Day Twenty, Wednesday, April 4: Guerrero Negro to Cataviňa

Heading north again, we crossed the border into Baja California from Baja California Sur. We took a side trip from Villa Jesus Maria, which is the south end of the “gas gap” after filling up both the RV and the Jeep. Our friend Tonya had told us to go out to Morro Santo Domingo, and it was a short and very worthy side-trip. The beach was nice, and we explored up on the morro in the Jeep – lots of little secret coves with great tidepools, photo ops with the old lighthouse, and even a natural arch with Pelicans and Sea Lions all around! Quite beautiful. Found a neat shell in the desert, and hammerhead and other types of shark and ray heads in the “basurero” (dump) the road passed through on the way out. So that’s what that fishy smell was!

A lady from a little store where I bought us some drinking water told me about a baile (dance) that would be out on that beach over the weekend and asked us if we didn’t want to stay. She was really cute, one of those small feisty middle aged Mexican women I just love. I asked her if she was going to dance and she said oh yes and demonstrated with a few little moves :) She told us to drive safely in the extra traffic, and I assured her that we would, and we were on our way. It would have been nice, probably, to stay and enjoy the “ambiante” (atmosphere, I think) of the beach dance, invited as we were by a local, but we seem to have itchy feet these days.

Arrived at our old familiar campsite in Rancho Santa Inez, outside of Cataviňa, and immediately set up camp – rolled out the awning, put out the chairs, served cold beer and smoothies (not at the same time – ha) got out the binos and cameras and books and proceeded to relax after the days harrowing drive. Roads both north and south of Guerrero Negro are some of the worst we’ve encountered – even narrower lanes and no shoulders at all, wavy lines, rough pavement, and add to that this time the additional traffic of Semana Santa holiday goers..Nice to get “home” to Rancho Santa Inez, greeted by the “peso lady” and cattle wandering through the camp.

To see more photos of Morro Santo Domingo, click here

Smoothies
1 banana (or 1/2)
1 small container (or 1/2) of yogurt (any flavor)
Fresh or frozen fruit - whatever you've got
Protein powder (if desired)
Fruit juice or rice milk

Blend in the glass with the Bamix Hand Blender until smooth. Paper umbrella optional.
Enjoy!

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Go back to Day One of Baja Trip

Day Seventeen, Palm Sunday, April 1st: Mulegé/Santispac

The sea is like glass this morning – we wish we had rented a kayak last night! Ana’s, the restaurant/store on the beach, is in “summer hours” right now, open from 2pm to 10pm, so if you want to kayak in the morning before the wind, you need to rent one the night before. The spell of this place is that once you are here, you don’t want to leave, even for a little while. Vendors come by to sell you what you need, so there is no need to go into town. Obero came by this morning already with his musical horn – I told him we came back because we missed his morning music – ha. We bought some fresh hot tamales for breakfast – yum! We plan to go into Mulegé this morning to explore the town a bit, but it’s so hard to leave here!! We will camp here one more night, then continue north.

Mulegé is the first place we’ve been where we did not feel welcome. We drove out to the lighthouse, and got friendly waves from a bar near the beach, but that was it. Mostly we got no response to smiles and waves, and even got distinctly cold and dirty looks from some. Never mind the hurricane – what too many tourists can do to a town is not always pretty. The Mulegé Mission was pretty, but after the warm, open, welcoming feel of San Javier, with people inside saying prayers even welcoming tourists into their sanctuary, I think we are spoiled.

Back to Santispac where more happy familias are setting up camps – reminds me of when I was a kid and we camped in Yosemite Valley – kid heaven! Lots of other kids, water to play in, rocks to climb, adventures to be had. Kids are everywhere just having a blast! Kids having a blast being kids sounds great in any language.

God knows why, but my friend Jenny Dodge told me I should add recipes to our blog... but I did make a great bean dip today, so here's the recipe! You may notice similarities in the ingredients to the fish marinade... hey, when you've got ingredients that work, stick with them! Ha.

