Day 21 to Puerto Escondito

This tour did not account for Easter holiday and turned out to be a big travel day.  We have had quite a few short days so today's 200 miles seemed like a long day.  Back onto Mexican Hiway 1 and back north on the road we traveled 10 days ago.  Couple of body breaks, fuel stop/lunch stop and we were at our destination by 2pm.  We had a slight hazard early on--hit a poor bird hard enough that he left a feather stuck to our windshield that stayed there for a long time.  He didn't do well.  Thought it was a funny/sick picture.

We come down onto the Sea of Cortez and some wonderful views.

I don't know if it was more exciting to go down this road than it was to come up it.  Either way very scenic and anyone leery of heights would not enjoy it so much.  We're both good, however, I am glad Will is driving.

 

Turned onto the road to our destination.

Puerto Escondito is a beautiful harbor where some really large yachts are moored.  We are dry camping in the parking lot of the marina.  Enjoying the amenities of a nice restaurant with wifi and nice showers but no power.  Today is another day that air conditioning would have felt good but as usual once the sun set it turned wonderfully cool.  The sky makes the water look so blue and at night the stars seem close enough to touch.

Hows that for presentation! Shrimp was good.  The little flaming thing turned out to be a cotton ball soaked in alcohol.  Looked nice but we guessed a long time to figure that one out.

 

 

Happy Easter!

 

Uncovering the risen Christ in LaPaz

Day 20 LaPaz, Iberia pottery and the mercado

Will got up at the crack of dawn and biked into town.  He hasn't had much chance to get out and bike, we haven't been where it was conducive to do so or time did not permit or . . .he just didn't feel like it.  Anyway, he did 16 miles into town, down to the Malecon and back.  good roads and early enough to avoid traffic.  I should have gone too but I slept in and then took advantage of a coffee shop within walking distance and got myself a grande' cappuccino with an extra shot.

Our sightseeing today took us into LaPaz.  First stop was Iberra pottery.  I have never wanted to take pictures so badly of anywhere we have been but there were signs posted all over requesting no photos.  I even asked and they asked me not to--so I was good, and didn't do it.  This is a family run business.  Senor' Ibarra started making the pots on the mainland 50 years ago and then brought his business here to LaPaz.  Now the whole family right down to the grandchildren are in the business of making their wonderful pottery.  AND they were all there this morning doing their thing.  Grandpa was sanding and finishing greenware, Grandma was painting the underglazes and the daughters were the tour guides and sales people.  It is all slip cast or molded and is very nice work.  I talked to Edwardo, the grandson, for quite a while with all kinds of questions.  He was also making hand built bowls in plaster molds in a very unique way--I wanted to take a picture because I can't describe how he did it.

Next stop was the Mercado as it is Saturday and market day, and then down town to walk the streets and poke our noses into the shops and see what we could find.  Not the upscale district, this is where the locals shop.

 

This is a hotel down town that is pretty unique.  Actually this is the lobby of the hotel with all kinds of memorabilia and "stuff" setting around and hanging from every nook and cranny.  It was sensory overload.  You have to look closely at the picture to find the people in among the eclectic decor.

Every town has its plaza with Catholic church.  We arrived as they were taking down the drapes from last nights Good Friday service and getting ready for Easter.  It was just workmen doing their job but somehow it was a moving experience to witness.

Well, we found out that Sonoran hotdogs are not just a Tucson thing.  They truly are a Mexican dish as we have had them a couple of times.  Today's was especially good with the bacon, cheese, fried onions, tomatoes--whatever you want--all on a sqishy soft bun slit only on top so all the good stuff stays in.

LaPaz is a modern city, the capital of the state of Baja California Sur, but tucked around you can still find some gems like this old hotel with its tile facade that is now a Posada or hostel.

 

Day 19, to LaPaz

 pic left over from last night.  This group likes to have impromptu happy hours. Everyone manages to congregate somewhere at the end of the day before dinner--in or out--for some conversation with their various libations. Snacks miraculously appear and the party is on.

Leaving the campground this morning through the farm fields.  This RV park had an especially dusty, bumpy road in and out.

Its Semana Santa.  The Easter holiday is a combination of two weeks.  The first being Semana Santa or Holy Week and the second week is Pascua which is Resurrection Sunday (Easter) until the following Saturday.  Its the most important religious holiday of the year in Catholic Mexico and also the release from the sacrifices of Lent.  As we came into LaPaz today we got a glimpse of a couple of Good Friday processions.  One under way following a heavy cross and the bigger one just getting started.  Sunday the beaches will be very crowded as that's where the Baja Mexicans all want to spend the day with their families.

