CHRISTMAS EVE

We had some differences this year in our celebration because Ron, a long-timer, did not come to Baja this year. Every year he provided sacks and tea lights to line the beach with luminaires and he constructed a tree with star and the current year which he changed on New Year's.

This year many people brought sacks and candles, so we we able to line the beach again with them. As soon as the sun went down, we had a fireworks display over the water. And then to finish off the evening we had a charming Christmas ships parade (2 zodiacs and 2 kayaks).

This zodiac, decorated by blue lights, containing Bob and Patty Custer.The kayaks were paddled by the Simpsons.

Earlier in the day we had our New Year's potluck with close to 60 people taking part. The food was terrific and you could fill up as much as you wanted.

On New Year's day, we went to Hotel Serenidad for their buffet of the traditional turkey dinner. It was well-organized and very good food. Coyote Beach was well represented with a big long table for us.

FELIZ ANO NUEVO!

WHAT NOW?

Bob driving to San Javier

 One of the many booths along the main street.

 Loreto and the bay

From Coyote Beach~~John and Lori

A few weeks ago, because we have the car down here, we took a day trip to the south. This was to a small village called San Javier and they were having a 2-day festival in celebration  of their name day. This is also where the second oldest mission in Baja is. We were told that the mission itself is quite lovely and worth the trip. Unfortunately, the road through the mountains was awful due to the fall storms and the town was so crowded with  horses and people that we couldn't even get close to the mission!  We decided that when we are staying in Loreto at the end of our trip, we can drive up to San Javier when it is not crowded.

WHAT WE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH!

The hurricane which ripped across Baja in early October dumped an awful lot of rain on the peninsula. The result that is around us still is an incredible amount of green which is rare for a desert. Many
kinds of cacti are blooming while they can!!

Another consequence of water and green shrubbery is insects. In the morning are the Boboes (very

small biting flies). A solution of Skin-So-Soft sprayed liberally about oneself seems to repel most of the Boboes. Then we have gnats, no-see-ums and mosquitoes which require a different repellent~~most of us have OFF. Forsome reason, I have several  different lotions  for after being bitten, but nothing to prevent it. After a week and ahalf of being horribly bitten, I finally bought some OFF.

This stick insect (about 6 inches long) was inside our neighbors' tent. We were most thankful that it was not a stinging insect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's hard to believe that Christmas will soon be upon us. Our daytime temperatures have been
in the 80's. There are 4 young women 2 sites down from us who are going around topless. Has certainly perked up the men on the beach.

BEGINNINGS--THE JOURNEY!!!


After waiting until the end of October for my 2nd cataract surgery and the
post-op check a week later, we have arrived on Coyote Beach! As the health
issues I've been dealing with since summer have mostly resolved, we decided
I would go ahead and drive my Suzuki down while Bob drives the RV. We had 6 days of
hard driving, but we made it!  On day 5, I was stopped by a policeman for passing

The new toaster!!!

Bird Gary aiding the mobility cause.

when the midline was solid yellow.  I was polite, chatty and contrite~~he gave me a warning.


We are in the same spot that we had last year, next to Bird Gary. The next day, Wednesday,
I drove into Mulege for water, propane, and internet. Unfortunately, my car went into a rocky
ditch and needed an expensive tow out, but those guys earned every peso they charged. Then
the one ATM in town was not working so Oscar (the tow truck owner) showed
me his place of business and decided he would have to trust me to pay him the
following day! After getting our water and propane, I had to skip the internet as I
had no way to communicate with Bob. I ended up driving almost 30 miles in 4WD. 
A big no-no to do that. (I SO regret not having my camera with me.) Had to have
Oscar come  out and take the car to his shop. Bless his heart, he had it back in
two days in running order. Unfortunately, he didn't have on hand what was needed

 Our 1st night back on Coyote Beach.

to fix the driver sidewindow which is stuck in down position. He said that part would
take a week or two.

