Overland Adventure Excursions

We decided to head to the beach again to hang out for a couple of days. We headed to El Rosarito on Highway 1. This is a very narrow and bumpy road that crosses into some non forested mountains and followed the coast about 6 miles inland to a point where Highway 1 turns east and inland. We stopped for some diesel along the way and Kathy found a bunch of puppies that were loving the attention.

At el Rosarito, the map guidance took us to the church below town. Apparently that was the El Rosarito that I had mapped to. We checked iOverlander and Kathy found a nice camp at the lighthouse at the point of a small bay. We turned southwest and drove about 10 miles on a pretty good dirt road to the point. We easily found a place to camp on the small bluff and took a tour of the beach.

We camped here for two nights and I got a few things done with the house back home. We have some renters now and are working through the paperwork. We love our home, but since it is not 100% paid off, letting it sit is not a good fiscal choice. God has been good to us so we are trusting things will all work out for the best. I had a heck of a time getting the mail to work on my computer today. I had not completed setting it up after I got it, and it would not pull from the exchange server. And in the process the browsers decided to enjoy Mexico as well and flipped to Spanish, which complicated things a bit more. Eventually I figured it all out through brute force and was able to organize things a bit more. I love the iPhone and iPad but doing blogs on them and managing files and mail is not as easy as it is on a computer. I am still working out kinks with the VPN but things are better now.

I was planning on working on my app a bit more, but with all the computer troubles this morning, my patience and concentration are off. So I walked the beach, listened and watched the waves, and relaxed during the afternoon. It is about 75 degrees here and in the sun it feels hot, yet in the shade feels cold. Terrible predicament, LOL. We collected some mussels here and cooked them after watching some locals and doing a bit of research on how to collect, clean, and cook them. They cooked well, but both of us did not really like the texture. It probably needed more butter and garlic in the broth. But the puppies felt they hit the jackpot. I also cooked the last bit of salmon we had and gave that to the pups. Zuzu is getting a bit thin, although she seems to eat several times a day and is regular on the other parts. Maybe a little rice and fish will fatten her up a bit.

The nights here are beautiful. No light pollution at all and the stars are so bright and abundant. It is so different, we have a hard time finding the Big and Little Dippers. It makes me think of the millenia before us that humans gazed up at the stars and memorized and visualized space, being so bright back then. We all miss this when living in the big cities. Yeah, terrible thing, LOL

We will be heading out early and moving south. I had planned to go to Bahia de Los Angeles, but after looking at the local campgrounds and hotels and reviews in the area, we decided to just head to Guerrero Negro. We found a nice hotel for the next two nights for about $60 per night. Time for some deep cleaning, showers, laundry, etc. I am coming up on 80K in the truck, so I need to look for an oil filter and oil. I forgot to get those before I left, so I am hoping the Autozone there will have what I need.

We walked around Ensenada and found a really cool street just east of the harbor. The shops were nice, the restaurants were nice, and the whole thing looked great. We enjoyed looking in several shops and at the painted buildings. We decided we did not want to stay in the parking lot another night and looked at the guide to see if there was something nearby. There was a place called La Bufadora (the Blowhole) about 20 miles out, so we set off. We stopped for fuel, found a Sam’s club and stopped to look around, and then headed out of town.

The road was narrow and winding and we watched a overfilled dump truck wobble several cars ahead of us. I kept thinking it would dump some of the dirt on the steep corners, but it never did. La Bufadora was at the end of a long narrow street and we were directed to a parking spot where the guy wanted $5. We went ahead and paid and parked Howie. I almost killed poor Maggie as she is half blind and as I was locking the door she wandered off a 3 foot drop into some grass. Poor thing.

La Bufadora was a bit dramatic when the waves came in. I guess it is best at high tide and we were there nearer to low tide. The tides here are a bit smaller than in San Felipe. They go up and down 2 meters compared to 5-6. But the blowhole did its thing and Kathy got some great pictures.

We headed back and Kathy got some of her shopping fix in along the street. I got to talking to one of the owners and I asked about the low traffic on a Monday. He said the big days are Cruise Ship days, which this week are Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday. He said most shops pay their folks $10 per day plus commissions. So with no sales, it’s only $10. And he said that lunch in the area for locals is about $7, so things are pretty tight. Seems that way everywhere.

