Solvang, Buellton, Los Olivos

We stayed in the heart of the Santa Barbara County in Buellton at the Flying Flags RV Park.  And who should we meet as we are pulling into camp but Allen and Gloria from our Baja caravan.  Allen made sure we knew he was there first!  (This is a joke we have going with Allen as he had to be first in line all during our Baja caravan.) We have visited this region before and enjoy the wines that are grown here.  

Solvang was settled by the Dutch and has retained its Dutch heritage through its architecture and foods, but the wine tasting rooms are its bread and butter.  Many of the wineries have set up their tasting rooms in this town as well as in Los Olives and a few in Buellton rather than at their vineyards so their costumers have less travel time to find their favorite wines.

We like the tasting rooms in Los Olives, which is only 4 miles from Solvang, the best.  We stopped at Byron Vineyard and Winey, Stolpman Vineyards and Winery and Artist Winery where we bought several bottles from each.  We had lunch at Sides Hardware and Shoes!  John had one of the best hamburgers he’s ever eaten and I had a very good grilled cheese and green apple sandwich.  Who would have thunk that you could get good food from a hardware and shoe store??  

Trains & Hot Rods

After church this morning I joined John on the Pickleball courts.  We sure do enjoy this game! We actually bought a couple of paddles so we can play wherever we travel.

This Fairplex is huge. There is a drag strip with big stadiums on either side, and a race course set out on the asphalt and another oval race track with a stadium. There must be a dozen buildings of all sizes.  A few of them were built by the WPA.  The building where the concerts were held also hold 4 Pickleball courts and another mini-stage area with seating for 100 and an area with tables and chairs for another 100 people. and there is still more room for other stuff.  Around the outside of the grounds there is a park, golf course, a Train Yard Museum and the National Hot Rod Assoc. Museum.

We found our way into the NHRA and enjoyed looking at dragsters from the 1940’s to the 1990’s,  All different sizes, shapes, designs and colors.  Then we looked at six different train engines from small steam to monster steam to UP diesel electric engines.  They also displayed a Pullman car, two cabooses and a horse car.

Its been pretty hot here, in the 80’s but it looks like that might change in the next few days to highs only in the 70’s.  Darn!

Family Motor Coach Assoc.

Wednesday we traveled to Pomona, CA where we parked on an asphalt parking lot to begin 5 days of rallying with the annual FMCA National Homecoming Rally. After half of a day of listening to generators and smelling the exhaust of the generators we paid to move into a site with electricity. We actually got a site near a shade tree so we are able to spend some time outdoors enjoying a cooling breeze in the afternoons.  Speaking of breeze, it is unseasonably warm here in Southern CA but we are not complaining.

From out of all the seminars offered, the one we like best is learning how to play Pickleball!  What a fun game.  It was invented over 40 years ago but is only picking up in popularity in the last 10 years.  It is played on a court the size of a badminton court, with a short net like tennis, paddles like pingpong paddles, and the ball like a whiffle ball.  It is scored like volleyball, but service is like a cross between tennis and volleyball.  It is a game that can be enjoyed by almost any age from 7 or 8 up to 97 or 100!  I can’t wait to get home and introduce it to our friends.

We’ve met a few people, walked the Fairplex numerous times (getting in over 5 miles every day), looked at some of the 300 display motorhomes, perused the suppliers and exhibitors booths, and attended two concerts (a country western singer and Peter Noone & The Herman’s Hermits). The Fairplex has a NHRA (Hot Rod) museum, a railroad museum and a huge Garden Model Train working display. We’ve eaten donuts, ice cream, BBQ and beer.

Tonight we invited three couples from our Baja trip to join us for cocktails, keeping our friendships alive.  We’ve been busy but not too busy.  One more day of the rally and then we are off to taste wine in Solvang and Paso Robles.

Beach Time

Monday found us on the move again, this time over to the Pacific coast to Laguna Beach where we are staying at the Crystal Cove State Park.  We are so lucky because this is a very popular campground and its spring break time.  We pulled in around 11 am and the attendant said that someone had just cancelled and we could have his site, number 13, for two days.  This place is beautiful!  It sits on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean with easy beach access and long hikes into the canyon to the east of here.  Its too bad we can’t stay longer as we would enjoy taking a couple of hikes.  

