Some cool video shot by Isaac. Enjoy!
Some more Isaac video - pavement riding up to Mision San Francisco Javier
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
So what is Baja?
Well it's been a whirlwind week here on our epic off-road adventure down the length of the Baja peninsula. As you know if you have been reading the blog, I have tried to give pretty good descriptions of the types of trails, roads, and towns that we have been on and through. However, I haven't spent much time talking about the desert flora and fauna, the people, the cooking... the things that make this land unique and wonderful.
One of the first things we learned is that because the plants hold the water in this harsh desert climate, they have evolved defenses to keep hungry animals from eating them. This means that every plant in Baja was trying to hurt us. Spines are the defense of choice for most plants and they are SHARP. Almost all of us experienced at least a few of these painful reminders of even slight trail mistakes - especially Chris.
Danger aside, the plant life in Baja is amazing and diverse. The giant Saguaro and Cordon cactus grow to 50 feet tall at the rate of only an inch a year. They are the cacti that everyone envisions when they think about the old west or the desert - heck even that tall, dark giant that I am using as a background pic for this blog is a Saguaro. They are kind of like a woody tree and woodpeckers drill into them to make nests. In some places, so many of these giants grow that it's virtually a cactus forest. Very impressive.
There are dozens of other cactus varieties that come in all shapes and sizes from the squat barrel varieties to the skinny, multi-branched cactus bushes (don't know the name) that hold their "tentacles" out in the path to snare careless passing dirt bikers - like Chris. Lots of varieties that would take pages to describe in detail. Harsh, dangerous, and very beautiful.
The endemic Cirios (Boojum trees) look a bit like a very tall, skinny cactus, but are a different plant altogether. Their trunks are perforated with millions of slots and holes, and, when dead and dry, the trunks become hollow. As I said in a previous post, the natives fill the dried trunks with concrete and use them for pilings, posts, beams - all kinds of stuff. They appear to be very strong.
Since we were all riding big, red, loud dirt bikes - and concentrating very hard on not falling down, we didn't really experience all of the wildlife of Baja. But we did see some very cool animals and birds. There were speedy little chipmunks running across the path every so often and we saw a few coyotes here and there - including the pack on the beach. Both Isaac and I ran over a couple of snakes (unavoidably, we weren't trying to run them over) and at least one of them was a rattler. Hardy, tough cattle and free-roaming horses are everywhere - and we learned that if you see one goat crossing the trail, SLOW DOWN. There are twenty more right behind him.
The birds were fantastic. At one water crossing, two Roadrunners were racing around on the rocks. Very cool. Several times I saw majestic Caracaras (crested, hawk-like birds of prey) perched on top of tall Saguaros - looking for prey, I guess. White-winged Doves (like the Stevie Nicks song) are common in every town and village. At our rancho lunch stop on day three we saw lots of multi-colored finches flitting from bush to bush, and at our hotel in Loreto, tiny metallic green Calliope Hummingbirds were feeding on red flowers by the fountain. We raised flocks of Pelicans and sea gulls as we rode down the beach, while Magnificent Frigate Birds soared overhead. At one point a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk, with a particularly vivid orange tail, seemed to be pacing me as I rode along the trail.
But it's the people of Baja that were such a surprise to me. Proud, happy, warm, giving people...and no matter the age. The teenagers were just as respectful and nice as their elders. Hardly any graffiti or sign of "thugs" - and then, only in the cities. The people of the countryside could not be more welcoming and we always felt completely safe.
The food we were served by these folks was nothing short of amazing. In the U.S., most Mexican food is flavored with this very distinctive "Mexican spice" flavoring. It doesn't matter if it's a Taco Bell or a regular "Mexican restaurant." In the States it's what we think Mexican food should taste like, I guess. But there's no sign of that "spice" in Baja. It would be impossible to begin to describe all the different and wonderful flavors of their cooking. They don't grow a tremendous amount of beef in the scrub and desert of Baja, but the fresh seafood is off-the-charts good. And it is all prepared with absolutely fresh ingredients. Everything is chopped, sliced, prepared, and cooked right when you order it. No steamer tables of pre-prepared stuff. It takes a little longer to get your food, but relax, it's worth it!
By contrast, today I had the opportunity to wander around in Cabo San Lucas. Once you get past the beautiful water and gorgeous rock formations offshore, Cabo is like any generic resort city. But worse. In Cabo, everyone is on the make. You can't walk ten feet without being accosted by someone with their hand out trying to sell you something - drugs, drinks, fishing boat trips, food, hookers, massages, sombreros, jewelry, sunglasses... whatever. I wasn't impressed. Cabo is nothing like the rest of this beautiful peninsula. Oh, the resort is beautiful, but you can KEEP the rest of Cabo.
