Week 10 of our vacation 2022

Wednesday, November 30th, 2022: Well I’m hoping this will be a recovery day, yesterday’s adventure has taken a toll on this old man’s body, and as I sit here watching just one more phenomenal sunrise from my recliner in the coach, my legs and hips are aching from yesterday’s beating. It’s mornings like this that remind me that I’m not as young as I used to be, in fact I’m feeling pretty damn old today. Miss Laurie had joined me for the sunrise viewing and also thinks she wants to go kayaking this morning, the water looks calm enough from here, or at least as calm as it ever has so I agree and after breakfast we carry the kayaks to the beach.

Well the water looked calm, but there were still some gentle rollers as we got into the water, so we both got wet getting into our kayaks, but not too bad, and we head north along the Sea of Cortez shoreline into the prevailing on shore breeze. Now kayaking on open water is ok, but it’s not really my thing, so I headed out into the deeper water with the hope of possibly seeing a sea turtle, or some dolphins, but because of the angle of the sun I really couldn’t see into the water. Paul had told me that the water gets deep quickly and that even the whales will get as close as just a couple hundred meters offshore, of course Miss Laurie gets concerned when I’m too far out, thinking that I may fall in and not be able to swim back to shore, and as I am the only driver of the coach, I guess I understand some of her concern. By the time we made it back to the beach the rollers had grown a bit and water literally filled the kayaks as we attempted to exit, thank goodness the water temperature is still near 80°F (26°C).

Next there was snorkelling, we did this just off the beach in front of the RV park, and I was surprised just how many fish there were in the rocks just off of the beach, and while a very enjoyable snorkel, I soon started to get leg cramps, I’m obviously dehydrated so I had to cut this adventure a little short today, but it will be worth a few snorkeling adventures in the next few weeks. After lunch I headed to town, to get some more pesos from an ATM and refuel the toad for tomorrow’s adventure, I have also brought my diesel fuel jug along, so I can start adding a few 20 litre jugs to the coaches fuel tank, for our journey back. The fuel stations here in the village are small and tight to maneuver our coach, so it will be easier just to bring a half a dozen 20 litre (5 gallon) jugs of fuel here over the next couple of weeks.

The group usually gathers every afternoon under one of the sun shelters in the common area along the beach wall, and today was no different, as every one enjoys a beverage and the view of the Sea of Cortez. This is when everyone gets a chance to tell of our days adventure, make dinner plans and such. We have been on this adventure for 30 days now and I think the group is still getting along very well, with most people partaking in most of the adventures, and accepting that everyone has their own limitations and comfort zones. These gathering break up around five o’clock as everyone heads to their coaches to settle in for the night.

Thursday, December 1st, 2022: Just another beautiful sunrise from our site overlooking the Sea of Cortez, today is going to be a very busy day, we are journeying to the very tip of the Baja today. So this morning will be pretty laid back, the group is leaving at ten o’clock this morning to get to Cabo San Lucas by noon, so we are heading out at nine o’clock as we are stopping at the Costco in Cabo San Lucas before meeting up with rest of the group at the parking garage under the shopping mall by the marina.

I’m driving today and have Al & Carmen as passengers, we finally have the toad emptied, although our site still has not been ensured for our entire stay. We left Los Barriles on schedule today and ventured further down MEX-1 than we had ever been before, traffic seemed to be moving along well, till we hit the San José Del Cabo area, this is where a toll road exits, that runs to Cabo San Lucas at this point, but we decided to continue along the coastline route to enjoy the view. Once we made it past San José Del Cabo the highway was four lane and moved along quite well, Costco was easy to find and from the parking lot we actually had a great view of the sea of Cortez and the “Lands End” where the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez meet. Here is a photo from the Costco parking lot!

Shopping in Costco was not unlike most other Costco’s that we have visited, in fact most of Cabo San Lucas was very much Americanized, with the higher prices, products having US dollar pricing, the rush, rush attitude, everyone spoke English, the only true sign that we were still in Mexico would be the bad sidewalks with the 18” high curbs.

