Day 7 Playa Norte Los Barriles BCS, Mexico

I caught the sunrise again this morning.

The manta rays were very active this morning, breaching the water like popping popcorn.  These rays have a wingspan of at least 18 feet.  They are very acrobatic and we have seen them flipping gracefully through the air and landing with a great smack on the water.  It is very hard to get pictures because their behavior is so erratic and unpredictable.  

I took a beach walk again this morning.  It is so beautiful here.

The girls also walking along the beach this morning.

We packed our breakfast and drove to Punta Arena.  It took us a little while to find our way on the sandy roads…but we found the lighthouse.  Once again, we found ourselves all alone on an incredible piece of paradise!

This calf was nursing as we approached, he bolted to the opposite side of the road as we passed by and mama cow did not appear to be too happy with us.

This afternoon we went back to Smokey’s Smoke House to watch the Daytona 500.

Tim’s favorite driver, Denny Hamlin won again! It is Denny’s 3rd Daytona 500 win in the last 5 years.

There was a bad wreck at the end of the race and the emergency crews had to cut Ryan Newman from his car…a sobering reminder that this is a dangerous sport. We hope that he is okay.

Day 6 Playa Norte Los Barriles BCS, Mexico

When I woke up, I could see pink sky out my window. I got up to watch the sunrise.

Tim took a walk on the beach.

I started the laundry early this morning, in an effort to be finished sometime before lunch! There are no dryers here in the laundromat. We used our RV dryer but it takes so long for a small amount of clothes. The most efficient dryer was the wind and the sunshine.

I walked while waiting for laundry.

Real beach buggy.

Today was supposed to be the NASCAR Daytona 500. This is an important holiday for Tim. He really wanted to watch this race. We planned to go to the Gecko Bar and Restaurant next to the campground. They tried but were not able to get the right channel. We returned to the RV to learn there was a rain delay. We waited a couple of hours and then tried to go into town. We knew that the race had resumed by then. When we got to Smoke House…there was another rain delay. We hung around the RV all afternoon…getting some chores done while we waited. We decided that no matter what we were going back to Smoke House for dinner. When we arrived, we learned that the race was postponed until tomorrow! In any event, we had a good dinner!

Day 5 Playa Norte Los Barriles BCS, Mexico

This morning was lazy and we got a slow start.

Tim took a beach walk while I worked on pictures. After posting the blog, we sat outside in the sunshine watching the water.
We went into town and found a street vendor selling sweet corn tamales.

We enjoyed them for our lunch with a little Mexican orange fudge for dessert. The fudge is made of milk, sugar, and orange rinds. It’s very sweet and very orangy!

This afternoon, we took a Jeep ride in the arroyo near the campground.

We began to see a trickle of water and then a stream running in the wash. I remembered that there was a waterfall nearby, accessible only with 4WD…Kyle and Allison, are you interested??? I love to find surprises on our adventures!

We drove as far as we could and then walked in the water between the rocks to the waterfall.

We saw a bunch of caracaras. They looked smaller and less vibrantly white…maybe juveniles?!?

This lizard blended in so well with the sand, I only spotted him because he moved so quickly.

We saw wild burros…a mom and two foals. The babies hid behind mother when I tried to take their picture.

We enjoyed happy hour this evening with Carol and Brian. Salsa and chips and crab dip and crackers. A nice way to end our day.

Day 4 Playa Norte Los Barriles BCS, Mexico

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Our Jeep ride today took us to the north of Los Barriles. This was my favorite ride so far in Baja!!! We traveled on a road along the coast.

We passed many gorgeous homes along the water’s edge.

Most of the time, we were more than 100 feet above the water and our views were spectacular.

We stopped several times to walk along the beach.

Our lunch spot.

I’m not sure why this still surprises me…but it does!

The road took a 90 degree turn here, inland. We traveled over the mountains and ended up in the town of Los Planes. Here we circled back on paved roads to San Antonio, through San Bartolo and into Los Barriles.

Tim found an open barbershop. His haircut was 75 pesos…less than $4.00!

We got back to the RV and walked next door to El Gecko for Happy Hour. We enjoyed 2 for 1 drinks and handmade guacamole.

We grilled some shrimp for our dinner!

Day 3 Playa Norte Los Barriles BCS, Mexico

Buenos Dias!

Tim tried to get a haircut this morning. He was at Jim’s Barbershop and Bar at 9am. The woman next door told him that the barber would be there at 10 am. Tim went back at 10. He waited until after 10:30. Still no barber!

We drove the Jeep in the arroyo or the wash 10 miles all the way to the town of San Bartolo. In the dry season there is no water here. During the rainy season or during a bad storm, this wash can quickly fill with water. We followed the sandy, well worn trail.

As we got closer to town, we crossed running water and the vegetation began to be dense and green with bamboo-like grasses and tall date palms.

At the end, the path became too narrow for us to pass through.

We found an alternate route to the highway and drove into town.

We found this small roadside restaurant. We ate savory empanadas for lunch and then bought mango empanadas, and some other treats.

We stopped at the ice cream shop for an afternoon snack.

We stopped again to purchase oranges. It is orange season here and they have been juicy and sweet!

We took the highway back to town. The pictures show the wash far below.

Tim tried the barbershop on the way back to the campground…and he tried again at about 4 pm…It must be closed on Thursdays!

It was windy again today and perfect for the kite boarders and windsurfers!

I prepared sweet potato and fish cakes after finding a recipe online. They were similar to some we ate the other night in Todos Santos. Something different!!