You know, when we were kids in Jacksonville, Florida, there was a strip of land near our house that we called "Baja". It was basically a long spoil island of sand dunes that ran about a mile out between the St. Johns River and Mill Cove. My brothers and I would ride our dirt bikes out there on the trail that ran the distance along the spine of the dunes. Sandy and hilly with some rocks thrown in for good measure - I guess it must have been practice for the adventure of a lifetime that we just completed.
But Baja is way more than a sandy, 1,000-mile-long spit of land jutting out from southern California. Way more. As I sit here in this very nice resort, I see lots of tourists who came here to Baja California Sur for the beach, the bars, the resorts, the shopping, the parasailing, the "Jeep excursions", the fishing, the hawkers, the hookers, etc. They are having a wonderful time I guess, but most will never experience the real Baja.
The real Baja is six little kids in a tiny seaside fishing village smiling and laughing as they take turns sipping from a cold Coke bought for them by the gringo dirt bike riders. The real Baja is enjoying a fantastic meal at an outdoor restaurant on the village square in San Ignacio, watching the local families strolling along, enjoying the cool, perfect evening. The real Baja is three 70-year-old surfer dudes standing around in their wetsuits at Scorpion Bay, waiting for the tide to bring the long, breaking waves. The real Baja is sitting under a palapa at a hotel/restaurant in Bahia de Los Angeles, enjoying some authentic home-made salsa and ice-cold Pacifico beers while the owner's one-eyed Great Dane begs for scraps. The real Baja is a farmer working hard to scrape out a life on his little rancho far from civilization and happy to get some snack foods from passing dirt bikers. The real Baja is a couple million happy, hard-working, friendly people, who would give you the shirt off their backs, even if it's all they have. Because that's what hospitality means to them.
And I have found that the very best way to experience the real Baja is by dirt bike. I continue to be stunned and amazed as I reflect on the incredible variety of places, views, missions, ranchos, animals, birds, plants, and cacti we have seen and all the incredibly welcoming people we have met in our short week here in Baja. I can tell you one thing for sure: I will be back.
One of the first things we learned is that because the plants hold the water in this harsh desert climate, they have evolved defenses to keep hungry animals from eating them. This means that every plant in Baja was trying to hurt us. Spines are the defense of choice for most plants and they are SHARP. Almost all of us experienced at least a few of these painful reminders of even slight trail mistakes - especially Chris.
Danger aside, the plant life in Baja is amazing and diverse. The giant Saguaro and Cordon cactus grow to 50 feet tall at the rate of only an inch a year. They are the cacti that everyone envisions when they think about the old west or the desert - heck even that tall, dark giant that I am using as a background pic for this blog is a Saguaro. They are kind of like a woody tree and woodpeckers drill into them to make nests. In some places, so many of these giants grow that it's virtually a cactus forest. Very impressive.
There are dozens of other cactus varieties that come in all shapes and sizes from the squat barrel varieties to the skinny, multi-branched cactus bushes (don't know the name) that hold their "tentacles" out in the path to snare careless passing dirt bikers - like Chris. Lots of varieties that would take pages to describe in detail. Harsh, dangerous, and very beautiful.
The endemic Cirios (Boojum trees) look a bit like a very tall, skinny cactus, but are a different plant altogether. Their trunks are perforated with millions of slots and holes, and, when dead and dry, the trunks become hollow. As I said in a previous post, the natives fill the dried trunks with concrete and use them for pilings, posts, beams - all kinds of stuff. They appear to be very strong.
Since we were all riding big, red, loud dirt bikes - and concentrating very hard on not falling down, we didn't really experience all of the wildlife of Baja. But we did see some very cool animals and birds. There were speedy little chipmunks running across the path every so often and we saw a few coyotes here and there - including the pack on the beach. Both Isaac and I ran over a couple of snakes (unavoidably, we weren't trying to run them over) and at least one of them was a rattler. Hardy, tough cattle and free-roaming horses are everywhere - and we learned that if you see one goat crossing the trail, SLOW DOWN. There are twenty more right behind him.