Views from our campground.

We had dinner Monday night with our friend Jeff and Linda who live just a couple of miles from the park and graciously invited us to their home. These are friends we made when we owned the Born Free and enjoy off-road Jeeping with them annually.

Today we climbed on our bikes to ride along the cliff top in the park.  Back in the 1920’s people traveled the new Pacific Coast Highway and the Cove became a very popular place to pitch tents and rent cottages.  One sign showed the beach lined with canvas tents and wood shacks and told how families would come back year after year to spend the whole summer here. The Irvine Company that rented the cottages built a total of 46 cottages in The Cove area and today they are being restored and rented out to visitors. Its a popular place to come to enjoy the beach and eat breakfast.

I walked the beach this afternoon and enjoyed the sunshine and ocean spray while wading in the waves.  I witnessed a man in his kayak try to come ashore on top of the waves but he got caught crosswise for a good dunking.  Later a dead sea lion came on shore - boy do they stink!

Santa Catalina Island.

We had a lovely sunset to go along with our steak and wine!

Pechanga!

Sounds like a descriptive word for ‘ka-bamb’!  Its actually an Indian reservation with a huge casino, campground and golf course in the town of Temecula.  We had to move out of our campsite Saturday morning because the whole campground was booked up.  We will spend the night in a parking lot and then move back into the campground on Sunday. 

We stayed because we wanted to play golf at The Journey at Pechanga again.  We were here a few years ago and it is a great course although its very difficult.  On the front nine there are three elevated tee boxes in a row and two more on the back nine.  It is so much fun to see your ball soar across the desert and land on the fairway waaaay down there!  That said, we enjoyed the weather, the views and the beauty of the course but we both felt we played terrible golf until we saw a chart in the pro shop that rated this course according to your handicap. It showed that John’s score would be at least 5 above his handicap and mine would be 25 above my handicap.  That made us feel a whole lot better. 

Sunday was a lazy morning until we moved back into the RV park and the wineries opened.  John picked out five wineries to visit but that is very unrealistic as our taste buds get so coated by the third winery that every wine starts to taste the same or better than it actually is. We stopped at Palumbo, Robert Renzoni, and Hart Wineries and we bought a couple of bottles from Palumbo and six from Hart.  Now, Hart was our third stop of the afternoon and thats where we bought the most wine.  I sure hope it tastes as good in a few days as it did today!

It's Good to be Back

Wednesday and Thursday were busy days trying to get back into the routine of camping without an agenda.  We shopped for groceries, did the laundry, put the bikes back on the RV, got our hair cut, and downloaded TV shows onto the computer.  Thursday was not the best day though.  Last Saturday I dropped my iPhone in the toilet!  I got it out in a fast two seconds but the damage was done.  I accidentally turned it on while trying to dry it off and that fried the inside and the battery.  We found a place to take my iPhone in San Diego to see if it could be fixed but it is totally dead!

So Thursday was spent getting John a new iPhone 6 and then we set me up on his old iPhone 5S.  The whole process took over 4 hours at the AT&T store using their wifi to download all the apps from the iCloud backup.  And then when we got back to the RV there was more work to be done getting everything synced!  It was a real hassle - all because I decided to put my phone in my pocket instead of just leaving it in the RV. 

Today we rode our bikes 11 miles just to get some exercise and then drove up the Temecula where we took a chance on getting an RV site at the Pechanga Casino.  We got one for one night, may have to move to the parking lot tomorrow and then we can get back into the RV park.  Its the weekend and its spring break time.

We did get to do some wine tasting this afternoon.  Stopped at Chapin Winery and then Leoness Vineyard.  Bought three bottles of wine from Leoness.

Back in the U.S.A.!

Tuesday we got an early start to drive to Tecate where we will cross the border and then head in different directions.  Most will go back to Chula Vista to stay one more night at the KOA but several will head on east from there.  It took us an hour to get through Ensenada due to construction and rush hour traffic. The roads were mostly better except for a few mountainous, narrow sections. John and I enjoyed driving through the wine region which we had explored a couple of years ago.

