March '07 Newsletter
March '07 Newsletter |
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To bid good-byes to 2006, we invited a dozen or so friends for dinner on New Years Eve. Suz roasted a ham, Don made his famous homemade rolls and coached his daughter on making a wonderful deep dish apple pie, Helen stirred up a tantalizing fruit salad. Other additions were too good to remember as I'm getting hungry just writing about it. It was a fun social time. Though our guests had all retired to their homes by about 10 PM, Susan stayed awake for the dropping of the ball for the first time in we can't remember how many years.
Suz had long ago agreed to change her name to Marley when her passport came up for renewal. That happened in January, so it is now official. Since we have been together over twenty years and will celebrate our 20th anniversary in July, it seemed about time.
Sister Laurie and niece Leah arrived for a week just in time for our below freezing weather. The night they flew in it dropped to 20 degrees and all of the plants on our porch froze solid. It remained wet and cold for most of their visit. Leah arrived with a stye and not feeling too well so we had a few lazy days around the house. We ventured up to Sedona one day and to Cave Creek on another. Jewelry shopping was the focus of our forays and Leah found a nice amber and sterling pendant to remind her of the Southwest. Between a holiday and teachers' conferences, Leah only missed a couple of days of school. She brought a bit of homework with her but had lugged a heavy algebra book for no good reason when she was unable to get the assignment from a friend in her class. We are hoping the weather is more cooperative for their next visit.
Bob's 90-year old mother continued to decline all through January necessitating a lot of visits and dealing with medical personnel. By mid-month her situation was extremely grave. She was placed into hospice and within a day lapsed into a coma from which she never recovered. After a week in hospice, she passed away.
At the first BCC Water Board meeting of the year, the duties of the five Board members can be juggled if they wish. As two people wanted to be Chair, the five Board members took a vote and Bob is the new Chair. Bob has chaired three meetings now and things seem to be moving smoothly. While we were in Baja the Vice-Chair had to chair a special meeting where the Board decided to spend $160,000 of District funds for re-piping four streets prior to county paving. He did so effectively, so it appears the District is getting value from both of the positions. Most of Bob's time so far has been spent creating a Water District Website and updating the meeting tape recording process to digital (MP3 recording files).
Almost immediately after the Water Board meeting we were off to Baja - the trip report follows. A few of our porch plants have green shoots sprouting, so they weren't a total loss. The few dwarf wildflowers that we are likely to have in the mountains behind us are beginning to bloom. It has been in the mid to high nineties but predicted to cool again. Thank heavens, as we are NOT ready for the start of summer in mid March.
After her recent aneurysm surgery, Susan's mother is not making the expected recovery, so Suz may be making a trip to Minnesota soon. We'll be seeing Scott again on our San Juan raft trip in June. Unfortunately, Tennille doesn't have enough vacation to join us. Perhaps we'll be able to pop in for a visit on our way to or from Minnesota this summer. We have had a number of visitors in the past few months. Peter and Cheri finally made it up to see our house. We celebrated 5 years of living here in mid February. Blue, Shayne, and Lee came up for a hike a few weeks ago. Kay is stopping by in April on her way through town and we're hoping Carl and Carol Muller will find a few days to stay when they visit Arizona in May.
A dozen clowns will be meeting here Thursday to figure out the details for the Lions Club White Cane Parade and another mid April gig they have planned for our local library fundraiser. Between clowning, Bunco, reading, and volunteer work, Suz is keeping pretty busy as usual.
| Participants: | Susan & Bob Marley |
Seakayaking & Whalewatching in Baja (3/4/07-3/10/07):
The two of us had been adventuring around the peninsula for more than a week when we checked into the Club El Moro to await the arrival of the rest of the group. Dave Kehs was the first to arrive, unfortunately sans luggage but since he had given himself an extra day though inconvenient, this was not catastrophic. His flight was cancelled and he had to make new arrangements last minute. Susan, Carl, and John were not to be so lucky. Their flights were also cancelled, they were lucky enough to get on an Alaska Air flight after spending a night in Los Angeles, but they arrived early evening of the 3rd, without their luggage. As usual, the group pulled together and pitched in spare gear and clothing. A quick shopping foray filled in missing components and they were set for sea kayaking.
