Last Updated: 07/22/03

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Jan 26, 2003:  Mexico - Crossing the boarder

We left the bay area on Jan. 6, almost three weeks ago and are just now crossing the boarder into Mexico.  The past 20 days have been fun - visiting family and friends; a ski vacation to Banff, Canada with Karen's dad; and a trip down memory lane for Karen in Tucson, Arizona checking out the University of Arizona and watching the #1 men's basketball team in the country beat rivals ASU at infamous Dirtbags bar.  So... after a brief stop wine tasting in Sonoita - Arizona's wine country between Tucson and Nogales (if there is wine... we will find it!) - we set out this morning to cross the boarder in Nogales.  We definitely feel like the adventure is starting again.  Right across the boarder, Karen jumped out to ask a few questions about vehicle permit, phone cards, etc., and found no one really spoke any English.  Time to dust off our Spanish vocab... here we go! 

We both seem to be a little more nervous than we expected starting out again with lots of unknowns.  We think it is having our own vehicle with us.  It seems more stressful because there is more to be responsible for or more that could go wrong... but on the good side everything is running smoothly so far (including 6 month permit) and we have much more flexibility than relying on the buses.

We ended the day in a small town called Magdelena de Kino.  We were happy to find a nice spot to park the car and then sit down to watch the Super Bowl in Spanish at the hotel restaurant and bar.

Jan 27, 2003:  Off to Rocky Point

Magdelena de Kino is where the remains (skeleton) of Padre de Kino were found and now enshrined.  Padre de Kino is famed for bringing Christianity to Mexico and starting the missions which are found from northern Mexico up to northern California.  After we checked out the skeleton and main town square, we had breakfast - two great tacos from a hawker stand in the plaza where all the locals were eating - we hit the road (west) to Rocky Point.  It took us a good four hours to get there - obeying the speed limits and therefore driving about only 50 mph the whole time!  It may have taken a while... but we are making up for it in increased gas mileage - 250 miles so far and only used half a tank.  The "Federallies" stopped us once for an inspection along the way, but no problems.  We arrived in Rocky Point and things seemed both smaller and bigger to Karen at the same time.  We spent a few hours drivign around Pt. Penasco, Sandy Beach and Choya Bay before we determined that Sandy Beach really was the best place for us to camp.  After a drink at JJ's, we got some fire wood and set up camp during sunset.  John made an awesome fire and settled in for a cold night.

Jan 28, 2003:  Tuesday - Camping

Today we gave our camp cooking gear a test run.  We made eggs and ham with tortillas and had coffee (minus sugar).  Not bad!  We have a list of things we could use - list a sponge to clean up dishes - but all things considered... not bad at all.  Now we are just hanging out on the beach.  After about 45 minutes in front of the tent soaking up the sun and looking at the beautiful ocean, we have now moved to a tiny spot of shade behind our tent looking at the back of our car.  Not nearly as beautiful... but a much needed break from that strong sun.   We just wish we could bottle that sun for the nights of the beach where it seems to drop below freezing!!!  Maybe not that cold... but definitely low 40's.

Jan 29, 2003:  Wednesday

From Rocky Point to Santa Ana.  Santa Ana is a small junction town at highway 15.  We planned to get all the way to Hermosillo today (another 175K), but after about 4 hours driving we were hot, tired, and mostly felt gross from having no showers for a couple days while camping.  We decided to stop and check out a motel advertised at the junction... and it was great... so we took it!  Great call... so happy to get showers, an air conditioned room, and our laundry done.  We feel awesome now.  In addition, this tiny town turned out to be pretty nice - lots of bigger homes in the 'suburbs' and a great meal for dinner - Glad we stopped.

Jan 30, 2003:  Thursday - Hermosillo

Today we finished the journey to Hermosillo.  We stopped at a tourist information booth and the man working the booth asked us "why" we planned to stay the night in Hermosillo instead of just driving straight to Kino Bay.  Hermosillo is the capitol of the state of Sonora - pretty much a big working city... so we're sure the man didn't think there was anything interesting for people on vacation.  That may be true... but since we don't have any real time constraint we decided to stop anyway.  Used the opportunity to get on the internet and send some emails.

We had a discussion tonight at dinner about "parking" or "marking" time.  We guess people can get this feeling whether they are tied down at work or out traveling the world.  All it takes is long enough doing the same or similar things.  Since we don't have anything to vacation "from" at this point... we are starting to ask ourselves what we are doing.  We were having thoughts of traveling to Alaska before we left... now we are not so sure.

