On the Road Again.

It's pretty hard to label our trips to Baja.  We don't call it a "mission trip" mostly because we believe that being "on mission" is something believers are called to do, wherever we are and whatever we  (although I do understand the concept of an actual traditional 'mission trip'). We come because we love the place and the people of Baja.  We come because we have many close friends here that we've made over the years.  We come for our kids, for the experience, and for all the memories we make as a family serving together...and learning to exist together in tight spaces and stressful situations.

We come down here to work hard, play hard, nurture relationships, and eat a lot of tacos. 

I guess that's why I typically call it our Adventure.  That fits fairly well because we rarely have any idea of what our trip will consist of until we get here. 

Along with finding ways to serve others and helping out where we can, we also encorporate our family vacation into the trip.  The last couple years took us to San Felipe where we rented a condo for a few days.   This year we decided to try something different and drive further south down the Penninsula. 

So after working hard for a couple weeks at Welcome Home Outreach we packed up our van with some duffel bags of essentials, left our trailer parked in Vicente Guerrero, gave our kids some Dramamine, and started driving south down HWY 1. 

 

We stopped at Catavina to water the sand.

We did a quick tour of San Ignacio, which is a little Oasis town in the middle of the desert mountains.  We may try to stop there for a night on our way back home. 

We made it from Vicente Guerrero down to Santa Rosalia in one decently long day.  We like to stop by dark when driving on Mexican Hwy.  Right now it's dark by about 6pm.

(The boys playing "tazos" in the motel closet which they claimed as their bedroom)

Santa Rosalia is an fascinating little town.  It's so rich in history...and copper.  After many years of post-mining recession it seems this town is on an upswing with the recent reopening of the copper mine by Korean and Canadian companies.  There was no vacancy anywhere, which is odd when travelling around Baja in recent years. 

After stopping at many different places and being told there was no room at the inn we were offered what may have been the last motel room in Santa Rosalia.  The next morning we did a quick little tour of the town.  Being that it was pretty early Sunday morning nothing was really open.  The museum looked interesting but it was closed.  If I didn't have five kids with me I would have been tempted to follow the church bells for Sunday morning Mass at a very old cathedral made of metal designed by Eiffel and brought over from France.

 The mine "El Boleo" was the leading copper producer in Mexico in the late 1800's.  
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Not long after we drove into the town we were amazed to see buildings and houses that didn't look Mexican at all.  It was just plain unexpected.  I said something like 'these look like little seaside houses in Washington or something"...my husband replied  "to me they look like something down in New Orleans" something with a more French influence.  Once we started reading we discovered this was a French settlement and these buildings were made from wood by French builders.  One part of town is actually named Mesa Francia.

 

The wood was all imported from outside Mexico and the buildings are more than 100 years old.  Amazing that they aren't completely eaten by termites.

Next stop Loreto.

 

We had to check with a few different places to find a vacancy and something that would be comfortable for a couple days for a decent price.  We got a good deal at hotel Santa  Fe.  Two joining rooms( which feels palatial compared to our trailer), a kitchenette (which helps with food costs) and the best part is a pool and hot tub right outside our hotel room door.

 

There is a lot of history in this town that was once the capital of all the Californias.

 

                                   Now that we're here it feels like our "vacation" begins.