It is now Monday of the following week and Oscar has just driven my car to the bakery 
where I am on the internet and my window is fixed!!  HOORAY!

Yesterday we moved All our stuff to a site about 5 sites north. It is larger and better

able to handle all our boats. But, my gawd, what a job--I won't soon do that again!!

BEGINNINGS

When we returned to the Portland area in
April, we were delighted to welcome into our world
on April 26, Miss Daisy Kay. Weighed 9 pounds!!
She is such a happy baby. She can hardly wait to be big enough to get into her big sister's stuff.

Bob has bought a new Walker Bay sailboat~~it's 10 feet long and has a stability doughnut that attaches all around the top edge of the boat. It should be easier for him to maneuver in.

Row, row, row your boat....

Some assembly required!

No access from this side.

Completely blocked!

The access road is better than it ever was.

Hurricane Paul hit Baja in mid-October causing a lot of flooding but also landslides on the access road to south Coyote beach.  Fortunately, Luis got some heavy equipment to move rock, etc and the road was passable by the weekend.

THE LONG, DRY SUMMER

Bob painted out most of the color in kitchen/-family room.

The garage had many treasures.

After the estate sale.

When we returned to Portland in April, we arranged to start moving into a small one-bedroom apartment in a nearby retirement center.  The rest of the summer was spent downsizing, a large estate sale, putting the house on the market and it sold in 5 days.

The back patio had lots of bargains.

Photo borrowed from Nan Simpson.

Just a few more...


In the previous blog entry, I showed all the produce that Diego delivers every Friday.  Here are Diego and Ana who have been beach vendors for at least fifteen years. They have a daughter 14 years old and a son around 3 years. They have been bringing produce to the beach for over 15 years.

These are a few of our extended Beach family.

    The collage above has a few of our "family" engaged in various activities from boating to potlucks and happy hours celebrating fun and frivolity!!!!

The southern-most tip of Bay of Concepcion, cacti, around Loreto, & our neighbor~Ron

  We enjoyed a week in Loreto (the "big" city) for a week after leaving our beach. We walked the mile on Sunday to the public market running into Beach friends along the way and in one of the food booths in the market.

Heading north to the U.S. border, the desert is very colorful.

    OK, so I used some photos more than once, get over it! Many of the varieties of cacti were coming into bloom because of the two heavy rains that we had this winter!!! 
    I'm still amazed that that little trailer holds our 3 boats, a motor, and most of our other stuff essential for dry camping on a lovely beach.

JUST A FEW ODDS AND ENDS

View of Coyote Beach from Hwy 1

That water is just glass and waiting for the first kayakers or paddle boarders.

The only downside are all the annoying insects if the wind isn't blowing even a little bit.

The above house is on the north end of Coyote beach and rents for $6,000 a month. I understand it sleeps up to 12 adults. 

 You are now looking inside the SUV of Diego

Romero, who takes our produce order on Tuesday and delivers it on Friday.

These photos were borrowed from Nan & Steve Simpson.

Can you believe the size a whale shark can get to be? This one is estimated to be around 25 ft long. It stayed in the bay for about 6 hrs sucking up planktom.

It's a pink world!!

Maybe I could publish a coffee table book of sunrises?

Tomatoes

This plant was barely a start when we arrived in the middle of November.  I occasionally

threw water on it, but it didn't get much care and not much sun either. The day we moved off the beach last week we found two small tomatoes had set. I hope you can see them against Bob's hand.

Jane(student) & Gwenn(instructor)

NEARING THE END

The last craft class that I went to involved making a wall hanging from natural materials. Pictured is Monique with her completed objet d'art.

=

This is my shell garden~~desecrated by many a dog!! I had to repair/rearrange the designs many times due to animals and the occasional person. Our neighbor, Ron (of the Christmas lights) once drove over part of it when parking his motorhome.

 And I must include another sunrise shot!!

And I end this entry with two photos of our bay and beach.

Bay of Concepcion~Coyote Beach is to the rear and the right.

The south end of Coyote Beach.