We had some concerns about the Roughgardens and Mills arriving at all when we heard they were braving the gravel road from San Jose to La Ribera but all the group was accounted for by 6:30 PM and some of us met for dinner at a nearby karaoke seafood place. It was loud and the food nothing to write home about but we were out quickly and back to the hotel for our 8:00 PM sea kayak briefing with our guide. Dinner was somewhat interrupted when 5 policemen arrived to take the details of the theft of Mike's large duffel from the back of his truck. Shortly after he parked in front of the El Moro, a thief or thieves jerked the tailgate open, breaking loose the camper latches, and snatched the first thing they could get their hands on. He had locked the camper latches but not the tailgate. Though the bag was full of new and favorite travel clothing, Mike was lucky to have his trip essentials packed in a daypack safely stowed in their hotel room.
Our guide, Manuel, a local from nearby Constitución, had been living in La Paz for 5-6 years. His field is marine biology, which proved extremely gratifying on the trip. He took a look at us, may have made some age related determinations about what kind of trip we would want to do, and gave us the spiel for a fully catered trip. Many of the group were excited about the prospect of showers, cooks, a skiff moving our gear, and lots of extras. No one was too terribly disappointed when Bob clarified the confusion and we were back to a partially catered trip with no showers, carrying the kitchen and camping gear in our kayaks, and the group helping the guides with whatever we could. Manuel issued dry bags to each of us and we were off to see just what would fit into the teeny dry bags. Our second guide Aracely, born in Nicaragua but educated in Mexico, arrived by bus at 4:30 AM the next morning after finishing a sea kayaking trip near Loreto for a different outfitter.
Everyone had breakfast at the restaurant adjoining the hotel. There were tales of head knocking from those of us who had bunked in the suites' lofts. Both Bob and Suz had goose eggs to remind them. Though slow in coming, the restaurant served good quality food at reasonable prices. It was much easier than making our way downtown to find another place, as we had chosen our hotel on the north end of the Malecón for its convenience to Baja Outdoor Adventures (BOA), our chosen outfitter. By 8:30 AM or so, we had been over to BOA to be fitted for wet suits, snorkel gear, etc. By 9:15, we had all been shuttled to the launch point to meet our skiff captain Manuelote (Big Manuel). It had been pretty darn windy around La Paz for the past 3-4 days and this morning was to be a real corker for the skiff ride. Plowing into the 10-foot seas for close to three hours in an open super panga was quite an adventure by itself. The two Susan's and Carl were three shades of green but only one (naming no names) lost breakfast over the side.
Part way to our camp at the northern end of Isla Espíritu Santo, three sea kayakers frantically signaled a need for rescue. One had become exhausted and emotionally spent, one was rafted up to stabilize the situation in the high seas, and the other, possibly a guide, was unsuccessfully trying to tow all the kayaks to shore. All three had been swept too far out by the wind when they attempted to paddle along the shoreline to their next planned camp. With the benefit of 20:20 hindsight, they might have been better off staying in camp and going hiking. Between the swells and the rescue, our one hour ride evolved into three, but we reached our beach in time to sort gear, pack food, and send extras back with the skiff before hovering around the trough for a delicious 2:00 PM lunch of fresh beef, chicken, and pineapple tamales. Manuelito (Little Manuel) gave us the usual potty talk for using the marine toilet, named Paco. Then about half the group took a short hike around the rock point while the rest lazed in camp. The chicken and veggie dinner was enhanced by icy Margaritas and corked wine.
