Big Move....New "Hood"

The first week of January we decided to move "up the beach" to a spot we have been in previous years.  It is all a game of waiting and watching, and then "pouncing" upon the the departure of your amigos who must return to the north for all those complicated things like work and school.  Our move begins at 0730 with beach style.  First I walk a chair down there and set it in the site.  After we fold down the satellite dish, suck in the side of our rig, and fire up the diesel, we move our house in all of about five minutes.

The Jeep follows with the port-bote in tow and a few other items.

Dog kennels in the boat?

The new real estate is very swanky as the previous dwellers left it with lots of upgrades.  It feels like moving into a "show palapa" !

New propane fire pit fits just fine!

Inside palapa outdoor living room

Wash the dogs...

Wash some clothes...

It takes two days for us to re-set the campsite.  The bug tent (which also turns out to be an awesome wind screen tent) goes up, the mats go down, the chairs go out, the kayaks and paddle boards find spots to be at the ready....and finally, the porta-boat is pulled  up in front.  Whew.  Time for a coffee break in the tent!  A vendor has just delivered mini cherry pies, and Steve fires up the steamer for a latte!

Stage one...

Almost up

Coffee break

Thank you Mago!

As our neighbors were getting ready to leave, they put an extra effort out to find the cell phone that went missing out of a pocket on New Year's Eve.  The beach had been scoured, but now Wayne loans Harold the special magic rake, and with an hour or two of careful meticulous pattern raking, SUCCESS!  The iPhone is found, under about five inches of sand where it had been hiding for five days and nights.  And, yes, it still worked and wasn't really even scratched!

Success!

To celebrate, Harold's wife Diane and the kids make a very special dessert....a "Somore Casserole"....

in a dutch oven over an open fire.  This is a first for me...and I take one cautious spoonful...how can you resist?  Yet....

The fire with dutch oven hanging chain

Ahhh....cooked to perfection...

Dig in!

The three small French children were ready with spoons...as were the teens and adults.  All the basic ingredients kids from camp know so well...graham cracker bottom, chocolate bars and top off with marshmallows.  Uhhh huhhh!

Now here's a good thing about being further up the beach...the vendors get to you earlier...so the choices are never disappointing.  Take a look at the farm to you delivery truck that arrives every Tuesday and Saturday morning!  

Farm family from Mulege valley

Before we know it,  almost a week has passed in our new neighborhood!  On January 6th, Pedro and Janet show up with "Three Kings Cake" or "Rosca"  It is a sweet bread cake topped with dried fruit.  However, the risky part of consuming it is that somewhere in the bread ring a plastic baby Jesus lies in wait.  The person who finds this charm in their piece of cake is responsible for providing tamales for everyone, EVERYONE? on Feb. 2nd.  Los Tres Reyes celebrates the three kings bringing gifts to the baby Jesus.  It used to be the traditional day of gift giving in Mexico, but now most of Baja celebrates with gifts on Dec. 25th....and yes, we saw a lot of "Christmas trees" for sale on our way south.  

Sharing the tradition!

Rosca, the cake of Tres Reyes

Fearless Steve!

But Patty finds the "treasure"!!

It's been a busy week on the beach and settling into our new site.  But we are totally set up now, and NOT moving again this year, until it's time to move to the north....way far north!

Are we home yet?

The Playa el Coyote New Year's Ball Welcomes 2015!

We awake to this new year morning to the sound of rain drops on the RV..??  Maybe only gull toes tapping on our metal roof?  A check outside the window confirms clouds forming a grey ceiling covering our bay.  Something I would expect in the Pacific Northwest, but not in our southern destination of Baja Sur.  So, plans change.  It's not kayaking or paddle boarding or swimming or sitting on the playa today.  But, it IS birdwatching!

It seems there's a New Year's Ball happening just feet from our campsite and everyone is invited!  Best of all, everyone is dressed in their finest outfits, featuring feathers!

First we are visited by four herons (lovely in white)  known as "Golden Slippers"....and you can see why!

"Oh dem golden slippers, oh dem golden slippers..."

One thing I find about the birds here is that they do not "fluster" easily, so they are great photo subjects as the photographer has lots of time to slowly walk nearby and snap away.  No red carpet needed, just sand and water.

Time for the "Solar Bear" swim at Coyote?

"I'll go if you go.......on three!"

Then there's this wee gull with his/ her own dance step.  Maybe "hip hop and drag your toes" across the dance floor...or...sand.  The Bonaparte gull is one of the smallest gulls, and does an incredible yearly migration.  We see them in early May in the San Juan Islands, headed north...with beautiful breeding coloration of solid black caps.  Then we see them again in late August or September, flocks of over 100 birds swooping down upon the waters of the Salish Sea for a rest stop.  Now, here on day one of this new year, right on my doorstep in Baja.  Wonder if it recognizes me?

Bonaparte Gull

Who else shows up?  It wouldn't be a ball without a spectacular entrance....and in fly 15 Brown pelicans announcing their arrival with incredible sky dives into the water directly in front of us!

Mr. Big Mouth

The small fish this year have attracted many many pelicans and they seem to like the menu.  The buffet is served 24/7 at this playa restaurante.  

The Eared grebes, usually in a small group of 2 - 5, appear today in a crowd of over 50.  I love watching them swim underwater using their really cool feet with built in flippers.  They don't use their wings to swim at all, like some of the auklets we see regularly at home.  They also spend time with their head just under water, swimming along, scouting for fish.  They must have built in goggles too!