We waited in line over two hours just outside the border crossing so that Mexican officials could make one last inspection of each coach.  The actual interview with the US customs and the divesting of illegal foods like apples and pork took much less time.  And then we were on US soil, driving on wide, well paved roads even if they were mountain roads. We’ll have one last get together tonight and one last breakfast tomorrow to say our goodbyes.

Farewell to Baja California, Mexico

It was a short 99 miles to Ensenada but it still took over three hours to get there on Monday morning.  We took advantage of our early arrival and drove downtown to get some shrimp from the fish market located on the Malecon.  There is so much construction going on that we almost got lost.  It was sad to see docks and piers still lying askew in the bay from the hurricane that went through here last fall.  We searched for the neat sculptures we had seen on the Malecon a couple of years ago but they were gone too.

We had a good time at our farewell dinner Monday night.  There was lots of laughter, lots of sharing of contact information and well wishes for all of our new friends.  Our wagon master, Jim, has led this tour nine other times and he said that this tour had a lot of firsts:  First time an RV left the road to go flying into the desert, first time to leaving one RV behind for repairs for 4 days, a first time for a female pyro/fire builder (me!), first time that an RV left the tour half way through and went home, a first time to have a brain surgeon and 5 nurses, a first time someone lost their keys to their tow vehicle, and four broken rearview mirrors from encounters with oncoming semis.

Jeanine had encouraged us all to be creative and to write a limerick or a poem for this occasion.  We had one poem, 3 limericks, and a list of Berma Shave like sayings. They were all very funny and apropos to the occasion:

A caravan drove down the Baja trails,  43 folks and dogs wagging tails.  One rig launched right, while four lost a fight.  And lost keys can be sent in the mail.

A Goofy stuffed toy and a stuffed bear have been handed around during this trip to tease people for doing goofy things (like leaving a compartment door open while driving, dunking oneself in a kayak) and for caring activities like cleaning the beach, washing someones window, etc.  A drawing was held for these two dolls and I won the Care Bear.

Vincent Guerrero - Back on the Pacific Side

We had a grueling drive today, traveling 231 miles over eight hours.  Another RV lost their rear-view mirror and one guy put regular gasoline in his diesel engine but no other accidents.  There are a lot of gun-shy drivers though who slow down to almost a complete stop as semis drive past and we had a few more rest breaks than usual to calm nerves.  Even though we have driven this road going down, it seemed much rougher going back.  We spent a lot of time dodging pot holes and driving on the left side just to miss the damaged pavement.  

We drove in some mountains but coming into Vincent Guerrero we drove through rolling hills of cultivated land.  Vincent Guerrero is a small community in the heart of the Baja’s farming region and only 2.5 miles from the ocean.   My mouth keeps watering with the sight of acres of ripe strawberries!

We arrived at the Posada Don Diego RV park around 4 pm and they served our dinner at six.  While waiting for dinner a small band was setting up to play later this evening on their patio.  They didn’t start playing until 9 pm.  It was not bad but they are obviously a new group and still learning the ropes and some songs.  It seemed apparent that most of the audience were family and friends of the band.

Since there is only two more days to this caravan I want to take a minute to share some of our thoughts on our experiences.  This is much too large of a group (20 RVs) for a trip into Mexico.  The camp areas and gas stations are not made to handle this many people, long waits to park or get gas, too many meals to serve and too many people for their city tours.  We are sorely lacking in leadership for this many rigs.  Our wagon master is used to smaller caravans and has not adjusted his instructions or directions for a large group.  Many of the people on this trip did not do their research or preparation for the Mexican culture and lifestyle.  They need lots of handholding and, again, with this many people that is not possible.  Several of the rigs are much too long for the Mexican conditions. Many are not prepared or even know how to dry camp, and in some cases not willing to even try.  Often if the campground says they have water or electric they don’t have enough for American usage and it is easier to rely on our own power and water as if dry camping. There are a number of folks who never adjusted to this which results in an inordinate amount of complaining considerably diminishing the experience for those of us who came with realistic expectations.

