Day 31 San Felipe BCS - Oak Hills, CA "The Long Road Home

We got up shortly after 6 am, took the dogs for a walk and were on the road before 8 am. Comet, had a last look at the sunrise before we set sail for home. Hwy 5 to the border was easy driving for the most part. It was amazingly flat for the most part but we still kept it under 80 km (50 mph). The crossing was easy at Mexacali. Unfortunately, we got there a little before noon and were delayed somewhat.

We were happy to be back in the USA and were grateful for the great Hwy. We decided to take a highway that avoided San Diego and L.A. traffic. Janice found a Harvest Host site that we could stay at for free, Oak Hills Brewing Company. We had planned a shorter route to get here but had to go through the mountains but there was a Winter Storm Warning so we took a route around the mountains that was 20 miles longer. It was a good decision because when we got here it was snowing iceballs!

Fortunately, a good dinner and a couple great hazy IPA's helped soothe our Baja Blues. We are very excited to be with Familiy tomorrow. We have a 6+ hour, 400 mile drive to San Leandro and hope to be there by 2:34 pm. We will be spending 3 days with Janice's Familiy and it will be great to catch up. Home on Wednesday!

Day 30 We bought a Burro in Baja Mexico

We woke up in San Felipe to a beautiful sunrise on the beach. Google maps indicates that we are just under 3 hours from the border just as long as we don't take any side roads.

We decided to go play tourist which apparently we have no problem stepping into that role.

We managed to navigate the numerous stores selling the same touristy stuff and returned to our base for a bit of relaxing before heading back to town for a meal.

A squadron of pelicans flew over and a few other things in the sky including a frigate bird and an ultra light plane. 

We had a hankering for fish tacos and dressed up for town.

The businesses are mainly food and trinkets. Several entrepreneurs sell items walking around the town and musicians will serenade you for a price. Occasionally the National guard makes its round. We bumbled into a margarita since the other choice was Tecate. They sell a lot of Tecate in blue and red cans. If you are a fan of Tecate, please avert your eyes as I am about to disrespect the flavored water. But that is just me. Anything would be a step up even if it came from a psycho brewery.

Our meal was fantastic and inexpensive. With a few bucks in our pocket we strolled the streets looking for a Baja magnet or poster. Almost all of the trinkets had San Felipe on them so we passed. 

One thing we couldn't pass up was a Burro. 

Kasey was quite pleased with himself and Lincoln was a bit curious. This was a unique item. The artist makes every one of them and each is a little different.

Yes, we bought a Burro in Mexico.And a cactus. 

The pork or whatever that Kasey bought and nearly caused an international incident over which we gave a little to the dogs has turned into a bad deal. The dogs had issues and I will leave it at that. It didn't seem to affect their energy level.

A couple from Hood River, Oregon Brad and Nina, had pulled in next to us. They had a shy vizsla. They were headed north as well.

We ended the day with Rumikube and another colorful sky.

Day 29 San Luis Gonzaga to San Felipe

We rose with the sun, ready for another day of adventure. I walked the dogs down the beach and saw an older man and his wife fishing. They saw me and waved. Janice made breakfast and cooked up the meat I thought was thick bacon when we bought it at the supermercado in Lareto yesterday. It didn't have a label and we held up the line while the cashier went to get a price sticker. When she returned 10 minutes later there were at least 10 people waiting in line, including some soldiers carrying big guns. There was another security person to the side of us holding a big gun. I thought we were about to start an international incident. I joked in Spanish with the two ladies bagging our groceries "Ella es mi esposa y mi jefe". Anyway... the thick bacon wasn't really bacon. It was really fat and greasy. After trying a few bites, I cut up the rest for the dogs knowing that it was quite likely I would encounter some type of Montazumas Revenge for holding up the line.

Our campground was very primitive and we camped at the end of the beach and it felt like we had the whole ocean to ourselves so we didn't mind sharing a portion of the beach with the fisher people and didn't charge them $160 pesos. 😉 

The people who live near the camp entrance have lots of kids. Nobody speaks English but we got by using my pidgeon Spanish.

We packed up and headed out toward San Felipe, 2 hours away. Hwy 5, is a fairly new paved road and compared to the long stretch of Hwy 1 north of Guerrero Negro that the Mexican Airforce uses as a bombing range, this road was marveloso. I put on the cruise control and put my feet on the dashboard, safely guiding the motorhome with my left pinky finger.

Hwy 5 coming into San Felipe has a lot of campgrounds and beach communities with land for sale signs aimed to attract Gringos who want to escape here from the U.S. People drive too fast and it feels like it caters to Gringos. While we are white, Americans, I don't consider us to be Gringos being in Baja for a month. To me, a Gringo is the prototypical "ugly American" inconsiderate, stressed, impatient, with a sense of entitlement, with no desire to learn about and from the people of the country. 