Our guides did a fabulous job of cooking on the entire trip. We pitched in to help whenever we could and though they enjoyed and appreciated it, the truth was they were totally proficient without us. Aracely was up early making coffee with a version of the Costa Rican method that Susan has been using on the river for the past 15 years. The fresh fruit salad was fabulous in combination with yogurt and granola. Our first time kayak packing drill left us running a bit late. One seat needed duct tape repairs but most of the gear was in excellent shape and was quickly adjusted to our body sizes. It was a perfectly calm day and easy paddling made it the best of times for a bunch of novice sea kayakers moving their camp for the first time. A few of us had tried it before but mostly for a few hours, not camp-touring. We had an assortment of two and one person kayaks of different brands and capacities.
When we arrived at camp, Manuelote was waiting for us in the power skiff to take us to the sea lion colony. Manuelito stayed behind in camp and the rest of us were off to snorkel with sea lions. Aracely gave us a briefing on the joys and dangers of snorkeling with said beasts and we hit the water. The big males could be recognized by a hump on their head and we were warned that they are extremely territorial. Aracely described the pattern of how they would swim in front of us to warn us if we were getting too close. There were hundreds of all sizes in the colony and we not only enjoyed watching them under water, we also saw colorful fish, starfish, sea urchins, etc. A few of our group had never snorkeled before but figured it our rather quickly. Several others decided early on that it was not their cup of tea and stayed in the boat taking pictures and watching the wildlife. Snorklers wore shorty wetsuits to enable us to stay in the water longer without getting chilled but the weather was warm and the water about 70 degrees.
Back in the skiff, we munched on snacks and returned to camp for lunch. This day's hike was up a canyon at the end of the beach. Another concessionaire had a camp set up there but the customers were not arriving until the next day. Their camp had tarps and was sheltered from the wind, so we cooked and ate dinner with Jesus the camp guard. It was nice to take advantage of his music, tables, and chairs. He in turn enjoyed the company and our dinner of beef and poblano chilies served with a vegetable dish. An extended "Ed Mell" sunset with islands in the foreground was surpassed only by the magnificent star-scape and one shooting star.
After another sumptuous breakfast, we loaded the gear and moved camp another 5-6 miles towards La Paz. Along the way, we enjoyed not terribly distant sightings of humpback and flute whales spouting. We all felt a bit like cruise ship passengers as our faithful guide took Paco out to a sea burial, while we hung out enjoying the bird life. Our next camp Coralito (Little Coral) lived up to its name. One edge of it was a perfect place for snorkeling. We saw gar, eels, puffer fish, blue starfish, interesting sand sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, sea cows, sardines, small sharks or barracuda, and many unidentified vibrantly colored fish. Many of the group took hikes along the ridgeline for great views over the back of the island into an adjacent cove with a mangrove swamp. Manuelito made a special happy hour for our last night. His Mayan Sacrifice made of Mexican chocolate, milk, tequila, and rum was a big hit. When that disappeared some of our crew made a raid on the wine bearing kayaks to make certain we consumed all the group spirits.
Surprisingly enough, there didn't seem to be any horrible hangovers the next morning. People were a bit subdued but we chalked that up to it being the last day of such a very FINE portion of our trip! We loaded up and were on the water early enough that there was ample time to investigate a waterway that led into the mangroves. We "rafted up" (grouped together in an armada) for snacks while Manuelito and Aracely explained the importance of the mangroves to the ecosystem. The mangrove channel was magical and we quietly made our way back out around the curves to the bay. Around another point of land and we were at the beach where Manuelote and Chulo waited for us with the motor skiff. We unloaded and cleaned the kayaks before carrying them up onto the beach for the next group. Then we sorted our personal and sleeping gear from the rental and cooking gear and leftover supplies. Chulo and Manuelote had lunch waiting for us under a much-appreciated canopy. For some, the scrumptious lunch and ice cream dessert even surpassed a cooler full of icy beer and sodas!
