January 7 - 10 Cross the Border and Journey to Costa Esmerelda

On the 7th we left Pharr, Texas to cross the border into the town of Reynoso (not exactly known for it's safety).  The whole border crossing was an adventure all by itself.  The truck and camper had to go under a big x-ray machine (animals and people did not get x-rayed) and that was it as far as any searches.  There was quite an extensive process to get vehicle permits and tourist visas.  We then got on our way to Tampico.  It was basically just hurrying to get as far from the border as we could.  The roads are not always great even though they are highways.  We made it to Tampico about 5:00 and stayed in a parking lot behind a hotel with a lot of truckers.  The next morning we were ready to get a move on because we were on our way to the Beach.  It was a pretty rough drive -- it took us about 9 hours to drive 220 miles.  I wasn't even driving and I was exhausted.

We finally made it and are staying at Sun Beach Camping Resort.  It is lovely with lot of palm trees and 2 pools and our group is the only group here. It is located right on the beach, but the waves are pretty big.  On Saturday some young Mexicans came and set up tents and camped too.  The only bad part is that it has been cloudy and a little cool.  Tonight we are eating at the restaurant located on the property and celebrating one of our friends birthday.

And we hit the road on New Years Eve -- December 31, 2015

Off we went on December 31st for the beginning of our most recent adventure.

Nothing too exciting as we drove to Oklahoma City to stay for the night. We decided to eat at Red Lobster since we had a gift card that I found in Mike's dresser drawer -- hard to say how long it had been there. We did not ring in the New Year. I think I was asleep at 9:30. The next morning we took off and made it to Waco -- we stayed at a park by Lake Waco. As we are driving south, I am expecting warmer weather...but no such luck. The next day we made it to San Antonio where we met up with our Baja Amigo friends, Dan and Lisa from Canada. We stayed there 2 nights. We had been to San Antonio before, so we did not feel the need to do all the touristy things, but we did go down to the River Walk and meander there for a while. We also checked out an RV show. The next day we all traveled on to Pharr, Texas where we met up with Janice and Roland the other Kansans that will be traveling with us. And yesterday the 3 other Canadian couples arrived. We had a fun happy hour reacquainting ourselves with everyone. Tomorrow morning we take off for the border. Our first stop will be Tampico, Mexico. Our Wi-Fi usage will probably be intermittent so I will try to update as we have Wi-Fi. Adios Amigos!

LaPaz Feb 8-10, 2014

Made it to LaPaz. We plan to come back to LaPaz at the end of the month so this was just kind of a stop to recoup and restock before we go to the beach again. It's kind of funny because as we travel south we keep running into the same people over and over. Sometimes people we didn't really talk to before recognize us like we are old friends. Tomorrow we are going to a beach that our Yukon friends told us about...this will be a new experience. Oh...I did have a new experience here. They don't have dryers at this RV park...so I had to hang out our laundry to dry....I know I am 51 years old and have never hung out my laundry.. what is the world coming too.

Loreto Feb 5 -7, 2014

After the beach we moved on to Loreto. I love this town. There are about 15,000 people in Loreto. They have a great little town square with shops and restaurants. It is all very quaint. We stayed at the Riviera Del Mar RV Park which is right in town. We had the most interesting people camped right next to us. They were from the Yukon in Canada -- Dawson City where they film a couple of those gold mining shows on Discovery. This guy was actually Iraqi -- born in Baghdad, but had worked for the Forest Service in the Yukon for over 25 years. He and his wife were great we had the best time talking with them. A big part of the trip is the people you meet. Almost everyone is great and has an interesting story to tell. Tomorrow we have a long day as we travel to LaPaz.

San Ignacio and Playa Santispac Feb 1 -4, 2014

Okay...I really am planning to post pictures...but the internet where we have been has been very weak. So, when we got some place with a stronger signal I will post pictures. Now we have traveled to San Ignacio -- a great little town in the middle of an oasis. Lots of date palm trees...really I did not know that dates came from palm trees. Every day is a learning experience. We stayed at an RV Park/Hotel called Rice & Beans that we stayed at last year. Truly and I am not lying...really I mean it... they have the absolute best margaritas that I have ever had. I am so sad that most of you will never get to experience this :( . I did limit myself to only 2 because from my personal experience 4 makes you feel really bad. I don't know what happens with 3 -- but after my experience with 4 I am never going to find out. Next day we traveled to Playa Santispac and beached it for 3 lovely days. Just soaking in the sun. We did buy shrimp, lobster and fresh cooked tamales on the beach....yum. We also watched a sad display of a Super Bowl game at the bar on the beach. We ran into Bruce and Marion, friends that we met last year and watched the game with them. After 3 days I was ready to move on. There are people that stay there for 5 months.....that's not for me.

San Quintin - Bahia de Los Angeles Jan 28 - 31, 2014

So...we obviously made it safely across the border.  We are in a bigger hurry to get south this year..no need to dilly dally.  The first night we drove to San Quintin.  Last year when we were with a bgroup we stayed on the beach, but this year since we were by ourselves we decided to stop at an RV park called Los Olivios.  This park is in an olive grove and it is very small.  They really only have room for 6 RV's with hook ups. 


We made a decision the night before that we were going to meet our friends, Dan and Lisa that do the caravan Baja Amigos in Bahia de Los Angeles.  We had originally told them we would see them toward the end of the month in Cabo.  So, they were really surprised when they saw that we were there before them.  We met the people on their caravan and had a great time!

Onward to the Baja once again January 24th - 28th, 2014

We are going back to the Baja again (actually we already here, but let me catch you up).  Mike, Charlie, Rosie and myself packed up on January 24th and headed in a Southwesterly direction.  Our first stop along the journey was a little side trip to Liberal, Kansas to meet our new freshly arrived to the world friend Mallory King, daughter of our friends Ashley and Andy King.  It was fun to make that stop.


Afterwards we headed on down the road to Tucumcari, New Mexico and stayed at the Cactus RV Park..... which I will say was just okay.  Although the next morning we had a great breakfast at the Route 66 Café (I do like to talk a lot about the food we eat along the way).  Then we went west to Deming, New Mexico and to tell you the truth it was so unspectacular (the RV Park that is) that I can not even remember anything about it..... how sad.


Once we left Deming the next day we made it to Yuma, AZ.  Let me tell you, Yuma is the RV Park capital of the world (or so it seemed).  And especially RV Parks for 55+....it was a good thing I had Mike with me.  We did end up staying in an "Age restricted park" called the Westwind RV and Golf Resort.  The only really good thing about it was that I felt really young!  The following day we made it to Potero County Park in California.  We got all set up and then we went to Tecate (which is a Mexican/US border town) to get our Visa and Passport stamped so that when we crossed the border on Tuesday, January 28th we could just drive on in.


Well, the last time we crossed there they did not stop us, but this time they did.  They went in the camper and then they asked Mike if we had any alcohol or arms.  He told them we had some beer and no arms.  I told him he should have said he had two arms and then held up his arms one and two.... somehow that probably was not a good idea.