La Paz

Arrived in La Paz last night, having spent the last couple of days in Loreto. It was only a 70 mile drive on from the beach where we spent Christmas, but it's a great old mission town, better shops and much cheaper prices. We'd heard it wasn't up to much but we liked the place a lot. It also gave the chance to charge up the vehicle and house batteries after 2 weeks of being savaged - the day we left the low voltage alarm went nuts and we had to start the generator to get enough power to start the engine!! Oops!

Loreto to La Paz was 220 miles - the longest we'd driven in one day since arriving in Baja 5 weeks ago. It took about 6 hours and was a pleasant drive. The road followed the coast for a while after Loreto then up into the Sierra La Giganta which offered some great views back where we'd come from. Along the way we saw many roadside shrines - often erected at the sites of accidents some are really simple, but we saw some crackers today - great brick built buildings and some sculpted shrines - particularly love this cactus one! At the moment all the shrines seem to be decorated for Christmas.

Christmas on the beach

What a wonderfully different Christmas we had! It was never going to be traditional. Not really used to having Christmas by ourselves – I love having family around me, so it was going to be difficult to make it ‘special’ We had English muffins toasted on the BBQ to start the day off, opened our few presents, went for a quick swim (just to say we did!), walked along the beach, and sat out in the sunshine. Although we’d bought all the ingredients we decided to forgo the Christmas lunch in favour of lots and lots of snacks and munchies – devilled eggs, freshly made salsa and tortilla chips, smoked sausage, pickled chilli peppers, olives, cookies and of course chocolate! As the sun set we lit a campfire on the beach and drank wine. We met a couple from Dublin out walking so we invited them to join us around the fire and we stayed up late into the evening chatting and drinking with them. It’s now Boxing day and I don’t feel very well…….!!

The exploding restaurant! Ray's Place is no more...

It was just gone 11pm last night, and I’d been asleep for perhaps 1/2 hour. The noise woke me. Totally alien, but loud and getting louder by the second. It was like a jet plane was crashing, or a truck was careering off the road near the beach. I bolted upright and looked out the window on my side, Chris beside me. I think I’d just about realized what I was seeing – a fire – then there was an explosion, and the fireball went up. Still dazed from sleep my mind was slow to register but Chris realized straight away that it was Ray’s Place.

The fire raged. It was after all a giant palapa and the dry wood and palms were quickly devoured by flames. I was shaking, it was a shock and the destruction of someone’s beloved business upset me (especially since we’d met Ray only last week)

We expected the fire department to turn up. But nothing happened. The fire took less than an hour before it had nothing left to fuel itself and it started to quieten down. The onlookers moved away, back to their beds. I struggled to get back to sleep. I was spooked by it all, and then worried that the sparks would ignite the palapa next to us – my mind was on overdrive as I thought through the various elaborate scenarios.

Next morning it seemed strange to look out and see nothing there. And I mean NOTHING! The place was raised to the ground good and proper. The ashes were still smoldering, and the heat was still intense up close. We could see the burst propane tank lying on its side – the cause of the explosion.

So sad, so unbelievable, so frightening.

[These are the BEFORE, DURING and AFTER photos]

Merry Christmas from Helen & Chris!!

Are staying on Playa Santispac for the Christmas period - it's too nice to move on! Best wishes to you all for Christmas and have a very Happy New Year!!

Bahia Concepcion

Possibly the ultimate Baja destination. We are parked 10 feet from the water on a white sand beach. The water is protected by the bay, and is clear and sparkly blue. We even have our own palapa for shade and protection from the breeze. Locals pass by offering us various things for sale - fresh clams, scallops, jewelly, rugs etc so the hardest part of the day is turning them away. There's a excellent restaurant on the beach too and I even enjoyed the fresh shrimp (and I am NOT a seafood person). Basically life is tough.....

Currently in an internet cafe with no immediate plans to be in anywhere more cilvilised - who would when we're already in paradise! So if we don't get online again - best wishes to everyone and have a very Merry Christmas!

Guerrero Negro

So we're now in Guerrero Negro - the first town across the 'border' into Baja California Sur. We crossed the border with tighter security here than we had coming into the country! They checked our papers & had a quick glance in the fridge. They also charge $2 to fumegate your vehicle - apparently to prevent spread of agicultural type beasties. This is also the 28th Parallel, and we've put our clocks forward an hour - back on Mountain time (GMT -7 hs).

The town isn't all that exciting, but had a reasonable grocery store (although I did have to pick my way through about 4 pallets loaded with bloodied carcasses just to get to the fruit and veg! - running the gauntlet back again I was dodging the pools of blood they'd left behind on the floor - nice - thank god I have no vegetarian tendancies!). We are in quite a 'posh' campsite (by this I mean it's expensice at $20 a night!), but it has a good reputation for having a great restaurant - so we checked that out tonight and indeed it has!.

This is the area for grey whale watching but we're still a little early in the season for that right now. Also home of the most enormous Salt works here in town - in fact this is a company town founded on the salt works nearby.

On to San Ignacio tomorrow...

Bahia de Los Angeles

What a change in temperatures; from yesterday morning sat out in the early heat to getting to Rancho Santa Inez in Catavina and being, (almost literally) blown away by the howling winds, to here by the Sea of Cortez where although it’s still windy, it is lovely and warm again! Nice campsite and only $2 per night, although no hook-ups; it used to be a govt one but has been neglected so there is neither electric nor water but the sewer still works! There is a guy here who will truck in water if needed but I don’t think we’ll be here more than a couple of days so shouldn’t run out.

And the views are stunning; looking out to the turquoise sea there are islands dotted around and on the other side, rows of mountains! We really are right on the beach this time; not even any dunes in the way. We’ve only parked one row back so we’re not blocking the view of anyone else. There’s a couple from Oregon here that we saw back at the deaf ranch and three 5th wheels from Canada; it seems to be a place where the full timers hang out for the winter; I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I really couldn’t sell up to do this with no option of going back!

The drive over the hills both days has been pretty wow; loads of empty desert, mountains, cacti absolutely everywhere, the occasional vehicle going the other way and the odd semi ploughing past us on their way to wherever. We did pass two semis on their sides; no cabs so presumably they rolled a couple of days ago, but at one point we even caught one up that had passed us; if he was going that slow coz of the winds, so was I!

Last night’s campsite was huge a huge open expanse of open dirt, but it didn’t stop me reversing into the only object in the whole Wal*Mart car park sized place! There was a bin in the middle of the area and even with a reversing camera; I still managed to not see it! Donkey now has another war wound in the guise of a scratched front mudguard!

Two weeks today and still no sign of Montezuma!!! There now, that’s the kiss of death!

The latest...

Have stayed in San Quentin the last couple of nights. First night we had the 100-space campground to ourselves, last night it was invaded by a 30-40 vehicle caravan heading north - OMG We are SO glad that we never did anything like that! Seemed so regimented, complete with their own little Sgt Major on the CB radio marshalling everyone into their slots! Quite funny really, we watched as we sat out in the sun supping Bloody Mary's.

Have been having good weather. Warm in the days, but gets pretty chilly as soon as the sun goes down. Really just enjoying chilling out and not doing very much.

Mexico Safe and Sound

So here we are...been 5 days already! Right now we are in Ensenada - about 70 miles down the coast from the border.

Travelled over the border on Monday. Simple stuff though it didn't stop me worrying! Buying liability insurance for the vehicles, getting tourist cards, going to the bank to pay for said tourist cards. And all the while not speaking the lingo. We've bought a phrase book are are determined to learn as much as possible. Drove to lovely campsite, completely in the middle of nowhere, down a 7 mile dirt track that took nearly an hour to navigate. On our stroll out to explore we got as far as the bar....and that's all I remember of our first night in Mexico! (we did meet 3 american dirt-bikers who we had dinner with, and picked up some good tips for getting along in Mexico...read next bit!)

Wednesday morning we drove on out. Just at the end of the dirt track before hitting the highway back to civilisation we got pulled over by the police. We had no front number plate (don't need one in Florida where the RV is licensed). And it would cost us (now there's a thing) He took our papers hostage and chatted with his mate. Decided that if we paid him $40 there and then we could go. Or a visit to the police station where it might be as much as $65. And so here's where it helps picking up tips from well-travelled dirt-bikers.....agree to go to the police station. We started up the engine and waited for him to lead the way, all the while watching him in the rear camera. Funny old thing....his bluff was called...he waited a few seconds and then came knocking on the door, handed back our papers and let us on our way!!! Top tip - always agree to go to the police station!!! Apparently it's a nightmare in paperwork, and I still wonder now if not having a number plate is even a problem!!! So we felt quite chuffed with ourselves for encountering and overcoming our first potential Mexican mishap!

