Day 2 Playa Norte RV Park Los Barriles BCS, Mexico

Happy happy birthday David…our gentle, strong, amazing doctor, son, father, and man!!!

We went to the grocery store early this morning to stock up…we definitely needed eggs after yesterday’s fiasco!!

Looking at the map, we found a Jeep road near Los Barriles that we had not yet explored. It was a cool, cloudy, breezy day and not such a good beach day. We took the dirt path to see what we could find. At first, we passed the garbage dump…which was pretty trashy…but we kept going. Soon we were ascending and traveling into the mountains.

We were sorry that the road was only 6 miles long…we were both enjoying the ride so much…we would have liked to keep riding!

I really think these trees are cool.

Look how the roots have wrapped themselves around the rock.

The canopy is so large. If this tree is allowed to continue to grow it will spread and can eventually resemble a copse of trees.

Cool moth.

I love to see life sprouting from what appears to be nothing.

The views were spectacular.

We went to Los Barriles to a small taco shop for lunch.

Tim found an article citing scientific evidence for our current state of happiness and contentment….”experiencing the wild side of nature.”

Read in Ladders: https://apple.news/AU8ibm9b9TSGymgVG0-lmJQ

More laundry and chores this afternoon.

Day 6 Cabo Pulmo Playa BCS, Mexico

Today we went Jeeping. We hadn’t explored too much of the inland portion near Cabo Pulmo. We found a dirt road in an arroyo and took it as far as we could. It was another picture-perfect day. The trail started off pretty easy and got more challenging as we traveled into the foothills.

Lunch spot.

This is a banyan tree. I have taken pictures of them before and did,t know what they were…just thought they looked cool. Banyan trees are a species of fig trees. Birds eat the fruit form the tree and drop the seeds in a crevice in the rock. When the seeds germinate, they grow roots toward the ground. As the tree ages, they develop aerial prop roots that form a woody “trunk.” These trees are also sometimes called “strangler figs.”

View from the hill near our campground.

After dark, we went back on top of the hill. First, I looked for scorpions with the black-light. Unfortunately, I found no scorpions…however, giant moth like creatures and batlike things were very attracted to the light. Tim yelled at me for scorpion hunting in my flip flops…maybe another day!

Tim had taken the top off the Jeep. He sat on the roof and I reclined in my seat. As we sipped wine, the stars popped out. We could barely see the Milky Way because the moon was so bright. I saw a shooting star. It was incredibly romantic, and very beautiful.

“The pleasure we derive from journeys is perhaps dependent more on the mindset with which we travel than on the destination we travel to.” -Alain De Botton

Mileage: 75,595

Playa Norte RV Park Los Barriles BCS, Mexico

We took a walk early this morning. We could see the clouds gathering along the horizon and though the forecast did not call for rain, we decided to shorten our walk and leave quickly.

We decided that I would follow the RV in the Jeep so that the RV would not have to strain to tow the Jeep up the steepest hills. Again, Tim could not drive more than 3-5 mph. Since I was moving very slowly, I had plenty of time to take pictures as we trundled along.

We got to the paved section where we had intended to hookup and proceed the remainder of the way to Los Barriles. Instead, Tim waved me to the RV. While I was moseying down the road, listening to 60’s music, belting out tunes, and taking my photos, Tim had taken a hard bump in the road. The result was that the pantry, the kitchen cupboard, and the fridge all opened and contents spewed forth. I walked in to see a jumble of shattered glass, broken eggs, with oranges and black olives rolling about…with all manner of other things mixed in…it was a giant mess!!! Nothing to do but start to clean it up!!! This stuff happens…gotta just keep a positive attitude and move along. We got the big stuff picked up and I followed Tim to Playa Norte.

We spent a lot of the day getting everything scrubbed and gleaming. The RV needed to be cleaned anyway and we had water and electric enough to get it done. We started some laundry while we were at it and then while the clothes were drying, I worked on the blog. We got lots done so we can play tomorrow!!!

In the meantime, Tim invited me to dinner. We went back to La Playa where we had our best meal in Los Barriles. We sat at a beach table and enjoyed the evening!

Day 5 Cabo Pulmo Playa BCS, Mexico

We began the day with a hike up the hill adjacent to our campground. I love the juxtaposition of the mountains and the desert and the sea. We have spent most of our time in Cabo Pulmo looking at the water. It was nice to hike on the other side. The trail map was extraordinarily useful…

Lots of cacti and some wildflowers.

At the top, the view was breathtaking.

We packed our cooler and drove south to a deserted beach where we spent our afternoon.

The waves had carved a high bank. This is where I sat, watching the whales and the birds. The last many days have been hazy. Today the haze was gone and the colors were so vivid, a dozen shades of color light green to the deepest darkest blue.

Some creatures.

The sky turned lavender this evening as the sun set. Hasta manana.

“To explore is to get out of your comfort zone, to venture to new terrain, to try new things, to explore the places that excite you, and frighten you a little.” Unknown

Day 4 Cabo Pulmo Playa BCS, Mexico

My morning walk.

And his.

Yesterday was a long day. We decided to do something a little closer to home today. We started at Playa Miramar with a nice walk to the cove with the rocks.

What creature is this??? We could see where he had stopped to dig in crab holes, his footprints a long trail in the sand.

We headed to the lighthouse beach. It is much closer to here than Los Barriles. We stayed on the south side of the cove to get out of the breeze. We picked up shells, read, walked, picnicked, and rested in the gorgeous sunshine.

This evening we went back to La Palapa for dinner.

The restaurant is outside…the Mexican dogs are outside…why wouldn’t they be welcome?!?

Afterward, we walked around town.

The history of Cabo Pulmo National Park.