Day 2 Playa Norte RV Park Los Barriles BCS, Mexico

Good Morning!! We are on the bayside now and we were able to see part of the sunrise.

We took the Jeep south today on a sandy road that ran along the coast of the Sea of Cortez.

We took several roads toward the beach. It was really windy but sunny and warm. The watery hues of green and blue and the rocky coastline were breathtaking.

Cormorants resting on the rocks.

Some impressive homes on the ridge, in the middle of nowhere!

We crossed the mountains back to the paved road, Mexico 1. We love to go exploring and we took the road today as far as we could without getting into the city of Cabo San Lucas. We have seen almost as much of the Baja Peninsula as we can. We feel kind of disappointed to have run out of land! There are still a few towns and back roads to explore…

Carol and Brian asked us to join them for dinner tonight. We ate at Beans and Rice. Great food and great company!

Mileage: 75,521

Playa Norte Los Barriles BCS, Mexico

We left Todos Santos this morning. It is rare for us to stay in one place for a whole week…that should be testimony to how much we enjoyed this area. It was however, time to move on. We are still researching the very best places in the southern portion of Baja to take Kyle and Allison. Today we drove east, over the Sierra La Laguna to Los Barriles. The road was wiggly and at times steeply graded. It was a beautiful ride even though today was mostly cloudy.

This campground was recommended by Brian and Carol who have settled here for the month of February. We were able to negotiate a lesser rate if we stayed for the week and so…we will use this campground as our base to explore. We got a full hookup site on the beach!

This afternoon, the water was teeming with manta rays. We could see them launching and “flying” through the air. We saw dozens.

There seems to be lots to see and we could not wait to begin. Today we went into town and walked along the streets, peeking into all of the shops.

We got directions to the post office…we are still trying to mail those postcards…
We found it…but it closed at 3…

Tonight, we visited La Playa for dinner. We had excellent food on a table outside. The manta rays continued to be active in the Sea of Cortez.

We also saw frigate birds.

Day 7 Pescadero RV Park, Pescadero BCS, Mexico

After doing some laundry, we packed our cooler and went for a drive. We tried the Todos Santos Post Office again, but it was closed. We took the paved road north of town and out onto a sandy road. This road is called Calle Las Playitas or Street of Small Beaches.

There are several beach access roads. The first two took us to surfing “communities.”

We overheard the surfers talking…they were waiting for the tide to go out and for the wind to die down. We did see a couple of guys get good waves.

We drove further north and found our lunch spot. We were on a secluded beach…no one in sight for miles. We did see whales again today.

We drove even further north and again found ourselves on a long expanse of deserted beach. We sat in the sand. I was mesmerized. I watched the endless cycle of the waves…the swells building and building and then cresting and curling and crashing into the sand. I was filled with an intense feeling of serenity and peace. I hope that you have had that experience and been somewhere so beautiful that your heart feels full.

There was one piece of trash on the beach…we took it with us.

We passed several small ranches and farms along our way. These ladies and gentlemen were out for lunch!

We ate leftovers for dinner and then went back to the beach for sunset. It was fairly cloudy but still pretty.

Day 6 Pescadero RV Park, Pescadero BCS, Mexico

We decided to take our picnic and go back to “our” beach. It was so lovely there and we knew we would never find anyplace prettier. When we arrived there were several other Mexican families enjoying the day. Men were fishing, women had fires waiting, children were playing. It has been our observation that Sundays here are family day. It was nice to see everyone loves this little beach as much as we have!

The grey whales seemed to be particularly close today. Maybe because of the tide or maybe because of our position on the beach and our own perception. Although the water was calm, the surf was pounding and you could see the powerful undertow. The beaches here on the Pacific side are NOT swimming beaches!

Again there were too many whales to count!! We also saw one sea lion.

The cows came down to the edge of the vegetation and stayed all afternoon.

We left the beach and took a road toward the mountains for a few kilometers. The sky grew dark but the storm clouds seemed to be hovering over the mountaintops. The sky above the ocean was still bright.

This evening we went to town to the Todos Santos Brewing Company.

Tim had a beer called All Snakes Swim, an Irish stout.

There was live music tonight. The first guy to play was one of the owners. He was good and we enjoyed listening to him.

The second guy was the main show, Mike Torres, Jr. was a fabulous musician. We had a great time singing along, drinking beer/wine, and sampling appetizers. What a fun evening!!

Day 5 Pescadero RV Park, Pescadero BCS, Mexico

We packed a cooler and headed to the beach. Tim had seen a promising road to the shore as we passed the other day.

The road had washed during the last storm but that was no problem for our Jeep!

When we arrived, there was a camper van parked at the closer end. We moved further down the beach. The van left soon after and we had a one half mile stretch of beautiful beach to ourselves…we found a jewel!!

The grey whales were swimming so close that we could occasionally hear their spray!! I took these pictures from my beach chair and without zoom…the whales were right there!!

The humpbacks seem to swim further out but we watched them breaching. The breach…

…and the splash!!!

And the fluke as he goes down for a dive!

We also saw a sea lion swimming in toward the rocks and lots of skates skipping across the waves and smacking into the water!

Some other sightings…

There was this really cool circle of rock with an opening to the ocean.

A walk to the other end of “our” beach.

When we go to the beach I always pack a book and I usually read. Today I spent those four hours on the beach fully present…watching, walking, and enjoying the day.

When we left, we drove through the town of Pescadero. We found “Carnitas Machin,” an outdoor restaurant. We stopped and bought carnitas for our dinner.

Our campsite.

The sunset at the campground this evening, a perfect ending to a perfect day.