Drove on into Tecate where we stopped by the main square for tacos and a free beer in the Tecate brewery beer garden (limit 1 a day - you get your ticket as you go in the gate!).

That night we stopped at Rancho Sordo Mudu (it means Deaf ranch) in Guadelupe Valley - about 40 miles south of Tecate, 25 miles north of Ensenada on the inland Mex3 road. This is an amazing place where we have spent the last 2 days and loved every minute. This is a school for Mexican Deaf children. Many come to the school with no language at all and here are taught not only Spanish but also American sign langauge (did you know all sign language is different - how mad is that?!). On our first night we were invited up to the school to join them for supper. We had a quick tour of the place and in supper had many inquisitive pairs of eyes in our direction!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving here. We joined them again for a traditional thanksgiving lunch of Turkey and stuffing and Pumpkin pie (which we'd never had before!) It was joked we must've brought them good luck since all their food is donated and someone had provided 6 turkeys for them that week - it would never have been such an elaborte meal otherwise! We spent time in one of the classrooms that morning, answering hundreds of questions from the kids and explaining what we'd been doing. They gave us sign names. (these are 'made up' and are given based on you - what you like, your personality etc, e.g Chris was the sign for C then placed on his shoulder representing the rank slides of the military, mine was the H drawn in a smile across the chest - so sweet) We learnt signs to spell our names and Good Morning (which so strangley would not be recognised by a british signer). It was such a great time. These kids are so happy, the workers there are all volunteers and all have such passion for what they are doing and achieving at this amazing place and all the happiness and love is so infectious.

The last week

It may seem we haven't been busy in terms of things we've done and places we've been but it seems to us we've been dashing around like headless chickens. We now have just 3 days left till our US visas run out and we head south of the border into Mexico. Are looking forward to it with excitement and maybe a little apprehension - mainly just the unknowns. Have been out getting some minor work done on the RV in preparation and stocking up on supplies (probably buying lots of stuff we don't need to be - stuff that will be available in Mexico and probably for half the price than over here! but still - we're well stocked!)

Spending the last couple of nights in a lovely campground on the outskirts of San Diego. Sadly not sure we'll have time to spend in the city itself - a shame coz we hear such good things about it.

Not sure what internet access will be like in Baja - only time will tell. But for now we're assuming that we won't be online often to send emails and update this blog - we'll do what we can!

Hasta la vista baby!

US Costal Route 1

So we’re back from our trip up the coast, and I can’t remember the last time I was as wet and cold as I was today; I woke up at 5 am to the sound of rain, when we left the motel at 8:30 it was raining and it pretty much rained the whole way back – apart from the foggy bit when I couldn’t see far enough to know if it was raining or not! We’d taken lightweight waterproofs ‘just in case’ as it was such a warm sunny day yesterday – hah!!! After two hours I needed gas so we stopped for lunch; two hot chocolates, a burger and chips later and the cold was still steeped into the still wet bones! The idea of seeing the stunning Californian Coastal Route 1 from the opposite direction today was just that – an idea! Apparently the sea was to our right but who knows!

Yesterday thankfully, was a different story; the day although chilly when we set off, turned out to be blue and cloudless. (Well, until we got nearer the top end of the route anyway!) We stopped to watch huge elephant seals do, well, very little actually; at this time of year they come ashore to rest before the mating season, and apart from the odd scuffle for the best bit of beach and the occasional clumsy flicking of sand to protect their wobbling carcasses from the direct sunlight, they couldn’t have been less entertaining if they’d tried!

The road, once away from the towns and out onto the very edge of the earth, was biking nirvana; twisty and hilly enough to make the 55 mph speed limit almost fast enough for a change. The view really did change around every corner and over every brow; from miles of golden beaches, gentle waves seemingly lapping at the wheels, to waves crashing against the rocks hundreds of feet below, the sheer drop also seeming to lap at the wheels, to open meadows and darkened forests ignored by the sun. Apart from the odd roadworks to repair recent landslides, and a mild smattering of traffic, the pace was uninterrupted, smooth, brisk and flowing!

