Katy - It was cold this morning but clearer. Bob went out birding while Hilary and I organized gear. We joined the group of Germans at 8 AM for coffee and eventually French toast and bacon with “maple flavored syrup”. We paid our bill and found the hotel wanted pesos rather than the credit card which we had used for the original down payment…so we’re low on pesos and will have to try to find an ATM. Goodbye to the dogs and a lovely stay at a unique Mexican working ranch, and off back to Hwy One.
A beautiful ride to the coast through cacti and golden wheat fields, but once back to “civilization” we had a couple of hours grinding through endless villages and traffic. The coastal wind was strong and where there was a lot of traffic, especially on the dirt side roads, the dust was terrible! Living here with endless dust everywhere must be awful!
As soon as we left the towns and drove through the natural sage scrub, the dust ceased even though the wind persisted. The one ATM we found had a long line and there are few banks ahead for a while, so we’ll take our chances.
Around 1 PM, we reached the town of El Rosario and remembered the wonderful lobster tacos that we had eaten with Jones and Brucato 50 years ago at Mama Espinoza’s, a famous restaurant especially with the off road crowd. 
The place still exists although Mama died in 2016 at the age of 109! It is still a very colorful place although sadly lobster was not available so we had to settle for shrimp tacos which were OK but not memorable!
After lunch we decided to look for the local mission, Nuestra Senora del Rosario de Viñadaco, #19. We missed the first location, in town but drove a short way to the site of the second mission in the tiny village of El Rosario del Abajo and found a nice small park with a path around some coated ruins with a view of the river mouth and coast line.
The place still exists although Mama died in 2016 at the age of 109! It is still a very colorful place although sadly lobster was not available so we had to settle for shrimp tacos which were OK but not memorable!
After lunch we decided to look for the local mission, Nuestra Senora del Rosario de Viñadaco, #19. We missed the first location, in town but drove a short way to the site of the second mission in the tiny village of El Rosario del Abajo and found a nice small park with a path around some coated ruins with a view of the river mouth and coast line.
The highway turns suddenly east and runs down the center of the Baja peninsula for about 140 miles until it turns east for the Gulf. This is a very important location botanically as the vegetation swiftly changes from the Mediterranean Coastal Sage and Succulent Scrub we have been seeing to the Sonoran Central Desert of Boojum trees, Elephant trees and Cardon among others.
Great use for old tires! (mission entrance)
Hilary drove us along the two-lane, somewhat potholed highway past this amazing vegetation. There were several places where one could turn off, park and walk which we plan to do tomorrow. We finally reached the village of Cataviña which doesn't even have a gas station, but does have a pleasant hotel, the Misión Santa María.
How gasoline is sold locally!
We settled into our large room and rested, while listening to the Alegria by the pool with dancing people, loud music, dogs barking and niños screaming! Very jolly! We met for dinner at 6:45 in the formal dining room. I had a very good margarita and we ate well from the very limited menu. The clientele were a little extreme: 5 very large men in beach togs, one without his shirt on and his big beer belly hanging out, and a couple with a large barking dog that had to be picked up and cuddled to keep quiet!
Tomorrow the hotel says it can do laundry - who knows the expense, but it has to be done!
No comments:
Post a Comment