Just A Small Fish

Glenn, Dave and Eric were going fishing...............that meant after Glenn's early morning, I got to sleep in just a little bit!!  I enjoyed my morning walk on the beach and catching a few rays while drinking my morning coffee!

The guys didn't have any luck fishing till they were pulling into the dock and this guy was caught!

The guys took the fish to a local restaurant to cook and we all went there to eat it!  The pina colada was not only BIG but very good!!

The six of us had a great meal eating that fish prepared 3 different ways and visiting!

Another day in paradise!

ATVing To The Waterfall!

What a gorgeous day to take a ride to the waterfall!  Even though it was still windy on the beach, once you got away from it made all the difference!

We met Dave and Leslie with their rented ATV and we headed out!

This time the water appeared much sooner in the canyon and we drove as far as we could - but large rocks had fallen down from the sides and formed a natural barrier where you couldn't drive any further.  So we hopped off our ATV's and walked in through the water which was SO refreshing!!

The water fall was gushing a lot of water!!

 After our waterfall trip, we headed back into town and hit a couple of happy hour bars!

And then it was off for pizza!  YUM!!

El Gecko With Friends

Our friends Dave and Leslie drove up from Cabo where they had been staying in their time share for a week!  We met for Happy Hour on Saturday night at Smokies, a fun bar where we had watched The Super Bowl the year before!  They DO make good pina coladas!

We had planned on ATVing or the guys fishing the next day but the wind was out of control on the beach!!  So it turned out to be a relaxing day and we met mid-afternoon to go to El Gecko, our favorite beach bar!!

They make table side guacamole which is excellent!!

It's so fun to look out over the ocean and watch the kite-boarders go by on windy days like this!

Dave was adventurous and ordered the dish below - of course none of us can remember the name of it but it's a sauce filled with chicken, shrimp, green onions and cactus!!!  Probably more ingredients but that's all I can remember - and you dish it up and put it on a tortilla!!  I tasted the cactus - it was good with an interesting texture, almost like a pickle!!

It was a great time there and we made plans for the next day, hoping the wind would die down!!

Los Barriles

What a great feeling to unpack in our casita!  The view was how we remembered it and the ocean was beautiful!!

Our neighbors greeted us when we arrived and immediately invited us to join them and 3 other couples for pizza that evening!  This is Eric and Hillary who we met last year and we also met 2 new couples, both from Colorado!  The pizza was great!

The full moon was gorgeous that night!!

And vacation has begun...........................

No Room At The Inn

We had a great day of travel and not far to go to our next stop, San Ignacio!!  Lots of pretty scenery along the way!!

It was fun looking down into beautiful coves as we drove along!

I had tried to book a reservation at this recommended place where you stay in a yurt, but again, couldn't make the connection with the deposit!  As we pulled into San Ignacio, we realized it was a true oasis with palm trees and lots of greenery - it was gorgeous!!  Since we had another recommendation from some bikers the day before, we found that hotel and it was pretty large so we figured no problem getting a room - WRONG!  It was all booked! (And discovered that reservations are a must in this town due to the whale watching tours this time of year!!)

So we headed back to the yurt place to see if by chance they had a room and they didn't either!  (we did see one other hotel but it wasn't one I would have stayed at!!)  But the gal there was nice enough to visit with me and try to figure out another room in the next big town, Santa Rosalia!  At least we had the name of a place and its' location!

So another hour to Santa Rosalia and I wasn't impressed with the town but the hotel was out of town along the ocean!  The rates were posted on a sheet - $75 for 2 people - and we wanted an ocean front room but they were all booked so we had to settle for just a partial view!  The guy asked us 3 times if the price was OK - was I supposed to bargain?????  No idea - each time I replied yes, the price was fine!   So I handed him $80 - he handed me one $20 back along with some pesos!!  I had no idea what had just happened but who am I to question?

BUT we weren't done with the money yet - in order to get the key for the room and the remote, you had to leave 200 pesos (no American, just pesos!!) and you would get it back the next day when you returned both items!! 

