La Paz to Loretto
Well we had quite a time getting out of that sand box in La Paz. It was a new addition to the park created just for us the day before we arrived and it was a layer of coarse sand over clay. We were there 5 days and when we went to leave our rear tires sank straight down, we had been draining wash water under the motorhome and unbeknowns to us had made clay from the sand around our wheels. We had plenty of help getting out but without one of our caravaners sand planks I don’t think we’d have made it! We’re getting a pair of those wonderful sand planks.
Our next stop was Ciudad Constitucion where we revisited a campground we stopped at on the way down. Norm found a hot springs in his book that was about 90 miles away so we took another couple and went looking for it. We had about 25 miles of dirt road down to the sea of Cortez and the views were spectacular! At the bottom of the mountain was a small community of about 6 homes and we saw a girl coming out of a shack in a school uniform, who we ask about the hot spring. She spoke some English and directed us up the beach. We walked about 1 ½ miles up a rocky beach but never did find it. The walk was wonderful though as we saw many tide pools with star fish and anemones. The roads were rough and ungraded in places and we were quite glad when our little red car made it back up the mountain!!
Feb 24th we left Ciudad Constitucion for Loreto. It was a 92 mile trip over mountains with magnificent views of the sea. Loreto is one of the nicer towns we have been to. While there we had a ladies shopping day, and dinner at a steak house. There are some small cruse ships that dock there so they have a few more good restaurants and shops. We took another 20 mile dirt road up to Mision San Francisco Javier stopping along the way at some cave paintings. There is a town there of about 150 people who farm using water from a dam nearby. Onions are a major crop, they produce around 400 ton of them and I can’t imagine how they get them out of there. The road is horrendous! We had another day in Loreto and Norm wanted to go back in search of that hot spring but we went to town instead and he had a massage at the beautiful hotel there. I was glad because I didn’t want to push our luck going up and down that mountain, we had scraped bottom on that road too many times.
We are now in San Ignacio at Rice and Beans campground where our mission is to whale watch. We split into two groups to go on an overnight trip where we stayed in little cottages and went out on Laguna San Ignacio where the gray whales come to calf from Jan to March. We had two chances to go into the lagoon in small boats to search out the whale. They were all over the place coming over to our boats to let us pet and scratch them. Our second day was better than the first as the first afternoon it was a little windy and the water was rough keeping the whales at a distance. We were told they don’t approach the boat when the water is rough, for fear of capsizing it. The morning water was smooth and we had a GREAT experience!!! Today the second group is there and we have a day to explore the area. We went to another Mission in San Ignacio constructed in 1728 and reconstructed in 1786. The elaborate façade with stone plaques and ornamentation is one of the nicest ones we have seen in the Baja.
Norm is doing a few massages today, and I am catching up on the blog. Our caravan has been shortened by two days because the restaurant we were to go to for our closing dinner has burned down. This was in a town close to the border and the leaders decided because of all the unrest near the border we would just have our goodbye dinner in the next to last stop and convoy out of Mexico on the 13th.
Hope this finds you all healthy and happy.
Lois