Eared Grebe

Mr. Herrmann gull shows up too.  After all, if you have that flashy orange beak without even bothering with lip stick, you're automatically dressed for the ball.  (Not to mention the orange the orange eyeliner! )  Soft grey, bright white and orange...with a dash of black.  Wow!  

Another bird we see at home who also gets away from the winter weather by migrating south.

Flashy!

That is all for the seabirds on this grey and rainy morning, but our little Costa hummingbirds have gotten the chirp about the grand celebration and ball...and come dressed for the occasion.

Mr. Darth Hummer

I haven't seen the final tally of votes for "Best Dressed"...but....

Costa Hummingbird

A fine way to usher in 2015!  

Feliz Navidad 2014....with Woof Woof, Santas!

Skipper and Sparky get ready for the big day!

The "season" Mexican beach style is such a different thing.  There are a few plans, but the biggest of these is setting up the luminaries...maybe 300 bags with candles set along the curve of the beach.  The best part this year is that there are lots of children, big and small, and the bags are filled with cups of sand, totted up the beach and the teens carefully place the candles inside each bag.  About dusk, campers emerge from their RV's, tents, palapas and trailers lighting each bag, and suddenly the beach is a magic scene.

The Curve of Coyote

Up close and personal

Luminaria lighter, Chris

We eat dinner with friends next door, and then a mini lighted boat parade passes by the beach.  Three little skiffs from the Posada community have made it through the waves and go bobbing by.

After dinner, a little ukulele sing along with our new tiny magic fire pit.  We sing for a few hours!

The rest of the evening fades into quiet.  As in QUIET.  But one of the children from a campsite nearby told me lately, "You know...Santa MADE it to the beach...and stopped at our tent and made a cup of coffee and then his foot prints went right to the paddle board!  He went out on the paddle board!!"  Musta been a really quiet Santa....with good balance!

Christmas Day, just as slow and quiet.  The regular things of a dog walk, Steve stopping to build little rock figures for the "forest of the rock people"....

Just gotta build...something...

Happy dogs, happy walk

Gotta have breakfast, and today it's pancakes in the new outside room (bug tent) which turns out to protect us from the bugs (that have disappeared) and some of the wind (bonus)!

Ole Oleson joke coming up about the syrup....I'm sure of it.

Yum!

An afternoon trip into town takes us to Hotel Serenidad for dinner with Wayne and Glenna.  Oh, but look who we find along the way.  A few furry Santa's got stuck in Mulege!  There were four of them....but you can only see two here.

Gotta get those hoods up!  Baby it's cold outside! (75 degrees)

Nice dinner with Glenna and Wayne

 Now many folks have told us to "have a margarita for me"....so, we decide to get it all over with at one time and order a "grande" for each of us.  And, yes, they were grande!  Lots of turkey to follow.

Yes, that's one killer grande margarita!  

Christmas Day 2014

Surprise tree crafted by a 10 year old girl from Ontario

Evening....another Christmas fades into darkness, but oh my, extra minutes of light lead us toward 2015.  

PEACE, Good Will Toward Men, Women, all the creatures of the sea and land...and to our planet Earth.  May we care for each and every one.

Back to the Beach Life!

This year the hurricane season left quite an aftermath.  The only palapa we find unoccupied has two walls, no roof and unsteady poles.  Luis, our beach landlord promises "Mañana!"  We believe him.  No choice!  

A sad sight

We move in a few chairs and a table anyway

We have our first propane fireplace fire....in our open air palapa.

 Sure enough, a few days later, Oscar shows up with a big smile, a machete, wire bits, shovel and a hammer.  Here we go...today is palapa construction day!  The roof comes in on the back of his truck from a pile of palapa parts leftover by some luck.

We draw in the sand that our building plans include walls on all sides and a single doorway.  

He tells us, with lots of espanol and many hand and body movements that soon we will be dancing inside this lovely palapa kitchen.  OK then!

The roof makes such a difference!!

Christmas cactus lights

Now things happen at warp speed.  We move our possessions out of the storage container in town and into the palapa.  We can seriously set up camp now.  The new "bug tent" goes up, and for the first year, we park with our rig looking directly out into the bay.  Palapa on one side, bug tent on the other, and a few chairs and table right out in front.  It's like having multiple living spaces.  

Before it seems possible it's Saturday and one of the beach families has arranged for the new orphanage in Mulege to bring their 13 children to the beach for a play day.  For some of these children, it's the first time they have been to a beach.  They range in age for 2 years to early teens.  Beach boats, paddle boards and floaty toys are pulled out of everyone's rigs.  The kids jump in the water right with their clothes and big smiles!  (each child has only one change of clothes and no...no one has the luxury of a bathing suit)

They are all captains!

Prepare to be boarded!

To add to the special day, Santa arrives with a bag of stuffed toys, one for each child.  Then there is a hot dog and chip and apple juice buffet and of course, a piñata!  On top of "what could be more??"...our camping motorcyclists (going around the world in 5 years) have offered rides!  Talk about SMILES!

Santa Roy

Two cold swimmers

Hot dogs all around

This little guy pops up from under the table and tried to sneak the chip bag!!  Busted!

Biker from Holland gives big rides

Mike from Bogeta, Columbia and his new best buddy!

The kids leave and their magic smiles have transferred to all of us left on the beach.  What a gift in giving!

Start 'em young!

One last photo of this cool mini kayak that a kayaking dad made for his son....I guess instead of a cradle!?  Soooo cute.