Jan 31, 2003:  Bahia Kino

Well so much for the budget... we are living "fat" now!   Bahia Kino (Kino Bay) is beautiful and we opted for this new hotel right on the beach for $75 a night instead of pitching our tent for free.  But... we are in paradise and love it.  Considering the location, this room would be hundreds anywhere else... but right now the town in mostly empty (just a few snow birds with their motor homes) so we were able to bargain.

Feb 1, 2003:  Saturday

We read books; walked on the beach and collected shells - GREAT SHELLS; and watched the sunset.  Fantastic!

Feb 2, 2003:  Sunday in San Carlos

Got tripped up or delayed this morning by "Mexican Time."  We were packed up and ready to hit the road at 9:30a, but as we drove past the office to drop off the key and collect our deposit, we found the office didn't open until 10am.  OK - we went for breakfast and came back about 10:15a to find an "I'll be back in 10 min" sign on the door.  Well, more than 45 min later... the girl finally came back.  Not much we could do but wait.  Once back in Hermosillo, we stopped at the Wal-Mart to pick up some extra stuff for camping and then headed to San Carlos - another beach town.  Again we opted for a small hotel instead of pitching the tent - but this time just simple accommodations.  We drove around the town - there are lots of huge expensive nice homes built into the mountains and hills.  San Carlos is a really dramatic place with several bays surrounded by rocky mountains that seem to jut right out of the sea.  It makes for an awesome sunset which we watched from El Mirador (the lookout point).  There were lots of Mexican families at the lookout point too... enjoying the sunset and trails going down to the beaches below.  It was really nice to see... Sunday as a family day.

Feb 3, 2003:  Gone Fishing!

We got ourselves signed up on a combination fishing/snorkeling tour early this morning before 8am.  It is not exactly the right time of year for either (summer is their big season here despite the heat... we must be the only ones in town crazy enough to sign up for a tour right now)... but we decided it was time to do something other than drive from town to town.  Plus, these types of excursions are a good way to "see" or experience the town.  So... it was just us and the crew on the boat... but we had a great time.  We practiced our Spanish all day (the crew, Roberto and Ramone, were really easy to talk to) and we caught a bucket full of fish - all be it, very small fish!  We were bottom fishing for bass and caught enough to make fish tacos for a party and extra to feed the pelicans.  Our snorkeling ended almost as quickly as it began when Karen was stung by jelly fish (again!).  It didn't hurt near as  much as in Panama... but still pretty painful and not something that you want to continue snorkeling with.  We are starting to wonder if Karen is cursed with bad luck or just really attractive to small animals that sting, bite and/or burrow!

Feb 4, 2003:  Tuesday - On To Alamos

Drove about 4~5 hours (pretty uneventful - same desert scenery) to Alamos - a Spanish colonial historical town of about 10,000 people.  Over the last 40 +/- years snow birds have been buying and restoring the haciendas here... the result is a beautifully restored old town now recognized as a national and even world (by the UN) monument.  We found a nice room at a book store/cafe just off the main square.  It has a nice courtyard to read in as well as work on our journal and web site.

Feb 5, 2003:  Wednesday in Alamos

We hired a guide this morning to give us a tour of city and surrounding area.  We learned a lot that we wouldn't have gotten from just walking around and looking at the old buildings ourselves.  And... it was nice to visit a nearby Mayo Indian village where the families rely on clay pottery (women) and brick making (men) for a living.  We bought a pot and have no idea how we are going to fit it in the car with us as we are pretty packed up and it is fairly good size.  We also visited the mining village and old mines which are the reason for Alamo's existence and rich (literally) history.  Once the Spanish families here were so rich from the silver mined that they made EVERYTHING from silver (even some sidewalks)!  Today the mining village is in shambles... maybe an opportunity for more snow bird restoration... who knows??

Feb 6, 2003:  Thursday

Visit museum and cemetery before we left Alamos.  Then... onto Los Mochis.  Uneventful drive and unexciting town.  We did errands and laundry to get ready for copper canyon tomorrow.

Feb 7, 2003:  Train to Copper Canyon

Up by 4:30am and leave the hotel via taxi (our car is staying in the hotel parking lot) to the train station.  Our train left at 6am.  We slept the first couple hours while dark and then headed to the dinning car around 8am for breakfast.  Desert landscape until around 9am when the trip becomes more interesting.  There are sleep climbs, tunnels, bridges and we began to see steeper mountains with rock cliff faces.  We got off the train at Bahuchivo and had to find a ride to cerocahui - a small town about 45 min from the train stop.  We knew this was going to be tricky without reservations and we quickly determined that unless we hitched a ride with a tour group we saw on the train we were probably going to be out of luck.  So... we quickly talked with the owner of the hotel that came to meet the organized tour and worked out a deal so we could squeeze in - his extra driver and assistant had to ride outside the suburban standing on the rear bumper.  A little over a half hour later we made it to the hotel which was more like a ranch with horses and trails.  It was in the middle of nowhere (i.e., middle of the canyon) and still a few kilometers from cerocahui so we had to coordinate all our mails and tours through the hotel (which was a bit more expensive than we would have liked).  Depending on the perspective, we were either fortunate to arrive with the organized tour group because they already had arranged a canyon tour for the next day that we were able to join up with.... or we were limited to do whatever the group had arranged because there was not enough staff to organize a different (and possibly more active) tour.  But... we will prefer to look on the bright side and are really happy to join the group tomorrow.

