San Felipe, Saturday December 19, 2009

We left the airport fairly early this morning and drove about seven kilometers south towards Puertecitos, ending up at an interesting looking RV park. It used to be called Faro Beach Trailer Park but now has the name, Betel II. The attendants, a man and wife, three kids, and several dogs, live at the top in a very small trailer. They are very, very friendly and willing to please. The woman drove us all around the place, pointing out which sites had water and sewer hookups, which didn’t.

This place is amazing. Looks like it either used to be a fancy resort or someone built the resort but it never opened. Now it looks like it’s been taken over by sand. There is a huge swimming pool with bar in the center, stools around the bar in the water. Near the pool is a large hot tub. A two-story building appears to have been meant for condos or lodge rooms of some kind. Lots of chairs and tables all stacked helter-skelter in a nearby storage room. Up from the pool/bar is a large one-story building with the word “BAR” over the door. Peering through the doors, I saw a big area with posters on the walls, carpet, etc.

A number of brick roads leading from the top of the hill down to the bottom by the beach, with many RV sites off of those roads. We wanted to make sure Jean could get her trailer into one of the spots, so we let her go first. The attendant found her a pull-through that worked well. I parked next to her, and Beth parked a little way up the hill.

First things first, a trip down to the beach. The tide was very low, with many dry areas usually covered by water. Walked all around, and it almost looked like we could walk all the way to San Felipe from here. I love this beach as it’s the first one in a very long time where we could find unbroken sand dollars of all sizes as well as scallop and clam shells, all in very good condition. Many of the clam shells were polished smooth, almost white. I’d never seen that before. I also found two very fancy shells that up to today I’d only seen in stores for fancy prices.

It seemed like we walked forever, but it was perfect. Very windy but fairly warm.

We drove into town to find something to eat, look around a little, and find Wi-Fi. Rosalita’s had both food and wi-fi, but apparently it was down today as we couldn’t get it to work. We ate there, food so-so, then went next door to a bar that also advertised internet. The people working there pointed out that we could even plug our electrical cords into the wall sockets. The connection was perfect, and we all accomplished quite a bit.

After wandering around the downtown area, the malecon, we drove up to the Lighthouse Lounge and walked up the many steps to Cerro El Machorro. This is located on the point with a beautiful shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe, many lit candles in front of her. What a great panoramic view of the bay!

We finally called it an afternoon and drove back to our site. I talked quite a bit with David, a Canadian from Victoria who is camped here for a month in his VW van. Nice guy. Turned out he’d only had to pay $120 for an entire month here. When I told him we were paying $20/night, he thought about it and walked up and paid the attendants about 300 pesos more. The man said that now he could buy a bicycle. I loved talking with someone who didn’t try to take advantage of other people’s friendliness.

He and I talked quite a bit, about kids, grandkids, where we were from, what careers we used to have, and so forth. He offered us the use of a rubber kayak and his bicycle if we’d like. Probably pass on the kayak in the ocean, though.

We thought about staying here a week, but by sort-of mutual agreement, we’ll probably stay until Tuesday, then take off across to Ensenada, then down the west coast. Of course, those plans, as always, are made in Jell-O.

I’m enjoying this trip a lot even though I sometimes feel like the proverbial fifth wheel since Beth and Jean have been traveling together for so long. They have their own ways of doing things, etc. and it’s taking a while for me to get used to that. But, I figure by a week or so it will be fine. We’ll see how it goes. However, I’m just very happy to be making this trip.

Tomorrow we’re planning to drive down to Puertecitos in Jean’s truck and check out places along the way.