We are in La Paz!

We woke up to bright sunshine on Monday morning in Guerrero Negro.  The plan for the day was to cross over to the Sea of Cortez and spend the evening and sleep the night on the beach at Playa Santispac just south of Mulege.

 

Guerrero Negro to Playa Santispac, south of Mulege.

  Gas station right on the road!

The Pemex gas station in this area had been closed.  It is quite a distance to more fuel.  For those used to traveling this area expecting to get fuel are going to be buying from these entrepreneurial folks!  

 The 12th man!

We come upon military checkpoints fairly often.  It is always interesting to see how the local checkpoint staff decorates their "plywood" soldier. He is always the first to greet you as you approach.  No two are alike.

 San Ignacio, BCS.

San Ignacio is a palm oasis town in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, located between Guerrero Negro and Santa Rosalía.  The town had a 2010 census population of 667 inhabitants.  

 San Ignacio is one of our favorite places to stop, walk around the village and take many pictures.  Here are a few of the scenes from this quaint Mexican village. 

 Parked along the shaded town square.

The narrow streets leading into the town square always provides an exciting time.

 Out for a walk in the village. 

The old mission in San Ignacio.

The Jesuits build a mission here in 1728.  They also planted date palms which now dominate that landscape.  

Inside the mission at San Ignacio.

  A wall with much texture!

Old, thick walled building.

I don't know but this bench looks comfortable!

 Please.......let me out!

This little dog really had his tail going when he saw us walk up.  I think he wanted some time out of the garden area he was locked up in.

  Another street view in San Ignacio.

 Lagoon at San Ignacio

About this desert oasis. 

 After leaving San Ignacio these are some of the very rugged mountains before reaching Mulege.

 Playa Santispac on the Bay of Concepción.

The Bay of Conception is just over 20 miles long and has several beaches to drive onto and stay for awhile.

 Playa Santispac, Bay of Conceptión.

 It was only minutes and the grandkids were in the water.  Of course we told them how to do the stingray shuffle! 

 I kind of had fun too!

Evening activities.

It seems to get dark early.  So after all the sand was washed off Jeff's spent awhile playing a new game and Linda and I got some reading done. 

 Our view this morning at Playa Santispac.

Woke up again this morning with clear skies and warm sunshine.  We gathered up all the seashells that the kids had collected the evening before and stored them in a bag in the basement.  Said "so long" to the Canadians on our left and were onto our final leg of the drive to La Paz.  

  

 Arrived at Campestre Maranatha, La Paz BCS.

We arrived at about 3:30 pm at Campestre Maranatha in La Paz.  Campestre Maranatha is a part of Maranatha Ministries in Mexico.

Click on "News" and "Photo gallery" at the link for more pictures of the camp here in La Paz.  Thank you to Cindy and Jose for the welcoming.  We are excited to spending time with you.

It was just minutes after Katie and Jeff had their things moved into the Bungalow that the kids were into swim suits and ready for the pool.

Antojitos.

This has easily become a favorite place for Linda and I to eat.  The food is tremendous and the atmosphere just what we like.  The prices are phenomenal too!  What a great place to eat and enjoy company.  Ask Pete and Jodi and Rob and Carrie!

What a great way to end our first night in La Paz.  Tomorrow there will be a disgorgement  of this motor home.  Most of what we brought here was delivered to us in stages so it was never seen in it's entirety.  We will do that tomorrow.  Now for some great sleep and a near guarantee of pure sunshine tomorrow! 

 

 

Midway down the Baja!

Today we traveled and spent time exploring through the most beautiful part of the Baja.  We left the Pacific side and journeyed to the middle and then south down the Baja.  

 We entered into an enchanted Dr. Suess like area with massive granite boulders and tall skinny cactus with puffs on the top called Cirios.

Buried in the bolder field.  

 We headed of for a hike through the bolder field and came across these out houses.  These kids had never seen one until today! 

 Madalyn not completely sure about this!!

 We went on a hike up to a cave to see some ancient petroglyphs.

Small desert flower along the hike.

 Inside the cave of petroglyphs.

 Jeff getting pictures inside the cave.  More about the petroglyphs that we saw.

We then hike up the "Blue Palm Canyon".  The granite has been polished smooth by the generations of flash floods coming down this canyon. 

  Madalyn enjoying her "private" beach!



After about three hours we drove on into a small village Cataviña.  Many years ago we were made aware of a man that panhandles on the road that travels through Cataviña.  He is from the States but lives like a homeless person there.  He is known to hold his hand out and ask for a Peso.  Therefore he has acquired the name Un Peso.  In our blog from three years ago La Paz Christmas 2009 
wrote about our finding him sitting along the road.  We took him a care package that year.  His mind is bent.  He talks continuously and rapidly about all the things he has invented, all the songs he wrote for Elvis and The Beatles.  He invented the toaster, scalpel, was in many movies.  It goes on and on!  We came prepared to leave more clothing and a package with him again if we would see him.  We did.  There he was near the road and this time he was focused on why you should eat pork.  He went on and on about eating pork.  Then suddenly switched to he started McDonalds!  Then we got a very rapid list of all the Elvis songs he wrote!!

 Un Peso is telling me about starting McDonalds!  I am trying to picture it!

 Linda and the kids giving a care package to Un Peso.

 Then we were off again to the Pacific side of the Baja to spend the night tonight in Guerrero Negro.  It is located on the border of North and South Baja.  We are now in Baja California Sur or BCS.  

 This large flag is located on the BCS border just out of Guerrero Negro.  Guerrero Negro is the largest town located in the municipality of Mulegé in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It had a population of 13,054 in the 2010 census.

We are spending the night at Malarrimo Hotel and RV site.  

