Pic-of-the-Week for June 23, 2016 - Through the Windshield

Hello friends,

A few years ago a friend posted photos in her blog with the above title.  I knew they had been traveling on vacation, pulling a big 5^th wheel trailer, and I immediately thought, “Oh no, what went through their windshield?  Was it a rock? A big bird? I hope they, and their vehicle are OK!”  Well, I need not worry, she took the photos “through the windshield” because her husband was like me and did not stop for her to take photos.

The topic of this blog will mainly be our trip North through the Baja Californias.  The trip has both very beautiful areas, and very boring areas.

There are always construction areas as they are constantly improving the roads, but I think there were fewer areas this year.  

Here is an impressive hill south of the town of Loreto.  As you can see, Cardon Cactus are not endangered.  There are plenty most of the length of the Baja California Peninsula.

A  typical scene throughout the drive in the desert areas.  A very primitive house with palm trees (palm trees equal water, which is why the house is there) and a beautifully rugged ridge line in the distance.  Of course the sky is always clear blue.

The Bahia de Concepcion south of Mulege is one of the beautiful areas in Southern Baja California.  There are many bays and the highway goes along the water for many miles. 

This bay with a hotel and restaurant is where we used to plan on staying the first night of our trip.  It is 1/3 the way north from our house to the Mexico/USA border.  The last couple years the hotel has been closed.  There is a big fight over the ownership of the land.  A person from Tijuana claims to own the hotel, as does a Mexican Ejido.  An Ejido is similar to an Indian Reservation in the USA.  It is too bad that the ownership is in question as it was a beautiful place to spend a night.

The town of Mulege is at the mouth of the Rio De Santa Rosalia.  I think the river only flows when there is heavy rains, or a hurricane.  The rest of the time this area looks like a flowing river, but is really water controlled by the tide.  This area has flooded a number of times since we have moved to Mexico wiping out houses and businesses.  It seems to us that they have short memories, and rebuild again in the same areas.

We drove a little further than we really like on the first day, and arrived in Santa Rosalia the first evening.  Hotel El Moro is on a high bluff overlooking the Sea of Cortez (or the Bay of California for you purists).  The hotel is good, and pet friendly, with a wonderful restaurant attached to the hotel.

Sunrise at El Moro.

Well, we made it a little over 1/3 the way in this first blog, and will try to do better with the next blog.  Oh, nothing bad came through the windshield, and we never saw any banditos!  As they say in southern Baja California where we live, “No Bad Days!” 

From Harriet:  Zoey has been a trooper, and did very well on this leg of the trip, although we're very glad there were tile floors in the hotel!  (Easier to clean up!) 

I've started a June 2016 Picasa album, and I will add captions as I get a chance.  FYI, we will be going to the Oregon Coast with daughter Rebecca and her family today for about 6 days, then Florence a few days, then back to Eugene area.  

Until Ben is feeling literary again....
Ben, Harriet, Sam & gimpy Zoey