Returning Home From Baja

What a great season in Baja.  We love spending time with old and new friends on the beach. After our time south of the 49th we decided to take a different route home, via Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington.  We stopped by to visit Chris and Carl in Yuma, Arizona, Cheryl and Martin near Fresno, California,  Lou and Ramone in Grass Valley, N. California and Iron Mike near Long Beach in Oregon. It was great to spend time with all of them on their home turf.

We also tried travelling a little differently than usual, staying at Casinos. Did you know there is even a web site www.casinocamper.com ?  We didn't but we do now, and it's the way to go if you are a self contained RV. Not to mention cheap if you can keep your wallet in your pocket ( arrived home $50 to the good and had a good time).  Bear River Casino near Eureka, Cal., Lucky 7 near Crescent City, 3 Rivers in Florence, Oregon, Legends in Toppenish,Washington and 12 Tribes in Omak, Washington. So many different ways to travel, I love it.

Now that we are home we are looking forward to spending the summer in the north of BC, visiting more friends. After such a long winter in BC we hoping we don't get carried away by those thirsty mosquitos!

Cheryl and Martin took Ken and I on a hike above Pine Flat Lake (actually a reservoir) , where they also live on a beautiful lake view property.

They took us into the mountains, to spend a day in Yosemite and Kings Canyon.  Lots of snow and big cedars!

 

Wow! the base of  a tree that was harvested in the logging hayday.

 

Lou and Ramone, walking the Yuba River.

 

 

The wildflowers were in the bloom all the way north.

 

 

Now that is a load of logs! All 4 of them.

 

 

A blanket of blue covers the floor of the forest along the Oregon coast.

 

 

Crescent City on the California coast, we love that rugged coastline. 

 

 

Crescent City breakwater, can you see me standing on one of the concrete riprap.

 

Don't miss this Bay Front Bakery in Garibaldi, Oregan, the cinnamon buns are too die for!

 

 

Beam me up Scotty...The cone of Silence...or just a good place to change your outfit?

 

 

The Astoria-Megler Bridge spans 6.5 km across the Columbia River at Astoria. It is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.

 

Mt Rainier, no it is not blowing it's top.

Wrapping up Baja 2017-18

After visiting Baja for as many years as we have it is hard to come up with new and exciting things to say on this blog. The truth is we are really lucky to be able to spent time on the beach, take a look and see for yourself.

 

Just in case you forgot who we were! Here we are standing in our front room at our camp spot...nothing but blue sky.

Near the beginning of the winter we hiked the Luigi Canyon trail, once again and always our favorite, with Doug and Mary (thanks for photos Doug, my camera couldn't handle the water). We always see some sort of life along the way, this year it was a healthy sized toranchull

Lots and lots of water in the canyon this year even though the summer was relatively dry.

The main reason I didn't carry a camera was the swimming we had to do along the way. Mary seems to be enjoying the refreshing dip. 

We love getting company. Cory and Janice popped in to camp with us for a few days on their way south on a bike trip.

Keeping with tradition, we celebrated the full moon with a bonfire and wienie roast. This year we also had a red moon, blue moon and a super moon. Linda, Cheryl and I kept warm in our traditional Mexican sweaters...always the trend setters.

A couple of things we love about Baja:

 

The peace and tranquility of spending time on the water in a beautiful setting.

Experiencing and respecting all Mother Nature has to offer. In this case a grey whale just hanging out in front of our camp. 

Never running out of new places to paddle. Cheryl and I paddled to Punta Baja and back (over 25 km) in less than 5 hours, including a little beach walking.

The food! Loreto is getting many new and good restaurants including a Peppaginas Pizza at the Port. This is a stuffed potato, believe it or not, courtesy of Jr's and Georges in the walking mall.

Unfortunately one must take the good with the bad and this case we were a little disappointed with the fishing practices. Local fisherman still use nets which take everything in their path, and the fisherman leave what they don't want on the beach.

Something new and exciting, the Traceys took Ken and myself along with Sue and John and Al and Val to Coronado Island, north of Loreto, for a boat ride and day hike. We had seen the island and heard of the hike many times but had never had the chance to go there.

Ken contemplates life and the hike up the once volcanic island. What a great view and workout!

 

After the 3 hour return hike it felt great to soak the tootsies in the cool water of the Sea of Cortez.

Ken and Diane, winners of the first ever Guamado Cup Bocce tournament reaped the benefits...the golden cup and champagne (thanks Kate and Ian). 5 teams took part of the fun filled afternoon, and we are all looking forward to having our chance at it next year.

 

Richard and Alexis had to return home a little early this year so they left us in charge of their over 5 ft. cherry tomato plant. We enjoyed it for a couple of weeks and when we left Mauricio and his wife, from the village of Juncalito took over....maybe it will still be alive next season when we get there.

 

The playa on Saturday morning on Easter weekend. Ken and I were the only Gringos left of the beach.  Mexicans are getting bigger rigs, quads and boats, a good time was had by all with fireworks most nights, lots of food, drink, and family.

The playa Monday morning after Easter. Ken and I...the last men standing along with the fisherman.
Until next season.

Back in Baja

Another winter season in Baja. Our time here in always great. Ken in fishing and I spent hours on the water kayaking...I won't bore you with more, but please indulge me a few photos.

Yup, that's where we are!

The cupulla at Loreto Mission.

Heather does a little logging, Baja beach style.

Pargo are very tasty, fried, baked or in tacos.

Cheers!

 

                 

                   

                 

Mexican patella cactus fruit

Ken's all ready to forage for the delicious and (we are sure) healthy patella fruit. Armed with his "picker" made from a long handled wash brush with a trouble-light basket attached to the end (those thorns can be nasty and he has to remove them from the cactus somehow). Long sleeves and boots are a necessity  when he heads out into the bush.

Cactus fruit with the thorns attached, the way they look when they first are picked from the plant. The thorns are carefully removed after which the fruit can be peeled and kept ready to eat, in the fridge. We eat these delicious fruit, which taste like a cross between a strawberry, kiwi and...maybe...watermelon, plain, on cereal for breakfast and they make a very interesting daiquiri.

Part of our healthy lifestyle here in Baja!

 

                 

                   

                 

Time to go

Here we go...Europe.  Gone but the blog is not forgotten.  You will be able to follow us on 

                                 http://motoadventures2eu.blogspot.com/

Suzuki V Strom 1000, our ride for Europe

It's a Long Way Home

Home in B.C. At last (actually we've been here for a while) and the trip home was as we like it, uneventful!

We motorcycle mamas have to stick together.  One of our great stops along the road was for pizza at Indian Springs, home of the US military drones, where we slept behind the Oasis restaurant.

Some long straight roads in Nevada.

A wetter year than normal left the roadside lined with wildflowers...

And a little fog!

Glad to be home but the weather has left us longing for a little sun and warmth of the Baja.

Bahia de Los Angeles

The rig with the Bay of LA in the background.  After a short stay last year we decided to come back and spend a little more time this year.  We left before Semana Santas, Easter, when the beaches fill up all over Baja.

Sun sets on the islands as viewed at happy hour from our camp at La Gringa.

La Gringa is a marine park 9 km north of the town of Bay of LA, only 2 of those km were gravel and not  that bad a road at that.

The desert heading north was very colourful due to all the rain this year.