trees growing from the rock.

At Km E-0, we arrived at the town of Santa Rosalia, which is an industrial town with very little vegetation. The surrounding hills bear the scars of more than a century of copper and manganese mining. The old smelter is closed, but it appears that the town has reopened a new facility just to the north of town where they are apparently reprocessing the numerous mine tailings. We parked at the Ferry Terminal lot because the streets in town are narrow and would have been difficult to drive the RV through, and walked into tour the town.

Santa Rosalia was built by the French and as a result, almost all of its buildings are made of imported lumber, rather than masonry. Many of them have broad verandas and are packed closely together.

A few blocks into the town stands the metal church which was designed by Gustave Eiffel (builder of the Eiffel Tower in Paris). It was constructed of prefabricated galvanized iron because it was originally destined for a humid African country where resistance to termites was needed. How it ended up in Mexico is something we don’t know!


We climbed the hill to the Mesa Frances to see the Museo el Boleo which appeared to be closed for some time. It had originally been the mining company office. Down the center of the broad street was an array of mining railroad equipment. At the Frances Hotel, we could look up the hill and see a brick tunnel leading from the smelter to the smokestack high above the town.
We also had a view out to the harbor where the breakwater walls, constructed from blocks made from the slag left over from the smelting process protect the marina.

Back in town we grabbed a couple of fish tacos for lunch, then stopped at the French Bakery, El Boleo, which was established in 1901. We got some pastries that we will have for dessert tonight.


The whole tour of the town, including lunch took us just over an hour. Maybe if the weather had been warmer and sunnier we would have explored a little more. We continued south and checked out a couple RV parks we might stop at on the return trip before deciding to stay at Playa Santispac, on the Bahia Coyote, about 13 miles south of Muleje at Km F-114. There are several RVs parked here along the beach, but it is a pretty quiet spot. Cost – $100 pesos per night (about $7 USD). There are two beach restaurants here, also. The sun is trying to peak through the clouds, so we hope we get a nice sunset.

There are also lots of boats anchored in the bay and we have seen a few people out fishing and kayaking. We are hoping for a sunny day tomorrow so we can just hang out and relax.



GPS location – 26.76582N, 111.88623W