• April 20, Tuesday
  • Got packed and out of the house by about 2 PM.
  • Had a leisurely drive down, making a pit stop and looking around a bit at the visitors center for ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NATIONAL MONUMENT.
  • The hour or so driving inside Mexico was boringly mundane - drove the 90 km/h (55 mph) speed limit and was passed by a half dozen folks and saw a small handful going north.
  • We got in about 6 pm and unpacked.
  • VERY windy with blowing dust and temp about 70.
  • Went to Max's - across the street - for dinner. Bruce had shrimp gorgonzola and Linda had lemon shrimp with pasta. EXCELLENT and reasonable. They have free internet access and a free phone for U.S.A. calls. Bill was in US$. Definitely cater to the gringos.
    
• April 21, Wednesday
  • Slept late. Had a lazy breakfast.
  • Still very windy, but sunny. Checked in with Good Morning America and found out that a major storm system was moving from CA to CO. Phoenix was going to be 20 degrees cooler than on 4-20, with the possibility of showers.
  • Shot some video of the birds flying around a boat near the mouth of the harbor from the deck of the condo.
  • Went out to La Curva for lunch. We split a shrimp enchilada dinner - fantastic!
  • Shopped for groceries and came back to the condo.
  • We were invited by neighbors, Elaine and Howie for Margaritas, which became dinner back at our place. We discussed a lot of common interests. Howie is a diver and Elaine is interested in pottery and kilns. Perhaps they will go to Bonaire. The wind was still blowing a gale, as seen in this photo from the lower balcony.
    
• April 22, Thursday
  • Calm and cool this morning - overcast with a shower moving across the southern horizon.
  • Walked about 1/2 mile west on Sandy Beach - to the rocks in front of the shorter hotel or condo about half way to the high rise units at the west end of the beach. Cool weather and the possibility that the showers would move our way led to the decision to turn around. Nice walk! Here is a panorama photo merging two photos (taken from the 5th floor of our condo building) to show the length of the beach. We walked to about the middle of the right photo.
    
  • Had breakfast - weather cleared off and the sun came out.
  • Drove over to the old port area for a bit of shopping and lunch.
    
  • Sat upstairs at Nely's for lunch - still a bit cool to be in the shade outside, just enough breeze to do us in. We toughed it out and Bruce had Chipotle Shrimp and Linda had a chile relleno. VERY NICE. We could have done without the RAP MUSIC blaring from the loudspeaker on the lower patio, though!
    
  • We spent a couple of hours walking amongst the shops there and enhancing the local economy slightly.
    
  • Low tide intentionally beached GULFO III.
    In the last photo you can see the condo where we were staying on the right side, across the mouth of the harbor.
  • A quiet evening and light dinner in the condo was the prelude to a late evening thunderstorm that cleansed the air after making lots of noise.
• April 23, Friday
  • Clear, relatively calm and cool this morning. Forecast is for clear weather over the weekend with rising temps - low 70s for today.
• Walked Sandy beach to the far edge of the RV encampment, about 2 miles round trip.
• Bruce was moved, harking back about 600 years in his family's history, to write a poem about it - the first of his life:
  
  

  Low Tide Walking on the beach at low tide, Impressions left by every stride. Much like our trip through life, We deal with issues and with strife. Coming back down the beach, Waves erased all within reach. Afterwards remains pleasant thought, Of the time and what was wrought. Folks should take heed along the lane, Forgive and forget what has caused pain.

  
  
• Headed to El Golfo de Santa Clara, a small fishing village at the east edge of the Colorado River Delta, for lunch. This quaint place is a slice of life from a prior time when fishing was a way of sustenance, not a sport to be rented to the Gringos.
  
• We saw:
  • Dirt streets
  • Fishing boats on trailers being pulled by pick up trucks
  • Homes ranging from tar paper to palatal
    
• A missed turn on the road to one of the beaches left us mired in the sand. From out of nowhere, 4 natives appeared, pushed us out and disappeared before we could even offer to pay them! Typical of the folks we've found here - polite, helpful and friendly.
• Had lunch at El Delfin (The Dolphin) restaurant - amazingly clean and neat. Good food. Bruce had Shrimp Vera Cruz and Linda had chicken enchiladas.
  