The room wasn't great - it really needed to be updated and redecorated but it was clean and the shower had water pressure!!!  The restaurant attached was very nice with a lot of people eating there - our meal was fine but nothing special - guess I was comparing it to the meal the night before!!

We did have a coupon for a continental breakfast which was fruit, toast and juice or coffee so we enjoyed that the next morning before taking off!  (and of course collecting our 200 pesos back!!)

Did I mention that the Baja has mountains?  I was totally surprised at this!  Between the narrowness of the highway and the "s" curves, the mountain driving was worse than Colorado!!  You certainly don't make any time as you have to drive so slow!!

Our final night's stay was to be in Ciudad Constitucion - a  larger town which neither of us were real thrilled with but while I had internet the night before, I had booked a room on the recommendation from some  people we talked to in the restaurant!  I was somewhat hesitant about booking it since the price was only $40!  Not sure what kind of a room it would be!  But when we pulled in it looked just fine and was on a side street with a great courtyard so you could park right in front of your room!

The hotel clerk spoke no English but since I had a reservation at a specific amount, that's all he wanted me to pay!!  We walked to our room which was on the first floor and WOW, I was completely surprised!!  There was a nice king bed, a desk, lots of hot water and even a hair dryer and washcloths!!!!!  Cheapest price and more amenities!!  The room was small but we didn't care at all!

Dinner that night was interesting as the restaurant help didn't speak English but I had grilled chicken with a salad and fries and it was all delicious!

Unfortunately, this was the noisiest hotel because of the close parking quarters and the fact that the door to the outside was actually an inside door (so no insulation) but we still slept good!

We headed out at 6:30am (with no breakfast places open) but were greeted outside of town with this  beautiful sunrise!!

We didn't have far to go and actually pulled into Los Barriles at 11:00am!!!  HOORAY - WE MADE IT!!!

Since we weren't to check in till 3:00 or after, we stopped at one of our favorite breakfast restaurants and ate, headed down to our place and parked and walked over to where we knew friends were staying and visited with them for quite a while!

Our place was actually ready by 1:30 - gosh it felt good to unload that truck and settle in!!  Sunshine and beach time, here we come!!

Out In The Middle Of Nowhere

Little did we know that Alfonsina's is out in the middle of nowhere!!  There are houses upon houses for a couple of miles right on the ocean (and where they get their groceries I have NO idea!!) but we didn't see any commercial businesses - just these houses!  Having no idea where to go, we turned down the road and went to the end - we assumed this was the little resort but there was all kinds of construction going on and nothing was marked from the back.  We walked in and sure enough, there was a restaurant and rooms facing the ocean!  COOL!!!

There was no office to speak of so went into the restaurant and yes they had a room.  (Good thing as if it would have been full, we would have had to backtrack many many miles OR start over the gravel road (more about that later) or sleep in the truck!

So we checked in and he told us the room number (of course it was #8 Jessi!!!) and I asked for the key and he said, there's no key, it's open!  And he was right - there was NO KEY for the room!  You could lock it once you were in there for the night BUT could not lock it when you went outside!  That was a little unnerving as we were carrying a lot of cash but you know, this is Mexico!!!  There were actually only 3 other couples there that we saw in the restaurant so we weren't very worried!

Now the room?   Very bare bones - there was a king size bed with a heavy spread on it and we hoped that would be warm enough as there are no heaters in the rooms and it was still pretty chilly at night!  There was also an old couch and table in there - the bathroom had a newer sink and the shower was OK EXCEPT for the fact that the hot water was barely a trickle..............I chose to wait till the next stop to shower!!  On the table were 2 bath towels and a bar of soap and that was it!!

It was very cool and windy out so we just hung out in the room for awhile and then went down for an early dinner.  And darn if I forgot to take a picture of the meal we split but it was the BEST meal on the trip - grilled shrimp and fish over a bed of rice with veggies and very well presented!!  We were both impressed!

