Paz en La Paz

We’re just two weeks into our trip now but we’ve covered more than 1,450 miles (much more than the 1200 km I’d randomly guessed the other day) since leaving San Francisco.

Some of the drive through Baja has been quite picturesque, very much like parts of Nevada that we drove through this summer.

Have I mentioned how hot it is? It is. Really. Hot. We were so excited for cloudy weather the other day that we went to the beach (and both got sunburned). There was a large, extended family frolicking in the water beside us. I like these two guys sitting in chairs, fully clothed, chest-deep in the water.

Juan mentioned we’ve been dealing with some weather…like hurricane dregs of rain and oh, a small earthquake. It’s cooling things down here, at least in the 2-3 hours directly after the rain. It also means that we’re laying low these past few days, waiting out the rain and enjoying some afternoon naps in an air-conditioned hotel. Although the rain and cooling makes La Paz so much more bearable, the city streets don’t drain too well here.

We also met up with The Dangerz, a.k.a. Bryan and Jen and Karma the Wonderdog. They are truly a delightful trio, and it was inspirational to see how in love they are with each other, even after two months on the road–enough to drive a lot of couples insane. It was interesting to hear about how they are adapting to van life, which has distinct challenges for everyone. Also, Karma the Wonderdog really lives up to her name. Juan and I were amazed at how well-behaved she is, especially after our own little pup has somehow become quite the troublemaker in the past few days, apparently living out his dream of being a scruffy junkyard scavenger.

After meeting The Dangerz, I realize I haven’t had a conversation with anyone in English since Tijuana about ten days ago. Juan doesn’t count because we basically communicate in non-verbal ways, like by grunting, pointing, and sending each other links to articles that, in turn, express complicated ideas for us. The other night we got into a heated conversation with a man at a bar on the Malecon–the boardwalk–and it basically took me an hour to think about how to express a single, complex thought in Spanish. In this case, however, the lag might have been a good thing, as I had some harsh words for him.

Bryan last night was saying that his biggest fear is running dry and having to return to Life As Usual and just hating it all the more for having experienced the freedom of the road. That got me thinking about what I fear, and I think my fears, in general, are a lot more quotidian, like being kidnapped and tortured. In a more spiritual sense, I suppose I fear that I will do all of this travelling and have nothing to show for it. Obviously this trip isn’t going to make us any money, but I guess I don’t want to spend all this time travelling and not come out somehow better for it. This seems to be a given. I don’t think it’s possible to travel for a year and not learn something about the world, about yourself, about your partner, and how it all fits together. So maybe I don’t fear anything at all–or maybe I’m not being completely honest with myself. I know that I need to feel productive somehow, and that this blog is one small way to produce that Type A feeling of achievement that I need.

And on that note, here is a fake palm-tree-cell-tower in Loreto.