First things first: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, POPS!
I don’t know how old my dad is today, but it doesn’t matter because he is as much as an intrepid traveller and photographer today as he has ever been. My parents are the reason why I love to travel (and take photos) so much and can undertake a trip like this with such confidence. They took me and my two brothers everywhere with them and always tried to impress upon us the value of going new places and learning new things, even when we were ungrateful, whiny teenagers who just wanted to sit at home and play video games and talk on the phone. Really, it’s thanks to them that I’m living out of a van. (wink, wink) So happy birthday, Dad! Hope to see you and Mom soon, somewhere exciting and new.
So, we’ve slowed considerably, covering just 100 miles in the past week or so. We’ve just arrived in a hotel after five nights of camping on the beach and in the streets of La Paz. Arriving in Cabo San Lucas was sort of like driving into Las Vegas after spending days on Route 66 this summer. We tried to leave La Paz Friday night, but couldn’t because the Hurricane Miriam and Norman-inspired rains flooded all the roads. All the dry river beds became full-on rios that made even the major arteries and their detours impassable.
Everyone says it’s the most rain the area has had in four years. I think it’s me, the Rainmaker. Back in April I visited St. George, Utah, with my friend Shannon and it rained. She visits family there a lot and says she’s never seen it rain. But I have experienced rain and even floods everywhere: New Orleans, Charleston, Cusco, Buenos Aires. I even saw rain in the Atacama Desert, the driest place in the world. So listen up: if you are experiencing drought, send me a ticket and I’ll bring the rains with me. We stridently avoided Iowa this summer, but maybe we should have stopped, for the sake of the crops.
Anyhow. Our Friday was made infinitely better by the somewhat magical appearance of The Dangerz that evening, and even the heavy rains couldn’t kill our night spirits. The next morning–or afternoon, rather, after revisiting some mechanical problems, we finally made it out of La Paz back to the cooler Pacific Coast.
We camped two nights on a small access road to Cerritos beach, just a few kilometers down Highway 1, wedged between the fancy Cerritos Surf Colony and the Cerritos beach bar. Even though there were no bathrooms and it was by far the most crowded beach we’ve been to, the low bug factor and nice breezes made for the best two nights of sleep I’ve had thus far.
We were able to snag some shade and some good reading time under the shade of the Surf Colony’s palapas. This was the relaxing beach time we’ve been looking for. And each morning, hundreds of butterflies passed by, heading in the opposite direction than us–north.
We spent the third night at an unmarked beach probably two kilometers up the road, on a bluff overlooking the ocean.
Juan took time-lapse photos, and even caught some nighttime guests on camera, some random guys who parked suspiciously close to us on that deserted stretch and made it hard for us to sleep. The next day, we headed into Todos Santos to meet up with Kellee and Jamie and their sweet pup Reina, who are on some Tranquilo Adventures of their own, spending a year driving from San Diego to Panama. We met them for an overpriced lunch (sorry guys!) in town and then made dinner at their cute rental off the beaten path in Las Tunas.
They’re another amazing couple who has put way more planning into this adventure than we have, which is so inspiring and humbling. I feel like such a bumbler compared to a lot of these travellers!
And now we’ve lost electricity (but, strangely, not our wireless connection) so I’m going to leave you with this.
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