Mexico

We had a wonderful time despite some travel challenges. When we checked in for our flight in Portland we were informed that all flights to Cabo had been canceled and it was likely that our Loreto flight would be canceled. Not wanting to travel for nothing, I said we should cancel, but D said we should persist and thankfully so! Our flight was not only not canceled, but it got in on time and with no issues. As usual, you can click on the pictures if you want to see a larger version. I particularly like the dolphin and pelican ones enlarged.

The Storm

• We were mostly unaffected by the storm, though it did force us to stay in our casa for most of our first full day.
  
• We did experience water outages in our casa, but were somewhat prepared for this given we'd been told to fill the bathtub on the storm preparation instructions.
  
• Within a couple hours after we arrived, we hooked up with our sales guy - who happens to be living down there now - and another couple we know who bought the same weekend we did and headed into town to pick up dinner to take back to the casas, as well as grab some groceries since we weren't sure if we'd be able to get back into town the next day.
  
• We had to sleep in two twin beds since the bedroom with the king had all the patio furniture jammed into it to prevent it blowing all over the place during the storm. So romantic!
  
• Our first full day was spent mostly in our casa reading and playing Scrabble. It was actually quite nice.
  
• It didn't seem to be too bad of a storm, but I realized that it did have some powerful waves when we were in Loreto the next evening and saw the giant rocks the waves had carried up onto the road running parallel to the sea. Some of the waves were still crashing pretty high at that point, too.
  

The Fun

• Once the storm cleared, we set about to set ourselves up for some activities. The first was laying by the pool playing Scrabble and reading. There weren't many people there, so we got an excellent spot by the pool under a cabana thingy (not sure what those are called). Just the kind of relaxing activities to kick off a good trip.
My inventive Scrabble tile holder

The beach

• We also booked a boat trip to Coronado Island where there is a white sand beach. It was so cool. First, we had the beach almost to ourselves (there was one other boat there, but the two people on that boat didn't bother us). Second, on the way out there, we came upon a school of dolphins. It being Mexico and all, there are apparently no rules for the boat drivers to not aim their boats straight at the school after spotting it and giving you up close experience. I felt a bit like we were harassing them, but D pointed out when we went faster they would kind of sidle on up to the front and then jump out front. They seemed to be having fun and no dolphins where hurt, so all is well. Third, we saw sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks and saw one swimming around in the water. Fourth, I discovered my new favorite bird: the pelican. When our boat pulled onto the beach, the pelicans started to surround our boat. They flew in and landed surrounding the boat and approached in a manner similar to dogs. It was fascinating to watch. Finally, there's the beach itself. So isolated and beautiful. Thankfully, we had a gay Swiss couple on the boat with us and they both spoke fluent Spanish, so communicating with the boat driver was much easier. We snorkeled around the island, ate lunch, read our books, and generally just enjoyed the atmosphere.
  
  Dolphin jumping with Loreto Bay in the background.
  
  I love pelicans!
  
• Our final major installment of fun could have turned out to be anything but. Fortuantely, all ended well. We decided to rent a car and head up to Mulegé to see some white sand beaches near there and get to know the roads and the area outside of Loreto. Mulegé is 133 km north of Loreto. When D picked up the rental car that morning, the tank was only 5/8th full. We first headed out south of Loreto first to see Puerto Escondido, stopped for brunch, then headed north. I didn't think to ask D about our gas level and he forgot we didn't have a full tank. About 100 km into our trip, we realize that our gas tank is not exactly brimming. Keep in mind this is the baja peninsula in September. It is hot. And deserted for the most part. There are other cars on the road occasionally, but not a lot of them, and we don't speak the language (we *really* need to rectify that soon). Anyway, we figure we'll be fine once we get to Mulegé we'll get gas and then turn around. However, we calculated our mileage wrong since we'd done that little trip to Puerto Escondido in the morning. We thought we'd gone further than we had. So when Mulegé hadn't shown up and we kept saying, "OK, just over the next hill and then we turn around," we finally decided we couldn't risk going further. What if we'd missed it somehow? What if we didn't actually understand where it was located? Oh, by the way, we also headed out in this foreign country with no map. Nice. And no food. Very nice. We were at least sensible enough to bring a gallon of water and toilet paper. Anyway, we turned around and headed back with a quarter of a tank of gas. Ugh. First, we shut off the air conditioner and rolled down the windows. There is absolutely no way you could do it with the windows up if you have no air conditioning. We did this for about a half hour before D mentioned we saw this on Mythbusters. We remembered that unless you're going very slowly, it is actually better gas mileage with the windows up and the air on than with the windows down and no air. Up the windows went, thankfully. We didn't stop at any of the sights we'd wanted to on the way back due to stress and worry about gas levels. It was a long drive back and the gas light went on about 20 km outside of Loreto. We coasted into the gas station on what I assume to be fumes. Anyway, lesson learned: always gas up, always bring a map, always bring some food, always tell people when you are leaving and when you expect to return (people had a general idea what we were doing for the day, but nothing solid), always bring water, and always bring sunblock.
  

