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LisaR.
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Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
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Bay Area to Todos Santos and back, July 10-26, 2009
This was the best vacation we’ve ever had! We drove from Martinez, CA and back—we made it as far south as Todos Santos. Although we planned to get
all the way around the cape, too many interesting side trips came up. To everyone who said it would be too much driving, you were right. Everyone
who said it would be too hot, you were right. Everyone who said we would have a great time even if it was too hot and too much driving, you were the
most right of all!
It may take me awhile to get the whole trip posted (I can be kind-of verbose, sorry in advance). Plus, we took over 800 pictures and many, many of
the them are not good... I’m still sorting through them and I promise not to post them ALL, but there may be a lot.
Day 1, July 10—to Anaheim
We left around 3 p.m. and had an uneventful drive (the best kind). We stayed in Anaheim for the night.
All packed!
Day 2, July 11—to San Quintin
We got a medium-early start, and got our FM-Ts at San Ysidro. We pulled into the secondary inspection parking and told the guy that we had nothing to
declare, we were just parking to go to the immigration office. He asked us to open the car, anyway, but when he saw how tightly it was packed, his
shoulders dropped as if to say, “F*** it.” He closed the door and pointed to the immigration window. On the way out, I made sure to catch his eye
and he waved us through.
Woohoo! We’re on our way!
We stopped in Ensenada to hit the bank, get gas, and buy booze. We got lost, of course. I always get lost in Ensenada. It’s like Los Angeles that
way for me.
Here is the very helpful guy in the Walmart parking lot. He directed traffic, showed us to a parking space, and helped us unload. What a nice man!
When we got gas, the attendant washed every single window. They were shiny and beautiful. Not 10 minutes later, we were on a detour in Maneadero,
driving in great clouds of red dust (we got pictures of this on the way back). And along comes the water truck...Kaploosh! We were drenched, then
dusted with more clouds of red dust. Oh well, the car was going to get dirty eventually.
Valle de Santo Tomas
Stuck behind a truck
Fire on the hillside
A little reminder about why you always need to be alert while driving in Mexico—
We got to San Quintin around 7:00. We had been planning on staying at the Old Mill. I stayed there 8 years ago, and I loved its location on the bay.
We got there, and it was every bit as charming as I remembered...BUT there were about 10 Baja Missions vans parked around and a great big pile of
luggage in the center of the compound. Uh, oh. We went into the office and talked to Jim. He said they were full, Don Eddie’s was full, and Los
Jardines was full. Then another guy came into the office (pretty sure it was Don Eddie), said something about having a room, and they went out and
talked for a minute when Jim came back in, turned out they did have a room after all. $35. Um, OK.
Anyway, despite the thousands of shiny, scrubbed teenagers on a mission, the place really does have oodles of charm. It is not luxurious, but then,
that is not what we were looking for. We got a room in the original building and it was clean and cute. The bed was not the most comfortable, but it
wasn’t terrible, either. All in all, totally worth 35 bucks.
We ate dinner at Don Eddie’s, because it was late and we were tired. As expected, the food was over-priced and mediocre. The margaritas were good
though. Mark had a couple, then started telling the bartender and waiter that “Tequila makes everyone family. How do you say that in Spanish?”
After dinner, we walked down the path past the lights of the hotel, and the stars were AMAZING. It was a clear night, with no moon and no city
lights. I can’t remember ever seeing the Milky Way that clearly.
There was a band playing in front of the restaurant next to the hotel, and they were really, really good! During a break, we told them they needed a
tip jar, and they said they would gladly accept tips if people left them on the speakers. So we tipped them, and for the next hour, they dedicated
every song to “Our new friends from California, our very, very good friends.”
They set up on this deck.
More to come...
[Edited on 8-2-2009 by LisaR.]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64855
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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GREAT GREAT GREAT!
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pal57
Junior Nomad
Posts: 65
Registered: 4-10-2009
Location: San Marino
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Mood: Valentino Rossi the Best!
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Nice report, Lisa, continue. Can't wait to see when you arrive at Todos Santos.
The photos you attached, makes me dreaming again of Baja, even if it passed only some months from then.