We found a campground where we could camp on the beach. We took the end spot so we wouldn't have anyone on one side. A Mexican family took the spot on the otherside. They appear to be having a quincenera as they have 5-6 teenage girls. They put up two tents and the Dad seemed to struggle with getting the tent assembled while the Mom and the girls talked very rapidly in Spanish and I don't think they were giving him a pep talk. Janice resisted the urge to go and help as she was concerned it would damage his machismo.

We discovered that the San Felipe Brewing Company had craft beer so we hopped in the Honda in pursuit of the liquid gold (IPA) that is really hard to find in Baja. We arrived around 4 pm just as they were doing trivia. About 30 patrons were there with at least 12 dogs. People really liked seeing our Boys. Almost everyone there, including the owner, were Americans. They called out the questions in English. We ordered a couple IPA's and ordered some food. We joined the competition as the "Airheads" and won or tied every round but finished second to last because we got zero points on the first round. 

We returned home and sat outside enjoying the sunset, listening to Mexican music playing quietly around us while our neighbors grilled out. Another Dad type joined the neighbor Dad and they stood next to the grill discussing that the women to men ratio in their camp was 10/2 and that the Dad's would be sleeping in the small compact car. I felt guilty and more than a little gringoish as we sat under the awning next to our motorhome.

 

I walked over and told one of the women "Puedes usar usar nuestra palapa y mesa de picnic. No la usaremos." (You can use our palapa and picnic table. We aren't using it.) She smiled and  said "muchas gracias". Later the two Dad's pirated the grate from the grill next to our palapa. The girls like our dogs and smile and return our waves. We moved inside and played Rumicube while listening to the Bruno Mars channel on Pandora. Our neighbors quietly partied outside. We still felt a little gringoey but think our neighbors think we are nice Gringos with potential and that they were impressed with our singing ability as we joined Bruno on a couple songs. At least the don't know we totally botched some lyrics.

Day 28 Road de Caca to Papa Fernandez

We had to say goodbye to our friends Oliver and Julia from Vancouver Island whom we met in San Ignacio. They were smitten with the little black dog that befriended us 2 weeks ago. Iggy, as they appear to be calling her, has apparently found her forever home. They were going to take her to get spayed. Having not planned on getting a dog in Baja, they had no doggy gear. They bought dog food, but they were using a little bit of their climbing rope for a collar. I found an extra leash, collar, and a roll of poopie bags and they were that quickly full fledged dog owners.

We got gas before embarking on our northward trek. Having come this way on our way southward, we knew what lay a head. A stretch of road between the Bahaia de Los Angeles turnoff  and Guerroro Negro is so full of potholes that it is difficult to do much more than 30kph. We affectionately named it the Road de Caca. 

We soon joined with highway 5 and the travel was much smoother. The scenery is great and we needed to navigate a few military checkpoints. It would be really helpful to know more Spanish. 

We were looking for a beach campsite and we had a few options. One looked popular and the other was more rustic. Both seemed to have a restaurant, wifi for purchase, and cheap campsites along the Sea of Cortez. We opted for the one further off the road. We arrived at Papa Fernandez and there did not seem to be an open restaurant with authentic Mexican food as advertised but we managed to talk to someone about camping and Kasey successfully exchanged 10 dollars literally site unseen. The camp sites were up a gravel road on the other side of the hill. We decided to walk and check out the options. We found a perfect spot for camping but without a sandy beach. One was within walking distance so that suit us just fine. 

We walked back to get our vehicles opening the gate as we came through but some small female children closed it before we drive up. Apparently the gate keepers. We waited while one reopened the gate and drove on to our campsite manipulating the beast so the view of the ocean was out the dining room window. Soon 2 of the gate keepers arrived asking us to pay for the site but Kasey successfully communicated that we already paid the woman at the main house. 

They seemed disappointed and hung around a bit but must have figured out that they could not shake us down for the 10 bucks. 

There were 2 other campers on the stretch of camp spots and we were well spaced out. It was another awesome spot that others may overlook because it is not well kept up. There was very little garbage. 

Comet got very curious so we took her for a walk and walk she did. She started walking north and I was wondering if she had had enough of this travelling crap and was headed home. But she circled back around to check out all sides of the vehicle, the dogs and the Honda. 

Kasey made a fire in the fire pit and we watched the sunset before going inside to make burritos from our leftovers. 

Day 27 Ciudad Insurgentes to San Ignacio - Halfway up Baja Peninsula

 

We have made it about halfway up the Baja Peninsula in two days of driving. It really helped to spend two nights at Four Points RV Park 

It was sad to leave our Friends but once we were on the road the thrill of adventure and the pull of being home in a week or so helped propel us down the road (under 80 KPH!). A constant reminder to take it slowly and be prepared for anything are the numerous roadside memorials for people who have died on the highway. Hispanic culture honors the deceased so much more than we do in the U.S. (the Disney movie Coco depicts this well). They believe the spirits are with us and they build quite elaborate little houses as memorials.

 

We saw a lot of private security vehicles on the road, presumably picking up money from stores after the Mexican Semana Santa (Holy Week)  holiday where lots of people go on vacation.

We saw a lot of soldiers when we stopped at a supermercado in Lareto. Some wear black face masks and all carry big AK-47 guns. They look very intimidating and never laugh at my jokes (which I don't tell). They have a very Dirty Harry vibe. "Adelante Punk, hazme el día." (Go ahead punk, make my day.)

We listened to music and marveled at the scenery.  I actually enjoy the challenging road, especially through the mountains and we are all handling it better on the way back now that I'm keeping it under 80 km max and not popping wheelies in the motorhome to impress the locals.

We arrived in San Ignacio and are staying at the same beautiful oasis campground  we stayed at 2 weeks ago, 2 blocks from downtown. We looked forward to seeing the little black town dog who loved hanging out with us last time. We backed into our spot with a beautiful view of  palm trees and the huge lava deposit next to the campground.

After popping out, and taking the Boys for a walk we headed downtown to one of the few places we have found IPA beer. The little town was bustling and all the outside tables, except one were taken. We ordered two Baja Brewing IPA's and some chips and salsa. There were 2 young people sitting next to us and we saw the little black dog. Oliver and Julia are from Vancouver Island and we connected right away so we joined them at their table. They are staying next to us at the campground. We were delighted to find they are adopting "Izzie" the black dog, (for San Ignacio). Julia recently graduated with a degree in wildlife biology and is working remotely on data entry. They have been traveling since February and are staying in Baja until June

We went back to the campground and we mentioned that the Falcon 9 launch was happening at 7:30.  (We saw another launch when we were camping on the beach at Bahia de Concepcion a couple weeks ago. Everyone was dazzled by the display.

We invited Julia and Oliver over for dinner and had fun chatting with them. Afterwards, we settled in for some time with Comet as the Boys snoozed next to us. Tomorrow will be a challenging day as the road from Guerrero Negro to Catavina was really bad but hopefully it will be better this time now that I've learned not to break the sound barrier in the motorhome.

Day 26 Getting to know the locals

True to his word, Juan made breakfast. Now this place is not advertised as a bed and breakfast but we don't want to argue. A couple from the states that moved nearby stayed the night and remained for breakfast.  Eric and Lillian work remotely and have moved to Baja full time. 

They could not quite make it home last night where their house is 2.5 hours drive and so ended up at the same place as we did, 4 Points RV Park in Ciudad Insurgentes. Juan's breakfast was just too much to resist so they stayed and chatted. 

After breakfast while Juan's son, Antonio, played with the dogs, Juan worked on getting the tire removed, repaired, and replaced on our motorhome. A misty rain just barely made the ground spotted with raindrops. 

Before long, the tire was off, Juan called a friend to come get the tire, and he took it, repaired it and brought it back in no time. The dogs were getting worn out by this active 6 year old and settled on their beds but not before they were subject to the creative design of the resident boy.

Antonio did a good job of keeping the dogs out of the way of his dad working.

After all was repaired, it was time for dad to take Antonio for a ride on the ATV.

Then, Juan's Dad Pedro, gave us a tour of his farm and house. He has 200 plus chickens and numerous goats as well as a captive child. .

Pedro was such a welcoming individual. He said that he and Juan and Antonio are our Mexican family. Yes, we think so too.
The goats are so gentil that they loved being held.

Pedro gets milk and meat from the goats and eggs and fryers from the chickens. I am not quite sure what product he gets from the captive child.

 Soon Juan was cooking again.

 This time kababs. Pedro entertained Antonio and soon another van with  3 people from North Carolina showed up. Pedro saw them on the beach this morning and told them that they should come by. So they did and we enjoyed talking and getting to know them. More food and beverage was consumed, laughter, games and more entertainment for Antonio. 

We eventually moved over to the palapa where the fire pit was and talked about our history and adventures while listening to music. The sun began to set leaving the sky in a pink hue. And surprisingly, a cool evening had formed. The decrease in temperature signaled that we needed to return to our warm abodes.

Comet always has a top row seat.