December 25, 2010

We had Christmas Dinner at Aqua Caliente Casino in Palm Springs.

A good feast was had by all. It was a very nice evening with good friends, new and old, good conversation and ..... complimentary champagne !

(in this picture l to r: Mike, Michel, Myself, Ann, Ed, Ron and Maureen)

December 22, 2010

From our house to yours:

We wish you and your family all the warmth this holiday season has to offer.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a New Year filled with peace and joy.

December 14, 2010

We said good bye to San Felipe on Sunday. We weren't in a hurry, thinking maybe the US border wouldn't be so busy in the later afternoon, so we left after lunch. WRONG! I don't think there is a good time to cross the border, it's busy all the time!
Anyway, we'll miss the beautiful sunrises. Pictures just don't capture the beauty of the colors.

And we'll also miss the sand and the ocean. Here is a picture of our spot on the beach.

We got quite used to reading in these chairs. They are really quite comfortable.

Tuesday, December 14th we checked into Desert Pools, in Desert Hot Springs for a week. Then we're off to Catalina Spa for a week. From there - who knows? But we have decided that we're going to stay in this area for a couple of months.

December 6, 2010

A month has come and gone and we've done just as we said we would - relax and enjoy the sand and sun. We haven't done much of anything but we've done a lot of reading ... and a lot of walking while our car was being repaired. We got it back this weekend and are quite pleased with the outcome.

Thanksgiving Day November 25th - We did dinner at the church for American Thanksgiving. Everyone brought something to contribute to the wonderful meal and the church supplied the turkey. It was a small gathering but we all ate lots ..It was yummy .....












November 16th - these young boys put together their kayak and loaded all their gear to began their adventure. Their plan is to kayak to La Paz which is about 600 miles south of San Felipe along the rugged coast . They figured it would take them about a month..... good luck!!! They have a lot more adventure in them than we do. Anyway here are a couple of picture of the boys, Mark and Josh (from Montana) assembling the kayak

The kayak is bigger than Michel's hoby cat - and a lot heavier.
We wish them a good and safe voyage....

November 4, 2010

Arrived in San Felipe around 3:00 this afternoon. It was a long drive, 1150 miles (1850 km) from Cabo San Lucas to San Felipe. We encountered a lot of construction along the way and at least 10 Military check points. We were very happy and relieved to get here. In the next day or so we'll go to town and see about a place to park the motorhome.

November 3, 2010

Travel day number two. Left Loreto early this morning. Had to wait for daylight because we only have one headlight. Around noon we got to Gro. Negro. We were thinking of stopping for lunch, but we had a little more than 1/2 a tank of gas and decided to eat when we fueled at the next Pemex. They have gas stations all over the place...We drove for HOURS!! We were beginning to wonder if we'd find a place. We literally were running on fumes when we came up to a little town called Catavina that had a gas pump sign, but as we pulled into town we noticed that the gas pump was closed down!! (and had been for six years) Now what??

We were counting our blessings when we seen this....... Can you imagine? Gotta wonder if Mexico is progressing or regressing...... good business for this entrepreneur.

Anyway, we bought 5 gallons, which got us to our evening rest stop El Rosario. Nice motel. All renovated, king beds and HBO in english!

November 2, 2010

We're back in Loreto, as of today, and staying for one night at SuKasa as we did on our way down. Tomorrow we leave (early) for San Felipe, planning on staying the night in El Rosario then we'll be in San Felipe on Thursday. Looking forward to being 'home' in our motorhome.

We left Cabo San Lucas on Saturday morning after doing 'the loop' heading back north the 1500 or so km to San Felipe when ....everybody's nightmare - we had a auto accident! It all happened so fast that even sitting here today thinking about it, we can't figure out exactly how it happened the way it did. We ended up spending another 3 days in Cabo San Lucas waiting to see about the car. (pictures of the hotel courtyard)

The mechanic that the adjuster recommended must has been on his payroll because they weren't interested in just getting us back on the road, they wanted to fix it all - - so we took the car to a radiator guy and he 'fixed' it Mexican style. But it runs and it's not overheating and we're 'taking it easy' and heading 'home'....

Anyway, here's my account: we were following behind two tractor-trailers and a car. When the second truck pulled out to pass the first truck Michel thought this would be a safe time to do the same - only we're passing a car and a tractor-trailer. Still - - lots of time and a long stretch of road. BUT - the car in front decides to pull out as we come up beside it - he's running us off the road! Michel swerved left a little, but as you know there are no shoulders on the Mexican roads, and our drivers' side tires catch the dirt and pull. So Michel steers right - first instinct is to stay on the road. In the mean time the truck in front of us slows down, and we swerve right and hit his back trailer wheel head on. WOW ! Stopped us dead!! The other car, luckily veers left and goes off the road. No one was hurt, and the only vehicle with any damage is ours (lucky us - we've heard some horror stories about Mexicans suing and people losing everything) But we were also blessed, the driver of the other car was a good Christian travelling with his wife and two little girls - he felt so bad for his part in this accident that he wanted to help 'pay' . We ended up taking his $200.00 because he wouldn't take no for an answer. Anyway the story is long enough already, so I'll end by saying that the accident happened around 10 am and it was 3 pm by the time the tow truck arrived to take us back to Cabo San Lucas. What a long day!!