Bahia de Los Angeles

Despite no planned activities, we had a very busy day.  First we walked along the beach to ‘The Spit’ where a lighthouse is located across the bay from our campsite.  It was about 1.5 miles one way on wet, muddy sand but well worth the it for the views both inland and out towards Guardian Island.  When we got back from the walk, several ladies were sitting in the shade visiting.  But it was hard to hear what anyone was saying as the tienda (cafe) across the way had music blaring out across the whole town.  When we complained, Mary, the wagon mistress, went over to talk with the owner to ask him to lower the volume.  He refused so she found a local who spoke Spanish and went to the police.  Very shortly after, it was quiet!  It was so nice after having to talk over the noise.  

Our RV is parked on the shore. Can’t see it? Look below.

Debi and Phil joined us for a ride north of town to see the houses, old campgrounds, etc along the shoreline. Then later in the day, John and I went by ourselves in the other direction doing the same thing.  We came across a trail with signs along the way saying Baja 200.  Not sure what that is but it was fun driving until it got too muddy and threatened to get us stuck in sand.  We also found what looks like an old stamp mill for a mine overlooking a nice beach.  We’re not sure they have mined anything here or even what they would have mined.  Unfortunately the wind had kicked up big waves so we could not see if any stingrays were in this area.    The stingrays are mating now and the kayakers had seen lots of them in the early morning calm waters.

Thirty years ago a young man walked the whole shoreline of the Baja for two years.  He wrote a book of his experiences and visited with us during our evening social.  Through the years he has done several other hikes and backpacking trips in the Baja and has written books about those trips as well.  His name is Graham Mackintosh and he is originally from England but lives in San Diego now with a dual citizenship in the US and England. His books are on Kindle.  “Into a Desert Place”, "Journey with a Baja Burro”, “Nearer My Dog to Thee”, and “Marooned with Very Little Beer” are the books he wrote.

San Francisco de Borja Mission

Several of us have been towing our Jeeps this whole trip so today three Jeeps took off to find the San Francisco de Borja Mission deep in the mountains behind Los Angeles.  Jeff & Tina, Allan and Gloria and John and I with passengers Debi and Phil packed our lunches and spent the day riding on 25 miles of really rough gravel roads.  But the effort was well worth the trip.  

The mission was first established in 1662 by some San Franciscan monks to bring Christ to the natives of the peninsula.  If you look at a map, you can see a trail that ran down the center of the Baja with missions all along it.  This was one of the most northern ones.  In 1746 a Jesuit priest discovered the mission and tried to find a shorter trail from there to the Sea in order to expedite a supply route. That is how Los Angeles was established.  Then in late 1700’s the Dominican priests began building a new church at the mission and completed it in 1801.  That is what we saw today.  It is a very simply decorated building which shows off its architectural beauty.  

There is only one family near the church to care for it and to make a living.  They had nice shaded palapas where we had our lunch, clean bathrooms and in the distance we could see orchards and planted fields.  Alicia, the caretaker, showed us the building and tried answering our questions but she had very limited English.  The church had a small museum, and several rooms off to the side had been used for classrooms at one time and one held pictures of the 200 year anniversary of the mission. The really old, original adobe building has a few walls still standing near the back of the church.

This Doesn't Look Like L A

During our drive today two RV’s had problems due to the narrow road and one large semi hogging the road.  He clipped the mirror on Debi and Phil’s rig and caused Gary and Rita to go off the side of the road.  Due to some skillful driving and a desire to not hit the oncoming motorcycles, Gary was able to recover without incident.  John and I watched in horror as he slipped off the edge of the pavement.  It could have been so much worse.

Since we are still on the Baja, it is not LA, California - it is Bahia de Los Angeles, Baja California.  A very small community of about 500 residents, this town is on the Sea of Cortez and was established in 1746.  The bay is protected by Isla del Angel de la Guarda or Guardian Angel Island so it is very calm and peaceful.  

This area was pounded by a hurricane last fall so there is still evidence of recovery or lack of recovery.  An example is our campground, Villa Vitta RV Park, which used to have nice concrete patios for each motorhome and nice flat spots to park with electricity and water.  Now the patios are falling apart, most of the sites have crumbled into the sand, there is no water and the electricity is an extension cord running to each site laying on top of the dirt.  After all, this is Mexico!