The shopping mall we actually parked under seemed to be full of high end American stores, as well as many American chain restaurants. The mall area was decorated for Christmas, which always takes some getting used to at the beach.

As the group gathered at the marina we were hoping to get on a boat tour, out to “Arch Rock”, “Lover’s Beach”, “ Lands End”, & “Divorce Beach”. As our vehicle was the first to arrive at the marina, Al who speakers fluent Spanish had worked the cost of the boat tour from 35 dollars America per person, down to 20 American dollars, then Miss Lorena walked in and played her “I’m a local” card and got the price down to just 200 Mexican pesos per person (approximately 10 dollars America), so our Captain Hector the Protector took us out for the tour, this tour was actually worth the $35 dollars, as he got us up close to all the great features’ around the tip of the Baja. Here are just a few of the photos that we were able to capture on our one hour adventure. Notice the sea lion on the back of a passing boat, and the small yacht owned by some russian millionaire, it was as wide as our coach is long!

Next on our list was a visit to the “Mango Deck”, this is apparently the hot spot for many of the passengers from the cruise liners that visit Cabo San Lucas, in fact someone in our group described it as a “Spring Break” spot for the twenty plus crowd. And that description fit the scene well, with all sorts of events happening on the stage as we enjoyed a cold beverage or two. We had trudged along the beach to get to Mango Deck but we walked back along the street on our return to the parking garage, it was near four o’clock by now and with the adventure so far being a days worth of adventure already we were going to add to it.

Our next stop was the “Art Walk” in downtown San José Del Cabo, which was on our way back towards Los Barriles, we found a spot to park and wandered to the town square to wait for the rest of the group to arrive.

The Art Walk happens every Thursday evening and is a major event, the crowds continued to build as the evening continued, there were vendors all through the town square, and many artists displaying their work some really good and some not so good, wandering musicians, food vendors and probably hundreds of shops and restaurants along the streets, our group just wandered the streets, picking up snacks from food vendors on our way. Here are just a few photos of the Art Walk adventures.

There was enough going on to entertain everyone, we decided to head for home at around eight o’clock and made it back to the coach shortly after nine. It had been a great day, definitely too long of day, and we are feeling it now, our beds will not be far away tonight. Miss Laurie tucked the Costco supplies away and headed off to bed, exhausted but with another full day of memories in the memory bank!

Friday, December 2nd, 2022: We desperately need a day off today, yesterday was a great day but it had been a long day, but I managed to catch another sunrise this morning, they just never get old. Mister Sam has fallen back into the routine of spending some time on my lap in the mornings before Miss Laurie rises, he is definitely her kitty, so I’m just thrilled to get what ever time I can get. Miss Laurie got up this morning just after the sunrise, but it’s another beautiful day here on the Mexican Baja. After breakfast Miss Laurie has headed out for a walk on the beach, there are always a few shells along the way that now seem to be gathering in the coach.

We spent much of the morning kicked back in our anti gravity chairs, chasing the shade from the palm trees around our site, and as usual after lunch the group gathers near the the beach wall. There was some anticipation today as three members of the group had ordered “Starlink” systems while here in Mexico. There was a sale on the equipment and the monthly fee in Mexico is about half of what it would cost in Canada, and considerably cheaper per month than in the States. That is the kind of crap that annoys the hell out of us as Canadians, same equipment, same RV plan, probably better coverage and half the price after conversion.

As the group prepared to break up we suggested everyone come to our site tonight for a (propane) fire, we pick a time and we set up on the camp rug directly in front of our coach, we had some snacks, Miss Laurie even broke into her stash of Twizzlers to satisfy a couple peoples craving, it’s the small things like snacks that are unavailable in the Mexican Baja.