We were pushing daylight again so we headed back up the hill to find a camp spot. There was one up the road on a bluff for $200MXN, and we pulled in and got the beast level. I put the pegs down on the rear since getting it level made it a bit wobbly, and I was unsure of the wind overnight. I was starving and we got right to dinner and had grilled ham and cheese and some salad for dinner. Sun sets so early here, around 4:45PM and I watched the sunset until it got cold. Quiet spot and other than a few lights from the houses, there is little light pollution and the stars are bright.

We are headed down the pacific coast today and are not sure where we will end up. We will probably drive 2-3 hours and find a spot. We are headed towards Guerrero Negro, which is about 8-9 hours from here (slow roads at 40-50MPH). There should be tons of wonderful places along the way to camp.

Sunday morning in San Felipe was beautiful. There was no breeze at all and the ocean was smooth and had a mirror surface. I walked the dogs southward on the beach and took a look at the marina. It is not really set up for large boats and probably could use a good dredge. There are some hotels along the way there that apparently were damaged in the Hurricane several years ago and look to be condemned. The pups and I took a look around at an old restaurant and bar that may or may not be in the process of rebuilt.

We packed up the camp and set off to drain the tanks in Howie and fill up with water. Bozo had texted me and stopped by to make sure we were going to breakfast at Fat Boy’s. They have a 40 Peso special on Sundays, so Kathy got the ham and cheese quesadilla and I got the huevos rancheros. Both were great and for $2.50, a great deal. Bozo bought our breakfast and we all said our good byes and we headed off to Ensenada.

We arrived at the Walmart looking for the pods and Dr. Pepper. Still no dice, but we picked up some butter, oreos, and chex cereal. Kathy found a spot near the marina to set up camp for the night. We easily found it and then took the pups for a walk on the Malecón. There were tons of people and lots of bands and both the pups were a bit nervous. We found a side street, in front of the fish market, to diverge to a less populated area. They were much more content on the walk back to the truck.

We got to watch the sunset over the harbor and settled in for the night. And then the rice rockets and muscle cars showed up. Apparently on Sunday night this is their spot to compare appendages with loud stereos, engine revving, and general noise. It settled down at about 9 and the last were done at 10 when the police showed up and encouraged them to all leave.

We met a German couple next to us that are also traveling the Pan American highway, Markus and Yasmine. They crossed at Mexicali and have been in here for a few days. They are headed to San Felipe today and down Baja for the next three weeks, then crossing into central Mexico for 3 more weeks. They plan to be in Ushuaia around December of next year and then shipping back from Montevideo. They came to North America in Halifax and traveled across Canada to Alaska, up the Dempster, and then down through Glacier, Badlands, and all the national parks in the west. They are on instagram at @mayaexplorers.

We are deciding what to do today in Ensenada or we may try and get our TIP for the truck. Another exciting day on the road.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1o8qhDFvcB4FDB0p7liZqBaBsSBbO-Fg&ehbc=2E312F

We decided on staying a couple more days here because Jamie Jo and her brother were playing at a local place and we heard he is an amazing violin player and her voice is great and powerful. We also found a groomer for Maggie and had an appointment for Friday morning. We set off and dropped her off and then headed back in to town to see if we could find a couple of things that we are getting low or out of. One is Dr Pepper Zero, and so far finding Dr Pepper at all has been difficult. The other are pods for the baño in the camper.

And we ended up finding neither, but did find the local market, which turns out to be a Walmart corner market. I also stopped by the local Autozone to see if I can get the diesel additive that has helped with the mileage and the DPF filter. And again, no. So we headed out to get the Maggers.

I had asked for her cut to be light since it is a bit colder here and they did what I asked. The cut is not as cute as she normally gets at The Animal Clipper in Mesa, but at least her hair is out of her eyes, her feet are no longer shaggy, and her butt is bald. We chuckled about her bare behind. But it works and was only $30.

We headed back in to town and stopped by a couple of interesting shops that turned out to not be so interesting. Kathy saw three little puppies in the street and we circled back to check on them. They had made it back in to some yard and were no longer in danger. They will probably end up at the rescue at some point. Headed back to the park, we passed Fat Boys and saw Bozo and a crowd so we stopped there. Kathy found a shop with a shirt she liked and we stayed at the restaurant for lunch. They have great sandwiches. Plus a dart tournament was going on and we watched and laughed and met some more expats and Canadians.