  

WHALES!!

The main reason for this trip was to see the Gray Whales and we got to see them up close and personal today!

The Gray whale migration begins and ends here and at about three other lagoons around the Baja peninsula.  The whales mate here and then take three months to go to Alaska where they spend three months during the summer, three months to come back and then they have their babies here and stay around 3-6 months before starting their trip again. Most of the whales will be gone by April, especially the males and the females without calves.  March is when one will have the best luck is seeing and touch the whales and their babies as the mom’s have calmed down after the birth and the babies are starting to get really curious and exploring more.

The 40 some members of our caravan went out in 4 boats to motor among the whales, to watch them and to pet them.  One the way out to near the mouth of the lagoon we saw a coyote walking on the sand dunes and sea lions basking in the sun on top of a docking buoy.  Then we saw whales breeching and all of a sudden we were in among them all. Both of us touched or petted both a moma whale and her baby at least once.  It was an awesome experience, one we will never forget and will want to experience again! 

Salt Works

It took longer to park 20 rigs at the Malarrimo RV Park than it did to drive from San Ignacio to Guerrero Negro.  A Hawaiian whaling ship, named Black Warrior, sunk in the harbor near here in 1858.  It was easier for the locals to call the town and harbor Guerreo Negro than its original name which is too long and hard to spell. There are two lagoons in this harbor, one is Scammon’s Lagoon which is the winter home to the Grey Whales and the other is Ojo de Liebre where the salt works is located.

Daniel Ludwig built the salt works here to supply the demand of salt in the western US.  Exportadora de Sal, S.A. of C.V. (Salt exporters, Inc.) eventually would be come the greatest salt mine in the world.  In 1973 Ludwig sold 51% of the mine to the Mexican government and 49% was sold to Mitsubishi.  It employs over 1600 Mexican nationals, produces over 9 million tons of salt per year, and covers 43,000 hectares or 106,000 acres of land off of the lagoon. They supply 5% of the world’s salt and is mainly shipped to countries in the Pacific basin.

The heavy saline water is piped from the lagoon into 9 shallow basins where is will evaporate over 6 months before it is piped into another basin where the remainder of the water is evaporated over another 6 months.  Road graders then scrape off the top foot of salt and push it into long rows that are then loaded into monster dump trucks.  The high quality salt will be washed before shipping but the industrial salt is put on barges and ferried to a deep port island and loaded into container ships.  The industrial salt is used to de-ice roads and in the production of PVC pipes and other materials.

Santa Rosalia and San Ignacio

Today’s 110 mile drive took us back through Santa Rosalia.  This was where we drove in heavy rain and through deep washes across the highway on our way south.  Mr. Eiffel, of Paris’ Eiffel Tower fame, built an iron church in this small community, complete with small stained glass windows and arched and vaulted ceilings.  We were not able to go inside as a church service was in progress.  As we walked around the town we found the French/Mexican bakery and then were entertained by a small parade of men dressed in animal costumes and beating out a cadence with wooden swords accompanied by bells on their belts and boots. We never did figure out why.  A steam engine on display was used by the copper mining company in the early 1900’s.

Don’t know why there is a statue with a broom, but John thought it was a sign from heaven.

We arrived in San Ignacio early enough for us to drive into town.  This community was built by the Jesuit priests and the Dominicans in the 1700.  The mission church is the centerpiece of the square which is tree covered and cool. This mission became the largest and most successful mission in Baja. It is built along a fresh water river and small lake where date palms and other palm trees have been planted making it look like a desert oasis.  Numerous orange groves and other flowering bushes and trees where everywhere making the air smell so sweet and inviting.  If we had wanted to drive 44 miles on a gravel road, we could have seen whales in the San Ignacio lagoon on the Pacific side of the peninsula.

A Most Exciting Day

Saturday dawned bright and quiet - no wind!  The water was beautifully smooth! Small groups formed in front of several rigs with people visiting and enjoying the sun and light breeze.  Jeannine decided to go swimming off the beach with her noodle.  Unfortunately she got into some stingrays and one hit her on her ankle causing a deep puncture that went into her vein.  It scared her pretty bad because there was a lot of blood and it hurt.  Fortunately this group has three nurses, one brain surgeon, two pharmacists and an employee of the campground was an EMT.  She was well cared for and is recovering nicely.

Speaking of recovering, our grandson is well.  He did not need to go back into the hospital.

After the excitement of the stingray, most of us took advantage of the weekly pig roast BBQ the beach bar has on Saturdays.  They roasted a whole pig and served chicken wings, baked chicken, beef on a stick and pork chops and rice.  The sides were a vegetable medley, cole slaw, basmati rice and cabbage, roasted garlic and bread, baked potatoes, baked beans and cacti. Desert was almond balls and apple strudel. It was a huge spread, all you can eat and it only cost $200 pesos per person ($14.00).  On top of that we had 2 for 1 drinks from 10 am - noon.  They make really good Bloody Mary’s and Margaritas! We were stuffed and had to take a nap!

To work off all that food, seven of us went for a hike in the hills on the other side of the road.  There was no path so we all sort of made our own way through the canyon.  We had heard there was a dam at the end of the canyon.  Marcia and I gave up trying to worm our way through scrub, bushes and loose rock but the others made it to the end.  Not much to see but it was good exercise and I loved all the flowers and smells along the way. We all puzzled over the large amount of sea shells we saw all over the rocky slope which was at least 1/2 mile from the shore and some were even further back than that.  There were too many for them to be dropped by birds.  The water had to have been that high a some point in time.

We closed the day with a huge bonfire on the beach burning the plentiful supply of driftwood. What a great way to end the day!

Playa BuenaVentura

The wind blew hard all day today making it feel cooler than we like.  Mark and Mary brought their kayaks on the trip so Mark decided he could ride the waves caused by the wind.  Unfortunately he got caught sideways to the wind and tipped.  That caused some excitement for those watching!  Other than that it was a relatively quiet day.  Some folks explored the neighboring beach, I hand washed some clothes, others were beach combing, several drove into Mulege, and the Mexican’s selling junk were being pests but they still had some buyers.

I met a couple who were visiting their friend who lives in one of the casitas but also has two motorhomes.  Tracy and Reg seemed pretty tipsy at 10 AM and later in the day Tracy got escorted out of the beach bar.  They were interesting to talk with though and I think Tracy thinks I’m her new best friend!

We had a hot dog roast for supper.  To tease our leaders, everyone traded name tags in hopes of confusing Jim & Mary or Erick & Carol.  Then several gave a brief introduction of the person whose name tag they were wearing.  We had a lot of great laughs teasing and making fun of our new friends!

Tripui to Playa Buenaventura

We left La Paz yesterday for the 6 hour, 200 mile journey to Puerto Escondido where we stayed at the Tripui RV park again.  In the two weeks we have been gone, they said they had completed the bathroom and showers.  Well, sort of.  The showers were done and looked very inviting but there was no hot water.  The men’s room still had no toilet and all the outlets were exposed.  It’s Mexico!

Since today’s drive is only 75 miles, we elected to go by ourselves instead of with the group.  We wanted to check our email one last time before we have no internet for 3 days.  Our grandson has been sick and was hospitalized for one day to receive IV fluids, he came home yesterday morning but he got sick again last night.  We were hoping to find out how he was doing this morning.  But no news. It was rather pleasant to drive with no one to follow. 

We are camped on Bahia Concepcion (Conception Bay)  at the Playa Beunaventura Trailer Park.  It used to be a hotel and resort area but the hotel is abandoned and the casitas around it are mostly unused.  The 20 rigs are crammed side by side facing the beach.  Its not a bad beach but the wind has been blowing hard all day so the waves are huge with whitecaps on the sea.  John and I explored the shoreline on foot and then got in the Jeep and drove north to see what other beaches are close.  We found Le Burro Playa and La Coyote RV parks.  They are more developed than this beach with palapas and beach side homes for the RVs.  The forecast is more wind until Sat. so we are not sure when we’ll be able to snorkel or swim.