Trip To Baja Sur....Whale Watching Part 1

There is a local guy here who runs a nonprofit organization called Oceancamp. He organizes trips throughout Mexico and solicits people who are interested in taking them. Besides being a great host and wonderful conservationist, he is also a Sonoran historian and has encyclopedic knowledge about this part of Mexico. We all learned alot from him on this four day trip. His name is Mark Morelli. He and his partner Miguel Valdez operate this wonderful organization. If you're interested their website is http://www.oceancamp.org. 

We flew out of the Guaymas airport on a Saturday at around noon. There were 12 of us who signed on for this adventure....the maximum number passengers that our airplane could accommodate.

We arrived at Guaymas International Airport around 11am ..... 

Guaymas International Airport...

Parking was a breeze.....free too.....

International departure waiting room after customs check out...we were the only ones in there...Tana never goes anywhere without her pillow!!!!

Our plane...it's about an hour flight across the Sea of Cortez from Guaymas to Santa Rosalia....

Guy on the right is the pilot....first thing he said to us when we were all aboard was..."don't worry amigos you won't die...ha ha ha"

No co-pilot....is that even legal in the states??

All aboard...its about 41/2 feet headroom inside!!

Goodbye Guaymas....next stop Santa Rosalia BCS....we hope!!

There's supposed to be a landing strip down there somewhere??

Santa Rosalia International Airport...! It wasn't crowed at all..

Waiting for customs in the international arrival terminal..!!

The drug dog came by and hung around our luggage for a minute then came over for some lovin'......

Well, we cleared customs no problems. Our van showed up and we got in for our 45 minute drive into Santa Rosalia....next time we'll go on a tour of this old Baja California Sur town with an ominous history.....until then....take care my friends and peace to you all...

Tammys Tantalizing Tattoo

For the last two or three months Tana and I have been involved in a theatrical production that benefits Rescate the EMT and Emergency Ambulance service down here. It is a privately funded service and receives no government support. All its operating income comes from donations and fundraisers like this show. The nearest good hospital is about 65 miles away....if it wasn't for Rescate being on call 24-7, it could be disastrous for many people who get sick, hurt, or have a medical crisis!!! Many people came together and donated their time, money, and skills to ensure that this show would be a success. It's now over....and it was a terrific success....... what follows is a little bit of insight into our production of....

Tammy's Tantalizing Tactile Tattoo

or

You Don't Know Jack

Let the show begin...............

The setting is in the gold fields of 1800's Alaska at the 

Greasy Grizzly Saloon ...  

Tana is Fanny the bar maid who runs the Greasy Grizzly...Leonard the Mountie is the hero Dudley Duzrite who is looking for the villain Juneau Jack..

Fanny sings like a boid...........

I asked the producer if we could borrow that red wig for a couple days....she hadn't got back to us yet

I'm a grizzled old gold prospector who hangs at the Greasy Grizzly

Some friends who came to the show.....

The stage.........

Backstage with Sheriee, the props Nazi......

Yes, we had to do make up!! Don on the left was the Emcee and Jay on the right was a gold miner who shoots the bartender...Spike Desoda...

Yours truly with make up artist Carol who also played a bar room floozie.....

Les on the left is Keen Eye the stagecoach driver and Helen is his saloon floozie.....in real life they are together

 Backstage with Tana and Leslie, the Vamp.....

Willie the excellent sound effects guy....

Andrew, Spike Desoda the bartender and Debbie his real life GF and my floozie in the play....the guy in the background with the beard is Chris the villain...Juneau Jack....the girl in the red polka dot skirt is Candy who plays Brandy the town drunk....

Tryin' on Keen Eyes hat.....

Debbie....my bar room floozie.....

My interpretation of the famous Jeff Goldblum scene from the movie The Fly....remember he steps out of the teleporter machine and he morphed with a fly inside? and emerges with a flys head on his body...and he starts crying to anyone... "help me..help me...help me" Well, thats the scene....I guess you had to be there. Oh BTW my fly head is actually the fake butt that Tana wore in the play.

That's it folks....there were a lot more people involved than I was able to  show here.  I just never seemed to have my camera around when I needed it...this will give you an idea though....a good time was had by all.

Take care my friends until next time.....its gonna be awesome!!!
Peace to you all

Off the grid in El Colorado.....

