lois on the road

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Lois petting the whale

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

Monday, February 23, 2009

more pictures from La Paz

Our entertainment at Lapaz

La Paz, Feb 17th -21st
Another beautiful day to start our adventure from Cabo San Lucas to La Paz, with a wonderful view of a cruse ship in the harbor. We had a 106 mile ride through a Cardon cactus forest with the pacific on our left. Our campground is just off Route 1, north of La Paz. It’s is brand spanking new addition and it resembles a huge sand box.
Our first activity was dinner at La Bohe’me, a stylish French Restaurant in downtown La Paz. It was a pleasant change of menu, I had mashed potatoes and they tasted great. The deserts were special too but very rich and some of us have been suffering for our indulgence.
Today we were treated to American style doughnuts and a bus tour of the city of Peace, La Paz, the capitol of Baja California Sur. The city has a population of 300,000 and we learned about the history of the area from our tour guide Betty, whose pride in her country was evident as she showed us her picturesque city. Our first stop was the Cathedral of Our Lady of La Paz, a beautiful stone and brick twin towered church located on the south side of Plaza Constitucion. Inside it has beautiful stained glass, and the Stations of the Cross were a gift from Queen Elizabeth of England because of a very large pearl given to her from a La Paz resident. Next we visited the family owned Ibarra Pottery Shop where very fine clay was formed into bowls and plates and hand painted with beautiful colors. Our last stop was another family business where the men handed down the knowledge of weaving from generation to generation. They started by spinning and dying the wool with vegetable dye, then weaving it on hand made looms in a crude building with walls laid up without cement. The end result of their labor was beautiful rugs and blankets selling for very reasonable prices. We were busy shoppers at both places.
Some of us spent the afternoon visiting the white sand beaches north east of La Paz along the Peninsula de Pichilingue. The aquamarine clear water was inviting, it was even quite warm, and very shallow until you got about ¼ mile out, but we just soaked in the glorious beauty of the area. We could have had a beach surrounded by steep hills all to ourselves,( after we got away from the jewelry peddlers), this took a while as all of us helped out the economy a little. We walked the beach for a view of the mushroom rock, then on to the next beach for a view of the Island. The sunsets from the Malecon are magnificent; I hope everyone experienced at least one.
The next two days we were free to explore the area. They were spent shopping at the La Paz open air market, walking the 5 mile long Malecon, enjoying the museums, and for most of us a trip to Todos Santos where we spent a day shopping for stunning silver jewelry and soaking in the atmosphere at the Hotel California.( The Banos signs there were unique ). We toured the Mission of Todos de Santos with it’s stations of the cross in the windows, some of us went to the museum, and I even heard about whale watching just 30 feet from shore at Todos Santos.
Saturday 21st, our last full day in La Paz we were free to explore until we met at Ciao Molino Ristorante for an evening of entertainment and fine food. We were entertained by fantastic dancers from the Technological Institute of La Paz. They preformed dances from several states in Mexico, changing into colorful outfits to reflect the customs for each area. They even engaged some of our better dancers help with the Rabbit dance. I’m sure they didn’t know most of them had done that dance before at Manfred’s and were almost professionals! It was dusk as we were leaving and I’m sure some of our caravan checked out the Carnaval along the Malecon.
Quite a few of us have been stopped by the Mexican traffic police, for what we are not sure, so we were just happy to have made it back to the campground unscathed.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Topes
The caravan leaders voice announces over the CB “toe-pee ahead, no it’s not a Mexician bird ahead, it’s a warning to slow down and be attentive, for coming up is a speed bump with attutide!
In Mexico speed limit signs, stop signs, and no passing zones are merely suggestions that most Mexicans don’t heed, but topes are for real, slowing down the most macho driver.
Topes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are wide and gentle, while others are narrow and abrupt. Some give you plenty of warning while others blend in with the road and jar the inattentive to wakefulness.
There are concrete topes, asphalt topes, dirt topes, metal disk topes, and worse than all the rope topes, the ropes are big ones from ocean going ships. Then there’s the fake topes, just a wide line painted across the street or highway but a menacing sight nonetheless.
Vibradores mark an upcoming dangerous curve, and sometimes a tope field, topes are often placed several hundred feet apart to keep you going slow through a town.
Some topes are marked with road signs indicating the distance in meters to the approaching tope. Drivers are also warned of upcoming topes by various road signs. One type of a sign is a car with it’s front end (probably out of alignment), perched on a ramp. Another is two mounds affectionately called Dolly Partons.
Topes, tumulos, vibradores, speed bumps, whatever you call them they are something to slow down for and that’s their purpose, and we RESPECT them!