Category Archives: Baja Sur, Mexico

Catching Up on Our Way to the Silk Road

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It’s been 15 plus months since I last posted. International travel compels me to keep in touch. Otherwise, I get lost in the daily hum of life. 

It’s ironic because in the hum of things a lot has happened.  In March of 2022 ,we bought and remodeled a hundred year old craftsman style home in Nevada and eventually moved into it.  It’s a mansion compared to our “tiny” home but on the spectrum it’s still tiny. Keeping things simple.

(click on photos to enlarge)

In June we were blessed with our first grandson – joining a gaggle of girls.  The boys and their families moved on to greener pastures to pursue new jobs and new adventures.  One moved west and the other north. This precipitated the sale of our home in Downtown Charleston.  There was no sense being there without kids and grandbabies. We had a fabulous run discovering the Southern way of life, making wonderful friends and exploring every inch of the city, closing this chapter at the end of October.

Once more we drove across the USA sending a POD back to Nevada with our art and our infamous butcher block cart which perhaps by now thinks it’s a Marco Polo apprentice roaming the continent – Nevada to South Carolina to California to South Carolina to Nevada. Home again, home again jiggity jig….

Between our remodel, moving two houses and traversing the country we only ventured out of the country to Baja Sur for a week to swathe in our old stomping grounds. 

For the first time in more than 20 years we have just one home. It was settling and a good time to lay low after returning from our road trip.  Everyone had plans for the holidays so hunkered down,  unpacked and decompressed.

Bill spent his free time laying out the final path of our next adventure.  It’s been a few years in the making and fast approaching. 

While making plans life tragically happened and for the lack of having the strength to say any more… God called an Angel home. 

And then it snowed – buckets of white, serene, soft and miraculous snow…

I feel wet snow
on my cold, dry skin
As the darkness falls
to settle in.
The stars shine bright
to lead my way
Through tall, snow covered trees
which bend and sway.
I know not where I came from
or where I will go,
while strange noises crunch
the new fallen snow.
I have no fears
of this strange, dark place
where sounds surround me
without a face.
The night goes on peacefully
dark and slow,
with all beauty shining
as a glistening glow.
I have been here before
though I know not when.
As sure as I know
I will be here again.
A place that is quiet,
safe comforting me,
while the icy brook flows
’round a sweet smelling tree.
I feel wet snow
on my warm, soft skin.
It is this dark place
that I want to be in.
Then I open my eyes
and it all floats away,
As bright warm sun shines
on a brand new day.
Window panes covered
in sparkling frost,
reminds me of a beautiful thing
I have lost.
My heart tells me in hours
this day will be past,
when the nighttime comes
to me slowly at last.
I am back in the snow
so pristine and clean.

Ellen Pond

It’s Baja Baby!

Where does time go? Seven months have whizzed by. It’s been a pretty low key travel year so far – Winter in Indian Wells in Southern California, spring in Charleston, South Carolina and now summer in Northern Nevada.

However, we’ve been so busy there’s often no time to breathe (except when in yoga).

If you recall we sold our Baja house three ago but retained a parcel that’s now been in escrow for two years.  Closing time is slowly approaching – the lawyers needed paperwork signed/delivered and we needed an excuse to leave the country…

So – hello Baja! It’s so exciting to be back.

We rented a car and took the new “bypass” road that runs from the pay road near the Los Cabos International Airport into downtown Cabo and then 4 miles north to the Cabo San Lucas International Airport to pick up our friend Clint who flew in from Puerto Vallarta. I wasn’t familiar with it but Bill flew there on private planes many years ago. It’s small and has only one commercial carrier that only flies domestically. Not sure why International is in its title. Perhaps it suffers from Napoleon complex.

Did I mention it was so good to be back?

We drove the corridor back to SJD to pick up Barb – stopping for photos, coconut in lime juice, dominos, and alcohol.

We headed to the East Cape staying at the Palmas de Cortez in Los Barriles for three nights.

Palmas sponsored the first all women’s fishing tournament and we arrived on its last day.  It was surprising yet exciting to see tables full of women at dinner. Apparently, the seas had been rough and the fish scarce but good times were had by all. They were already planning for next year’s tournament. Normally, fishing season is all about middle-aged, gray-haired, potbellied men. (click on photos to enlarge)

The fishing Gods blessed us with calm seas and hungry marlin. Each of us had a turn at exhausting our reeling muscles as the fish were plentiful. Like Pac-Man the guys were bumping into each other when three marlin were on the three different lines at the same time. It’s quite thrilling watching them jump in and out of the water.

With all that excitement I’ve determined that fishing is like skiing. Three hours and I’m good.

The sunrises, sunsets and moonrises were stunning.

And animals rule!  One of my favorite things about Baja. Unfortunately, we missed the burro pack.

What a difference to be in our old stomping grounds as a non-homeowner. Not a care in the world. To cure any remorse we might have conjured up about selling required a quick visit to our old house. While standing outside the fence, admiring the huge pool the new owners installed – the pool boys arrived and dumped an empty yogurt container full of chlorine in the pool and drove away. No vacuuming or scrubbing the sides.

Off to Clint and Barb’s old family house to see an even less cared for pool. Obviously no chlorine there!  When the owners are away…. its the Baja way.

Mañana doesn’t mean tomorrow. It means just not today!