After cleaning up the lunch, we did the stingray shuffle out to the motor skiff with what gear needed to be returned to town and were finally off, leaving Chulo in charge of the kayaks and gear. Manuelote and Aracely dropped us off at a waiting van at Pichilingue, the ferry port and Manuelito drove us back to BOA's office to return their gear and critique the trip. We were soon at Club El Moro where our threesome was delighted to find their luggage had finally arrived. Others were not so delighted to find there luggage locked in the luggage room that no longer had a key. It was quickly sorted out. Many of us walked down to a nicer seafood restaurant along the Malecón - nicer in that there was no blasting karaoke and the food was at least identifiable.
It was close to 11 AM when we checked out of El Moro the next morning. We made a couple of stops for gas, ice, pesos, and groceries before hitting the road headed for the Pacific coast. Our roadside lunch at KM 69 was hot and dusty but we were hungry and ready and it worked out okay. We arrived in Constitución in good time and made a stop at the supermarket for fresh fruit and happy hour supplies. The Brunings and Hildners had acquired Manuelito's Margarita recipe and were primed to check it out. They also found a lime-squeezing device that made the job easier. We quickly set up at Manfred's RV Park and happy hour was underway. Len added snacks to the mix. Both Club El Moro and Manfred's have WiFi for those with laptops but they also each had a computer that guests can use. Many of us were checking in at home or work or both. Susan had arranged with Patty (Manfred's owner) to have her and some helpers cook authentic Mexican dinners for us both nights of our stay. Our first dinner started with fresh chips and delicious guacamole, followed by carne asada and the best homemade rice pudding we've ever tried. They also served fresh limeade or fresh orange juice but many of our crew opted for cold cerveza. On his way back to our camp in the dark with no headlamp, Bob plunged one leg into a foot and a half deep poolside-plumbing pit. He slightly tore his hamstring and took a lot of skin off his lower leg but was fortunate that he didn't break anything. Susan had to clean and bandage him up before they turned in.
The roosters next door seemed to be on Eastern Time and started crowing around 2:00 in the morning. The rest of the zoo over the fence, primarily turkeys and goats, kept quiet until a decent hour. Our slumbers were interrupted an hour early when UnSun had a nightmare, looked at her watch that was on Pacific Time, and decided that we were all going to oversleep. Up early grumbling for fried rooster and ready for coffee, we had a quick breakfast of fruit salad, yogurt and granola before driving out to Magdalena Bay. A heavy fog lay over the camp, trees were dripping water onto the ground, and everyone was wondering whether it was going to be a storm day. Fortunately it lifted quickly revealing clear skies again. We now knew what all of the fog warning signs along the highway were about.
The whale watching operation at Lopez Mateos was not as busy as we had expected. We paid our fees and were fitted for pfd's by the Aquendi staff. The two of us were a bit concerned that we were too late to see whales since we saw them spouting not far off shore less than two weeks earlier but none were now visible. We were loaded into two pangas by our drivers Leonardo and Fernando, who took us out to the Boca (mouth). They nosed into the beach and waited for two hours while we hiked the shell-covered shoreline. The reason we hadn't been seeing whales from the dock was that the tide was out and the bay is shallow. As the tide came in, we began seeing whales spouting in the distance. We watched and examined shells along the beach. By the time we walked back towards the boats, the whales were coming in closer. Finally one popped up twice "spy hopping". It was so exciting but we don't think anyone was prepared enough to snap a photo. Spy hopping is similar to a breach but only a few feet of the head and body pop up.
Back at the pangas, we shared our hikers' lunch with our guides and sent the leftovers home with them. Boarding the boats, we joined six other pangas circling a mother and baby whale. They repeatedly surfaced close to the boats and many passengers got to touch the baby whale. Eventually, the other boats headed back and our two boats circled the bay looking for whales. A mother and baby spouted near us and continued to do so while we all had an opportunity to touch the baby. A few of us even touched mom as she went by. These gray whale babies are 8-10 weeks old and about 16 feet long. They show no fear of humans and like to be scratched. This was the highlight of the entire trip for many of the group; Susan is still smiling about it.
