Lazy Thursday

Today was a very peaceful day. Carol and I went on a very long kayaking adventure where we learned the lesson that too much sun gives you a sunburn. Mike kept trying to convince us to take the kayak to the shrimp boat (shown in the picture in the distance) for fresh shrimp, but Carol thought there might be pirates on it so we just stuck to the sea. Then we saw some whales and she thought they might like little yellow boats so we decided to snorkel close to shore. After a couple of miles we found a beautiful secluded beach with palm trees and a sand bar. The snorkeling is amazing. Cindy took the kids swimming down by the resort at the point where she learned the same sunburn lesson as Carol and I. Luckily the kids had on sunscreen.

We all got into the van in search of fresh tortillas and found a nearby pueblo, La Ribera. However, the tortillarilla closes at noon, so we were a couple of hours too late.

Kenzie began not feeling well yesterday on our trip to La Paz and all day she was definitely feeling less than good. She was mellow, but her cough was picking up. For dinner we decided to try out the food at Rancho Leonero, the resort a few blocks down. This proved to not be a good decision - food was mediocre and for some reason they didn't like Mary, and our service was a bit lacking! We're looking forward to shrimp dinner tomorrow with Noe and Miriam.

Sunset in Los Barriles

Gelato in La Paz

We took a 3 hour road trip today to La Paz on some very narrow, curvy roads. Our 15 passenger van was a bit of a challenge to park in the city, but we were happy to be off the road. The gelato was quite refreshing in the high heat. We bought a bunch of stuff that we didn't need in an attempt to spend our pesos. On the way home we stopped by a couple of roadside mercados and bought some more stuff we didn't need from the locals.

Walking with Grampy in La Paz

Finally, a whale up close!

Lazy day

The kids played in the sand and water while Mike, Grampy & I went fishing. We waited quite a while for our scheduled captain to arrive to pick us up on the beach. After a full day we saw more whales, box rays, puffers, seals, turtles, but not the sought-after dorado or marlin. So, instead of having fish for dinner we enjoyed carne asada.

Tomorrow: La Paz.

Dia Tres

Today was another beautiful day. We all went into Los Barriles, which was another adventure on the backroads with Uncle Mike at the helm. We found wild cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, cats, dogs and donkeys...all on the way to the main road out of town. "Town" is an overstatement. It's more like a widening of the dirt road on the way to the two-lane paved road, surrounded by cows, pigs, sheeps, goats, etc. We bought some fresh tortillas and had lunch at a little taco stand. Nobody speaks English except for us and a few random Americans. We had a great time.

We have hired a cook to fix us dinner. We have all agreed that this is the life. Noe, the cook, brings us whatever we desire. Tonight we had chicken enchiladas and rice with shrimp. Tomorrow we are going fishing and have asked her to come fix our catch. (She's going to bring some dorado "just in case.")

Aunt Carol and I went snorkeling. We found a hundred beautiful tropical fish on our trip to the resort a few lots down the beach. We saw pufferfish, angel fish, parrot fish...then Mike and Mary joined to help us find the margarita fish.

Kenzie spotted whales out in the distance! We didn't know if we should believe her or not, but sure enough, there were several orcas and/or gray whales (much debate has ensued) playing, visible from our porch. She yelled "blow hole!!" Let me reiterate that they were in the distance. I still am not sure how she spotted them, but we got the binoculars out and watched for quite some time. She got to see her whale...but perhaps that's why she didn't want to join us snorkeling today.

Kenzie and Mason are quite the troopers. They are having a blast and have settled in quite naturally to the slower pace of life.

Feliz en el sol

We're having a great time in Baja! Today we hung out at the beach the entire day. Almost all of us went swimming. I went snorkeling with Kenzie on my back, literally. There were lots of great fish right outside our house within 20 feet of the shore. Weather is incredible - 85 to 90, not a cloud in the sky!



Kids are having fun and are doing fabulous.





Can we share what a beautiful view we have??



And there are some great birds too (pelicans shown here).



Getting here was a bit of an adventure. Our plane was 2-1/2 hours delayed. Then we went to Soriana, the local grocery store, and decided to get dinner there as well. All told we were about four hours delayed, and well past daylight. We found ourselves on a very narrow highway out in the middle of nowhere, quite literally, looking for a small sign that was described as "partially covered by a bush." It wasn't as hard to find in the daylight, but at night we were challenged. Imagine trying to find this sign without the benefits of light. Alas, we found it - even though we may have second guessed ourselves more than once.

Landed!

What a long day we had, just now reaching our final destination. From door to door, it took us about 15 hours. With only a couple of wrong turns and one very long trip to a grocery/supermart, we found our way to a wonderful hideaway on the Sea of Cortez. This place is better than the pictures, and we have yet to see the water. We hear it though, crashing against the beach just outside our window.

It's midnight in Baja. Kenzie is asleep, Mason is a bit restless, but horizontal nevertheless.

Better late than never

Our plane is landing now. We are two long hours late but glad to be seeing cactus and blue water. Kids were great on the plane!

Ready for takeoff

Cindy had an ingenious idea: get the kids rolling backpacks. Not only did they help schlep their own things, we stuffed them full of heavy objects and slowed them down.

Testing the equipment

They got new goggles today for our trip and had to give them a test drive.

Mexican preview

We're getting ready for a trip to Mexico! The sun can't come fast enough and the kids are super excited. Mason keeps saying (with great emphasis), "SPLASH!!" and gesturing with his hand smacking the ground. Kenzie squeals with anticipation, and a bit of dread...she's worried about snorkeling with whales. Although I've explained to her that she'll be completely safe and the whales are far away from where we'll be swimming, she still has concerns.

You can see a bit of concern in this picture that she drew of our upcoming adventure. This is our house in Mexico "with the sandy beach." Notice that we're all in the water, but she is swimming with the mermaids, and Cindy and I are almost on top of the whale.