Onward, an hour drive south to Cabo Pulmo for two nights. It’s a little piece of heaven possessing a UNESCO World Heritage site/Marine Park – a haven for scuba divers and snorkelers. It’s a dusty little town with no electrical service – running on solar power and generators.

We hung out with our favorite divemaster and longtime friend Pepe who runs Pepe’s Dive Shop and Pepe’s Pizza (y otra comida tambien) Restaurant. Look up Pepe if you make it to Cabo Pulmo. He’ll take great care of you!

Lastly, we stayed in old town San Jose del Cabo. The quaintness, walkability and dining options make it a super special place to be.

It was bittersweet having to leave. We didn’t get our fill but know it’s there for next time.

The Rodents in my Life

Stay away and the rodents play…

It started with firing up the old Jeep on the first day in Baja after a 4 month leave.  Upon opening the glove box to discover a fluffy nest, opened ketchup packages and shredded napkins a loud grinding sound belched out from the air conditioner – a glutenous meal had by the fan.

An eerie silence followed… dead fan equals dead rodent.

 

The poor mouse – once fat and happy – belly full of ketchup – slipped to an untimely death.  Good news though – maggots were fat and happy.  Fan now working.

We use Vonage (internet connected telephone) when we are in Baja – it allows unlimited phone calls to the USA for a low monthly price.  Calls since arriving were sketchy at best.”I can’t hear you.” “Are you moving around?” “I only hear every 3rd word.”

lemmling-Simple-cartoon-mouse

I picked up our local phone to call the internet provider for assistance and the phone line was dead.

The Telmex service man checked the box at the street and found the telephone line had been completely sliced in half and the internet line was dangling – fluffy nest in the corner of the utility box. No ketchup packages. No nada.

 

Victory for the local phone – internet still sketchy.

DSC_7843

We headed South to the quaint pueblo of Cabo Pulmo, host to the biggest protected coral reef in Baja, to go diving.  We gathered up all of our gear – BCDs, regulators, dive computers,snorkels, masks, fins and wetsuits.

 

IMG_9082

A struggle of sorts always ensues when getting into these tight thick neoprene skins – the tighter the warmer.

Creature of habit – I started with my right foot – unbeknownst to me the bottom of the leg was turned inside – a lazy “put away” job from the last dive. White knuckled and red in the face I pushed my foot firmly into the leg of my wetsuit.  After a few moments of struggling my foot shot out of the leg surrounded by….. all at once…..a mouse nest.

Panic ensued followed by giggles.

Would you like them in a house?
Would you like them with a mouse?
I do not like them in a house.
I do not like them with a mouse.
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere.
Dr. Seuss

A secret side of día de muertos

We know they day of the dead is fast approaching when the stores fill up with silk flowers.

Silk Flowers

Ceremonialized on the 1st and 2nd of November – it is a time for the family to assemble and remember loved ones who have died.

Drive by any cemetery in Mexico and the grave sites pop with color like Skittles in your palm.

Included in this annual celebration is a gathering at the cemetery to clean the grave site, adorn it with silk flowers and favorite items enjoyed by departed loved ones.

A sad but joyous occasion.

However, lingering near all this color lurks a dark side, the forgotten and discarded.

El día que muiró la flor de seda – the day the silk flower died.

Silk flower cemetery

Flower cemetery

 

 

Photo of the Day 304

Day 304

Children chant Queremos Halloween (we want Halloween) instead of Trick or Treat in Mexico.

Bill has been running around the house all day chanting Quiero Halloween hoping to snag his favorite candy.

Buena Vista, BCS, Mexico

The longer way to Los Barriles

Two weeks before we were to go to our house in Southern Baja – Hurricane Odile swooped in and left a trail of destruction like never before in Cabo San Lucas. Businesses and families rattled to their core – the biggest in their history.

Fortunately, our home escaped with but only a good sandblasting of the paint and a couple trees uprooted. Days later banditos helped themselves to our televisions, kitchen appliances and blankets to wrap their loot in.

I struggled with trying to “not be angry” – we got off easy – our homes and jobs were not lost. We were spared.

Visions of the widely televised looting in Cabo danced in my head. What is wrong with these people?

That evening our local news said that the 3,000 people who were evacuated from the King fire in California came home to find their houses had been looted.

The Gringo Gazette – an English newspaper out of Cabo – had an article that defended the action of some. Saying (and I am not quoting) many of the looters had lived in Mainland Mexico and took jobs in Cabo only to lose their jobs (pre-hurricane) and have absolutely no money to return home much less afford to buy food to eat. Ok, I can wrap my head around that one – money to survive. But what’s up with – as we read today in the paper – the multiple police, government officials and even an American couple (top timeshares salesman at Pueblo Bonito) who freely took what was not theirs?

Rant over.

Since the airport in Cabo was closed we took the long way to Los Barriles. A several day stop over in hectic busting Mexico City ensured a much appreciated landing in La Paz.

The hurricane painted this place green the likes of which we have never seen. Such beauty.

We have enjoyed the quiet in Los Barriles the past several weeks – restaurants have been slow to open – not too many people in town. A sleepy existence and much appreciated.

Now , the airport in Cabo is open – flights are returning and things are happening. The town is waking up. Restaurants are filling up, the hardware store is bustling and quad noise is on the rise.

Best yet – Cabo is back in business. God bless them. Popular stores and restaurants are back in business – roofless – but in business. Tourists are trickling in – residents are working, people are rebuilding and stores are replacing looted inventory.

Life goes on…