The weather here is almost perfect warm and sunny just about every day.....the ocean is always blue and inviting so a few days ago we decided to trek to a remote beach village about 60 miles away to spend the day kayaking and lurkin' around exploring. Our trip started well and continued to be a nice drive for about 45 minutes until we had to turn off the main toll road onto a Mexican camino libre.....free road! Our road woes began immediately!!! 

Pedestrians on the highway...!!!

The last trace of civilization for about 40 miles......

Middle of nowhere with about 30 miles to go.....

Watch those shoulders....my truck isn't 4WD.......!!

Check this out!!! This ginormous pot hole is out in the middle of nowhere with no warning lights or signs and absolutely no ambient light of any kind around.....at night this is a disaster waiting to happen.....deadly even!!!!

Magnificent mountains.....

Beautiful scenery.......

Fantastic desert vistas.....

Our first look at El Colorado ......

Main drag in El Colorado.....about 10 families live here totally off the grid....no electricity, no cell phone service, no running water, no sewage treatment, no doctors, no schools, no stores, no churches....no nothing. The nearest store is about 40 miles away and its a gas station convenience mart. There is a picture of it above at the beginning of these pics....."Last trace of civilization"

The government sends in a water truck every week or so.....every house has some kind of barrel in the yard to hold the water. The black barrel in this guys front yard is for water.

This guy has a  water tank is on his roof and one at the side of his house too.......I don't know what the satellite dish is all about on the roof....there is no electricity out here.....maybe he has a generator??

I think its just for show..... This place is tucked in a canyon and surrounded by mountains....I don't think you could get a signal even if there was power???

This is the only bathroom in town and is used by everyone. It is outside and sits in the middle of town so everyone has convenient access.....

This is the only restaurant in town and is open only when there are customers in town....they opened  for us...only one thing on the menu...whatever they had....today it was gigantic fried shrimp with yummy grilled fish fillets, beans, rice, sliced tomatoes, totopopos which are corn chips, and a delicious fiery salsa. 

Unfortunately it was too rough to launch the kayaks. The beach break was at least 4-5 feet. Some kind of weather system offshore kicked up a swell so we just hiked in the mountains and enjoyed all the beautiful vistas. One of the locals volunteered to guide us through the mountains so we wouldn't get lost.

 Tana on the trail ascending a mountain to get to a remote beach on the other side.....

This is a live tree!!!!! At the very top of the pic you can see it's foliage. Our guide who was about 40 told us that this tree has only grown about a foot or two since he was a little boy...

Finally reached the top of the mountain and took our first view of this beautiful secluded cove....only way to get here is by boat or hike over the mountain like we did...!!

On the way down to the cove......

Sorry about the BW .....somehow the knob on the camera got pushed over to black and white mode....this will give you an idea though....you can see the beach in the background....this place was totally deserted except for us.....cool cool cool!!!!!

Well friends that's it until next time.....our trip home was uneventful and we arrived safe and sound and ready for a beer....no cervazas in El Colorado!!! Next time I'll bring an ice chest.

Take care my friends and peace to you all.....

Transitions.................

Hello my friends......long time no see............NO! we weren't abducted by aliens or had a collective out of body experience and came to in another dimension....although that would be pretty cool...nor did we forget about you. It's just that alot has been going on and our lives suddenly transitioned .....big time. In December 2014 we sold ZOSHA!!!!! YUP!! ......reluctantly, after much angst, and after searching for the right person to care for her which we found, we sold her. She likes her new owner. I can tell. 

My final glance at ZOSHA while walking off my old dock for the last time

Some of you might be thinking..."you traitor, you hoser, you hypocrite".....well, I'm the first to admit that sometimes my hypocrisy knows no bounds....I guess that I've let alot of you down by not taking ZOSHA to the places that I promised.....

In my defense there were a number of legitimate reasons that led me to this monumental decision but lets not dwell on past events but look forward to where we, you included, are going from here........
Tana and I have found a place to live on the Sea of Cortez on the West coast of mainland Mexico. We've been here almost eight months. The horizon is still calling us. It's just that we will heed its siren in some way other than sailing and you my friends can be absolutely assured that you will come with us.......

A new day begins over the Sea of Cortez......

    

Until next time......take care my friends....and don't judge me too harshly.....seeya.........