 

We toured a bit of LaPaz this afternoon and stopped on an overlook to view this.  It looks like a colorful housing development or something but it is actually a cemetery! Those are all family mausoleums.  I'd love to see it during Day of the Dead celebration in October when it is crowded with people and decorated.  It is a stunning sight now.

 

We ended our day on the Malecon enjoying the walk along the shore.  We are back on the Sea of Cortez again.  Every town that has a waterfront has a Malecon or boardwalk of some sort along the water.  LaPaz has an especially nice one that is lined with hotels, restaurants, shops, parks and lots of benches to sit and enjoy the view.

 

Part two of Day 18 Todos Santos

Dan is giving us all instructions before he lets us loose in Totos Santos

About noon we all piled into the van and headed for Totos Santos which is the big tourist town in the area.  Lots of high end shops, restaurants, a mission, a plaza—and here is the world famous “Hotel California.”  Remember the Eagles song of same name?  Suppose to be based on this hotel which has been renovated into a 5 star hotel.  We checked the place out pretty thoroughly and then went down the street to “George’s Tacos” for a lunch of fish tacos.  We are getting to be quite the coinsure of fish tacos!  As a group we walked through one of the small boutique hotels called “Bentlys” and decided it would be a wonderful place for a DeBoer gathering!  Tammy and Stephanie, you would like this place—guaranteed! 

Hotel California--can you sing a few bars?

 

This is Bently's Boutique Hotel--I could drop off here for a while!

These doors are an example of the detail at Bently's.

 

Day 18 Pescadero

 

 

 

 

 

Will and I are up early, as we have been every morning, and out for a long walk to explore this area.  We are two blocks from the ocean so a quick hike takes us down to the Pacific ocean.  We could hear the waves crashing all night lulling us to sleep.  Much bigger seas than the Sea of Cortez; Ron and Maryann have been waiting for a chance to go “boogie boarding” and they will surely get their chance today.  Lots of  beach front homes here, many of them quite lovely.  We walked the beach for a while admiring them and then turned up a dirt road that lead to the farm fields.  This is another agricultural area although smaller family farms.  Onions, chili peppers—lots of chili peppers—papaya orchards, mango trees, strawberries , cherry tomatoes and the really interesting one—fields of basil!  We watched workers out in the pepper fields pulling weeds by hand, cultivating with a cultivator pulled by a mule.  Being the old farmers that we are we were interested in the drip irrigation they were using to conserve water.  Saw a few birds, more orioles again and got a good look at an Xantus Hummingbird which is the one endemic to the Baja.  Patted myself on the back for that one.

 

The chilis look ready to harvest!

Imagine a field of basil!!

Early morning labors weeding peppers

Will has got the irrigation figured out

happy chirping Curve Bill Thrasher

Cultivating the peppers

 

to Pescadero and the Pacific Ocean

Traveling again--now el Norte!

Time to leave the resort city and start our journey north.  We leave Mexican hiway 1 and take the other major hiway--which is Mexico hiway 19.  Only real option for us.  These two hiways make a big loop around the lower portion of Baja Sur.  However, it is a nice 4 lane all the way back to LaPaz

First view of the Pacific again

 

Have to stop at the Blanket Factory for a little more shopping.  I found a couple of treasures to add to my growing collection.  Will says that if I buy any more I am going to have to throw out some food and clothes!!

We got a peek of the owners new house!  It is such a great little house, two story with an outside stairway that is such a good use of space!  See the beehive oven in the back yard.  They had fresh bakes bread for us when we arrived made in that oven.

We've arrived at Pescadero. 

 

Enjoying Cabo Day 16

This is Will relaxing in his lawn chair watching as a crew of locals are washing our RV.  It was such a good deal that everyone signed up and got a wash.  Pretty soon there was a line of lawn chairs out there all watching the work as though they were watching a ball game or something.  Doesn't take much to entertain a bunch of RVers!

After that hard afternoon of watching them wash the RV's (they did an awesome job by the way) we had to go out again for dinner.  We went to "Latitude 22" which I have learned is an iconic place in Cabo.  We all bought "No Bad Day" decals for the RV or car windows--this is the place to get them.  Its the thing to you simply must do if you travel to the Baja to show off that you have been here.  The decor of the restaurant was pretty fun also, probably better than the actual food.  We didn't come away hungry in any case.

I think I might enter these pictures in some contest, I am pretty proud of them.  On a morning walk near the campground we spied a Verdin working hard at building a nest and I got her good!!  I took a little video also.

More flowering trees--think this is called a Flame tree.  Appropriate name

 Phanopeplia