After lunch we headed back to camp, paid for a couple more nights, dumped the grey and black water tanks, and then settled in to camp. Unfortunately the wind the day before snapped a pole on our screen shelter and it is on its way out. We will drag it along for a while, but are disappointed in the Velor brand, considering the wind was only about 10-15 MPH and the tent was properly staked with ropes. Oh well.

Saturday morning I actually got a lot of things done. I managed to get a couple of posts here updated and set up a mail service for us. Did you know you can do an online notary? I did not. It cost $25, but a notary from Texas helped me and I got some forms signed and sent off for the mail collection service. We will have a mailbox in Florida for the time being, and they receive, scan, and can toss junk mail and shred items we have looked at. They also will forward any mail or package to us wherever we are (although that would be costly to another country). But at least we keep our official address in AZ, but all mail is sent to the mail service and we can manage it online there.

Saturday there was an off-road race ending in San Felipe and we met the locals at the hangout and then moved to the edge of the camp. We got to see several of the trophy trucks, bugs, and side-by-sides race to the finish. We left at sundown due to the cold and that we were supposed to see Jamie Jo play at the Italian place. Bozo drove us there, but ended up at Alfredo’s restaurant (a very nice upscale restaurant) and we had some clams and the famous Alfredo pasta… There was a saxophone player playing, but no Jamie… At 6 I asked Kathy to look up the restaurant she was supposed to play at, and we found out Bozo took us to the wrong place. We raced there and managed to see the last 90 minutes. She was great, her brother was good, and we got to dance a couple of songs. It was really nice.

After the show we ended up at Al’s again and joked around with the Bartender/owner. Pretty cool guy. He played dice with Bozo again and had Bozo pay up his tab from the other night when we drove him home. And we got a sticker from his place to put on Howie.

We are loving this place. The local transplants are amazingly friendly and welcoming and the locals are so nice. We headed down to the meeting Wednesday after putzing around the beach and walking the pups. We spent some time walking through each street to look at the cute little houses and RV conversions that make up Camp de Pesca. We met a couple of other folks at the gathering (Pam and Rob) at the meeting and leaned much more about the camp. There are a lot of full timers and part timers here that really enjoy this town and have added a bunch to the community. One group, Crystal, here dad are here to help with taking care of him after the Canadian social system failed them. Crystal’s mom is here and helps out a bit, but their story is heart felt and really makes us feel grateful.

The group at the meeting today was large, probably 8 or more, and they cannot say anything negative about the place and on many occasions, invited us to move here. The sun started to set behind the buildings, and it grew colder, and the “meeting” was adjourned. Bozo asked if we wanted to get dinner and Kathy mentioned she wanted to try some of the Pizza at Fat Boys. So off we went in his shaggin’ wagon.

We met Jamie Jo and her mom there just by chance. We were discussing a cool sign that we had seen on a house; “be aware of the energy that you bring to this house”, and Jamie Jo piped up and said “that’s my place”. And from there the night took off. Jamie Jo is a recent transplant here from Oregon, but her mom has been here for 40 years, and here parents were here before that. Jamie Jo works at a dog rescue place (Kathy was all in at this point) and told us of how the dog mission has reduced the number of dogs here by taking them to get spayed and neutered, and in many cases getting them adopted out; all the way up to Oregon. Even the dogs on the street are taken care of by this non-profit. It turned out the center has a dog-walking day on Thursdays where you can come and volunteer to walk the pups (again, Kathy was ll in). They also told us of the great music scene in San Felipe and that Jamie and her brother, a violinist, will be playing Saturday night. They convinced us to stay for the event, which also includes a Christmas Parade in the town. Her brother is a great musician and has a free school for kids here as well as up near Ensenada. Wow, this place.

The pizza was good at Fat Boys, and after we all finished chatting, Bozo took us over to Al’s bar, where they were supposed to be doing Karaoke. It turns out they were not, but we had a couple of drinks anyway. Bozo played a dice game with the bartender, where high hand picks the tequila and the low hand pays. Bozo lost I think three times. Needless to say, I drove the shaggin’ wagon and Bozo and Kathy back to the camp that night.