We returned to Manfred's for a second night. People were resting, showering, computing - basically taking it easy before happy hour. One of the neighbor's chickens took a liking to Ted and Mary's tent. You can imagine Mary's surprise when she returned after showering to find a hen in residence. She had to zip up to keep her feathered friend at bay. Disappointed, the hen decided that Sandy and Ernie's abode was almost as desirable. The Brunings and the Hildners again mixed Margaritas, with snacks set up by Len and Suz. UnSun and Leslie seemed to spend their spare moments crocheting or knitting. They presented Suz with a handmade crocheted red cotton dishcloth to add to our trip kitchen gear. Our second dinner at Manfred's was as interesting as it was delicious. Patty and two helpers created a buffet of four typical cold dishes. They started us out with homemade chips and bean dip and then delivered platters of food. The salad made of nopalitos (prickly pear pads) was the most popular. Second was probably a dish made of poblano chilies and corn. However, the pork and cabbage combination and a chicken and cheese dish were also very tasty. The fresh air, good food, and plentiful Margaritas left most of us snoring by 9:00 PM though a few intrepid adventurers took a walk downtown before turning in.
Our chicken stayed close and left us an egg in the morning. It was cracked but heh, it's the thought that counts. Fruit salad, oatmeal, and peanut butter covered bolillos complemented the copious quantities of coffee. Sated, we took down our tents, packed our gear, and left for a different coastal village of San Carlos. Bob did a great job of finding his way through the unsigned residential area to the panga dock. We were almost an hour late for our reservations but they welcomed us and had us on the boats within a few minutes. This was a much different whale watching experience than the previous day. The panga ride to the open sea is considerably longer. Since the bay is deeper, the whales dive deeper and don't seem to play with the boats like they did when they were feeding in the shallows the previous day. We still enjoyed it, especially seeing a couple of enormous males, but there were no touching opportunities.
Our captain mentioned that there had been hundreds of whales just a week before but they were starting the long journey back to the Pacific Northwest now. After a couple of hours on the boat, we returned to our vehicles and found a seaside spot to set up lunch. It was tough to say good-bye but the Mills and the Roughgardens were headed north while the rest of us were going south to La Paz. We dropped the rest of the group at the hotel, returned the rental van, and went back for an extended good-bye. As the sun was setting, the two of us made our way out to Tecolote Beach north of the ferry terminal where we enjoyed a pleasant evening with surf and stars.
Both of us really enjoyed this trip. It opened our eyes to other travel opportunities we can enjoy in a bad knees era. Petting a whale was a once in a lifetime opportunity that we never envisioned nearly everyone in the group experiencing. The dinners supplied by Patty at Manfred's were also a special treat. Both of us are going to remember this trip and the wonderful people who accompanied us for a long time, well at least until the May Grand Canyon trip. 
We're giving some thought to a Queen Charlotte Islands or a Pacific Northwest sea kayaking trip in August of 2008. We may also schedule a similar Baja trip in the Loreto area in late February. Traveling to and from Loreto would be a bit more difficult but the Sea of Cortez is exceptionally beautiful and offers additional excellent kayaking-camping adventures.
