Rancho Sordo Mudo

Last weekend I had the chance to visit Rancho Sordo Mudo down in the Valle de Guadalupe. For over 40 years the Everett family has been providing food, shelter and education for deaf children who otherwise would not have the means to learn sign language and communicate.

The trip started off in Coronado, where Paul Thomas from HERO Racing and I met up with the original "Ironman" Ivan Stewart and his wife Linda. Ivan has been helping support Rancho Sordo Mudo for close to a decade now and today we would be helping him bring dentists chairs down to the Rancho. After some heavy lifting and getting the chairs secured in the back of the trucks, we headed towards Tecate.

Upon crossing into Mexico we both got the red light...but that was to be expected with the sizable dentists chairs sticking out of the truck beds. After a few minutes of conversation with the agents, we did some paperwork and paid the duty required to import the chairs.

We headed south towards Highway 2 and had an uneventful drive down to the wine valley. Upon arrival, we met the directors of Rancho Sordo Mudo, Luke and Eddie Everett. After unloading the chairs, Luke and Eddie gave us a tour of the Rancho and told us about how their family came from North Carolina 43 years ago to help deaf kids in Mexico. It's a very interesting story and the lives they have impacted over the years is incredible. Check out the Rancho Sordo Mudo website to learn more about what they do.

After saying our goodbyes, we headed in to Ensenada for tacos at Mexico Lindo, which are always a treat. We started heading north up Highway 1 in the afternoon and it was a nice drive except for the rain coming down really hard. We made stop at the Tijuana Brewing Company for some beers and a snack. I had never visited the brewery before and it was really a great spot. Once we got to the border thankfully the wait for the Ready Lane was only about a half hour.

Here are some photos from the trip:


Ivan Stewart unpacking one of the dentists chairs.


Ivan, Linda, myself and Paul.


Luke, Paul, myself, Eddie and Ivan at the Rancho.


Paul getting excited for tacos!

¡Viva Baja!

Great post on Rcho Sordo Mudo, BajaGeoff. We have often stayed overnight at the RV park run by them. Always a nice experience. Here's some extra camping info in a post I wrote in Nov, 2011 on that fine place.



It was getting towards dusk, so we stopped for the night at this familiar old campsite…Sordo Mudo RV Park. Really a little oasis for the RV traveler….and nestled in one of the prettiest valleys along the scenic Ruta de Vino.




We had the place pretty much to ourselves. It has been raining for two days now, remember? Hardly any traffic on Hwy 3 at all. Never seen it so deserted…which is fine with me!


Sordo Mulo Park has community bldgs for meetings, barbeques, love fests, etc. Also a well-maintained facility with showers and banos. I am wary of any public baths since I got a bad case of foot rash at Campland on the Bay’s showers…. so we did not use these, although I inspected them and they were spotlessly clean.

The RV sites were very spacious and made on hardpack which held up under the downpour. Good shade trees around each site is a welcome feature to all RVers.


The hookups were power only on this trip..and it is 15 amp...no 30 or 50 amp plug-ins. As you can see from the coach exhaust, it was CHILLY… and the 15 amp was adequate to run all our electric, plus a small handy space heater. Good for those cold feet sneaking over…
The water was not on this time, but the water lines are in and working for the landscaping. No sewer hookups are available at the RV site, but there is a common dump site on the grounds.



The Sordo Mudo RV park is very easy to find. Kilometer 75 on Hwy 3….just north of Ensenada about 20 miles or so. Watch for that marker 75 and you can’t miss it.

It is a donation park and ‘usually’ someone comes over from the school to greet you, show you the ropes, and collect a donation. On our occasion nobody came. It was raining! Had a great overnight sleep, even picked up DirecTV on my 18” roof satellite. Always gratifying to catch the real news in a fair and unbiased manner.... Je je je

This is one of my favorite campsites on the Baja Road…for many reasons. You won’t find any garbage laying around or blown into the trees here. Scenic, calm, and restful.

Another RV campground/resort I am eager to check out is much further south…way down on the peninsula in Baja Sur…think it belongs to a nomad…but can’t quite place him…? Matt or Mathew?..Mitch?...no Mandrake..naw, he’s gone…hmmm…oh well, it’s come to me soon, I expect?

HAH! Got a site and a cold beer waiting for us, Mike Odell? Be warned…We we’ll be heading your way soon!

The next morning, after what is called breakfast these days, I was still munching shavings as I drove the motorhome into the school across the highway to find someone to pay for our single night’s camping. Viola! I donated an amount of pesos for one night and another small donation to the bldg fund...because I applaud this place. I think we both were quite satisfied. I know I was.

Your donation is your own business, but IF you need a ballpark amount for a one-night donation, I’d say 50 bucks is way too much…and 5 five bucks is way too little.

A little history of Sordo Mudo:

Rancho Sordo Mudo is a free home and school for deaf children in Baja California, Mexico. Ed and Margaret Everett, the founders of RSM, believed that deaf children could be taught how to read and write, to communicate in sign language, and to learn a trade for their future. More importantly, the goal of the ministry is to teach the children of God's love for them and give them a hope and future.
This has been the work of the ranch for over 40 years.

http://www.ranchosordomudo.org/


Kudos to you, Ed & Margaret.



Mas tarde, amigos.

Indeed they were.