Saturday December 3rd, 2022: I rose to just one more glorious sunrise, I decided not to go out and snap a photo, and have decided to just enjoy each one from my recliner, or at least todays. Miss Laurie was up for sunrise today, and stated it was almost good enough for a photo in her PJ’s but not quite, so we just took a photo through the sunshade, we had oatmeal for breakfast this morning but I think the milk was past it’s prime, we will have to get some fresh milk. Miss Laurie is headed to the beach, me not so much I’m still suffering a bit from our adventures a couple of days earlier, my old worn out hips are starting to rebel, so I’ll watch the sea from my antigravity chair in front of the coach.

After Miss Laurie returned I agreed to go snorkelling off of the beach in front of the park, Miss Laurie is going to use the Gopro today and try to get some underwater photos, my underwater adventures with the Gopro have not been to successfully, I can’t see sh!t with out my glasses, and although I have special lenses in my scuba mask I never seem to manage to keep the Gopro in the correct mode. So today Miss Laurie is taking control, of the camera, well there were not as many fish today as our last adventure, but there were some and to Miss Laurie’s dismay she managed to somehow switch the mode on the Gopro from photo to video, making this old fart feel just a little better.

After our snorkelling he kicked back in the anti gravity chairs, I was reading while Miss Laurie scanned the horizon, and was rewarded with the sighting of whales just off shore. We watched as the breached the surface a number of times before moving further down the coast. Whale sightings are very common in the Sea of Cortez in this area from December till March, so hopefully this is just the first of many sightings to come over the next few weeks, as with most days here at Los Barriles the wind have came up and the beach people are being replaced by the kiters so all afternoon the view from our windshield is filled with kites, wings and sails, with colours similar to those of hot air balloons.

Well tonight is a another adventure, we are going to a Rotary Club fund riser, a yearly event “The taste of East Cape”, this is the 7th annual, and had 17 different restaurants, each providing samples of their food, it was a Sold Out event and we need to thank Cheryl & Richard for securing enough tickets for all of us to enjoy this event. A cash bar, a silent auction, a fifty/fifty draw, hopefully made for a successful fundraiser for the Rotary Club. I know we tried to do our part by supporting the bar and the fifty/fifty draw, the auction items were aimed more at the seasonal snowbirds than at us transient people. There was lots of food to match everyone’s pallets and I know we left with full bellies. It was a great event giving us a chance to sample many of the local establishments, and try some items that we would normally not try. The event seemed a little disorganized with everyone rushing to get in to a huge line up, we had another drink and the line was much shorter at that point, all the food was in a small area causing much congestion and crowding, but even being near the end of the line we had plenty of food. The photo below is of two tables of trouble!

We made it back to the coach before eight o’clock, and while I read for a hour or so Miss Laurie headed off to bed, the end to another great adventure, on another great day on the Mexican Baja!

Sunday, December 4th, 2022: Well it almost goes without saying, just another beautiful sunrise, maybe not as photo worthy as some, but still a great start to the day, Miss Laurie was up just after sunrise, that was when Mister Sam left my lap for greener pastures, that being Miss Laurie’s lap. After a mushroom omelet for breakfast, Miss Laurie has left for her morning beach walk, and I’m working diligently on this weeks blog as the internet seems to be a little better today. For the first morning in about a week, so I’m sitting in my antigravity chair pecking away at the keyboard. When I came out of the coach, there was no wind at all, but now Miss Laurie is back from her walk with lots of treasures and the wind is picking up, it’s almost noon and I can see the kiters making their pilgrimage to the water, and while I haven’t seek a kite up yet, I’m sure it’s just a matter of moments.

It’s now 12:30 and there are multiple kiters up, with lots of wingers, Miss Laurie has spotted a whale breach, but it is a long ways out, I have not yet seen it, but my iPad has just flashed “Low Battery” and will need to be recharged, so my blogging time today will be coming to an end for now, and to hope for good internet in the afternoon in this park just seems too much to hope for. Many of the group have gathered under a sun shelter to watch Paul our group leader as he puts up his kite, many of us just enjoy watching the action or just watching for whales and enjoying the sound of the waves hitting the beach. Of course the occasional kiter wipe out can add some excitement, kind of like a crash in NASCAR only less smoke.

Tonight we are all going to a little restaurant that is located in someone’s backyard, “Lily’s” is favourite eatery amongst both locals as well as tourists, it literally is tables set up in this backyard, and four nights a week the whole family works to feed anyone who wants to visit. They mainly cook on open fires, and some regular household appliances, the menu is not extensive but still has multiple choices. We all met at Lily’s around six o’clock and found a table reserved in what appeared to be a garage/carport, with a thatched roof. Let’s just say that it could be some of the best Mexican fare that we have had to date, nothing fancy, just good authentic food and lots of it. In all honesty it kind of reminded me of a big picnic with lots of food and a salsa bar to fix you plate to your tastes.

The gathering tonight is kind of a sad one as “The group” is preparing to break up with the first departure being Al & Carmen, who will pull out on Tuesday. They are planning some added adventures on thier way back to California, and Carmen wants to be home before Christmas with the grandkids, but it is still very sad as we have became close after our 34 days on the road together. But as we get closer to Christmas the group will continue to shrink, with coaches pulling out or with some people flying home for Christmas to return in the new year, with a few staying till spring before heading home. We all knew that this was going to happen as we all had different return schedules, but it is also a little sad as we have come to know people over this timeframe and certainly will miss their company.

After dinner we were back at the coach by 8:30, I read for a while while we listened to a couple of crazy ladies next door to us, either drunk or high, but certainly a performance that their children would not be proud of. Luckily they managed to get it under control by quiet time (nine o’clock here in Mexico) and we were in bed by ten.

Monday, December 5th, 2022: I was a little late rising this morning but I was still able to see dawn breaking from our bed and got up shortly after, and was still up just as the sun actually rose, we are expecting another eighty plus degree day and from my recliner it looks like another great day on the Mexican Baja. Again the internet seems to be cooperating this morning and I’m typing away, the real true test comes when I start to try to upload photos, that is when it usually goes to heck in a handbasket. After breakfast we headed out to do some snorkelling, a little further down the beach, but the visibility was not good this morning and while there were fish in the water seeing them was not good.

We have an appointment at eleven o’clock this morning to sort out our camping fees, we have now been here 15 days and have not paid anything towards the site, seems a little crazy, but from what we have been told this is a pretty normal process for this park. So only two couples of our group have actually paid for their sites to date so the other five couples are going this morning to meet with the manager.

So by noon we have now confirmation that we can stay in our ocean front site, and have paid for the full month, 21,000 pesos, or $1501.26 in Canadian dollars less than half of what a site on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida would have cost us, and we felt it was a well deserved treat.

I seem to have the start of a sore throat, I fear that I may have picked up a bug at our outing the other night at the Rotary dinner. We have been very lucky with all of our travels and adventures over the past few years, and other than the occasional migraine or headache, neither Laurie or I have missed a work shift in the past five years.

The balance of the day were spent in our usual spot, watching the activity on the water, enjoying a cold beverage, and having a last cocktail with Al & Carmen before their departure tomorrow. Laurie caught me double fisting it, scotch with a beer chaser.

Tuesday, December 6th, 2022: Well it finally happened, I woke this morning with a terrible sore throat, in fact bad enough that after getting up to see the sun rise, I just took this photo from inside the coach. Then seeing Miss Laurie head off on her snorkelling adventure I crawled back into bed. Oh I have had the occasional migraine or headache, even an upset tummy now and then but this is the first time in a number of years that I was down for the count.

Here are a few photos from Miss Laurie’s adventures today at El Pescadero, a small village just a few miles north of our campground up the coastal road, it was a great day according to Miss Laurie. Here are a few photos from Miss Laurie’s adventure today

Today was the day our group lost our first member, Al & Carmen started the trek north today, I had hopped to say goodbye, but thought better of it. Don’t need to be passing this bug around! The group also a dinner planned for tonight “Taco Tuesday” I will not be attending, it just sucks being out of commission while being here in paradise.

More on my recovery next week, Stay Tuned.

Week 10 in the Books

Blog 461

Day 1890