This part of our drive was probably the most interesting and beautiful so far.
As we drove across the desert, the road would wind in and out of the mountains which are located right next to the coastline of the Gulf of California.
Each time we would pass through a cut in the mountain or drive around a curve we would get another fantastic view.
Wherever there was a usable beach, we would find some type of civilization built up right on the waterfront.
There were many enclaves of "Snowbirds" in all types of RV's just camped on the beach. We drove into several of these "Camps" and found a mix of Americans and Canadians, all enjoying the sunshine.
These campers were just out on a spit of sand jutting out into the Gulf.
We were lucky that there was virtually no traffic on the road so we were able to drive slowly and really enjoy the view.
Along the way Suzie accidentally took this "artsie" photo of me taking a photo. The whole area was just so interesting and pretty that we couldn't help taking lots of pictures.
You still had to keep a close eye out for animals on the roadway.
Around lunchtime, we happened across a small roadside cantina with a big cardboard sign out front stating "Taco Tuesday" and a bunch of cars in the parking lot, which is always a good sign.
We went in and found a large number of American snowbirds sitting inside and outside chowing down on the best smelling tacos.
There was live music from a guy playing a guitar.
We worked our way through the crowd up to the bar where we ordered our tacos. All of the people were very friendly and welcoming and it was the first chance we had in several days to speak fluent English.
The tacos were delicious and then it was time for a pit stop and back onto the road.
There is no photographic evidence of what Suzie experienced during her pit stop but my experience is memorialized here.
Just the essentials!
All you had to aim at was the drain but they planned ahead for mishaps by placing a raised pallet on the floor in case of flooding.
I don't know what you were supposed to do if you had to take care of serious business.
Then it was back on the road for Loreto.
Along the way we came to the town of Mulegé. It is another "Oasis" town in the desert.
The town of Mulegé is typical of the towns we had encountered so far because it had very narrow and busy streets. Here we encountered a construction project where giant dump trucks were trying to get past each other.
They knew what they were doing and would miss each other by inches. It was so tight they even had to slow down!!
The town is located on the Gulf of California and is set back from the beach about a mile and sits on a beautiful palm lined inlet.
There was a nice looking hotel on the other side of the inlet which looked almost out of place compared to the rustic nature of the rest of the town.
When we drove to the beach area at the end of the inlet we saw a couple of shrimp boats at anchor just off the beach.
As we drove back into town, we asked directions to the museum and after lots of hand waving and shouting (Suzie thinks they understand English easier if you shout), we finally found the museum.
The museum is located inside of the old, territorial prison. As luck would have it, as soon as we walked through the front door, we found a very nice lady sweeping up. She spoke English about as well as we speak Spanish and we were treated to a guided tour as we practiced out language skills and each learned a few new words.
The prison was built in the shape of a square with a center courtyard. All the way around the inside and outside of the square were individual cells.
This is one of the individual cells. It was a very small space and originally did not have any furniture. If the inmate was lucky, they would sleep on a pad on the floor made out of branches or palm fronds.
Many of the cells now contained artifacts on display.
We noticed that the cells did not have bathrooms and they did not have doors or bars. Our guide told us that the cells with bars were for the really bad guys and the rest of the cells only had doors.
The doors were not locked so the inmates could leave their cells to go to this 2-holer.
There were several 2-holers located around the circumference of the cell block area. The entire cell block area was surrounded by a tall wall.
In this next picture you can see the remains of a hand carved canoe, hacked out of a single log.
More artifacts including a bowl carved from a log.
As we continued the tour, our guide told us that this was a unique prison because all of the prisoners were released from the facility every day to go to town to their jobs. They had to come back every night.
If one of them failed to come back on time, all of the other prisoners had to go back out and search for the missing prisoner and bring them back.
As we browsed through all of the artifacts, we spotted one that just didn't seem to fit in. A close examination revealed very thin shiny metal joined to other machined pieces of metal with very fine and precise welding.
Our guide told us this was from space. She said it fell to earth and was part of a satellite and landed in the desert and then made it's way to the museum.
Then we checked out the outside of the prison walls.
After our tour, we hit the road again and continued on to Loreto.
In Loreto, we found another nice, clean hotel for around $25.00 U.S.
The rooms were somewhat spartan but always clean with squeaky clean bedding and towels. They frequently had cable TV but rarely had any English speaking channels.
After checking into the hotel, we drove around the town, exploring.
This town was much more different from the other towns that we had been experiencing. The main streets were paved and had curb and gutters.
Many of the side streets were still dirt but the whole town was very clean and organized.
We drove down to the Malecon (Waterfront), and walked around.
This statue in the park was a large Whale Shark.
These sharks are frequent visitors to the waters around Loreto. They can grow to over 40' in length and have been known to weigh over 40,000 pounds.
The big deal in Loreto is to go out and
swim with them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .WHAT???????
We did NOT go out and swim with these sharks because the water was too cold for us but here are some internet pictures to help you get a better idea of what we are talking about.
OK, maybe the water temperature wasn't the only thing keeping us out of the water.
The interesting thing about these sharks is that they are the largest non-mammal animal. They are called filter feeders and they only eat very small things like plankton and are harmless to humans.
Riiiiight !!!!
We are not going in there with them!
As we walked around town, we came across a beautiful Mission.
This Mission has been here since 1697 and is considered the Mother of all of the California and Baja California Missions.
We left through the side courtyard and continued to walk around the downtown as we looked for a good place for dinner.
We ended up back on the Malecon where we walked along the sidewalk area next to the beach.
As the sun started to set, the temperature dropped so we found a restaurant with an indoor dining room. We had a great dinner here and continued to be amazed with how reasonable the prices were. The great exchange rate just kept paying off.
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and got ready for the next day's drive to La Paz.
We will send more soon and we hope you make every day a great one.
Tom & Suzie
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