Day three in Mexico…
another long one! And a bit of a miscalculation, or a touch of optimism if you will. We had hoped to get to San Ignacio by tonight, but road conditions remained much of a sameness… you were either happily humming along at 80 kph or bumping along hoping to not careen off the side of the mountain at 40. Of course the trucks and other vehicles remain the same… coming and going with alarming regularity. Today was interesting, though – as we near the spots in the Baja where people want to be – we saw a few more travellers like ourselves. Even a vehicle from BC – although they didn’t wave and smile as we had hoped they would.. too busy trying to stay on the road themselves, I would think. Also drove past a convoy of motorcyclists, all middle aged, looking pretty pleased with themselves… and following behind were two beautiful Mercedes van/trucks probably full of all their gear and food and maybe a couple of coolers of cervesa’s and vino.
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Not at all like the four bicyclists we passed struggling up one of the long hot narrow hills with nothing but their backpacks and paniers… I think we will save that one for the youngsters.
And of course not everyone drives a car or rides a motorcycle..
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We had a great breakfast at the restaurant at the RV park this morning, and then headed out with best intentions and positive outlooks. As we were told yesterday, today was the Dia de Muertas so we saw a lot of flowers in the street… oddly enough, other towns we went through did not have the same flower sellers on the road or crowds in the cemeteries with flowers and wreaths..
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Overall, it was a good day, with, as Lawrence put it, only a few white knuckle moments. I remained ever the optimist and tried to be the plucky comic relief… ( only Galaxy Quest fans will get that one)… however there were a few instances where I grabbed the suicide grip while trying to babble on about inconsequential things like “Oh, is that a seguerro cactus, honey?”.
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What happens when you eat and drive… just saying….
Today we went through a number of different types of countrysides, and it was sometimes breathtaking in a good way. Many areas are firmly into agriculture ( as we reminded ourselves, we are often eating Mexican fruit and vegetables, they have to grow somewhere!)… and others are special areas of protection for the cactuses and other flora and fauna around there. Not that we saw a lot of fauna. A few very scrawny cows trying to eke a living out of cactuses and dead grass… some goats… that was about it.
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And then there were the rocks. Again, for any Galaxy Quest fans out there, I think we have found where they filmed the Grognak ( sp?) scenes. I half expected the rock creature himself to rumble into life as we drove past massive beautiful smooth boulders that looked as though the gods themselves had been playing some strange game with stones… so out of place, and so awesome!
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We climbed up high into the mountains, and we wound our way down into the valleys.. it was all an amazing trip today. And we went through five.. count them.. five… security stops. All very pleasant – and they all wanted to check the camper. Not one wanted to look in the Grady.
weird.
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Anyway, when we realized we were NOT going to make San Ignacio, we decided that Guerrero Negro was the stop we could make before it got dark. That left me trying to decide if there was an RV park there… and then checking all the charts to see where it actually was.
I have realized that the other thing similar to our years of boating, is that we travel for a long time without stopping, except for fuel… no meal breaks … because the captain doesn’t actually get hungry. He’s a bit like a snake that way. I, on the other hand, get hungry, so I squirrel some cheese and crackers and cucumber into the front for nibbling on. He can’t let his hands off the wheel so driving and eating isn’t happening. Which means.. not only are we fighting daylight in our quest for a place to stay , we are also fighting Hangry. Or at least I am, in spite of my bits of cheese and crackers and cucumber.
I realized it, as we were driving through town this afternoon/evening, trying to decipher the written word of the Mexican Camping Guide, and the maps I had spread out in front of me..
yelling something about “I have one job.. and it’s stupid.. but I am going to do it” ( and that is the last Galaxy Quest reference I am going to make)…
so we dodged the dogs playing in the street, did a U-turn, found the campground, managed to score the last spot ( found out where the other RV’s that passed us all went to) and are now snug as a bug in Malarimmo RV park. Main reason for being.. the grey whale migration. In fact the whole town is full of restaurants and hotels all catering to whale watchers. AND they have a “ladies” bar. hmmmmm.
And with that.. as the sun has set, and we are hungry – “I’m going to find me a pub.” ( sorry… last last Galaxy Quest quote.) We hit the restaurant, which is supposedly one of the best in South Baja… time to unwind ( more Lawrence than me, poor guy).
Cheers!
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And I am leaving you with an image of someone in the middle of nowhere standing on top of his truck.
Is he looking for a wifi signal? or Pokemon? we will never know.
hasta la vista!!!