 Taking advantage of the internet service here at Malarrimo's and working on the blog.

 We went for a walk in the town before dinner tonight and met two guys making flowers from palm leaf strips.  Here Elijah is getting a second flower attached.  


When we were fueling up at Lebec, Calif. near the top of the Grape Vine a pickup with a trailer pulled up next to me and started fueling.  Soon we were talking and he ask where we were going.  I explained La Paz and he said "oh, we are going to Mulegé!  Mulegé is located north of La Paz near where we will spend tomorrow night on the beach at Playa Santispac.  Tonight we heard someone parking right next to us at Malarrimo's and here it is the same people we met in Lebec!

Wow! Time at the border!

There always seems to be more that you plan for when getting ready to go.

We finally go over to Jeff's house late in the evening and saw the size of the pile of things they wanted to bring.  Clothes for over three weeks, gifts for the kids to open in La Paz, food, activity projects and school supplies.  I thinks they saw my eyes go up as I remembered the small area saved for their things after all the clothes and blankets we had packed.

It was amazing but small places kept opening up until everything was stashed and we were ready to go.

We slept the night in front of their house and by 0530 the next morning we were ready to travel.

It is 0530 in the morning but everyone is excited to get going!

 A map of the Baja is taped to the wall to keep the kids up to date of our travel.

We planned to get to Lebec, Ca. the first night.  A lot of rain along the way and it was snowing in Lebec as we pulled in for the night 827 miles later.  

 Jeff at the wheel for about 7 hours straight!  It was nice to crawl in the back for a nap and then read for awhile.

 I think Katie was pretty exhausted from all the trip preparation.


At 10 am this morning we arrived at San Ysidro, home to the world's busiest land border crossing, where U.S. Interstate 5 crosses into Mexico at Tijuana. In the 2005 U.S. fiscal year, more than 17 million vehicles and 50 million people entered the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. 

November 1, 2012 Mexico opened their new crossing at San Ysidro dubbed "El Chaparral".  What ever they did, it worked.  We expected an average wait time of 90 minutes on a Saturday at 1000.  We drove right up to the examination area.  No wait!!

 New crossing story link.

 
 The border guard approached the motor home just as I was getting out.  He came inside and met the rest of the family then proceeded to open all of  the cabinets and storage areas inside the motor home.  When he came across some of the wrapped gifts that Jeff's had brought along for their children to open, he ask what was in them!  With the kids out of earshot Jeff described the contents of all the gifts.  

Then he ask me to unlock each of the basement doors and open them one at a time for his examination.  I think that I bored him by slowly displaying to him the propane area then the water and sewer bay.  I was wonderfully suprised as he passed by the  three main bay doors and ask me to open one on the end.  The three would have been the hardest to explain with hundreds of blankets, more than 60 bags of clothing and other supplies in those bays!

We then walked over to immigrations, filled out the forms, paid for our visas and headed back to the motor home.  Just as we were ready to leave two more border inspectors came and repeated the inside examination that the first one had done!  But they were not interested in the basement.  

We were all so thankful to continue on to La Paz and Melitón with the load of supplies that we carry.

 A favorite "Sea Food" place near San Quintin.

Every since we began planning this trip, stopping at El Cliente near San Quintin to get good seafood was something we looked forward to.   We have stopped here the last three trips down to La Paz.  It is somewhat unique to walk under a whale skeleton to get into a place to eat.

The best campechana.  Loaded with seafood.  What is in campechana?

 Jeff and Katie at El Cliente.  Lots of fish tacos!

 Brody into his fish tacos.  


We made it to El Rosario tonight just as it was getting dark.  There has been quite a bit of rain the last two day so there is no shortage of mud!  Tomorrow we plan to make it to the border of Baja Sur at Guerrero Negro.

"Gathering" the blankets.

(Continue below for previous posts.)

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Melitón Albáñez is a small isolated village of about 200 residents situated just 3 km from the Pacific Ocean.  The micro climate at that spot is excellent for growing peppers, english cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries if grown in greenhouses.  An agricultural company has built 700 to 1000 acres of greenhouses to grow this produce. They also have their own packing plant as well as a living compound for the workers that are brought from southern parts of Mexico to work in the greenhouses.  Many of these workers are not prepared for the climate that exist at this spot right on the Pacific.  Many nights are cold and they are without adequate blankets or clothing.

 Example of some of the produce grown at Melitón.

 Google earth image of Melitón.  The village located below with hundreds of acres of greenhouses seen next to the village.

 

Jeff and Katie's children were in Meltón in 2009 and got to spend time with some of the children that live in the agricultural compound there.  They became acutely aware of the need for blankets.  Brody, Madalyn and Elijah made a presentation to their school for the need at Melitón for blankets.


 

Body, Madalyn and Elijah's poster for blankets at Liberty Elementary School in Albany, Oregon.

 

Some of the blankets donated from students at Liberty Elementary School in Albany, Oregon.

 

 Jodi Kauffman's 6th grade Sunday School class at Sweet Home Mennonite church with the blankets and supplies they gathered.


 

 Thanks to Bev, Ardis, Linda, Jodi, Katie and many others we are filling the bays with nearly 60 bags of clothing!

 Getting it all packed in tight!


Glen Byers family supplied several hundred blankets as well as more that a hundred sweatshirts!  The Koinonia class at Salem Evangelical Church provided craft supplies for the church in Melitón "Semillas de Fé".

Glen Byers' grandsons Chad Good and Brad Hochstetler helped pack all that they brought.  Whew!


These are just some of the people and some of the items donated to the need there in Melitón.  We are in the final stages of packing.  It seems that we find "just one more spot" for items that continue to arrive.