Trip Report 4/3 - 4/10 ~ Tecate > San Ignacio > Mulege

Hi All,

I'm finally getting around to posting this trip report. Better late than never, right?

Here goes. We spent the night at my mother-in-laws horse property in Jamul, (that's in San Diego County for all you lurkers in the Ukraine), on 4/2 so we could get a jump on things and cross at Tecate early. Well, that was MY plan. We ended up crossing around 10am, a little later than I wanted. We all had our FMT's from a previous trip, pesos in hand and Mex. insurance on line from Discover Baja. Got the green light so we were off and runnin' on hwy. 3 towards Ensenada. We heard that we may run into some delays going through the wine country but it was a breeze. What a GREAT road they have built. Just a beautiful stretch of road. Our first stop was a pee break/coconut snack.





Grandma loves coconuts...



Melina w/ the first of many adopted pets on this trip...


I admit, I'm more of a Pacific coast guy rather than a SOC guy only because I love to surf as well as dive and fish. Because this wasn't a surf trip I was really looking forward to seeing more of the interior as well as the SOC. Next stop, San Quintin for lunch. I want to say, Baja Gringo (Ron) I'm sorry I wasn't able to call you passing through S.Q. Long story short, no phone, running late, whining kids, blah, blah blah...The good news is I was sooo stoked after this road trip I'll be back down soon, probably this summer.

Ok, lunch time:



Great little restaurant right on the corner called El Rincon.



Next stop, El Rosario.
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Got gas in El Rosario. Must say, the female attendant was the happiest gas pumper I've ever seen!

Next stop, Catavina. The Dessert Inn was having a special, $89.00 US per night for a triple (taxes included). The main reason we stayed at the D.I. was the pool. My kids love to swim but as it turned out the water was about 58 degrees.
Oh well...There were a fair number of people staying there on the night of 4/3. BTW, the Dessert Inn in Catavina needs new beds.




The next group of pics were all taken in Catavina behind the Dessert Inn:








If you look closely you see the ruins of an adobe house. Don't know anything about it. DK?



From Catavina it's on to Jesus Maria and Guerrero Negro. Not sure where we will stop for gas. One of my kids favorite games this trip was Eye Spy. Eye spy with my little eye, A NEST!!!

Osprey at 11 o'clock!



I couldn't believe how green the dessert was. Lots of standing water even in Catavina.

Topped off in Guerrero Negro and then on to San Ignacio.



This must be da place!





All I heard the whole way down was, "what's a yurt?". Basically it's a fancy, round, tent. We stayed in the "Lily Pad" next to the river. This was our home for the next 3 nights:









Lucas on the river bank, Easter Day.



Melina.



Gary and Terry, owners of the Ignacio Springs B&B put on a great Easter spread. Yurkey, I mean Turkey and ALL the trimmings. A FANTASTIC meal. They serve a great breakfast as well.



Back to our Yurt.



The next day we spent tooling around San Ignacio. What a beautiful little town.






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"Melina on the Rocks"

We were all excited to see some whales in Laguna San Ignacio. It was late in the year for whales but we were hoping to see a few. We decided to go with Kuyima to see the whales and we weren't disappointed:


The "do's and dont's" of getting close to the whales.



Lots of shells on the beach out front.





This "baby" was very curious...







Momma and baby.




Melina having a GREAT time.




A nice lunch after seeing the whales. L to R, Lucas, Co-pilot (Marcela), Grandma, Gaucho, Melina.

Goodbye San Ignacio...


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Now it's off to Mulege via Santa Rosalia...



We stopped for gas in Santa Rosalia at the Pemex right across the street from this old processing plant.





On our way to Mulege. It was super windy this day 4/7, about 30 knots.

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We rented a small home in Mulege down near the Orchard from Cliff Taylor (Clementines B&B). Unfortunately we only had 3 days/2 nights in Mulege. Can't wait to go back! This was our home:



Grandma's own casita off the main house



Super comfortable and well equipped:





Still some clean up left to do:



Lots of fish in the river. The dogs were goin nuts catching/eating fish!




We took a drive out to Santispac to do some swimming/shelling/lounging...



It was pretty quiet after Semana Santa. Only a few trailors on the beach.

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[IMG]http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/oo228/gaucho87/Spring%20Break%20Baja%


As we were leaving the beach the guys in the lower left thought I wanted their picture...



Well, it was the last night in Mulege and Cliff recommended this place. I had a GREAT Dorado meal for about 70 pesos.






Evening in Mulege. Sorry for the photo quality or lack there of...



After dinner it was off to get some ice cream...




Well it was a pretty uneventful trip back. Just the usual military check points. Once we got back up to Ensenada and made the turn onto hwy. 3 again we stopped at Mustafas' for lunch. Mustafas' is surrounded by a vineyard. Pretty spot.







Thanks for comin'!!!!

Thank you for sharing Goucho. It sounds and looks as though you guys really had fun. Those are some great photographs too. Makes me want to leave to go to Baja right now.

Thanks for the colorful trip report

Hi Gaucho,

Thank you for sharing your trip with us!

The kids looked like they were eating it all up, how fortunate for them to experience another country and the history of Old California (Baja)!

The adobe ruins in the arroyo below the Desert Inn would be the remains of old Rancho Cataviña... that was abandoned long before the Transpeninsular Highway was built in 1973... In fact, it was not even mentioned in guidebooks of the 1960's.

In the film 'Bajo California, the Limit of Time', the ruins below the hotel were used for the mission ruins scene... as Mision Santa Maria (15 miles to the east) was far too difficult to reach.

Thank you again for the trip report!

Cataviña photo from a 1927 Auto Club Guide reprint:

You got THAT right! I definately could have used a little more "me time" on this trip. Next time.

Quote:

Originally posted by David K Hi Gaucho, Thank you for sharing your trip with us! The kids looked like they were eating it all up, how fortunate for them to experience another country and the history of Old California (Baja)! The adobe ruins in the arroyo below the Desert Inn would be the remains of old Rancho Cataviña... that was abandoned long before the Transpeninsular Highway was built in 1973... In fact, it was not even mentioned in guidebooks of the 1960's. In the film 'Bajo California, the Limit of Time', the ruins below the hotel were used for the mission ruins scene... as Mision Santa Maria (15 miles to the east) was far too difficult to reach. Thank you again for the trip report! Cataviña photo from a 1927 Auto Club Guide reprint: