Hola Amigos!
On Monday, we convinced our friends Debi and Sandy to take us in their Toyota Land Cruiser and an ATV up north towards Muertes Bay. We didn't get all the way there, since there were some questionable spots on the road, but we did stop at a beautiful beach for a swim, saw some gorgeous scenery and had a great lunch at a newer Hotel in El Cardonal. This picture shows the road, and Sandy and Ben checking it out. We decided this was far enough!
Have you been missing us and our pictures of Baja? No? Phew....that makes me feel less guilty! It has been a month since I wrote the last one, but we have been very, very busy here in Paradise.
First, we had our guest Lydia to entertain, and since she made the effort to come visit all the way from Austria, we thought we should show her around a bit. So we went places and did things that we haven't done in a long time.
One of the first places we went was to Zorra Falls up in the mountains for a swim. It's also a major hike down (then back up....puff, puff, puff!!!) We were kind of surprised that there wasn't more water coming down the falls because of all the rain from the storm in September. And no one jumped off the cliffs (like Ryan usually did when he went there).
It was a hot day, and the water felt great.
There was plenty of water in the oasis at Santiago. I don't think I've ever seen this much water there. We passed this area on our way to and from the falls.
Ben took Lydia for a tour of La Paz one day, and for contrast, we took her south to Los Frailes the next day to visit our friends Katie and Mel at their "boonies" camp about 4 miles up the arroyo. The arroyo was really scoured out during the storm, and the "road" up is very soft sand all the way. Ben used 4 wheel drive our entire way up there, wishing our Jeep was done (a story for next time). He used 4 wheel in the place pictured here, too, just before the Los Frailes area, where a spring has sprung and it is very wet! (The pigs at the nearby ranch are loving it!) Yes, this is the coast road!
On Monday, we convinced our friends Debi and Sandy to take us in their Toyota Land Cruiser and an ATV up north towards Muertes Bay. We didn't get all the way there, since there were some questionable spots on the road, but we did stop at a beautiful beach for a swim, saw some gorgeous scenery and had a great lunch at a newer Hotel in El Cardonal. This picture shows the road, and Sandy and Ben checking it out. We decided this was far enough!
This is at the swimming beach. We enjoyed looking at all the rock formations in this rock wall we're parked next to.
And there's Muertes Bay. There are restaurants and hotels out there near that sandy beach to the right. (There are other ways to get there...one popular way is by boat, which we've done before quite a few years ago).
On Monday night, we went to La Playa restaurant to listen to the Salsa music band (Cuban fellows) who are living here in Mexico now. Lots of fun, and we got to visit a bit with our friend Perla, whose mother and a friend also came from La Paz that night. (I get to practice my Spanish with Perla's Mom!) And it's always fun watching young Perla dance to the Salsa music (she is a very good dancer).
On Tuesday, we went to San Jose del Cabo to stay overnight at the Tropicana Hotel, an old favorite place right downtown. We did a bit of shopping and ate some really good food, and enjoyed a guitarist who played during our dinner. They are tearing up the main street in front of Tropicana and redoing the sidewalks, so of course, we had to walk on the construction (shady) side of the street, and the store owners were desperate for us to walk in and shop. We did go into a couple of them.
Pool at Tropicana. I opted for a siesta instead of a swim this time....
Lydia flew out the next day. She had a stop-over in Houston, then flew onto Frankfurt, then Vienna (I think!) All in all, about 14 to 16 hours of flying, plus some layover time. She did survive the flights (and the vacation), and we enjoyed her time here with us very much! We told her that she needs to bring her husband next time, though.
OK. Lydia left on Wednesday, and on Thursday afternoon, we were in a little parade, hauling the Queen of Los Barriles and one of the Princesses up and down the street(s) of LB in our '28 Woody. There was a Police car in front (siren blaring), the Woody with the royalty (and us), the mayor of town in her pickup, and an ambulance at the tail end (siren blaring)! We made quite the impression from one end of town to the other, and you'd be amazed how many cars and ATV's and trucks pulled over for us!
These ladies are Jessica (the queen in the red dress) and a gal whose name I can't remember (it was a hard one!) Jessica is our friend Dalia's niece. I think all four princesses are related somehow.
Then, Ben worked feverishly Thursday, Friday, and Saturday trying to figure out why the 29 pickup didn't run smoothly. He finally adjusted the valves (final thing to try!) and voila! It ran like a champ. So I had a quick driving lesson on Sunday afternoon (you've got to double clutch these things whenever you shift up or down, and we've got way too many speed bumps in our community!) The reason for the non-stop work on the pickup is that we had the Revolution Day Parade on Monday; 7:30am we had to be at the start of the parade. We made it with our two Model A's!
You gotta love the crowns they use for the Queen and Princess!
Oh, and for those of you who have enjoyed their music, Miguel de Hoyos and Alex DePue are back in town!!! We went to hear them Sunday night and Monday night, and have plans to go again on Friday night. Love, love, love their music. They are SO talented. I'll load a video or two on my November 2017 photo album for your enjoyment. On Sunday night we took our friends Mel & Katie, and Katie was practically in tears she loved the music so much! It was a real treat for her.
While we've been doing all the things I've mentioned, we have been working on the '30 Roadster (I hold things or lift things or offer moral support while Ben is on the business end of the tools) AND we are counting down for the "Feeding the Hungry" Fashion Show that will happen December 1. Lots of meetings, e-mails, hand-holding, asking questions, thinking, preparing for ticket sales, obtaining raffle ticket items from vendors around town, answering questions.... It's an interesting process, and there are a lot of balls in the air at once. Check with me after December 1 to see if we survived! And then we're supposed to do it again next year...but it is for a very worthy cause of helping to feed 27 very poor families in our community, so we're happy to do it. If you're on Facebook, check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/FeedingTheHungryLosBarriles/
I hope that's everything! My head is spinning; how's yours?
Hasta la proxima vez,
Tus amigos en Baja
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey
