Patricia Harrelson

Today is our last day under the influence of pueblo magico!

Yesterday was our biggest adventure yet as we headed out on the road to La Paz, a road under construction and pretty messy. The last 20+ km turn into a sweet four lane highway, a taste of something to come, but the section right out of Todos Santos is challenging right now to say the least.

The trip was worth it though. We chose to go to Playa Pichilingua, a beach north of La Paz on the Sea of Cortez. We got a late start and only had a couple of hours to play in the water because we planned to get back before nightfall. One reason for the late start was a quick lunch stop where Cindy had not one but two disappointing grilled cheese sandwich orders (she gave the first to me).

But our trip to the beach was wonderful! We accidentally parked ourselves on the family beach as opposed to the turista beach, but it was perfect. Little kids played in the water all around us and the boys rolled gleefully in the sand until they were covered in grit (ick) and then raced to the water. A cluster of little girls giggled as Cindy VERY slowly entered the water loudly exclaiming Ay yi yi! Chihauhau! over and over! After enjoying the water, we spent about 10 minutes in the hot sun but mostly sat beneath our umbrella listening to our audio-books and watching the families at play.

After several hours, Cindy was craving a dessert. She’d made friends with the guy at the nearby restaurant (How does she do it? Talk to people when she knows only a couple words of Spanish!) She ordered fresa y creme after I had talked her into flan which was on the menu but upon ordering not available. “Nothing can go wrong with that, right?” she asked. Well, actually YES! The fresas were frozen and the creme was clotted rather than whipped. Another sad moment in Cindy’s food adventures in Mexico.

When we left the beach, we drove past what Cindy thought was a small market selling tee-shirts. She pulled over and trotted down to see if they had one she liked. It turned out the shirts were some guy’s laundry drying. He was willing to sell her a shirt which would have made a unique souvenir, but she declined and retreated red-faced. This gal keeps me forever amused!

It wasn’t long before I was laughing again as Highway 11 dumped us onto a flashy waterfront road in La Paz. First, Cindy spotted a Thrifty drugstore advertising ice cream and then APPLEBEES. Her dessert woes were over! We made our way into Applebees crusted with salt and sand (Everyone else was clearly dressed for dinner). Cindy ordered the Triple Chocolate Lava Cake–her favorite.

Meanwhile, I asked the waitperson to help me read the map. He brought two spoons and I helped Cindy eat her dessert, and we were soon on our way again. The young man’s directions were good to a point, but there are almost no signs to help travelers in Mexico, and we missed the 2nd jog to Highway 1. Stopping for dessert and getting lost meant there was no way we would get home before dark, especially since we were still in need of gas. At the gas station, the attendant pointed out that we had no gas cap. He sold us one for 50 pesos and told me that the turn off to Todos Santos was 22 KM ahead.

OK, so my anxiety was high especially since I always drive at night because of Cindy’s horrible night vision. She, however, is the authorized driver of the rental car, so we put all our efforts into team work to make it across the rugged road construction area in the dark: her hands on the wheel and my eyes on the road.

We made it home to our DARK house where I was dispatched to enter, turn on ALL the lights, and conduct a quick bug sighting. Sure enough there was big spider crawling across the great room. I put a dust pan in his path and he conveniently crawled right on so I could take him outdoors.

That was our big adventure in Mexico~

Pictured below:
PH blogging at D’licias;
The half built house on the lot next to C&A’s. We learned that taxes are lower if there is building on a lot EVEN if it is not finished which is why there are so many partially constructed places;
CD under an umbrella on the gorgeous Playa Pichilingua;
CD at Applebees;
This morning’s sunrise over Sierra de la Laguna (no Bonnie, Cindy was not up to witness this rising).

Tomorrow we begin our journey back to Tuolumne County.