Feb 8, 2003:  Urique Canyon

All day driving tour to rim of Urique Canyon - great lookout point called Cerro del Gallegos - and then continued down into the canyon (deepest section of the "copper canyon" system) to the town/village of Urique.  We had lunch in Urique and then concluded the trip back with a stop at an Indian family's house at the top of the canyon.  They weave baskets from pine needles and sell them.  Only the children were home today - eldest probably 6 or 7.  She got out the baskets just like her mom would have and then looked after the younger ones - carrying her ~2 year old brother around.  Pretty crazy to see what kind of life these children live and think about the responsibilities they have at such a young age. 

Thinking about children... the trip down the canyon was tight squeeze because we picked up two girls about 12 or 13 years old from a girls dormitory and school in the town of Cerochaui for the trip down the canyon to Urique.  This meant 12 people in the suburban for the 3 hour trip.  Apparently our guide had been trying to get some welfare help for one of the girls father who was recently paralyzed by an accident.  Needlesstosay... everyone was happy to squish together to help.  Before we left the dormitory we took pictures with the girls and some movie clips.  John played them back for the girls on the digital camera... they loved it!  They practically mobbed him all trying to see themselves on camera.

Feb 9, 2003:  Posada Barrancas

Got off the train looking for signs to walk to Cabanas Diez (budget accommodations in Lonely Planet) and found Armando Diez waiting in his van for any independent travelers without arrangements or reservations such as ourselves.  Cute little cabin with fireplace that would work just fine.  After settling  in... we walked/hiked up to the rim of the canyon.  It was stunning!  The owner/guide at the hotel in Cerocahui yesterday said the view from Cerro de Gallegos in Urique Canyon was the best view... but we disagree.  This place seemed even more beautiful.  There was a big fancy first class hotel built into the rim which has amazing views.  It was a bit ostentatious or obnoxious painted bright orange... but it would be nice to relax in comfort in a room with that view.

Many of the Tahamara Indians weave and sell baskets here like the ones we saw at the family's house yesterday.  They use pine needles and cactus that produce different natural colors and designs.  Many of them are really nice... we will have to buy some on our way back through this area.

Our dinner was quite eventful!  We walked over to the Diez family main house where we were told they'd cook dinner for us and found most of the men including Armando completely drunk.  Not just a little tipsy... totally drunk!  One could barely talk and kept repeating "OK" super loud at us.  They were quite a site and wondered how often Armando's wife (Senora Linda) had to put up with them.  They offered us a beer so we stayed for about an hour while Senora Linda made us dinner.  Our Spanish is not really good enough to handle these situations so we mostly smiled and stayed out of the way reading their guest log book... listening to really loud music and watching occasional dancing from Armando and his brother.  The food was good and we returned to our cabin to make our own cozy fire which we loved and kept going all night.

Feb 10, 2003:  Monday to Creel

This morning was pretty lazy with a late start and then just reading books and journaling before leaving for the train around noon.  We are sure there is more to do and see around here - Armando advertises guide services and horses - but our Spanish is breaking down here and we can't seem to communicate very well.  Sometimes it is easier with some people than others.  Oh well... we opt to be content and simply wait for the train... neither of us were feeling that great anyway.  Karen with a headache and John with a stomach ache.

We arrive in Creel and decided against staying at the popular backpacker hang out because so many people were pushing and harassing us to stay there when we got off the train.  It was really annoying so we found a quiet place right on the train tracks instead that was nice.  Later we went over to the "hangout" - Margarita's - to try to organize a tour to Batapillas.  Once over there - they were so helpful and nice we started to have second thoughts about not staying there.  There was no set tour to Batapillas and since it is quite a trip (overnight with approx 5 hours each way) we needed at least 7 people for them to do it.  We started a list to see if anyone was interested but really thought it would never happen.... but a few hours later the girl from margarita's found us on the street and said it was on!