Carpinteria State Beach

Drove back to Carpinteria State Park the day before yesterday. Chris and I had stopped here on our way to Palm Desert and fell in love with the place - had to bring Mum and Dad here for their last night. Gorgeous beach, sunsets and plenty of dolphins, sea lions and seals to watch. the 'last supper' with M&D was a beach BBQ and campfire - perfect and very sad to say goodbye to them after 3 busy weeks - come back soon!

Joshua Tree NP

Last few days were relaxing. It all seemed spookily quiet without Andy and the kids around. It was so great to see them - such an unexpected bonus to our trip to have them come out and visit. We've just been relaxing in the apartment and by the pool.

Yesterday stayed in Joshua Tree National Park. Camped in the northern part of the park in amongst the huge rocks and joshua trees - the scenery is just so funky, and last night the moon was so bright we could see our own shadows whilst scrambling around on the rocks by the RV. Today we spent cruising around the park in the car. Went to the Cholla Cactus garden - a small area where this particular cactus grows - the conditions have to be specific and are just right in this one area so there are literally thousands of the them. Also had a spectacular view from Keys View - a viewpoint at 5100 feet overlooking the valley and Palm Desert off in the distance - it was quite a dramatic drop down to the valley.

Madness and mayhem

Totally maxed out the last week or so! Last Friday Mum, Dad Chris and I all checked in for a week at the Marriott Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert (a timeshare exchange arranged by M&D). That same evening my Uncle Andy and 3 cousins flew in from London and also joined us - hence the hectic last 5 days. I'm now sat here in (comparitive!) blissful silence, and, due to the layout of the ,Chris and I finally get our own bedroom (rather than the sofabed!) for the last 2 nights of the stay here - Hooray!!

So a completely busy 5 days. Mostly involving long breakfasts, swims at the pool, long lunches, playing 'it' outside the apartment dangerously close to the beautifully manicured golf course (hey - it's grass - its fair game for running all over - no?!) etc.

Sunday night/Monday Chris and I were daft enough to volunteer to take all 3 kids away camping for the night in the RV. Didn't go far - just a couple of junctions down the interstate in fact, but long enough to for them all 'to ride in Harvey sat on the sofa!'). Had an outdoor BBQ, went swimming in the morning and then all went to the Living Desert in Palm Desert. A zoo basically, saw lots of cool desert animals - giraffes, gazelle, meerkats, Oryx and A MOUNTAIN LION!! This is probably the only time Chris and I will ever see one - it's the only BIG wild animal in north america I can think of that we haven't seen in the wild! Still I think it all went pretty well - everyone arrived back to the apartment in one piece ready for responsibility to be promptly handed back over to Andy! - phew!

Disneyland!

Spent an awesome day at Disneyland today. So much fun, especially with kids! All 8 of us bombing around the park, maxed out with things to do. Having the 'arguments' about who was gonna ride with who! Such a top day! Loved it!

Santa Barbara

On our way down the coast we stopped in Santa Barbara - what a pleasant surprise! The end of such a lovely sunny day anyway we pulled into the Carpinteria State Park. The campsite was really close to the beach, and the beach is sandy and a mile long. Watched the sunset and just as the sun disappeared we then saw dolphins playing about 200 feet offshore! and then saw a seal and lots of dive-bombing pelicans - so cool! Spent a lovely lazy evening enjoying a BBQ and campfire.

San Francisco

We got to San Francisco area last night, and spent the night camped out in a Walmart carpark (a little different to the 5 star hotels my mother is used to!!!!). Today we drove into the city. Went over to Sausalito for breakfast and then Mum, Chris & I went over on the ferry to Alcatraz. Such a cool place (actually my third visit! - and would have been Dad's 5th or 6th hence he opted out and rode the cable cars all morning!) Did the audio tour, lasting about 45 mins round the cell block - narrated by old residents - be it prison wardens or inmates. Went to a ranger talk on the 'famous' inmates - Al Capone, Robert Stroud 'the birdman' and others, and finally watech a discovery video about the island. Time flew by - we spent about 3 hours in all and such great views of the city, the bay and the Golden Gate bridge from the ferry.