The birds were fantastic. At one water crossing, two Roadrunners were racing around on the rocks. Very cool. Several times I saw majestic Caracaras (crested, hawk-like birds of prey) perched on top of tall Saguaros - looking for prey, I guess. White-winged Doves (like the Stevie Nicks song) are common in every town and village. At our rancho lunch stop on day three we saw lots of multi-colored finches flitting from bush to bush, and at our hotel in Loreto, tiny metallic green Calliope Hummingbirds were feeding on red flowers by the fountain. We raised flocks of Pelicans and sea gulls as we rode down the beach, while Magnificent Frigate Birds soared overhead. At one point a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk, with a particularly vivid orange tail, seemed to be pacing me as I rode along the trail.
But it's the people of Baja that were such a surprise to me. Proud, happy, warm, giving people...and no matter the age. The teenagers were just as respectful and nice as their elders. Hardly any graffiti or sign of "thugs" - and then, only in the cities. The people of the countryside could not be more welcoming and we always felt completely safe.
The food we were served by these folks was nothing short of amazing. In the U.S., most Mexican food is flavored with this very distinctive "Mexican spice" flavoring. It doesn't matter if it's a Taco Bell or a regular "Mexican restaurant." In the States it's what we think Mexican food should taste like, I guess. But there's no sign of that "spice" in Baja. It would be impossible to begin to describe all the different and wonderful flavors of their cooking. They don't grow a tremendous amount of beef in the scrub and desert of Baja, but the fresh seafood is off-the-charts good. And it is all prepared with absolutely fresh ingredients. Everything is chopped, sliced, prepared, and cooked right when you order it. No steamer tables of pre-prepared stuff. It takes a little longer to get your food, but relax, it's worth it!
By contrast, today I had the opportunity to wander around in Cabo San Lucas. Once you get past the beautiful water and gorgeous rock formations offshore, Cabo is like any generic resort city. But worse. In Cabo, everyone is on the make. You can't walk ten feet without being accosted by someone with their hand out trying to sell you something - drugs, drinks, fishing boat trips, food, hookers, massages, sombreros, jewelry, sunglasses... whatever. I wasn't impressed. Cabo is nothing like the rest of this beautiful peninsula. Oh, the resort is beautiful, but you can KEEP the rest of Cabo.
You know, when we were kids in Jacksonville, Florida, there was a strip of land near our house that we called "Baja". It was basically a long spoil island of sand dunes that ran about a mile out between the St. Johns River and Mill Cove. My brothers and I would ride our dirt bikes out there on the trail that ran the distance along the spine of the dunes. Sandy and hilly with some rocks thrown in for good measure - I guess it must have been practice for the adventure of a lifetime that we just completed.
But Baja is way more than a sandy, 1,000-mile-long spit of land jutting out from southern California. Way more. As I sit here in this very nice resort, I see lots of tourists who came here to Baja California Sur for the beach, the bars, the resorts, the shopping, the parasailing, the "Jeep excursions", the fishing, the hawkers, the hookers, etc. They are having a wonderful time I guess, but most will never experience the real Baja.
The real Baja is six little kids in a tiny seaside fishing village smiling and laughing as they take turns sipping from a cold Coke bought for them by the gringo dirt bike riders. The real Baja is enjoying a fantastic meal at an outdoor restaurant on the village square in San Ignacio, watching the local families strolling along, enjoying the cool, perfect evening. The real Baja is three 70-year-old surfer dudes standing around in their wetsuits at Scorpion Bay, waiting for the tide to bring the long, breaking waves. The real Baja is sitting under a palapa at a hotel/restaurant in Bahia de Los Angeles, enjoying some authentic home-made salsa and ice-cold Pacifico beers while the owner's one-eyed Great Dane begs for scraps. The real Baja is a farmer working hard to scrape out a life on his little rancho far from civilization and happy to get some snack foods from passing dirt bikers. The real Baja is a couple million happy, hard-working, friendly people, who would give you the shirt off their backs, even if it's all they have. Because that's what hospitality means to them.
And I have found that the very best way to experience the real Baja is by dirt bike. I continue to be stunned and amazed as I reflect on the incredible variety of places, views, missions, ranchos, animals, birds, plants, and cacti we have seen and all the incredibly welcoming people we have met in our short week here in Baja. I can tell you one thing for sure: I will be back.
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Welcome to The Hotel California
Since I have been on a 70's pop song titles kick, this one was a natural. We had breakfast at the beautiful Hyatt Marina Resort in La Paz and headed out on the highway towards the little town of Todos Santos, home of the ORIGINAL Hotel California - since 1947. Now, obviously, the Eagles song has given them a LOT of notoriety and business, but the hotel really has nothing to do with the Eagles. Just a beautiful little boutique hotel in a southern Baja town. I asked the Canadian owner if "...you can check out any time you like, but you can NEVER leave." She replied that, "You can indeed check out, but you will never WANT to leave!"
We shopped a bit in the gift shop, had some espressos, and lit off on the trails towards Cabo San Lucas. Today's weather was absolutely spectacular with indigo blue skies, dry, warm weather, and a bit of a breeze to blow the dust away as we rode. The trail was 80 miles, more or less, and was...surreal. That's the only way I can describe it. Dirt bike nirvana: Steep, technical uphills and downhills spaced out with fast, smooth, sweeping corners and cool water crossings. It was over WAY too soon as we rode a bridge over a four-lane highway, dropped onto a busy dirt road by the airport, and rode into Cabo.
After a typically terrifying ride through Mexican city traffic, we suddenly turned onto the beach, and waiting for us there were the rest of our Chris Haines crew with canopy set up, beers on ice, and bags laid out so we could change out of our dusty riding gear.
All too soon, our Mexican friends delivered us and our gear to the BEAUTIFUL Villa Del Palmar hotel, hugs & handshakes all around, and they were off to take trucks, trailers, bikes, and rental gear back up to the Chris Haines shop in Lake Elsinore, California. I cannot say enough about how awesome these four men are: If any of us needed ANYTHING, one of them scampered off and came back two minutes later with what we needed. Oscar, Pepe, Arturo, and Ramon literally define the word "service". Great guys, great riders, and great friends. I would ride again with them anytime.
I am typing this from the sports bar at our hotel and I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that our trip is finally over. I have dreamed about doing this for many years - and to accomplish riding 1,250 miles in six days with my two brothers, my nephew, and two old racing buddies just overwhelms me. I was literally in tears as we crested that last mountain and saw the city of Cabo San Lucas in the distance.
The trip has been everything I hoped it would be and so much more. Trying to reflect on all the things we have done and places we have seen will take some time. I plan to write a blog entry tomorrow with my personal thoughts on the Baja peninsula, the flora and fauna, and the people. I hope you have enjoyed my nightly missives and that you will check in again in a few days. Isaac, Peter, and Chris all wore GoPros for most of the trip. They are going to edit these long videos down to short bites and I will do a final post with a whole lot of these condensed videos that should really give you a good taste of the type of riding that we have done for the past six days.
It has indeed been EPIC.
We shopped a bit in the gift shop, had some espressos, and lit off on the trails towards Cabo San Lucas. Today's weather was absolutely spectacular with indigo blue skies, dry, warm weather, and a bit of a breeze to blow the dust away as we rode. The trail was 80 miles, more or less, and was...surreal. That's the only way I can describe it. Dirt bike nirvana: Steep, technical uphills and downhills spaced out with fast, smooth, sweeping corners and cool water crossings. It was over WAY too soon as we rode a bridge over a four-lane highway, dropped onto a busy dirt road by the airport, and rode into Cabo.
After a typically terrifying ride through Mexican city traffic, we suddenly turned onto the beach, and waiting for us there were the rest of our Chris Haines crew with canopy set up, beers on ice, and bags laid out so we could change out of our dusty riding gear.
All too soon, our Mexican friends delivered us and our gear to the BEAUTIFUL Villa Del Palmar hotel, hugs & handshakes all around, and they were off to take trucks, trailers, bikes, and rental gear back up to the Chris Haines shop in Lake Elsinore, California. I cannot say enough about how awesome these four men are: If any of us needed ANYTHING, one of them scampered off and came back two minutes later with what we needed. Oscar, Pepe, Arturo, and Ramon literally define the word "service". Great guys, great riders, and great friends. I would ride again with them anytime.
I am typing this from the sports bar at our hotel and I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that our trip is finally over. I have dreamed about doing this for many years - and to accomplish riding 1,250 miles in six days with my two brothers, my nephew, and two old racing buddies just overwhelms me. I was literally in tears as we crested that last mountain and saw the city of Cabo San Lucas in the distance.
The trip has been everything I hoped it would be and so much more. Trying to reflect on all the things we have done and places we have seen will take some time. I plan to write a blog entry tomorrow with my personal thoughts on the Baja peninsula, the flora and fauna, and the people. I hope you have enjoyed my nightly missives and that you will check in again in a few days. Isaac, Peter, and Chris all wore GoPros for most of the trip. They are going to edit these long videos down to short bites and I will do a final post with a whole lot of these condensed videos that should really give you a good taste of the type of riding that we have done for the past six days.
It has indeed been EPIC.
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| And right across the street? Of course. |
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| Another of those ubiquitous shrines. I thought this one was pretty awesome. |
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| On the beach at Cabo San Lucas! |
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| Three VERY happy brothers! |
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| Our awesome digs for the next couple nights! |
Monday, April 9, 2018
Burn Down the Mission
I don't know why that old Elton John song got stuck in my head today, but we did get to visit and tour an amazing 300 year-old Franciscan mission today high up in the mountains above Loreto. A really fun 25-mile ride up a VERY twisty road brought us to the Mision San Francisco Javier. Built at an oasis high in the mountains, it truly is a tiny slice of paradise. About 150 people live and work around the mission, and it is all kept fastidiously clean.
We left San Javier and headed out on a nice two-track trail. It got very rough as we progressed. The interesting thing is that this rough trail - like many others we have traveled this week, has mile (km) marker signs, caution signs, etc. In other words, it's an actual road. They call these goat paths "secondary roads". What this means is that unless you have a full-on 4WD truck with high ground clearance and big tires, don't even TRY to drive these roads!
We stopped to chat with an old rancher that Pepe knows and dropped off some snacks for him. The rest of the morning was a series of great trails, beautiful scenery, and lots of water crossings. We stopped for lunch at a little taco stand and were off to ride (very fast) on the beach again! We ran into a pack of coyotes who headed for the hills as we got closer and there was an amazing colorful red tide going on. Odd to see pink waves.
Next, we learned about "silt" - which LOOKS exactly like our good old Florida sand. But nay, nay. It has the consistency of talcum powder and is like riding in very deep, slippery mud. It also raises HUGE clouds of dust. Nasty stuff, and we had a bit of it to contend with today.
Much later in the day, we met up with the trucks for fuel, where one of our support guys, Ramon, told us about how much he loved the next 20-mile section, heading into La Paz. Well, after a 2-mile entrance trail, we dropped down to a very steep, rocky downhill. Unfortunately, Isaac managed to hit a bowling ball sized rock, lose his front end and crash hard on his head and hip. He was able to ride the bike gingerly back out the way we came (after about 30 minutes to clear his head) and it was loaded back onto the trailer for the ride into La Paz. Hopefully, he will be up for riding tomorrow's final day.
We continued on with the section - which was amazing. Steep downhills, twisty uphills, nicely spaced whoops, tight woods. It was a pretty epic 20 miles indeed!
So, after another 250-mile day, we finally drove through the beautiful town of La Paz and up to the new Hyatt Hotel at the marina. Cold drinks at the bar, a short ride to dinner at the restaurant where Ramon works when he isn't doing Baja tours, and I am READY for bed. It's late and I have to get up in 6 hours for the final day of riding into Cabo San Lucas tomorrow. It's been a hell of an adventure, and I'm sad that it's almost over.
We left San Javier and headed out on a nice two-track trail. It got very rough as we progressed. The interesting thing is that this rough trail - like many others we have traveled this week, has mile (km) marker signs, caution signs, etc. In other words, it's an actual road. They call these goat paths "secondary roads". What this means is that unless you have a full-on 4WD truck with high ground clearance and big tires, don't even TRY to drive these roads!
We stopped to chat with an old rancher that Pepe knows and dropped off some snacks for him. The rest of the morning was a series of great trails, beautiful scenery, and lots of water crossings. We stopped for lunch at a little taco stand and were off to ride (very fast) on the beach again! We ran into a pack of coyotes who headed for the hills as we got closer and there was an amazing colorful red tide going on. Odd to see pink waves.
Next, we learned about "silt" - which LOOKS exactly like our good old Florida sand. But nay, nay. It has the consistency of talcum powder and is like riding in very deep, slippery mud. It also raises HUGE clouds of dust. Nasty stuff, and we had a bit of it to contend with today.
Much later in the day, we met up with the trucks for fuel, where one of our support guys, Ramon, told us about how much he loved the next 20-mile section, heading into La Paz. Well, after a 2-mile entrance trail, we dropped down to a very steep, rocky downhill. Unfortunately, Isaac managed to hit a bowling ball sized rock, lose his front end and crash hard on his head and hip. He was able to ride the bike gingerly back out the way we came (after about 30 minutes to clear his head) and it was loaded back onto the trailer for the ride into La Paz. Hopefully, he will be up for riding tomorrow's final day.