Did I forget to mention electricity was just on a generator??   I was reading in bed later and about 10 the lights went off and I thought to myself - this is it, electricity is off for the night but it did come back on in a minute!!

Luckily Glenn had checked to see what time breakfast was as we eat and run pretty early and the restaurant didn't open till 8 so we knew that wouldn't work!!  We got up early (and yes, we stayed plenty warm) and the water was beautiful that time of the morning!!

We knew when we left that we had the "gravel" ahead!!  That's one of the reasons many people don't cross at Mexicali because there's approximately 30 kilometers of gravel as the highway isn't finished.  But it saves a lot of time to go this way so that's why we decided to attempt it!!  We hadn't been on the highway very long before a large sign said detour and we headed into the unknown!!

The strange thing was the road would separate several different times and there were no signs to direct you to which road you should take - and at that time of the morning there wasn't any traffic at all!!  The gravel was more rugged than many of our ATV trails in Colorado - rocky, bumpy, pot holes, narrow at times (and if you had met a semi, you would have had to back up!!) and just darn slow!!

At one point we got behind a semi that was leaving a work station and we followed him for a while so I snapped a couple of pictures through our dirty windshield!

The pictures don't make the road look so bad but we knew we would NEVER take our 5th wheel on a road like this!!  We FINALLY met a car once so at least knew we were on the right track!!  At times you knew the other road was the new road and we would turn on it for a while.  But all in all it took us 2 hours to drive that stretch!!  So do the math and know we sure didn't drive very fast at all!

I was SO GLAD to get off that road!!  We had eaten beef sticks and oranges in the car for breakfast but were definitely ready for a meal and since there was no frig or ice to buy the night before, our ice chest needed some ice desperately!!  We found a small restaurant in one of the VERY small towns we were going through and had a great meal and bought some ice before we were back on the road!!

And the adventure continues.......................

Our Baja Adventure!!

It's time - it's FINALLY time!  After packing for days and going over daily lists, we were ready to hit the road for the Baja!!  6 weeks!!!!  WOW - can I stand to be away from the kids and grand kids that long??  Guess I'll find out!!  But in this world of technology, I can face time them whenever I want!

Before we headed out, we celebrated Rayna's 16th birthday!!  Yes, our oldest grand daughter will be turning 16 on March 2nd!!!  Hard to believe!  We gave her an early gift with lots of best wishes for her special day!! (notice her brace - 2nd surgery is done!!)

And on Saturday, Feb. 24th our adventure began!!  We loaded up the truck with the ATV and a blowup rubber raft plus a small motor in the back end, and everything else in the 2nd seat!!  I tried to pack light but wanted to bring a few kitchen things as I knew what was in the casita and what wasn't!!  One of the main things I brought for ME was my espresso machine, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup AND topping, and a can of spray whip cream!!  We had a small ice chest we put in the back (which held the whip cream and food) along with a fair sized bag of snacks to eat on the way!!

It was 1061 miles to Calexico, CA where we would stay the night before crossing the border and we were unsure at that point where we would spend the first night!

I enjoyed riding in the truck - you sit up high and it's loaded with all the options inside - and with the weight of the ATV in the back, the ride was pretty smooth!

We drove south through Colorado and into New Mexico and then west into Az.   I've always loved the look of cactus so had to take this picture at a rest area!  There was also a sign that said "Beware of scorpions and snakes"!!

Here we are just driving along!!  Glenn actually did ALL of the driving!!  I was willing but I make him nervous - ha ha!!

We stopped in Holbrook, AZ for the night - Glenn had fought the wind all day so we were glad to stop for the night!  Our room was at The Travel Lodge and Glenn was glad we could park right in front of the room - and most nights he ended up putting the motor in the front of the truck!  We ate Mexican that night which was very good!   I can't say the breakfasts at the hotels are anything special but it's nice to grab a quick bite before we head out!