Day 3 Cabo Pulmo Playa BCS, Mexico

Once again, we began our day with a walk to the cove near our campground. The wind had died down a little bit so instead of winds at 24mph…it was now less than 20mph…

Our plan for today was to take our lunch and head south. We wanted to take the sandy coastal road all the way to the tip of the peninsula.

We were unprepared for the beauty we would find. There were no less than 20 beaches along the road. We stopped at many…but not all. Some beaches were occupied by surfers, others by a camper or 2. But most of the time, we were all by ourselves on one beautiful beach after another.

So…we took another dirt road…and saw some more beaches…I want to try to explain…as we were bumping along on this rough road in the desert…suddenly we would see the brilliant glimmering water and it was just so lovely. I was repeatedly awestruck.

As we got closer to Cabo San Lucas, the views were incredible.

I had been missing the whales. Today, we saw many spraying and breaching but very far away.

Some very palatial homes.

A really cool tree.

See the goats on the ridge.

We saw this Uber Eats driver in Cabo.

A trip to Walmart for the stuff we can only get there…and we were wiped out.

Day 2 Cabo Pulmo Playa BCS, Mexico

Sunrise.

Fish for breakfast.

We began our day with a walk.

The beach here in Cabo Pulmo is comprised of smooth round rocks. In front of the RV the stones are rather small and as you walk, you can here the tinkling sound of the rocks tumbling in the curling waves. It is rather musical. In the cove on the other side, the rocks are larger…more like small boulders. It’s very windy today and the waves were crashing thunderously onto the rocks. The clattering could be heard above the noise of the surf…a symphony in its own right.

We drove north to get gas for the Jeep. On our way, we drove down every sandy road to walk along the water.

It was much to windy for a picnic on the beach. We had our lunch at a community park in the town of La Ribera.

I spent my afternoon hunkered down in the RV, talking with family.

While I was on the phone, Tim took the fish I had out of the freezer for dinner and put it back…he was taking me out to dinner. Cabo Pulmo is a national park. There is a tiny town here with a couple of shops and a few restaurants. We ate at La Palapa, an open air restaurant right on the water.

The town is focused on preservation of the reef and marine habitat. There are no plastics in the restaurants…metal straws and real dishes. There are conservation messages posted in town as well.

Sunset on the mountains behind us.

Mileage:  75,558

Cabo Pulmo Playa BCS, Mexico

People could not believe that we were going to take the RV to Cabo Pulmo.  We were here a week or so ago…scoping it out for potential camping.  It is not too far from Los Barriles.  We left this morning at 8 and we got here at 11:00…it’s 37 miles…what in the world took us so long?!?

Well the road is paved…until it isn’t…

We drove 6 miles on a washboard gravel road at a rate of between 3-5mph…well that took a while.  Are we there yet???  Where are you taking me???

The road was quite busy too.  A lot of people travel this beautiful, rough, and bumpy coastline road in their rental cars!!

Was it worth it??? Here are a few pictures. 

At low tide, the reef becomes visible. 

The pelicans were actively feeding, diving into the waves.

View from our campsite.

That’s the RV in the distance.

We plan to stay for about a week and do some splorin’.

Day 14 Playa Norte Los Barriles BCS, Mexico

After a nice morning walk, we headed into town to get provisions. We are moving to Cabo Pulmo tomorrow. It is a national marine park along the coast south of Los Barriles. There are not a lot of goods and services there.

We went to the grocery and the produce market. We also went to the water purification store. Buying bottled water here is VERY expensive. Most towns have small stores that sell purified water. We took our 5-gallon collapsible container and several other water storage bottles and got them filled. For about 12 gallons of water, we paid less than $2.00. They even sanitize your jugs before filling them.

In this town it is very evident that the business owners have a lot of pride. We see people out every single day sweeping the patios and sidewalks and even using a mop outside. Today there was a big crew working to sweep the main street.

It was cloudy and there was the forecast for high winds, so we chose not to go to the beach. We decided to drive into San Bartolo today. First, we took some sandy back-roads and just wandered for a while.

These trees appear to grow up out of the rock.

Big bull up ahead.

The coolest area we found was here at these rocks. There were lots of cows with calves in the area. We didn’t get too close because there was nowhere for them to go and we didn’t want them to feel trapped.

We went back to town and had eggs for lunch…Tim had huevos Mexicano and I had huevos con chorizo.

We went to the hardware store to get some propane for our grill. On the window was a poster…If these people would please do the favor of paying their bills…

Brian and Carol invited us to supper this evening. We went to Cafe Maria where we toasted to “Baja friends.” Hopefully they will still be in Los Barriles next week when we return from Cabo Pulmo.

If we do not post for the next week or so…no worries…we are not certain that we will have cell/WiFi where we are going. We will catch up when we get back.

Day 13 Playa Norte Los Barriles BCS, Mexico

Last night, after I posted the blog, and well after dark, I went scorpion hunting. The Alaskan family we met the other day had been out at night and seen lots of scorpions. I got out the blacklight and went for a walk around the campground. I did not find any. I was both glad…because we sleep here…and disappointed…all I saw was a big cockroach that scurried away before I could get a picture!

We saw the sunrise again this morning.

The weather forecast today was for wind…It was warm and sunny but the wind was pretty stiff. We decided to just stay at home. It was a lazy day spent relaxing and reading and not much else.

We did go into town this afternoon to watch the end of the NASCAR race and to have an early dinner. The driver I favor, Joey Lagano, won this week.

We took a ride along the beach. The sand was blowing and the surf was rough.

There were a few brave windsurfers and kite boarders out today but we noticed that they were NOT beginners. Lots of them were catching air and doing some pretty cool acrobatics.