Bye Pal57
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oxxo
Banned
Posts: 2347
Registered: 5-17-2006
Location: Wherever I am, I'm there
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Mood: If I was feeling any better, I'd be twins!
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Lisa, I love the first picture of the stuff in your car. Boy does that look familiar!
The car trip down the length of Baja never grows old for us. We have done it tens of times and never get tired of it. We have our familiar landmarks
and have given them our own names, such as "blowout rest stop."
Visitors NEVER have enough time to do, see, explore everything. That's what keeps bringing people back. One day (I hope never) Baja will lose that
isolated, wild, frontier feel. But until then, Viva Baja!
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Curt63
Super Nomad
Posts: 1171
Registered: 3-28-2009
Location: San Diego, Ca.
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Mood: Fish tacos and Tecate
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Great pics and narrative ... keep em coming!!!
No worries
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Bajaboy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4375
Registered: 10-9-2003
Location: Bahia Asuncion, BCS, Mexico
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thanks for the time and effort to share your adventure with us
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Natalie Ann
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2819
Registered: 8-22-2003
Location: Berkeley
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I can tell this is gonna be a fun trip, LisaR...
so have at it in words and pix. I promise to enjoy the ride.
Fact is, I'm stuck in Cornfield Illinois with family, am soooo wishing to be in Baja.
Your trip report's gonna be my fix.  
Thank you!
Nena
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
.....Oscar Wilde
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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Thanks, Lisa. That was fun. I hope Jesse's Joint is one of your fondest memories and I'm awaiting a full report.
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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Keep up the great posting, Lisa. Lovin' it. One small question: When in Todos, you were less than an hour from Cabo. Not that there was anything
neccesarily needed to see there, but you could have at least said you did it! I was once in Coeur D'alene Idaho on business, and just for the heck of
it and so I said I was there, I hopped on the interstate and drove across the Montana line, turned around and came back.
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LisaR.
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
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Thanks, everyone, for all your kind comments. I'm working on the rest of the pictures now.
DENNIS, yes, Tres Virgenes was one of our fondest memories, but we have so many great memories of this trip that it would be hard to rank them. The
food there is wonderful and we enjoyed meeting Jesse. He's a really nice and interesting person.
Bajahowodd, we considered driving all the way down, but we were only in Todos Santos for one afternoon. The farthest south we stayed was La Paz. By
the time we got that far down, it really had been too much driving. We stopped in Cabo San Lucas on a cruise in April, so it would have been almost
another 100 miles round trip just to say we did it. I did really want to see San Jose del Cabo (and plan to someday), but that would have been far
more driving than we wanted to do at that point!
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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Got it. Wasn't aware that you didn't stay farther South than La Paz, and that road construction just North of Todos really slows things down. Not sure
about Dennis' fixation with Jesse. In any case, it IS a fabulous place to dine.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajahowodd
Not sure about Dennis' fixation with Jesse. |
Jesse and I know all about the fixation and, much to my delite, it seems to have run it's course. We'll take care of this by ourselves.
Thanks
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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Don't ask......
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LisaR.
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
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No...
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Bob H
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5867
Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: San Diego
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Wow, this is gonna be another fantastic trip report, photo essay, whatever.... can't wait to see MORE!
I love the photos so far.... get's right to the Baja experience real quick. It feels like I am going along with you!
Bob H
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
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Lisa,
Now that is the beginning of a very good trip report. You have a good way with words and from all your photos, you do have a way of picking out the
ones that do tell the story.
Wish we had been in Bahia Asunsion when you were there---maybe next time.
Look forward to the rest of the report.
Thanks
Diane
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LisaR.
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
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Don Jorge, I think you may be right. I'll edit it. Thanks for your kind comments.
And to everyone, also thanks for all your kind words. And feel free to point it out if I get an area or location name wrong, and I will make the
edit. I'm writing it up from memory, and occassionally I'm just taking my best guess at where the picture was taken, based on where it is in the
series.
I'll be posting the next segment within an hour or so. I finally got all the pictures edited, organized, and uploaded to photobucket, and I'm working
on the narrative.
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LisaR.
