Dia 12: La Paz, BCS, Mexico

Another travel day of around 125 miles, a significant amount of it through very dusty and bumpy construction zones.  We don't relish the thought of returning along this stretch of road on our way north, but it is the only option.

A coconut palm.

We are in La Paz, which is about 100 miles north of Cabo San Lucas (which is at the tip of the Baja Peninsula).  Aside from breaking up the driving to destinations farther south, La Paz offers us our best shopping opportunities since Ensenada.  Though it isn't that we need a lot of stuff, we will just have more and better choices.

The temperatures were getting up around the 90s on the western side of the peninsula, but it is windier and cloudier here in La Paz.  The temperatures are in the low 80s at mid afternoon, which almost feels chilly with the brisk wind.  We can only imagine the shock that we will experience when we return to Boise in January.

We are camped at Campestre Marantha (400$, power, water, hot showers, wi-fi), the last remaining RV park in La Paz (most of the others having been redeveloped with more profitable uses).  The park is a nice enough place, though it is mainly set up for big rigs, which are lined up diagonally along the west wall of the compound.  There are only two bathroom stalls here (both have showers), and they are located in the back corner, so we are stuck between some big rigs in order to have reasonable proximity to the facilities.  A large portion of the park is currently off limits, there being some sort of youth retreat in progress.

Just like your favorite KOA in the states.

Normally, we would be dining out fairly often, but we don't get near enough exercise right now for us to risk the typically rice-beans-tortillas gut bombs.  Most of our evening meals start with a combination of carrots, onion and celery (the "holy trinity" of cooking in France), and we sometimes add potato and/or green pepper (the latter doesn't travel quite as well as the other four).  (We generally vary the amounts based upon what items we have on hand that need to be used up.)  If we have fresh meat, we start by browning that, then saute the vegetables with the fat.  Or we can add pre-cooked meat while we are doing the sauteing.  Then there are several options for completing the meal:

• We can scamble in some eggs, and once they are close to being cooked, add some grated cheese and perhaps some sliced olives.
• We can add a simmer sauce: mole (with chicken), chipotle (usually with meat), abodabo or other Mexican sauces; a spaghetti sauce (often with olives); a creamy pasta sauce; East Indian curry sauces (when we can find them); or any number of Thai, Japanese or other sauces (also when available).
• We can add a creamed soup, usually celery or mushroom.
• Or we can leave it plain, and just add some Greek seasoning or feta cheese to give it some flavor.

We find this gives us a lot of variety, though some meals turn out better than others.  And if we've over indulged in eating bread or deserts, after a meal or two like these (provided we don't use too much potato) we can feel that the fat has come off of our waistlines.  The "Holy Trinity" is also great for normalizing your blood pressure.

The squeak that we noticed coming from our camper's driver's side wheel returned, so we e-mailed Camp Inn for their thoughts on what is going on, wanting to know if it is something that we need to deal with right away.  They are thinking that it isn't the hub that is causing the noise, but the torsion bar suspension.  It needs some lubrication and sealing, but it is something that we don't need to address until we return to Boise.  It sounds like what is entailed is a bit beyond my skill level, so we'll take it to the folks who in the past have done our trailer wiring and other maintenance for us.