Dad is pretty familiar with the city so it was great have a knowledgable driver. Went up to Coit Tower where we got some great views of the city from 'up high', drove down Lombard Street (the wiggliest street!), went to the cable car museum and engine house, and generally cruised around a bit! Chris and I had been recommended a great curry house by a Pakistani guy who worked in a gas station up the coast, and we then found the listing in our Rough Guide so we headed there. In 22 months we definately haven't had as good a chicken tikka masala as this! (well apart from our 3 weeks back in the UK earlier this year!!). Great dive called Shalimar - by the looks of it you would SO walk past! But isn't that the way with great authentic food!? The guys in there barely understood what we were ordering - that's how Indian they were!, and the food was great.

For sunset we drove out to Lincoln Park where we walked along the cliff path with a great view back east into the bay and the bridge lit up 'golden' by the setting sun, then when that light faded there were great sunset colours with just the right amount of clouds in the sky to make it really pretty.

Political opinion!!

Not ours.......As seen on a car bumper in the state capital - Sacramento!!

525 miles later...

Just got back from a 2-day, 500 mile ride on the bike up the coast and back. Didn't want to miss out on the US Coastal route 1, we rode from north San Francisco as far as Rockport where the road turns inland. Lots of great scenery, although pretty misty and overcast yesterday - although it all adds to the rugged coastal charm! The earlier part of the day along the Sonoma coast was particularly lovely - quite undeveloped, and some FAB fish n' chips in a crummy looking cafe in Bodega Bay that turned out to be quite a find! (love it when that happens)

Spent the night in Fort Bragg. Walked to Glass Beach - which is a beach full of glass....It was used as the town dump until the 60's. Was cleaned up, but never so well that a lot of glass was left there. Over the years the waves have crashed and ground it all up and now all that remains is a very pretty beach of tiny smooth glass pieces - had to do some beachcombing here! Had an awesome meal out last night in the Mendo Bistro.

Today we drove through the Chandelier Tree in Leggett - well it had to be done - rude to have driven on by even if it costs $3 to drive a 1/4 mile loop road!! Ahhh - the things we do for a photo op! Drove back south via Highway 101 which stayed inland. Ultimately ending up in Calistoga and the Napa Valley - such a lovely day out, but we resisted the temptation to stop at the wineries - will do all that once my Mum & Dad arrive.....TOMORROW!!!!!

Yosemite

Time has rushed by. We've spent most of the last week in Yosemite National Park. We didn't actually camp in the park itself - most campgrounds were closed for the season and bizarrely the 2 open were both full! (somethings wrong there!!) Stayed just 5 miles outside the west gate in one of our membership parks so it was free!! It did mean we had to travel in each day which was about 30 miles to the valley (which is where lots of the attractions and hikes are or start from). Thankfully we have the motorbike (the roads were so hilly I'm glad we didn't have to do the journey in the RV - much of the time on the bike we got stuck behind RV's like us with their brakes stinking from over-use!)

We did travel to the south of the park and Mariposa Grove which is the largest of Yosemites groves of the Giant Sequoia trees. These big old fellas are the largest living things on the planet and grow up to 30 feet in diameter and 300 feet tall. They can also love about 3000 years! Pretty amazing stuff. There's the California tree which has a pedestrian tunnel through it (and the tree is still alive and growing), and the Grizzly Giant which is the largest in the grove. Also the Fallen tunnel tree which fell in the winter of 1968-69 but before that did have cars driving through it! So we hiked around alot and came back through the park at sunset (which was nice but very, very cold on the bike!)

Spent a couple of days in the valley. Most of the waterfalls are dried up at the moment - well perhaps trickles of water if you squint and look very closely! We walked around the meadows which are changing colour at the moment and smell lovely! Did a small hike out to Nevada Falls which did actually have some water, but were'nt very 'in the hiking mood' of late. It's been fun to just amble around... Did sign up for an excellent and informative Photography Walk. It's run by the Ansel Adams Gallery in the park and runs 3 times a week for free!! Such a good deal - you spend 2 hours with a professional photographer just strolling around the valley picking up tips and techniques - our subject matter was 'light' - so good!