Turnkey Camping

​ We are feeling very off grid at present. For $10/night we are boondocking on Playa Santispac - a beach somewhere between Mulage and Loretto. The setting is simply gorgeous. Trailers are all lined up along the beach. Today we rented a kayak for the day for about $20!  As I drank my coffee outside this morning, 6-8 dolphins were jumping in the water - so beautiful that I had to race inside to grab the binoculars for a closer view.  We are steps away from a restaurant and I enjoyed coconut shrimp for both lunch and dinner. Our wagon masters scouted our next destination and found it to be really awful (a cow manure filled field with wild dogs roaming and no connections with the exception of three household style plugs to share among 12 rigs) so we are extending our stay in “paradise” for a few more days. We will roll towards La Paz on Monday. We have very little internet so it has been nice to unplug and read books and play on the beach.  The kids continue to work on their ...

​ Our morning started with a city bus tour. We loaded into vans and drove to the third mission of Baja California - built in 1705. Unfortunately the mission was closed for the day but the grounds were pretty and there was a nice view from a lookout.  Next on the agenda was the Mulage Museum. It was closed as well!  We found out that it was a government holiday - so we switched gears and one bus went to see the lighthouse and the other was given an hour to explore the city center. We chose shopping because we had already seen the lighthouse by water yesterday. It was fun to pop into souvenir shops.  The group met at a local restaurant for a “Mexican combination” lunch. Lentil soup and then chili relleno, an enchilada, burrito and guacamole. I also had a delicious mango smoothie. Yum!   The afternoon was laid back - we cleaned the trailer a bit and then walked to “Jungle Jims” for wings.  It is so fun to hang out with other people from all over the US and Canada....

Last night at happy hour, the owner of the campground, Skipper, came around and asked if anyone wanted to take a boat tour on our free day.  Fifteen of us raised our hands and he set up the tour for 9 am the next morning.  We put our bathing suits and an extra layer on top for the boat ride and headed down the dirt road and took a right.  There was a boat landing down the road where local fishermen were throwing cast off fish to some happy pelicans.  Skipper finally showed up with two of his friends -- and we piled into 3 boats (after scrambling to find some lifejackets).   We rode over to Bahia Conception and set up camp on the rocky shoreline.  There were cacti beyond the rocks. Skipper beached the boat and we piled off with our belongings and the captain's gear.  He set a table up on the beach and handed out snorkel gear to anyone interested.  Thankfully he let me borrow his wet suit.  Several of us walked up the beach to snorkel whil...

​ We had another early morning - rolling out of the campground at 8 am. The drive to Mulage was beautiful - lots of desert and mountain scenery, ending with gorgeous ocean views. We’re staying at Villa María Isabel RV park. When we pulled in, there was another Airstream here!  I met the kids - apparently they are part of a full time family group traveling around the Baja!  I know our kids will enjoy interacting with other kids for the next two days.  Our campsite has a little cabana hut next to it - we set up chairs and everyone joined for conversation - and later pizza. It was a really fun evening filled with twinkle lights and music. The owner of the campground, Skipper, offered up a boat tour of Bahia Conception for tomorrow morning. We will have the choice of either fishing or snorkeling and he promised water warmer than the ocean or pool - here’s hoping!  

Today was a free day. We spent the morning running around and re-provisioning for all of our systems - propane refill, some basic groceries, purified water for our tank (four x five gallon jugs refilled twice), more minutes of internet, etc.  A friend found out about the best fish taco stand called Tony Tacos - the food truck is painted to look like a whale!  The 30 peso fish tacos were our of this world!  The RV park had a small museum that showcased information about whales and sea salt production.  I saw this amazing picture showing the scale of the whales vs the panga boats we rode on yesterday - pretty incredible!   We took taxis to a local hotel for our delayed “Welcome Dinner”. I had fish with lemon shrimp sauce. So yummy!  It was a really great day with such fun people. 

Eight am came early as I hadn't slept very well.  My wonderful Mexican meal produced some pregnancy related heartburn and I finally fell sound asleep shortly before my alarm went off.  We had a radio check at 7:55 am and the convoy rolled out at 8.  The green angels accompanied us again as we headed south.  We continued through desert until nearly the end -- where we could spot gorgeous water views again.  It took about 4 1/2 hours and included a military checkpoint.   We arrived at Guerrero Negro, quickly set our trailers up, took Buster for a walk and hopped on the tour busses.  Bag lunches were handed out - delicious ham and cheese sandwiches, an orange and a date with a bottle of water.  We were assigned to the boat named "Libertidad".  The tour guide explained about salt production in Mexico as we drove out to the panga boats.  We were able to see the evaporation fields, the huge trucks carrying salt -- and even a 10 second "salt dr...

Our second of three travel days in a row brought us to a small town called Cataviña.  The green angels guided us in. We didn’t end up finding fuel along the way and some folks were getting low, so the caravan arranged a fuel drop. The price was 1 3/4 times the petrol station price, but we took the opportunity anyway so we wouldn’t be the only ones not filling up.   We bookdocked in a hotel parking lot and walked around town a bit. We got burritos across the street from our hotel and checked out a mini mart. The kids and I tried to walk to some cave drawings but after a 15 minute walk, a local told me that it was another kilometer down the road and the sun was starting to set, so we headed back for dinner instead. The caravan had arranged a nice diner at the hotel restaurant that night.  The kids and I tried virgin margaritas and we called it an early night because of an 8 am departure the next morning.