| Participants: | Mary & Ted Bruning, Sandy & Ernie Hildner, Dave Kehs, Susan & Bob Marley, Leslie & Mike Mills, Carl Muller, Susan Muller, UnSun & Len Roughgarden, John Stenton. |
| Start | Finish | Trip Name | Group Size | Comments |
| 5/7/07 | 5/28/07 | Grand Canyon Raft Trip | 8 FULL |
Some friends of ours were granted a permit in Phase two of the conversion from waitlist to annual lottery. Unless there is a cancellation we have all the gear and boatmen we need. |
| 6/3/07 | 6/10/07 | San Juan Raft Trip | 16 FULL |
A wonderful trip with spectacular Colorado Plateau scenary, Indian ruins, petroglyphs, and great hiking. |
| 8/4/07 | 8/11/07 | Boundary Waters Canoe Trip | 9 1 OPEN |
We will meet in Ely, Minnesota. Transportation will be arranged to and from the area of interest by the outfitter. Physical fitness is manditory, since 50 pound packs and canoes must be portaged multiple times on most loops. |
| 8/17/07 | 8/24/07 | Isle Royale Van and Basecamp | 6 FULL |
We'll meet in Duluth, camp in excellent state park campgrounds along the North Shore and on Isle Royale. Travel will be in a rental van and commercial boat to and around Isle Royale. Expect lots of dayhiking and unexcelled photo opportunities. Gear will need to be in backpacks because we plan to camp one night on a 10 mile cross-island backpack. |
| 3/2/08 | 3/9/08 | Sea Kayaking & Whale Watching in Baja | 14 | We will meet in La Paz and travel in rental vehicles to Magdelena Bay for a couple of days of whale watching. After returning to La Paz and spending a night there we will embark on a five day and four night commercially guided sea-kayaking adventure with a local outfitter. |
We continue to send information to our travel friends using email. If you want to be the first to know what's happening, send us your email address if you think we don't have it. Be sure to keep it current. We'll also continue to communicate unique travel opportunities by ‘special mailings’ to those who travel with us regularly.
Best of luck in your adventures, whatever they are, and wherever they may be.
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Susan & Bob |
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Updated on Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 19:30 MST MST © 1995-2007 by Robert R. Marley |
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Last fall we concentrated on driving the length of the Baja Peninsula starting at La Paz and exploring northward. This trip we focused on the area south of La Paz along both coasts. After checking out the whale-watching situation along the Pacific coast for our group, we drove to Todos Santos, an artists' community along the new highway to Cabo San Lucas. We missed the annual historic house tour by an hour or so, but spent some time in town checking out the shops before finding a beautiful free beach campsite on the south end of Playa Los Cerritos. We noticed that Baja is very popular with Canadian campers, particularly British Columbians. Many of the RV residents there had been down long enough this winter to install a 9-hole desert golf course with cups and flags. Not being golfers, we socialized and watched.
From there we drove down the breath taking coast to Cabo San Lucas, which we found rather disappointing. Huge hotels ring the bay blocking all views of the ocean from the city streets. There is little or no parking in the downtown area of this large city making traveling by vehicle an unrewarding chore. The beachfront is set up for hordes of people coming in by plane or boat. We quickly tired of the entire scene as it reminded us of Las Vegas without the gambling. On our way out of town, we perused the new Costco. Now we can say we've been in Costco stores from Alaska to the most southern tip of Baja. This one had the best views of any we've visited, looking out over the Pacific to Playa del Amor and Land's End Arch. When we didn't find a beach camp in San Jose, we embarked on the world's most wash-boarded road in search of one. Several hours later, after seemingly endless miles at 20 or less miles per hour, we reached Los Frailes and a free beach camp. The next morning we continued to Los Barriles, where we found the Playa Norte RV Park. It had WiFi, which allowed us to stay in touch with Susan's family (her Mother had a couple of serious operations for an aneurysm shortly after we left the country).
Los Barriles claim to fame is heavy winds from the north and we were not disappointed. We were pretty happy we weren't kayaking those two days but really enjoyed watching the colorful kite boarders and wind surfers. Their high speeds allowed some to pop 20' into the air as they cleared the tops of 3-4' incoming waves. It was all very spectacular to watch but wind powered surfing is definitely a young person's sport. Eventually, we drove north towards La Paz where we ended up 12 miles north of town at beautiful Tecolote Beach. The winds were howling and it was colder than it had been for much of the previous week but at sunset it suddenly became calm.