The Food

• All of our dinners were spent with our sales guy and/or another couple we knew. It was so nice to know people down there.
  
• Introducing ... Super Burro! It's a brilliant outdoor restaurant with plastic tables, a dirt floor, and is insanely hot because they're cooking near you and it has no air conditioning due to the lack of a roof. It was awesome! Great food, cheap prices. I loved it. Turns out, I love a good dive restaurant if the food is good. I had carne asada tacos and D had the Super Dankey. Yes, "dankey." Gotta love typos in translation. I can't remember the name of the dish the three of us shared, but it was basically a form of a baked potato with cream, butter, mushrooms, cheese, and meat. It was a heart attack waiting to happen. Something you can have once or twice a year at most, but damn it! Wow. That's all there is to say about that.
  
• Vista al Mar. We have hired an inspection company to help with monitoring our house construction. Our first meeting with them yielded excellent results because one of the guys recommended Vista al Mar. It's a little fishing shack south of Loreto Bay. There's nothing else around - just this shack. It doesn't even look like a restaurant. We pulled up and were the first ones there for the day. It is on the beach with plastic tables and sand for the floor and an awesome view. I ordered scallops with garlic butter and got this massive plate of perfectly cooked scallops. Part of me hesitated to order that because I know what bad scallops can do to a person, but I lived on the edge and had no issues. Delicious! And cheap.

Vista al Mar Damn Crackberry - it even works at Vista al Mar!

• Mitas. This was a nice little restaurant in the heart of Loreto. There was a guy placing acoustic guitar which normally I would be annoyed by, but he was very good and it added to the ambiance instead of suffocating it as music often does. The prices were very reasonable, the service was friendly, and the chef came out to see how things were. We'll definitely be heading back.
  
• Mediterranio. We ate here because it was the only place open that evening due to the storm. The food was good, but not worth the expensive-even-in-America prices we paid. Ah well, at least they were open.
  

Observations

• One cultural difference I find it difficult to deal with is the littering. I know the US used to be like this and that it just takes the country's economic wealth to reach a certain point to where an issue like litter comes to the forefront, but it's a noticeable fact of life down there. There is litter everywhere. No one seems to believe in throwing things in a trash can. It's so sad because it would look so much better without litter everywhere.
  
• You don't really appreciate road kill clean up crews until you drive past the same dead cow several times. It had been there for weeks, apparently. I was touched to see some local pull his truck over and put stones all over the carcass since I'm sure he was doing it as a service to the community, not out of job duty.
  
• I have never been thankful for nicely paved roads, but driving around Loreto made me appreciate how stressful having messed up roads can be. We got back to smooth going Portland and it was a good feeling
• Nothing upset me down there. Our water is out? No problem, I'll just use the water from the tub and a jug to shower off. The milk we bought at the grocery store had gone off? No problem, I'll just have a sandwich. The toilet isn't working on the main floor? No problem, there's one upstairs. There are beer cans strewn about our viewing tower? No problem, I guess the workers think ours is the best! It's nice to experience life as a laid back person. If I can eventually capture this magical power and bring it back to the States with me, this house will be worth every cent. If not, the house is still worth it!

I'll post a link to the picture albums for this trip, soon. One will be for vacation photos, the other for photos of our house under construction.