• The 130 km (80+ mile) drive, each way, was an interesting mix of desert, vistas of the distant (El Pinacate) volcano, salt marsh lands, the backbone of Baja across the Sea of Cortez and a glimpse of the Colorado River Delta, perhaps as close as we will ever get to seeing the Nile Delta. Amazingly, our XM radio has worked everywhere we've driven here in Mexico - wonder where their terrestrial repeater station is located. Here is the view of Baja.
  
• The late afternoon was spent shopping in Cholla Mall, laughingly called Mexican Rodeo Drive or Shacks 5th Avenue. It is a BUNCH fancier than the plywood enclosures that were here last time we were, but still has some great shopping!
• A quiet dinner proceed an early evening. This calm lasted until the night club across the street fired up and ran live music until 2 AM.
• April 24, Saturday
  • Slept late - finally got some quality sleep after the night club quit!
  • Walked Sandy Beach, but only half to the first building, like we did on Thursday.
  • There is a light breeze out of the East. It is supposed to be warmer today - high about79!
  • After breakfast, we shopped at the Old Port.
  • A trip to the lighthouse yielded some interesting photos, including this of the lighthouse base and a boat next to it.
    
  • We we out to Cholla Bay for lunch at JJ's Cantina.
    
  • Watched a couple of DVDs and took some quality sunset photos.
  • Cooked a steak for dinner, watching the sunset over Baja. Here is a photo of one of the shrimp boats leaving the port with the mountains of Baja in the background. This is the same view Bruce has from where he is working on his blog in the condo! WOW!
    
  • The Booze Cruise party boats went out a bit off shore. Just before their 8 pm return, one shot some fireworks
    
• April 25, Sunday
• Up a bit earlier - down on Sandy Beach at VERY low tide. Linda got some shells for a beading project. Walked a distance in between the two prior limits.
• Lazy day around the condo. Light lunch - reading - relaxing.
• Late afternoon, Bruce ventured out and found where we stayed on our first trip here, about 15 years ago. Hotel Villa Granada at 15th street and Francisco I Madero. It is a bit worse for wear and doesn't appear open. It was inexpensive and fairly comfortable then.
  
• Dinner at a Cuban restaurant struck Linda's fancy. We went to Paladar Habana Vieja at 15th St and Guillermo Prieto. WHAT AN EXCELLENT EXPERIENCE. Co-owner Victor Ramirez (a U. S. citizen and U. S. Army veteran) served us and explained that Paladars are "home cooking cafes" in Cuba. Jorge Diaz is the co-owner and did the cooking. We had a quality meal with Cuban dip served as an appetizer and Cuban coffee as an aperitif. Bruce had a shredded beef dish (Ropa Vieja) and Linda had a shrimp with mint and lime. It was exquisite and very reasonably priced. We ate on the patio and had probably the best dining experience of the trip. Try it out - you'll like it!
  
• April 26, Monday
  • We decided to head back today.
  • Up fairly early - observed the very low tide about 6:30 am (see the almost full moon in the hotel shot above). The forecast tidal swing for today is almost 20 feet!
  • We didn't get out to walk on the beach until about 7:30. By then the tide was coming in a bit, but still had a long way to go! Instead of going down the sandy beach, we chose to poke around the exposed tide pools just below the breakwater next to the condos. Linda found some shells bits for a beading project.
  • The rest of the morning was spent packing and getting ready to go.
  • Lunch was one last trip to the Old Port. We had a nice meal at Sr. Amigo. The waiter suggested the Avocado Surprise appetizer. Linda had it and we could have shared it for lunch! Very good and rich - shrimp salad stuffed into FOUR avocado halves over a bed of shredded cabbage for $7! Bruce had a combination plate that we shared.
  • Packed out of the condo just before high tide (about 2 pm) and were back in the good old U.S.A. just after three!
  • Pit stop at Loves in Gila Bend and home in time for dinner

All in all a VERY NICE, SAFE and RELAXING trip! Thanks to all who made it possible.