Dia 11: Ciudad Constitucion, BCS, Mexico

Saturday (Dia 11) was just a travel day, roughly splitting the distance between Loreto and La Paz.  

Bahia de Loreto, with Isla Carmen on the left and Isla Montserrat on the right.

Since we first arrived on the Sea of Cortez, we've been roughly paralleling the Sierra La Giganta, a rocky chain of mountains with some peaks as high as 9,000 feet, and with few ways across them.  A short distance south of Loreto, Mex 1 crosses the Sierra and the landscape once again looks like it did between Santo Tomas and El Rosario: a large coastal plain of desert, interspersed with irrigated farm land.  Sometimes large areas of farm fields are covered with khaki colored shade cloth, which is likely needed to protect sensitive plants from too much sun.

We stopped for the night at Campestre La Pila (150$, power).  Fortunately, we didn't notice the RV hookups as we drove in, or we probably would have turned around and headed for the next nearest campground.  That area consists of five pods of two to four sets of power and water hookups, and the western half of the lot is being used to store old semi trailers.  At each pod there is basically a bush or two and a palm tree.  It is probably the least appealing RV park we've seen just about anywhere.  But we were allowed to camp by the pavillion, next to a grassy field and close to the largest of two pools.  (There is also a soccer field and a playground here.) 

The entry to this place is not at all obvious - we came to the end of a paved road and then followed some sandy tracks under high voltage power transmission lines for a bit more than a half kilometer.  What we found was a closed gate with a large 'Abierto' (open) sign above it, with another entrance to the west that seemed to be through a neighboring property.  We followed the latter almost completely around the park before stopping and getting out to see if we could find the office.  On the way there, Alea checked to see if the showers worked, but there was no water.

Hook ups for four RVs.

We found the office, and one of the women there spoke excellent English.  She said that camping for one night with power and water would be 180 pesos ($9).  Alea pointed out that there was no water, and the woman realized that a pump which one of the workers had just taken to get fixed meant that the water system was down.  She called to see if he would return soon, and he said the pump wouldn't be back up and running until tomorrow.  So they knocked 30 pesos off the price for us.  They also put a huge barrel of water and a small bucket in each bathroom.  We could use the bucket to flush the toilets, so there was no real inconvenience for us.

We were the only ones here until late afternoon (which was nice, as Lana was able to roam freely for a while), and we had the pool, which is surrounded by coconut palms, to ourselves.  The water is unheated, but it felt good to take a quick dip in the late afternoon, as the temperatures were likely in the upper 90s or hotter.  

Just before dark a large group of teens arrived on site, who seemed to be part of some sports program.  After assembling in the pavillion, they promptly went outside and ran laps around the dusty field in front of the park.  They cleared out by 7 pm, though we had hardly noticed that they were here.

Before leaving Loreto we spoke with some of our neighbors about good places for cycling down here.  There is a freshly paved road just out of Loreto that goes to the mission at San Javier.  We surveyed the first 10 kilometers and found it to be a smooth road with little traffic.  The part we drove along was composed of medium rollers (some rather steep), but eventually it turns into a serious climb up into the Sierra La Giganta.  So that is one possibility.

The other is down south on the road between Los Barriles and a campground to the north.  It seems some fairly serious cyclists use that for winter training, so if it looks good once we get there, we may stay there for a week.  We will get to survey that route on our way to the campground where we are hoping to stay.

I might as well mention that several days ago I finally sort-of figured out the speed limit system down here.  We repeatedly would reach the edge of a village driving the posted speed limit (usually 40 kph) and people would stomp on the accelerator and go flying down the road.  Of course there would be no sign saying that the speed limit had changed.  It seems it is a given that the higher speed limit resumes at the edge of the village, because most of these folks step on it just before where the speed limit drops to 40 kph for oncoming traffic.  Reduced speeds for dangerous curves work the same way - once the curves are behind you, it is back to the old speed limit.  Knowing that has made it possible to relax a bit more while driving, though every time a Federale gets behind me I wonder if he will tell me the system doesn't work that way.

Now that we are back on the Pacific side of the peninsula we are anxious to get to La Paz and back on the Sea of Cortez side.  There are a few more mosquitoes on the east side, but we've liked the towns and beaches that we've found there.  Whereas on the west side we see mostly chaotic little farming communities and a fairly boring landscape of coastal plains.

It is worth noting here the change in Alea's attitude about Mexico.  From the start, she has been great about jumping into this foreign culture, knowing full well that there would be challenges in communicating and in figuring out new systems and customs.  And when we entered the country, the thought was that this might be our first and last trip here.  After about a week she would start saying "If we return to Mexico..."  But after seeing the coast along the Sea of Cortez it became "When we return to Mexico..."  So barring any unforeseen unpleasant experience, it seems likely we will winter in Mexico again at some point in the future.