Feb 11, 2003:  To Batapillas

Wow - what a trip!  Hair raising turns and cliffs everwhere.  The scenery... FANTASTIC!!  It was about an hour and a half on a paved road through three canyons... then another almost another four hours on an incredible dirt road in and out of canyons.  We can't believe they were even able to create that road.  Our group for the trip was nice - two from Italy, one from Australia, two from Holland and two French men who spoke constantly.

Feb 12, 2003:  Batapillas

Some from the group met a guy who would take us to some of the site around Batapillas in the back of his truck for $30.  So about 9am we all piled into the back of his truck where he had set up two bench seats facing each other with blankets.  It was actually quite comfortable.  We went out to Satevo to visit "the lost cathedral" - a huge church/mission built deep into the canyon.  It was never really "lost" but no one really knows why such a big church was built in such a remote location.  Amazing!  We rang the bell once - more than that and all the surrounding people who live in the area would have come down to gather at the church.  We visited some caves still inhabited by a Tahamara Indian family.  It was somewhat awkward visiting their "home" as a tourist destination.  When we started off for the caves we don't think any of us realized they were still inhabited.  John showed them their picture on the digital camera which they liked.  The older lady or mother of the family really laughed when she saw herself.  From there we also stopped at the cemetery and small beautiful canyon/swimming hole before returning to Batapillas and then on back to Creel.  Our driver to Creel, Martin, had a difficult day as first we were an hour late getting started back.  Then about an hour into the trip, we got a flat tire and has another tire extremely low on air with no pump.  After Martin changed the flat, it was very careful driving until we stopped at a house (in the middle of nowhere) that had a hand pump.  While all the guys took turns pumping air into the tire, Karen decided she'd try to ride on of the local donkeys.  To her surprise, it worked well and the donkey didn't seem to mind at all.  We got back into Creel about 7pm... it was a good long day.

Feb 13, 2003:  Thursday in Creel

Tried to walk/hike out to the nearby Lake Arreko today (7Ks) - but we were stopped half way by rain.  We walked while it was just sprinkling, but when it really started to come down we turned around.  As the rain got worse... our luck got better.  A truck came by an offered us a ride back into town.  We took it!  Unfortunately, our Spanish wasn't good enough for a meaningful conversation with our driver.  He was a nice young guy, but spoke really fast so it was hard to understand him.  Oh well... we know he understood our "Thank You!"

Feb 14, 2003:  Valentine's Day

This year we both remembered that it was Valentine's Day... nice change from last year in Patagonia when we realized several weeks later that a holiday had passed us by only when a friend asked us via email what we did to celebrate.   Unfortunately, no big romantic plans to report... we road the train all day from Creel back to Los Mochis instead.  Although thinking back, there could have been worse ways to spend a holiday than riding the train through the gorgeous scenery of Copper Canyon.

Feb 15, 2003:  Saturday

We drove to Topolobampo today to try to catch the ferry across the Gulf of California to La Paz in Baja California.  We found that one ferry, actually a cargo ship, does not allow women or children aboard.  For a while we thought we were going to have to split up: Karen would go on another company's passenger ferry (no cars allowed) and John would go on the cargo ferry (no women allowed)... but luckily we found another company that allows both women and cars at the same time.  The only catch was that there were no services, i.e., bathrooms, for women to use on the ship.  Considering the trip takes 12+ hours overnight, this is no small catch.  But... it is our best option since we don't want to spilt up (logistically leaving and arriving at different times would be a nightmare; not to mention safety).  The ferry leaves tomorrow night... we will be on it.

Feb 16, 2003:  Ferry to La Paz

We made the most of our time waiting for the ferry by spending the afternoon at a small beach north of Topolobampo.  It is actually a small little community built on a sand bar.  Sunday is the happen'in family day.  Bands singing loudly and children playing wildly... it was a lot of fun.  We played cards at a beach restaurant and took in the local environment.  Around 5pm we headed over to the docks to sign in.  We loaded our truck on the ship around 8pm and by 10pm we "set sail."  We slept in our car which wasn't too bad and Karen made it through the entire night without going to the bathroom... amazing! 

Feb 17, 2003:  La Paz

We like La Paz.  It has both a resort town feel and a charming town feel at the same time.  We stayed at one of the nicer places just outside town.  We got a studio with a kitchen and were excited to cook something of our own instead of eating out.  We made some baked pasta that really hit the spot.

Feb 18, 2003 --> March 6, 2003:  Baja California 

We are sorry we stopped journaling the rest of our Mexico trip throughout Baja California.  We had a fantastic time making our own way from the resort town of Cabo San Lucas, through some of the most beautiful scenery we've seen (coastal and desert), to whale watching in the Pacific and camping at the shores of the Gulf of California, to finally partying in Ensenada during Carnival before finally crossing the boarder in Tijuana.

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