The Sixth Month Landmark, La Paz, Baja California Sur

Rick's nightly concoction...tonight vegetable soup.

Emergency numbers posted at Las Palmas hotel, La Paz - is Domino's Pizza on your emergency number list?

Ciudad Constitucion RV campground, not bad! Worth stopping early!

Afternoon snack break and water bag fill-up at a roadside restaurant, traveling throuth the Gigante Range of Baja Sur.

Sunset at Juncalito, a short ride out of Loreto.

The Sunday market in Loreto.

Jan 15 - our 6 month travel anniversary
6 months past, 6 months ahead

A chance meeting with travel friends led to our rental of a seaside apartment in La Paz for one week.
Two bedrooms, a rooftop terrace with a grill and sunset views over the Sea of Cortez,
A kind and efficient landlady, travel friends Debra and Pacifica living next door
Minutes from fish, carne asado and adobada tacos.

The Malecon, the seaside city walk just out the doorstep.
What a place to regroup, firm up plans and play house!


Contents of bicycle food bags for our family of five's several days continuous cycle travel/wild camping through Baja deserts, hot days, no refridgeration:

breakfasts: oatmeal with raisins, cream of wheat with honey, hard boiled eggs
snacks: fruit bars, oranges and dates, peanuts in the shell
lunches: bread rolls, peanut butter and marmelade on flour tortillas, carrots, avocados and chips, cheese and canned tuna
dinners:
1)basic dry soup mix with three potatoes, two zucchini, two carrots, an onion several tomatoes and a poblano pepper
2) machaca (dried, dehydrated shredded meat) a can of beans, chopped poblano pepper, onion inside flour tortillas with fresh chopped tomatoes, jalepenos, cheese
3) pasta, two small boxes tomato sauce, chayote (a squash type vegetable that travels well in heat), an onion

Locate and tote 19 liters of water for 24 hour period.

That's a lot of weight! No wonder the blue waters of La Paz looked so amazing as we crested the hill to this capital of Baja California Sur.

And the plan ahead - we'll save South America for a future year of travel. This year we'll continue our travel through Mexico by flying from La Paz, Baja Sur to Mexico City. From there we'll cycle to the Gulf of Mexico and head north through the mainland. We'll re-enter the States in Texas and cycle with the destination of Minnesota, canoe travel in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, train travel to White Fish, Montana and cycle home to Calgary in time for school to start.

Our travel is guided by our senses. Sunshine, roads, the Earth and the friends and experiences we encounter along the way.

Onwards To The Sea of Cortez

Markos loses his first tooth!

Tanya, observations from the window of Linda's guest RV trailer, Loreto
a.m.: I glance up from breakfast to see a pick up drive by, a long legged dog rides a top a large water tank in the back
p.m., view out the same window: on a cement veranda two kids play ball while their older brother plays an 80's style stand up video game

Learning about culture by observation - it's fun.

Tarn's journal:
Dec 30 Today we saw cave paintings.
Jan 2 Today we got lost on a dusty road but it ended up ok.

Markos' journal:
Dec 30 Today we had pancakes for breakfast and we had syrup on the pancakes and it was very good. After breakfast we went on a mule trip and a tree brushed my hat off and dad picked my hat off the floor and the mules kept walking. I had a white mule and Sampson had a brown one. Tarn had a brown one too.
Jan 1 Today was a short day. We biked up a hill then we went down a hill then it was flat into the town. Mom bought two Tecate beers, then we went to a tube fixing place and we tried to fix our ball but we couldn't. We went down a dirt road to an RV Park but mom didn't like it so we went somewhere else.
Jan 2 Yesterday we had oatmeal with prunes. After breakfast we started to pack up. Then a person offered us to use their kayak and first Sampson and I went in it. Then Sampson and Tarn and I went in it. Then I went in it by myself. Then Sampson went in it by himself. When we were done we went.

Sampson's journal:
Jan 5 Today we woke up and got dressed while Kathy (we were the guests of Chuck and Kathy at Playa Santispac) was making pancakes for breakfast. After breakfast we went kayaking in the ocean and Dad and Tarn shared a kayak and Markos and I had our own. We paddled all the way to the sandy beach and back. Then we went on a boat ride to go to the islands. Later we had quiet time. After quiet time Kathy took us to the beach and mom and dad went sailing.
Jan 6 Today we woke up and Kathy made eggs and bacon for breakfast. After breakfast we took a walk up a mountain and by the beach and picked up trash. Then we did our math while Dad made a picnic lunch for the beach. At the beach we made sandcastles and played frisbee and had a picnic lunch. Then we walked home and I carried a big piece of rock with a starfish, seaweed, a pearl oyster and coral. Then we went home and had carne asada for dinner.
Jan 8. Today we woke up and Dad made cream of wheat for breakfast. After breakfast we fed the seagulls corn tortillas and there was lots of them. The we packed up and went. Later we had lunch at a beach called "Buenaventura". We had lunch under a little palapa and after lunch Dad and I went to the restaurant and got some cervesas and we met a girl we could stay at with in Loreto that had four dogs, three ducks, two parakeets, two desert tortoises and one cockatoo. Then we rode to a sandy beach and camped out there. We made lots of sand castles.
Jan 9 Today we woke up and had oatmeal for breakfast. After breakfast Dad packed up while we did school. Later we biked for a bit and then we had a break. An hour later we had peanut butter and jelly tortillas for lunch and apple. After lunch we biked 40 km and then asked for some water at a restaurant and they filled up our water bag. Not much after that. We found a dirt road and we went down it and camped and we played with Tarn's trucks.