When the Federalis finally caught up with her they locked her in a cell until the caffeine levels in her blood decreased to a reasonable level.
It had been a rigorous chase, she ran until the insoles of her shoes were in shreds. And now that she was locked up her new camera and orthotic fund would be used to make bail.
She considered breaking the old liqour bottle window in the cell wall. Twenty years ago she might have fit through that hole, but now?... she didn't have time to go to jail. She had a week alone in Mexico to kick up her heals, even if they were raw from running.
She dreamed of luxury hotels and swimming pools as she ate her dry taco shell. She tried to have positive thoughts like; "It's kind of exciting to be in jail for the first time because
I could learn some new dialogue.
While Monte Zume took his Revenge, she suddenly had an epiphany. This could well be a momentous career changing event in her life. After all, in some countries people go to prison BEFORE they become the president.
The next morning I strolled down the beautiful hallway (by myself) and out through the double doors onto the street. I was on the hunt (by myself) for the company of a great cup of coffee. One of the street vendors told me where to find the "best" cup of coffee in San Jose.
I wandered past the banana blossom and through the big double doors that led out to the main street in San Jose Del Cabo.
Turned left once, ten steps and then left again and ....voila! I found it!
The guy was right. Best coffee in town. There used to be only one coffee shop in San Jose and the coffee, although espresso, did not entice me to a second cup. But THIS!!! Mmmmm....
I blame my love, no my addiction to coffee on my son Josh who, years ago, was a barista at Starbucks in Kerrisdale, Vancouver. He and his wife lived in a suite that overlooked the front of the coffee shop. Wendy was a student at UBC. At certain times of the day when Josh was not too busy he would come outside and wave to me on the balcony and I would come down for a coffee. I didn't even LIKE coffee but he made these treats like Caramel Machiatos, and Vanilla lattes, and it was like eating a chocolate bar. I grew to like the strong flavour of an espresso made coffee and now I just love a two shot Americano. Me, who used to get irritated with people who "had to" have their coffee. I owned a B&B and I did not understand until later the importance of a good cuppa in the morning for my guests. Drip coffee was what they got and if any of you are reading this, I apologize profusely because now I know that real coffee is pretty much Ghandi in a cup.
Mike had to be at the CAbo Aeuropuerto at 2:00 pm so all the little towns along the way were just a blur. We had to find a secure place to store his bike. The Manager of the Club Cascadas was very hospitable and even took Mike's bags into his own office for storage. Then Mike backtracked in a shuttle bus to the airport and he was gone.
I searched for a place to stay that would not be too extravagantly expensive, but now we were at the tip of the Baja and that is tourist land. I did not want to camp alone so I found a nice hotel in San Jose Del Cabo with a secure guarded parking lot.
I made the mistake of parking under a tree. I'm just glad it was not this puppy that crapped on my bike seat!!
This resident of the hotel yard was smarter than me. He may have been tired of posing for photos, because he refused to show me his face until I would put down the camera. Every time!
This is outside my door. I stayed here for three days and just explored San Jose at my leisure. It was very relaxing. San Jose is a beautiful town with many shops full of local art and jewelry. There were two jewelry shops there with very unique pieces that I would have loved to purchase for myself and for gifts for others, but I would have to win the lottery first. And since I don't buy tickets, I guess I will be without all that body decor. And that's ok.
I will never forget that last day in La Ventana. We were finally catching up on our rest from some stress previous to our trip south. We sat in this beautiful spot, eating up the scene before us and the tasteful spanish music wafting through the warm air.
We shared a delicious pina colada and went for a walk along the beach. Little did we realize that Mike's mom was going to take leave of her earthly body early the next morning. Or that he would be flying back to northern AB and I would be alone for awhile in Mexico.
Goodbye La Ventana. I will see you again.
Huevos Rancheros, eggs on crispy corn tortillas smothered with salsa beside a pool of refried beans with melted cheese. My favorite breakfast in Mexico. You can usually order this for around sixty pesos which is about $4.83 US.
My previous experience is that a good cuppa is hard to find in Mexico, but things are changing. Baja Joe makes a cup of coffee that can compete with the best in Victoria. I had my first caffeine buzz after drinking an Americano on and empty stomach. I feel like I'm home....wait a minute.....that would mean rain and cold.....come to my senses woman!!
From Baja Joes you just have to go for a walk to the sea. There is a place where we sat that has a camera and if you go to bajajoeswebcam you can see the wind surfers. Try it.
You can tell the wind stopped because of the absence of kite surfers. The day before, this area was crawling with kites on land, sea and in the air, People slicing the water and the air porpelled by the wind, Novices diving randomly into the ocean with sea-doos to the rescue . Very entertaining.
Now about that little puffer fish. I have learned some interesting facts about them since I was curious about why so many of them wash up on shore dead or dying. There is alot of talk about it on the internet. This has been noticed along the shores of the Baja peninsula in the very places where I have seen them. Popular opinion is that they get scooped up by the trawlers that collect shrimp and are thrown back into the sea half dead. This may be why they are found puffed up and floating on their backs when in the water but unable to fight the tide that brings them to shore.
They eat algae but have four teeth that are sharp enough to crack open a clam or a mussel.
More importantly, the puffer fish is the second most poisonous vertebrate in the world, being 12oo times more lethal than cyanide. One fish can kill 30 people. And yet there are restaurants in ....you guessed it.....Japan, where they serve this little lethal injection to their clientel. However restaurants whose highly skilled chefs serve it, also have a doctor in the house. Is that not comforting? A small percentage of people who eat the fish end up dying in spite of the presence of a physician. But get this....sharks eat them and have no ill effects. I guess if you are big enough and scary enough even a large dose of poison will back off.
