Friday, February 12
Today was a road day. Yes, mostly we saw the road. We began with breakfast in El Rosario, at Baja's Best. Here our host poached eggs for G.He is an ex-California fishing mogul, who was put out of business by environmental rulings under the Gray Davis administration. He has begun anew here, and has a cafe and B&B. We are told the rooms are beautiful, so it may be a good place to try. He does package tours -- fishing, ruins, old mines. An interesting fellow and a good breakfast.
Then we head down the highway. Just south of El Rosario another bridge is washed out. Fortunately for us, it has been a couple of weeks and an alternate route is well made. Our host at Baja's Best told a story of a rancher south of town who had trucks full of strawberries, destined for shipment to New York, but undeliverable because of the washout. The rancher brought in heavy equipment and started working on the road; the government equipment couldn't get there as they were dealing with washouts further up the road. The first semi load of strawberries were too ripe to ship out by the time they were brought across, so the rancher gave them away in El Rosario. We had some of the fruits of the plenty -- a lovely strawberry preserves.
We drive down the narrow ribbon of pavement. Occasionally trucks pass us, sometimes on a double-yellow. Sometimes a truck signals us that it is OK to pass by turning on its left blinker. I haven't seen that since my West Virginia days. Occasionally we drive through a vado or wash where there is still water. Soon we see our first boojum trees. Once seen, we speculate that the napkin holders we saw at Espinosa's are made from this gnarly wood.
San Quintin come and goes. Or rather, it goes on and on. The sleepy little beach town we remember from other trips is a happening place. And north of town there are acres upon acres of strawberries and any number of acres of plants under plastic greenhouses. Clearly agribusiness is booming here.
We pass through the agricultural inspection station north of Guerrero Negro (10 pesos) and continue into town for a bit of lunch. This is the first meal we have that does not measure up; this is most probably the nadir of meals on our trip, and we are culpable. We should have known from looking at the place that it would be so. Enough said. Crossing the border into Baja Sur, we "lose" an hour as the time zone shifts.
It is 4:30 p.m. or so when we arrive in San Ignacio and find our way to San Ignacio Springs. Here our lodgings are yurts. B and I are in the humongous one -- a 20' diameter yurt, with an added structure for bath and shower. It is really spacious -- a king sized bed, a futon, a table and four chairs, and plenty of floor space. It is clean and neat and well-lighted, a real treat. The center of the ceiling is a large skylight. It is a relaxing place.
We venture into town, where we stroll around the square and admire the ornate facade of the church. Dinner is shrimp salad, scallop ceviche, or fish with butter and garlic. I can attest that the ceviche was excellent. Tomorrow we will have breakfast outdoors in the al fresco dining area here at the Springs.
And tomorrow B and I are going whale watching at Laguna San Ignacio. D and G will be staying here, touring the town and surrounding vicinity at their leisure.
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