On your mark, get set, go! Oh my…The Baja is an incredible part of Mexico. It’s almost an island; and resembles little of mainland Mexico they tell me (I’ve never been). The highway (if you can call it that) is treacherous, scary, spooky, and is nothing like a highway in the States or Canada. Our neighbor refers to it as a suicide run.

Mostly there are two lanes and no shoulder. The Baja gets all its goods by truck or boat, so we meet many of those trucks on the road. We cringe and literally lean our bodies away from the trucks as we pass by each other going opposite directions. They are so close that we’re sure they’ll take our side-view mirrors–or worse. Believe me this drive is not for the feint of heart.

Much of it is beautiful scenery if you are the passenger. The driver’s eyes are glued to the road and its hazards. This trip found me behind the wheel for only one-half hour. Seriously. I lucked out. Greg is my hero, driving all that way up and down.

The reason for the trip was to visit family in San Diego County. It’s always nice to see the ones you love.

Greg’s Dad & Val (Mom2)

We got to be with our son and his wife and my mom too. All so good for our hearts and the reason for taking the long and winding road trip.

Hawaiian Hula Girl on the Dash for amusement. Shake it baby! Shake it!

Here are some essentials for the road trip:

Money for gas: in our case about 400 bucks.

Snacks that are easily eaten while you drive: peanuts, m & m’s, hard boiled eggs, toasted pumpkin seeds, cheese and crackers, peanut butter and apple slices, cookies, lots of water, coffee, and soda!

Dog food and dog treats for Isabela

A sense of humor–a necessity for life in general, right?

Tunes on the iPod

Tunes on Sirius radio

Sunglasses are a must

Comfy clothes for the drive–loose fitting and cool, as it’s hot during the day. Jeans and sweat shirts are for the wee hours and for nighttime.

Maps with all the road distances between places and the military check points marked, also notes regarding gas stations, hotels and places to grab a bite to eat.

Cell phones for when there is cell service and you want to call and make reservations at a hotel or for emergency

Patience for lots of potholes, lousy drivers, cows or horses in the road, and fog outside of Guerrero Negro for miles!

More patience for windy roads up in the mountains and the monotonous stretches of nothing in the low lands

You have to stop to let the dog run around and do her business. You can do your business too.

These cardon are a lot bigger than the ones where we live.

Junior high geography–This is a mesa.

We camped on the beach in between Mulege and Loreto. Beautiful evening.

Isabela, our dog, loved being close to the water again. She did not like the city life very much.

Everybody out! Gotta move around a bit.

In the middle of nowhere!

All in all a nice trip, but we are so happy to be home.

Home Sweet Home!

What wakes you up in the morning? El gallo!

My friend Julie’s lesson with the orphans was to draw and paint a rooster. It amazes us how good these kids are at just jumping right in and making art. All the roosters came out differently because each child makes it his/her own.

I am always so encouraged working with these children.

By Anjela, about 9 years old

Dori, my friend from Davis, CA, and her daughter, Lilly, came with us this time. Lilly speaks excellent Spanish and loves to do artistic things herself. They were both a big help.

Dori and Lilly

Lots of work going on here after the hurricane.

Julie helping Eduardo

These kids know what to do!

A little one concentrating on her painting. What a doll.

If you’re ever in town, you should stop by and see the place. It’s awesome–filled with love.

(and some really cool rooster paintings!)

Rise and shine! The sun comes up pretty early, so we get an early start these days. Our pup can hardly stand it till we start moving toward the door. “I have to get my shoes on, Isabela.” That sets her off to the bench in the outdoor shower where we keep her ball and the chuck-it. All her days start like this. We walk across the street onto the trail Greg made for us, and we’re down on the beach in under a minute. Happiness is a dog on the beach with a ball.

Today’s happiness, besides throwing the ball for Isabela, was Greg casting his fishing line, me finding beach glass and newly hatched turtles.

That’s right! BABY TURTLES TODAY.

Oh how happy! I yelled to Greg down the beach where he was fishing, and he came a running! Two of our neighbors and a Mexican worker, whose part of a crew building a house down the street, also came to be part of the thrilling spectacle.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I get so upset about the tire tracks the turtles get stuck in. This is the time of year when the gringos all show up to live in their second homes. Some ride their 4-wheelers on the beach. It’s not all gringos though. Many Mexicans start bringing their big 4X4 trucks and drive up and down the beach as they fish on the shore.

I never tire of this.

There were about thirty babies. They were slow and seemingly exhausted, so we figure they were hatched in the night and tired out from their arduous journey to the water’s edge.

Oh what a beautiful morning!

Wow! Lots of bait fish in the water this morning. Teeming in fact and close to shore. Some of them were washed up and left to…well…die. They look like infant ballyhoo, but I don’t know for sure if they are.

Baby ballyhoo?

Our neighbors were having a great time casting and catching this morning. Our dog had a ball too—literally and figuratively. She loves to chase and catch the ball as much as the guys love tossing in their lines and catching fish.

Tim with his Rooster Fish

No baby turtles today, but there have been many trucks and 4-Wheelers on the beach. I’m so glad we were able to mark out nests with sticks; at least they won’t drive over them.

Another of the 15 or so nests we’ve marked.

I’m happy and thankful to be alive to enjoy the richness that life has to offer. As you can see, the fishermen were happy and thankful today too.

Hey Aldo, they look like fish–only smaller!

My dear friend, Julie, is an art teacher in Maui and, with her husband, she has a home here in my neighborhood where they spend about half of every year. She reads my blog and it prompted her to express an interest in going to the orphanage with me. That’s how I got lucky enough to be a part of Julie’s water color lesson.

Last Saturday she and I worked on our lesson plan and we created some samples. I learned a lot from her about how to break it down into small steps, which is what good teaching is about. On Monday, armed with courage, water colors, markers, lots of paper, and water color pencils, brushes and some containers for water, we loaded everything in my truck.

Even I can paint a fish!

Just painting up some samples!

On the way to the orphanage, we picked up another of my friends, Stacee, who hales from Colorado, and with her hubby, she also has a home here. And so it was that we three adults got charged up and went to have some fun. As one might imagine, we enjoyed it every bit as much as the children. Receiving blessings is normally what giving delivers, right?

¿Qué vive en el mar? What lives in the sea?

This was the question posed by Julie to the eight, energetic, children artists in our first group. It was exciting to watch their faces light up and see how easily they took to the project.

They just dig right in!

We were amazed as we watched them dig right in, creating their own special underwater scenes.

Stacee at the ready!

We managed to work with about 20 of them before our time was up, and I, for one, was exhausted at the end of two hours. It was a contented exhaustion reminiscent of my years as a teacher.

Angela, Teacher Julie, and Dayana

Rebeca

Alison is a serious painter who loves red.

Jesus proudly displays his art.

His creation is beyond detailed.

Julie and Stacee with the Kids

You can’t get too much of a good thing when it comes to days like this. If you are ever in need of a “pick-me-up” you must visit the Hogar del Niño in Todos Santos.

My ear-to-ear grin says it all I think.

 The kids are generous with their smiles and their talents—sharing and helping each other is their norm.

Angela loves to paint–she did two!

We’re already gearing up for another painting session. Next time we’re going to paint birds!