From La Paz we explored east and took all the little roads that led to places I have heard people mention before but have never seen. We stopped at Los Muertos which is the Bay of Death, REcently they changed it's name to the Bay of Dreams. A sweeter draw for tourists. WE also saw Los Planes but in the end we settled for La Ventana with it's sandy beach and good coffee.
La Ventana is a beautiful little town that attracts kite surfers. The camp grounds were oozing with RVs and tents.
We stopped at a realtor (Marabelle's) office and she suggested we get hold of Delphino at his new kite surfing school camp ground. As it turned out they did not take campers besides their own customers but because they liked Marabelle so much they just smiled and changed their minds, allowing us a quiet corner in their gated facility.
There was even a pool and hot showers.
WE also enjoyed the music and some of the people we met there. We stayed for three nights,
Rocks speak for themselves. They rise up out of the desert floor to impress us with their immovability. People often try to trump their impressiveness by writing impressive words on their faces. But in the end only the rock will remain.
The cacti also impress us. Especially when we stupidly brush our ankles too close to one of their prickly spines. They demand respect. This cactus is politely warning us with the colour of the stuff they can draw from us if we touch them.
Speaking of prickly things............
What is he doing out of the water and why does he not stay in the water when he is pushed back in? Did he not see the spiny skeleton of his relative buried in the sand that ended up stuck on my toe? It is very inconsiderate of him to decide to be a land lubber.
We spent a couple of nights at Rattlesnake Beach beside Puerto Escondito. It's near Loreto and I love the mountains there. But the sand is very fine and dirty. Our tents were swallowing huge mouths full of the stuff and after a couple of nights of that we brushed the dirt off our feet and left. But only after we met an interesting man who makes flutes and plays them. Their tone was soft, low and pleasing to the ear beside the campfire at night.
Ben spent one more night with us in La Paz and then we parted ways. He followed the west coast to Cabo and we took a road on the east side that I have never seen before.
Everywhere we camp we find Canadians, alot of whom are from Alberta and Vancouver Island. We have finished Andy's grapefruit that were stowed away from Yuma. We have also eaten a couple of bags of oranges we bought beside the road. Very sweet.
The little GoPro tucked away in her top box while she was experiencing her first extreme off pavement ride, "Help! Let me out of here! I need to see the sand pits and the loose gravel!" But she needed both hands to navigate the heavily loaded motorcycle through the sucking sand. 'ON the way back', she thought.
They arrived without incident at the Laguna de San Ignacio. For $50 they bought a whale watching tour and a dinner. For $10 a camp spot with a toilet and shower....they were in business.
They set up camp and the boat was ready for the four of them. A very experienced guide who had lived there for generations educated them on the whales and how this was their breeding ground as well as where they calve. As they got further out into the huge bay they saw increasingly more spouting and the occasional whale head rising up like a sea monster from the deep, then slowly sinking back into the depths.
Chris had her remaining camera poised for a close encounter. The little GoPro was ready to open her eye and expose her beautiful brain to the mystery of these sea creatures. All around them the whales were exposing their backs to the sun and they could see the young ones breaching as well. The guide stopped the boat and waited. He wasn't going to chase these peaceful animals. Suddenly a huge shadow closed in on the boat. A dark barnacle encrusted back rose beside them a few feet away. Then incredibly a fresh "little" whale head popped up between the huge whale and the boat, brushing against the bow. The four passengers leaned over the side of the boat and reached for the whales brushing them and petting them as though they were domesticated pets. The little GoPro was talking away in happy little beeps as her eye opened and closed. And then....and then Chris remembered that although she had never done it before, the GoPro was capable of taking photos while submerged in the water. She quickly checked to see that the waterproof back was on the camera and then, when the whale was coming back to the boat she plunged the GoPro into the water and pressed the shutter button. Ahhh...yes.....this was filming at it's best. She pulled the camera up and immediately knew there was something wrong. Now Chris was not a woman given to words on the dark side of life but suddenly she was so disappointed, so let down, so damn angry that if it weren't for the nice man in the boat she would have given way to a tirade of verbal expletives that would make a sailor blush. Yup, the little GoPro had opened her eyes for the last time. The battery pack that Chris had purchased for longevity had a different back than the camera itself so the open spaces were in a different, more difficult place to notice. In the thrill of the moment she forgot about that and just saw the solid back and not the little slits in the top close to the latch.
Chris has not been able to talk about this until now. In fact she can only talk about it in third person so far. :-) Cameras are such an integral part of this trip and now all she has left is the little iPod that is totally inadequate for the job. Shshshsh.....don't tell Ipodius I said that.
But through it all she determined that this was not going to ruin her day on the ocean with the whales. She has perfect photos in her memory banks that will last a lifetime....that is if she does not develop a serious case of dementia....but wait....maybe it has already begun...think about it....2 cameras in one week? She wonders how her little iPod's life will end.
And so Chris apologizes to her readers. This may end up being more of a writer's blog with a few photos since she would rather spend her $$ on travel than a camera which will very pricey in Cabo. But hey....I have a motorcycle, my physical health, a beautiful country to see and all of you, my family and friends who would never desert my blog just because the pictures are not as nice as they used to be. :-)
PS: This is not a whale, but someone selling gas on the side of the road on the long stretch between Guerrero Negro and San Ignacio....before the camera incident, sniff sniff
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