Thursday was a big day for Kathy, though. We packed up Howie and headed in to town to volunteer at the dog rescue. TBH, it was really fun out there and the dogs are at every stage of leash training. We all got a good work out of arms and shoulders, but the pups were really happy to get out of the kennels and walk the desert. We met a couple of other cool people that live in RV parks on the other side of the mountain. Tom and Sarah. Tom bought a place with a 5th wheel, a garage, an outdoor kitchen, and a shady area as well as a place for his travel trailer. He is from Illinois and moved here about 8 years ago. Sarah has a couple of places here; one in town and another south of town. I asked him the process of purchasing and he said it was pretty easy. You lease the spot from the camp owner, but everything above is yours.

Well, I wanted to check out the other side of the mountain; which amounts to about a 10 mile drive in to town. It’s a bit remote out there, but again, another set of communities like Club de Pesca, all with their own flavor. Unfortunately, when we got back to camp, Kathy noted the internet was not working. I knew I hit a tree but didn’t think much of it, but sure enough, the Starlink mount was broken off and the dish was no longer there.. so we mounted Howie back up and headed to the scene. Fortunately, I found it, again (as this is the second time I did this on this trip) and this time it was not broken. I will construct a mount for it soon so that will not happen again.

We managed to get groceries at the store, find a place to get Maggie her haircut, and drained the grey and black water tanks on the camper on the way back home. And we still made the meeting and met a new local, Louis, who is newer here, but loving the camp and its people. We talked a bit about healthcare and how to accomplish this while living here. Louis still has American insurance and goes back and forth to Yuma when needed. Bozo uses local folks, but is on a pension from Canada, and recommended a place for us to assist with billing.

And thinking of the things I am not getting done, I need to get on those. We still need to set up a mail box forwarding service, I still have to install the rear view camera/mirror, and I started on my app but have not made much progress on that. So I am going to post some photos here and publish this.

https://www.overlandadventureexcursions.com/photos-albums/nggallery/album/20251204-san-felipe

We rolled in to San Felipe, a beachside town on the northwestern coast of the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). We looked on iOverlander to find some camp spots and decided on one close to the Malecón (boardwalk, sea wall, prominade) called Club de Pesca. The cost for the hookup was $45 per night by the ocean but the dry camping was $25 per night. We found a nice spot on the beach in the dry camp area and paid for 4 nights. They offered US or MEX pesos but the rate for 500 pesos was $29, so we paid US cash.

The temperature in this area varies from low 50’s to low 70’s this time of year and the beach is perfect for just hanging out. We walked down to the Malecón to do a little shopping and have some snacks. The beach is very clean and area is pretty nice; a lot nicer than the Puerto Peñaso area, and much less congested. Walking is just about a mile and very accessible. The shops are all about the same with the typical trinkets, shirts, sweaters, etc. that are found in Mexico tourist areas and the restaurants and bars are pretty large due to the massive amounts of people that converge here during the spring and summer.

We had some shrimp tacos and some beverages at a nice little place and then walked back on the opposite block. We passed several neat looking places and then cut back to the beach. When we got to our campsite, we stopped by the little bar, which is really a store, to see what was going on. We met two local transplants, Bozo and Fred, who invited us to hang out and chat. Fred has been coming here for 30 years and Bozo, 12 years, and both live here semi permanently. Both are from Canada, BC and Alberta, as are quite a lot of the folks down here. They invited us back to their daily “meeting” from 1-3:30PM. Bozo gave us a ride back to our camper and a quick tour of the campground. There are several places to purchase here and he quickly pointed them out. A lot of activity for our Monday.

On Tuesday, we enjoyed the beach, explored the campground, and just basically hung out. We did not want to intrude on the meeting, so we headed down around 2:45 to meet with the group. It turned out that the meeting had adjourned early and Bozo was driving out. He stopped and we chatted and he said he was going to a local place and asked us if we wanted to ride along. So we ended up at Fat Boys, on the corner of where everything in San Felipe happens.

Fat Boys is a local bar/pizza/hamburger joint owned by an American transplant. He is doing good business and has lots of “locals” that congregate here. Bozo seems to know everyone. We had several beers (I think 6) on top of the 3-4 consumed at the meeting and Kathy enjoyed a fresh margarita. We BS’d for a couple of hours, talked with a group that was hanging at the bar, and then Bozo was kind enough to bring us back to our camp.

What a neat little community. We feel so welcomed and at home here.