Here are a couple of pictures of the car.

October 29, 2010 - Cabo San Lucas

We drove the coastal route through the National Park of Cabo Pulmo enroute to Cabo San Lucas. It was a 50 km drive and it took us about 2 1/2 hours. That will give you an indication to the type of road we were driving on. . . dirt all the way, washboard, deep crevices... But we arrived safe and sound into Cabo San Lucas about 5:00 p.m. and a tourist info. booth directed us to stay at the Sante Fe Hotel - fairly new, clean and economical. We were both quite tired so we stayed in, showered then just relaxed, had a drink and ate junk food.....

Here are a few pictures of the hotel.

October 29, 2010 - Cabo Pulmo

What we had planned to be our final destination for today turned out to be just one more stop. Cabo Pulmo is a National Park boasting of the only coral reef on the Baja. If you double click this picture you should get a little information on Cabo Pulmo.






The beach was beautiful and of course the weather was HOT.

Michel did a little snorkelling. Here is a picture of him coming out of the water. He was stung by a large jelly fish, so that ended his snorkelling for the day. The sting went across his neck, across his back in a 'Z' formation, then around to his belly. He said it stung like someone had poured acid on his skin......

October 29, 2010 Los Barriles

Lunch on the beach at Los Barriles. We found some shade under a palapa then walked along the beach for awhile.

October 29, 2010 Cactus Sanctuary

We left La Paz this morning and stopped along the way to visit the Cactus Sanctuary, which was about a half hour south of La Paz.








When we got there it was closed, but we wandered around the perimeter for awhile and in a while someone showed up and let us in thru the side gate.














There were many species of of cactus - too many to picture, but here is a common one - the Barrel Cactus



















Michel amid some of the huge cactus.














Myself amid the Pipe Organ Cactus

October 28, 2010 - La Paz

This is La Paz. It's a very large, busy city. We arrived around 2:00 in the afternoon, so we did our touring then found ourselves a place to stay for the night. Pictured left is the Melecon (which is about 3 miles long) taken looking to the north.






This is their welcome sign onto the boardwalk.











This is a picture of the Hotel Pekin, our place of choice for the night - a chinese restaurant (very good food!!) with a hotel upstairs.













Once again the Mexican churces are amazing. This is the outside picture.












This is a picture of the inside.

October 27, 2010 San Javier Mission

While staying in Loreto we drove up to visit the San Javier Mission.
Here we are at the entrance to the Mission

Here is a picture of the Mission church - you can see it in the distance....

This is a picture taken from the courtyard out front of the church

Here is a write up about the mission. If you double click it will enlarage and you'll be able to read it.

This is a picture of the inside of the church.

October 27, 2010 Loreto, MX

Loreto, MX

We can certainly see why people are attracted to Loreto. It is a beautiful, clean and friendly little city. We spent two days here and it wouldn't hurt our feelings any to stay longer. We happened upon a little 'bar' called Augies (owned by an American named Augie) in time for their happy hour (4-7 daily) We were looking for a place to stay and he recommended we stay at a place just up the melecon called Sukasa. We rented this cute little bungalow pictured below. We got a real good deal - thanks to Augie~~

We walked around town and took a few pictures to share .....This is one of a shopping plaza downtown. Sure is clean!!

And of course - the church - Mexico has such beautiful churces.

This is a shot of an outside shopping plaza.

October 25, 2010

Sailing in the Sea of Cortez
Here is a picture of the boat we went sailing on. It belongs to friends Rick and Wendy from San Felipe. We spent a week with them aboard this 42' sailboat, cruising the Sea of Cortez and anchoring in beautiful bays.

The 'Williwaw' anchored at Peurto Escondito

Here we are at the fuel dock before leaving Peurto Escondito for our sail.

Hoisting the jib

The first little cove we anchored in was called Honeymoon Bay. As you can see it is a lovely little secluded bay. The water was nice and warm, and Michel and I went swimming while Rick and Wendy went scuba diving. Had a good time, except there were all kinds of little jelly fish also swimming around, and they like to nibble.... These two photos show the boat anchored at Honeymoon Bay

Michel snorkeling at Candeleros Chicos.

Candeleros Chicos - the second cove we anchored in. Michel said the snorkeling was the best at this cove.

At sea -

Last but not least - Agua Verde (Green Water) We anchored here for two nights.

Everyone (except me) went snorkeling. I went into the water on the first day and floated about on my 'noodle', but I'm not much for ocean swimming. But this was an absolutely beautiful cove as you can see by the pictures.