We continued on with the section - which was amazing. Steep downhills, twisty uphills, nicely spaced whoops, tight woods. It was a pretty epic 20 miles indeed!
So, after another 250-mile day, we finally drove through the beautiful town of La Paz and up to the new Hyatt Hotel at the marina. Cold drinks at the bar, a short ride to dinner at the restaurant where Ramon works when he isn't doing Baja tours, and I am READY for bed. It's late and I have to get up in 6 hours for the final day of riding into Cabo San Lucas tomorrow. It's been a hell of an adventure, and I'm sad that it's almost over.
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| On the way to the Mision San Javier |
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| Bros at Mision San Javier |
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| Checking out the 300 year-old olive tree |
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| Hey look! A picture of me! |
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| ...and Chris |
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| ....and Peter Sr. |
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| Are we knuckleheads, or what? |
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| Red Tide |
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| The Peters sneaking through a tight space on the beach |
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| What passes for a lighthouse in Baja |
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| Pug found some shade |
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| Monuments to fallen friends and fellow riders |
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| Peter Jr. sporting some impressive trail rash from Day 2 |
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Coast to coast in the rock garden
After a hearty breakfast at our hotel this morning, we lit off into cool overcast weather. Those of us who chose to wear our enduro jackets were warm and comfy. The other guys? Not so much. We rode a combination of pavement and two-track trails through sandy washes and past huge stands of giant cardon (saguaro) cactus. We finally crested a hill and dropped down into the sleepy little fishing village of El Datil on the Pacific coast for fuel. We also had some soft drinks and fresh, fresh, fresh scallop ceviche at a little store on the beach. The town kids were loving our bikes and Chris was making friends with all of them (I think he was giving out pesos - since we forgot the stickers that they crave.)
Afterwards, we headed south down the beach for a few miles before jumping up onto the huge, dry lake beds (salt pans). Some of these salt pans are over a mile wide and they are connected by short sand dune trails. We rode one after another for miles and miles. Absolutely dead flat and smooth, we could really cook along at 75-80 mph. The only danger is that the crust is less than an inch thick. Below that is muddy salt that is as slick as snot on a doorknob. Hit the brakes or throttle too hard and you can wind up sliding sideways. Not something I care to do at 80!
Anyway, during this part of the ride we came out from under the dewy overcast and rode into the warm sun as we progressed inland from the Pacific Coast. The guys without jackets were finally comfortable. After the salt pans, we rode 20 miles or so of sand dune trails. Very smooth - as long as you kept the speed up and stayed on top of the sand.
We arrived in the town of San Juanico right on the Pacific for lunch. This town is more popularly know as "Scorpion Bay". It purportedly boasts the second-longest surf break in the world. There were quite a few surfers camped there at any rate - including three of the crustiest old surfer dudes ever, hanging in their wetsuits, waiting on the tide. We had lunch in a great little open air restaurant and then set out to cross the peninsula to the Sea of Cortez.
We rode a LOT of rocks over the next three hours. Rocky streams, rocky roads, pebbly roads, boulder-y roads, steep, rocky climbs with precipitous drops off the edge. It was fun, but required 100% concentration to stay on two wheels. We rode through the oasis town of San Isidro, which uses the local oasis stream to fill the town aqueduct system. Very cool old stone troughs running everywhere in town and filled with cool spring water. Wish I had stopped to take pictures. Anyway, like everywhere we go, all the townspeople waved at us and the kids want a high five as you go by. Quite different from the U.S.!
After several long stretches of still more rocks, and climbs up and over small mountains, we ended up on the highway for the short ride into Loreto and our hotel for the night.
We had dinner at a cool little restaurant where Chris finally was able to buy the big sombrero for me that he has been threatening all week. He really wants everyone to sing me happy birthday each night. Could be worse. We also got a sharpie marker so I could write the word "Me" all over the hat. So I now own a sombrero that has me written all over it...
Tomorrow we will be heading for La Paz - historical finish line of the Baja 1000 off road race.. We're getting closer to Cabo!
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| Pepe is happy to lead us! |
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| Newest Great Harbour model??? |
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| Smile Amigos! |
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| Salt Pan (Pepe is still pretty happy) |
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| Chris, ready for the next section of rocks |
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| Chris splashes through |
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| Peter Jr. |
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| What passes for a gas station in the wilds of the Baja desert |
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| Lunch at Scorpion Bay |
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| Crusty old surfers at Scorpion Bay |
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| View of the San Isidro Oasis |
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| Made it to Loreto! |
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| Our hotel in Loreto |
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