Day 6 ~ Baja* Vendors. Driving. Traffic. Tecolote

 February 9, 2016

Today, we would be driving... a lot, so I made sure to wake up early to catch Jesus and his awesome Tamales, I actually set an alarm! You can see my sleepy eyes below, haha

As I got out of the van, he was just leaving the rig next to us so I waved him down to get some of his goods. I never would have thought I would eat Tamales for brekkie but now that we've done it for the past 3 days, I could eat these things every single day and be happy as pie! I bought 6 Tamales from him, 2 for brekkie 1 for lunch for each of us, and asked if I could take a picture with him, he was ecstatic that I asked for that! 

And wouldn't you know that it was thee most beautiful, sunny day ever, too! Of course, the day we're leaving it's hot and sunny with not a cloud in the sky but that's how it goes! 

Great start to a great day

Around 8:30, we had another vendor, Adolfo, come by with blankets, shirts, hats, etc. and since we had talked about getting a colorful rug or blanket to put in the van over the black one, we let him go on with his business. We talked to him for a little bit and told him what we were looking for, he pulled out every single blanket he had, helping us decide what would be right for our space. We finally selected one and bargained with him from about $40 (American) down to $17-18.  We love it and all of us were happy!

Almost free today! What color?

Joon got some color

Right as we were making sure the van was buttoned up, a couple had oared into shore and anchored their dingy right next to where the van was parked. We started talking to them about traveling, sailing and everything else and made a couple of good friends, Jim & Jeannine. The couple have been cruising on their boat, Charann,  
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/theredboat/ 

for about 12 years. After about an hour long conversation, we swapped email addresses and were down the road while they set out down the beach looking for Tamales!

Joon in the Bay of Conception (Bahia Concepcion)

Charann (the red boat in the distance) and Joon van taking in her view of Santispac

The entire rest of the day was driving. We wanted to make it to the La Paz area (at least) by Sunset, so we had a lot of miles to get under our belts if we were going to make that happen. 

We drove for about an hour and a half before we stopped for a little stretch and to buy a soda. We walked around this little tiny village area for about 10 minutes while we drank a cold soda, then, it was back in the van and back on the road.

The temperature was noticeably different and much hotter than Mulegé. We had the windows down most of the ride but it was still burning pretty hot on the inside of the van. The dogs were trying to get comfortable and out of the Sun that was coming through the front window. Savannah is a little smarter than my Moonie and went to the back where there's no Sun, with a view.

I don't think Chili put it together, although I put her in the back several times, she would just come, get back under her blankets, panting, looking at me like...Why!? 

Once we arrived in Ciudad Constitución, we decided to stop to get some drinks for the fridge at the Ley store. Jamie pulled under a nice shady tree and went inside, I stayed out with the girls and took them to go potty. The temperatures are a lot hotter inland, than by the ocean! Even in the shade it was about 100*+...in February!

I'm not sure how these people live here during the Summer, but I guess they make it work or they wouldn't be here.We had about another two hours, from Ciudad Constitución, until we got to La Paz. 

Ciudad Constitucion

Ciudad Consitucion, inland Baja

We then would have to figure out where we wanted to camp or at least sleep for the night. I had a place or two written down that I had gotten from www.freecampsites.net, so we would fall back on those if we couldn't find something we liked better first. 

We arrived in La Paz around 4:30 or so in the afternoon. I was driving so I don't have any pictures of the town but it's a big one. It reminds me of L.A. almost... a lot of people and a lot of traffic, although the drivers are much nicer! We decided to drive toward the water and go from there. 

First look at La Paz

Little did we know that they were on the last day of 5, celebrating Fat Tuesday and we had just driven into downtown traffic for parking to go watch the parade. The road we were trying to get on was the road they had the parade on, so there were blockades everywhere, people everywhere, cars everywhere and lots and lots of police. We thought we would just find parking and go join in the celebration but after an hour of pretty much sitting still or going in circles around the same block and trying to find a good road that wasn't jam-packed, we decided against it and kept on down the road...once we found a road we could drive down!

We finally averted the traffic scene and started driving toward one of the spots I had written down, Playa Tecolote. It was a free camp spot on the water, so we thought we would try it for one night and if we liked it we would stay, if not we'd find another place tomorrow.We drove through winding mountain roads for about 25 minutes, seeing beautiful vistas & inlets here and there that you couldn't drive down into due to the marshy mud or no way to enter, that we could see.

 By the time we got to the beach of Tecolote, the sun was setting, this seems to be our new thing! I don't even remember if we ate dinner, but we walked the dogs and sat down on the sand to have a Sunset Brew as well as breathe another sigh of relief that we are sitting still again and out of all that traffic!

We'll have to see how the vibe is when we wake up tomorrow but as I'm writing this, the wind is very strong and could become a problem if we want to stay here for any extended period of time.

Until tomorrow....

PEACE