Mexico

Finally into la paz. All i can tell y'all is that the last few days have been trying. so we left ensenada headed south. Military check points have turned out to be quite simple, with only half assed checks for drugs. We hit a couple of awesome beaches with great surf. The skills are starting to come around. I have also had some of the best tacos in the world. But thats just a side note. So, lets see, sleeping on the beach, meeting cool people and surfing. Thats been the bulk of it. But then life is never that easy right?
So day before yesterday, Thursday i think, we drove as the highway goes from the west coast to the east coast of Baja. This also crossed us into another state, Baja California Sur. Once to the Sea of Cortez side where there is no surf, in fact it was glass and i thought that we needed a wakeboard boat, we decided to cut off the beaten path. Looking at the map there was a lesser traveled road that cut directly back to the pacific and the little village of Las Barrancas where there was supposed to be a reef break. 35 miles or so of dirt road is what the map called for. So we went for it. All i can really say is that is no road. We put the truck and camper through hell. In fact there is repair work to do. This "road" was a trail through river beds and over mountains where cliffs were sheer. 3 hours later we reached the other side. And as night fell we took the easiest camp we could find. Unfortunately as dawn broke we realized just how disgusting this section of beach really was. We managed to look past the beach at the reef break off shore. Suiting up we decided to paddle out to it, no easy task as i would guess it 250 meters or more out from shore. Once there we had a great surf, the first reef break of the trip, which is a bit scary but we escaped in good condition.
So after the prior days travel issues we hoped to put that in the rear view and travel on south to Los Conejos, the next surf spot. This beautiful secluded beach had clean sand and even a light house on the point. We had gotten there in good time thus planned for an evening surf but nooooo. As we pulled in looking at the surf and for a camp spot we ended up down on the beach. Once in the sand we (actually Nick's decision) just followed the tracks ahead. Bad idea. Soon enough we were stuck and stuck good. 2 hours later, as the sun was falling into the ocean we got moving. All the way up onto some brushy ground cover, we made it. Now to a camp spot we got on the nearest road, not 100 meters in the sand got real deep and bam! We were stuck again. This time it was for good. That is where we camped for the night. We awoke this morning to sun, bigger surf than we had seen thus far and a stuck truck. We spent the early part of the day getting out again, which went fairly smooth and then aimed our attention to the waves.
Again, i am no surfer. These waves were big. After plenty of procrastinating i made my way to the water. Scared. I mean skurd. Paddling out i made it beyond the break and was able to rest. In fact that is about all i did today. I made a few feeble attempt to catch a wave here and there, but mostly i just worked on not getting pummeled. Eventually i was ready to come in and call it a session end. As i came in a nice big set came in and i ducked and covered through a few good sized breakers. Heart rate up but safely ashore, that was the end of my surf day.
So we packed and drove for La Paz, which is back on the eastern side. Nick's cousin resides just outside La Paz so this is a nice resting place before we jump the ferry for the mainland of Mex. We should be here a few days making repairs and relaxing. The next leg of the trip takes us down the Mexican coast through such favorites as Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and Zihuatanejo. Oh, and then to the biggest city in the world, Mexico City.

We have most our health, some money and a little sanity, we should be okay.

Much love.

Justin

McKenzie is doing really well. Dogs traveling down here are pretty common, we have found. She has made some good friends, but of course has had to leave them behind. She is loving it for sure. She had her first ocean experiences, and even after a proper ass kicking by some good sized waves, she doesn't hesitate to get right back in there and take her licks.

Today was pretty funny. She has some friends down here at Mike's place, and the three of them were rounding up a stray herd of cows that decided to walk by. She was definitely the most aggressive of the three...surprisingly. She has a very deep growl and bark that you wouldn't expect. She is really coming into her own. I am promoting a certain degree of barking and growling to encourage her to do so if anyone approaches the truck/camper.

Well, we made it across the border, and now we are in Ensenada to sort out some documents for the rest of the journey. We spent a couple of nights chilling out in La Fonda, which is about 45 minutes from the border. Of course, it was still pretty gringo there, but we met some cool cats that hooked us up with some spots that we plan to hit from here. The surfing was pretty good at La Fonda, but we only had one session over the course of two days. More today!