Bamix Bean Dip
1 can Trader Joe's Organic Pinto Beans (or whatever kind you have on hand!)
Grated cheese - I used some soft white cheese from Mexico, enough to get the dip to the right consistency
Cilantro
Onion
Lime Juice to taste and consistency
Serrano chile to taste
Spices: Cumin, Paprika, Chili Powder, Oregano, Pepper, Salt to taste

Mix it all together and blend with the Bamix * Hand Blender (hence the name, Bamix Bean Dip - ha)
Eat with totopos (chips)!

*The Bamix is a powerful Swiss hand blender that I first saw at a county fair years ago and wanted one ever since! Now I finally have one, and use it to make smoothies on a regular basis, and this bean dip was a new, and successful, experiment!

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Go back to Day One of Baja Trip

A Funny Thing Happened at the RV Show

I was worried that looking at new RVs would make us feel less satisfied with our 1999 used model, but the opposite happened! Ours has many features newer RVs, even from the same brand, don't seem to have, for about a quarter of the price. Such as excellent counter space, good amount of storage, gas oven, and nice storage drawers under the dinette benches. Also the outside storage space underneath with the pass-through that goes all the way under the MoHo.

Things they did have that ours doesn't: some models have better can pantries in the kitchen areas, but we may be able to replace ours. The outside storage doors that open out instead of up are really nice, and would be especially nice for the storage under the slide-out room. Some have bigger refrigerators, but we could probably get a bigger one installed if it's a problem. I think it will be fine. That's about it...

Ideas we got looking at them - put a snap-on map pocket on the sides next to the front seats (aka, "captain's chairs"), add a screw-on cup holder that folds flat up there, too. Our console on the "doghouse" (hump over the engine) is not very functional, but it could be easily replaced. Maybe we could even install a sliding laptop / dining tray on the passenger side, like some have.

It Slices, It Dices...!
We mostly cruised around the tent that had various products and services for RVers - one of the coolest things we saw was the Soda Club soda-making machine! We tested some sodas they made, quite easily, with no power needed, and they were quite good. Devin could save a lot of money on Diet Coke using that!! I'm not much of a soda drinker, but you can make sparkling water, add just about any flavoring, or maybe just lemon or lime juice. The young man from Kentucky that demonstrated it was so cute with his sales pitch, it made me want to buy it right there - but I have this weird love of infomercials and demonstrations.

In fact, Devin recently bought me a product I first saw at a county fair probably 20 years ago and have wanted ever since - a Bamix Hand Blender. It is every bit as good as I remember! I have been making smoothies right in the glass, filling it up to the top with fresh and frozen fruit, yogurt, juice, protein powder, and then just blending it right up in the glass with the Bamix. Easy clean up! I also have made frothy milk that makes coffee like an instant latte! You can make whipped topping from non-fat milk with it - it rocks!

Like I said, I have a soft-spot for infomercials and fair demos and gadgets, but I usually just enjoy watching them and rarely buy. The Bamix is an exception and I waited 20 years - ha! the cool thing is it costs about the same as it did 20 years ago.

Other Highlights
Devin's highlight of the RV Show, besides feeling even better about our own RV, was the great deal on the Banks Power system they are offering - 20% off on both parts and labor, which is a significant savings, so we are considering doing this. It would be about $3200, including TransCommand . But would give it more power, save wear and tear on the engine and transmission, and improve gas mileage by 7%. He also liked seeing what the Autoformer and other Voltage conditioners looked like. The one we would need (30 amp) is fairly small - and for around $300, could save us a lot of trouble if we are hooked up to power that isn't steady. It is not only a surge protector, but protects against low power as well. They are highly recommended for travel in Mexico, too.

We also enrolled in Passport America, a 50% off camping club, which we had already determined was a good deal and planned to enroll. The good thing is that normally it's $44 for a year, and at the Show it was $39 for a year and 3 months (with even better deals for longer memberships). The first time or two we use it, it will pay for itself. There are Passport America parks all over the US, Canada and even Mexico!

Show Me the Money!
Of course, we entered contests that will likely have us getting junk mail for a while, but you never know... I got to go into a glass booth and stuff fake $100 bills into a slot - the person that had the most at the end of the day would win $100. I got $2300, so pretty good, but I probably won't win - but it was fun, anyway! Like being on one of those crazy game shows. I can't say I have always wanted to go into a booth with money blowing all around and try to catch as much as I could, but I was grinning pretty big when I was in there!