Nomad
Posts: 121
Registered: 6-3-2009
Location: Chapala, Jalisco
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Days 3-4, July 12-13—to Bahia de Los Angeles
In the morning we packed up and headed out. We stopped in El Rosario for gas, and turned down the dirt road across from the Pemex station and Mama
Espinoza’s, looking for the mission. We didn’t find it. We did find an old drunk guy, clutching a bottle in a paper bag and staggering down the
middle of the street. It was about noon. We figured that we would try to find the mission on the way back up, hopefully armed with better
directions, but in the meantime, we wanted to make sure that we made it to BoLA well before dark.
South of El Rosario, the scenery starts to get really spectacular. We stopped at a turn-off that felt like the top of the world to look around and
take some pictures.
Mark is amazed...
Alone on a hill...
When we came down into the valley and into the Valle de Cirios and Cataviña Boulder fields, the landscape got really amazing. It looks like another
planet.
Again, we pulled off to look around and take pictures.
On the road again, it looks like God had landscaping rocks delivered, but he hasn’t decided what to do with them yet.
We stopped in Cataviña for lunch. We pulled into the Desert Inn because we really, really needed to go to the bathroom, we were starving, and we
hoped the restaurant would have air-conditioning (it didn’t). The menu was over-priced, and we afraid it would be over-priced and mediocre. It
wasn’t. We both had the mixed fajitas and they were great! I don’t know what they marinated the meat in, but it was absolutely delicious.
The Pemex pump there is out of service (foreshadowing...).
We headed south and turned off at Punta Prieta for Bahia de Los Angeles. The road is beautiful and in great condition. It took us under an hour from
the turn-off.
Here is our first view of town with the Sea of Cortez:
The sculpture coming into town:
We took a right heading into town and followed the main street to Guillermo’s, which is where we thought we were going to stay. We parked next to the
restaurant. The compound was somewhat bare and unappealing. We walked up to the restaurant and wandered around looking for someone to talk to about
a room, but there didn’t seem to be anyone who had any interest in helping us. We went back outside and I was attacked by a 3 inch long black
wasp-like thing! OK, maybe I’m exaggerating. Maybe it wasn’t attacking; it just wanted to get to know me. Regardless, I scurried back to the car
and we drove away. Strike one.
This time we drove north of town to Villa Bahia. We followed the dirt road down toward the bay with high hopes. We got out and wandered around,
looking for someone. There was a sign for the officina, but there didn’t seem to be an officina. There were, however, lots of barking dogs and
screaming babies. Strike two.
We headed back south a little to Larry and Raquel’s. The compound is beautiful and quiet, right on the bay. We found a very nice, helpful woman to
talk to almost immediately, and... They have a fishing tournament scheduled and every single room is booked. Strike three and we’re ou...Wait, this
isn’t baseball—we can keep playing! She recommended we try Costa del Sol. So back into town we go.
At this point, we were exhausted, sweltering, and badly in need of an icy cold cerveza. Don’t forget, we’re Bay Area people and summertime highs in
Martinez tend to be in the ‘80s with a light breeze. This was our first day in the serious heat and we were not yet acclimated. We pulled into the
parking lot at Costa del Sol, walked up and were immediately greeted by Victoria (she runs the hotel and restaurant with her daughters). “Quiere un
quarto?” Si, por favor. We followed her to see the room. “Quanto?” “$60,” she said, opening the door. We were hit with a blast of ice cold air.
Perfect. We’ll take it!
(A side note, she quoted the price at $60, and we heard a couple of people checking in try to bargain it down. “My friend stayed here for $35...”
etc. But she was quite firm, “The air-conditioning is expensive to run, in the summer it is $60.” But she is clearly not trying to rip people off.
When we checked out and paid, she told us that the conversion was 13 to 1. When she figured the amount in pesos, I guess she thought it was too much,
because she re-figured it at 12 to 1 and charged me that amount. The final charge on my credit card actually came out to about $52 a night.)