The 2nd day of travel we left at 6:30am at a balmy 20 degrees!!!  It was fun to drive through parts of AZ that we were familiar with - it was 6 degrees when we drove through Flagstaff!!  I checked on my phone and found there was a coffee place in Camp Verde so we got off the interstate and actually found it!!  HOORAY - a great cup of coffee!!

As we entered into CA., we saw these huge sand dunes!!

And before we knew it, we had arrived at Calexico for our 2nd nights' stay!!  Glenn requested a ground floor room so we could keep our eye on the truck and since that room wasn't ready, we decided to head to a place to exchange money!  The dollar to the peso is still very good and we ended up getting 17.30 pesos to the dollar!!  The exchange places were all very close to the border and the town was hectic and busy!!  There was an Applebee's within walking distance so we decided to just eat there - in the meantime I realized I had NOT made copies of things you need to have to cross the border - drivers license, passports, copies of the truck title and ATV title, and the Mexico insurance!

All I could remember was when we used to cross in Nogales and drive to Kino Bay, if you didn't have copies, you would have to stand in another line and pay $1.00 per copy as that was what the officials needed to look at!  So we asked the nice receptionist if she would be willing to make copies and she said sure - in return we brought her back a large piece of chocolate cake and ice cream which she loved!!

Morning arrived and it was time to cross the border - it's always a little unnerving to cross the border, not knowing what the officials may ask and want!  But it was a breeze that early in the morning with not a lot of traffic yet!  The official had Glenn roll his back window down so he could look in the 2nd seat and also wanted to see the ATV title - but that was it!!

1st step accomplished!!  Now we needed to find the immigration office to do the paperwork!!  And again, all we had to go on was our prior trip where you pulled into a huge parking lot and walked into an office where you stood in line for a long time to do the paperwork!  We pulled out and started looking but saw nothing so drove a few miles while I was frantically trying to look for it - we finally turned around and decided to park the truck back by the border and ask the officials where to go!

By this time, parking was another issue and it was NOT a great part of town - border towns are NOT my favorite!!  We saw a spot that had a white line painted on the curb but had no idea what it meant - I told Glenn I was SURE we would get a ticket before we got back there!!  So we walked over to the area and tried to find someone that spoke English - a taxi driver pointed us in the right direction and we soon were in line with a LOT of other people.   I knew this line wasn't right as it was all Mexicans and sure enough, it was the line to get BACK into the US!!  Finally a really nice guy said he would walk us to the office in exchange for a cup of coffee - DEAL!!  So he takes us there into this office - one guy sitting behind the desk - no line - no other people!!

The guy had us fill out the paperwork for the two of us and pay our money - I then told him we needed to do the paperwork for the truck as we were driving and he said there was no paperwork to do - none was needed on the Baja!!  (now realize I had researched this for hours online, trying to figure it all out but info was extremely limited)  So I showed him all the copies I had on the different things and he waved them away - he needed nothing else!!  REALLY????  I wasn't going to argue!

So we walk back towards the truck and then we realize what the white line is - it's a bus stop!!!  YIKES!!!  And there's a bus there squashed in behind our truck!!  Oh man!!!  We stayed on the other side of the street until it left and then raced over but no ticket on the window!!  OK - time to get out of this town!!!!!

And so day 3 is started down the Baja!!  We soon found out that the highway is narrow with no shoulders and about a 5" drop off  - semis that make you feel like you're going to blow off the road - but beautiful scenery!!!  Lots of cactus and lots of just barren ground!!  We did stop by the ocean and have lunch (which was what we did every day - between the bag of snacks and the cooler, it was just easier to not have to find a place to eat!!!)

And then out of the blue, there would be a stretch that DID have a shoulder and a better highway!! 

It was a great day of travelling and we knew our first stop was to be at Alfonsina's - a small resort on the ocean - I had tried to make reservations but because they didn't take credit cards, it was just too difficult to get money to them so I just said we would arrive and hopefully they would have a room!

And more about that tomorrow.........................