Here is Victoria:
One of her daughters behind the counter in the restaurant:
We got settled in and took a couple of beers to sit at the outside tables. A couple of guys walked by, and we said hello and started chatting with
them and offered them a couple of beers. Being friendly and saying hello to people is a great way to make friends. Giving them beer, as
well...instant amigos! They were really nice guys, Gordon and Robert, and very knowledgeable about the area. They had been there fishing for several
days. They had planned on staying longer, but the yellowtail fishing had been so good that their ice chest was full, so they were leaving the next
morning. They had to run to the market, but we would see them later.
Next, Dale and Carleen check in. We said hello, offered beer, and hey! More new friends!
Later, we went to get dinner and drove down to Guillermo’s. We had heard they had great margaritas and a bay view. Well, same thing as when we were
there earlier. The restaurant and bar were pretty much empty, and no one seemed to have any interest in helping us. Back to Costa del Sol, as Gordon
had told us earlier that the food there was really good. He was right. A particular standout is the breaded shrimp. And the price? About six
bucks. Wow! The dinners are served with rice, salad, and the most amazingly delicious cream of carrot soup. Really, crema de zanhoria. I loved it!
Dale and Carleen, and Gordon and Robert turned up at the restaurant, as well. We introduced them to each other, and a party was born! Dale had
brought his boat, but needed information on guides, local hotspots, best lures/bait, etc. Gordon was very knowledgeable about the area, and in fact,
at some point the two of them left to go talk to some guy. They came back with a pile of lures and a guide booked for the next day. Carleen and I
got to talking about whale sharks in the bay, and she a Dale offered to take us out on their boat the next day to look for them. Sweet! What a fun
night, and what nice, fun people!
The next morning, we set out adventuring. First, we headed north up the bay. We drove up to the turtle sanctuary, but it was closed, and we could
see through the chain link fence that there was one sad, lonely (I’m anthropomorphizing, I know,) turtle sploshing despondently in a tank of gross
green water. We heard later that the director of the facility had left, and it is not being kept up. Sad. I can’t help but think that the one
turtle there would be happier and healthier if left “unprotected” in the wild.
From there, we drove a little further north, and followed signs for an art studio off the main road. We pulled up at a house, and Greg, the husband
of the artist, Sandi, got up to meet us. He opened the studio for us and we bought a few small pieces. Nice stuff. Sandi painted the mural inside
the restaurant at Costa del Sol, too.
We chatted with Greg for awhile, and asked him for information on driving the San Borja route out the next day. “How’s the road?” we asked. He
craned his neck to look around us at our car (which is not 4-wd, but it is high-clearance). “You should be fine,” he answered. This is not the last
time we got this response, the looking at the car before answering, when asking about a road. We soon learned what it meant.
From there, we drove south of town, not as far as Las Flores mine, but past the bay. The scenery and cardon forests are spectacular. Here come the
pictures:
Does anyone know the story on this? It says Carole Ann Bispo 10-16-45—3-16-91.
What does “klee-mahks” mean? Oh, wait. Maybe that’s English. Maybe it means it’s done...
We came back for some lunch and a nap, and in the late afternoon, headed out with Dale and Carleen.
Mark accidentally caught his first yellowtail.
Why, accidentally, you ask? Well, we aren’t fisherpeople, in fact, we don’t even eat fish. Dale had a couple of rods out and they both got hits at
once, so he asked Mark to reel one in... Ta da! Mark’s first yellowtail! We let them keep the fish, though.
We didn’t find the whale sharks, but we had fun, and the bay was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
That night we had dinner with Dale and Carleen, a few drinks, then everyone turned in early, as we were all leaving the next morning. We had a great
time, and it is so wonderful to make new friends!
One last note for the night... We turned on the TV, and it just started changing channels on its own. We were confused, until I walked outside, and
could see someone in the restaurant watching TV and changing the channels. Aha! Mystery solved...
Coming soon, the scorpion, San Borja, and Bahia Asuncion...
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
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Enjoying your trip---nice photos, fun story, and look forward to the next installment.
Diane
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13048
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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OH Lisa...great to finally see your great photos...(I got to have a quickie showing at our place when they were here)...you guys were terrific guests
cum amigos...cant wait to see the rest of your trip report...miss ya doll.
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