Whale Adventure San Ignacio

February is a very active month for whales. This is the time of year they mate or give birth to their young, depending on the year. It is for this reason that we headed down this past week, about 600 miles south of San Diego, to San Ignacio, Mexico. 

On our way, we stopped in San Quintin, at the Old Mill, a restaurant refashioned out of an old flour mill. We all ordered the clam dish, which came in tacky swan-styled aluminum foil. The good news is none of us became sick. 

When we reached our halfway point in the remote "town" of Catavina, the hotel told us they could not find our booking. They had no room, they said, because two tour bus groups were due that evening. We could try our luck at the motel across the street, the only other structure besides a convenience store shack, and that was all. Well, we checked out the motel, and it was something of a nightmare: Pepto-Bismol pink exterior, cardboard doors, reeking of bleach, promising bedbugs, poor lighting, and general misery for the night, if we were lucky. Privately, I considered how we could all sleep in the car.

 Since we had a few hours of daylight left, we decided to take a gamble and headed another 240 km south to the next town of Guerrero Negro (Black Warrior). We were so relieved to find wonderful accommodations there.  This is a shot of the lamp in the room. We had a good restaurant downstairs, towels, hot shower, the works. I practically did somersaults in the lobby! 

Next morning, we were three hours ahead of schedule and checked into the San Ignacio Bed and Breakfast. This is a delightful spot located right along the river. A Canadian couple runs the place. The place is set up with yurts and humble cabins. The rooms are basic, but it is the immediate access to the river that can't be beat. Also, the full breakfast, with jam, sausages, ham, eggs, fresh orange juice coffee, toast. Well, it was delightful! 

Best of all, our hosts offer kayaks that guests can just grab and use. Since we were there early, we had time to kayak up and down the river twice. We spotted white egrets, blue herons, and other birds. It was a delightful day, and luckily for us, the wind died down just enough for us to enjoy the activity. When had first arrived, it was cold and windy, but once we had started kayaking, it all quieted down for our enjoyment. 

Perfect weather. 

After a day of kayaking, we headed back towards the town square to find dinner. 

This hardware store is in the town of San Ignacio. 

The old man who owns the place has everything imaginable, from candy, to sunglasses, T-shirts, hoodies, cowboy hats, magnets, buckets, and detergent. Everything in there looked like it had been sitting around for at least thirty years. 

The next morning, we headed out to the bay. First it was an easy drive, about 30 km on paved road. The last 20 km or so was a rocky, dirt road. We took a bit of a pounding but reached our destination easily enough. Two guides greeted us and gave us our instructions: no standing in the boat, keep lifejackets on at all times, don't touch whale eyes, tail, blowholes, or fins. Only eight panga boats are allowed in the bay at any time. The whales enjoyed making their rounds. What looked like a professional photography team was on one of the boats. They had underwater cameras, which they held at the end of short poles. 

We rode out in a fast panga boat, and within 15 minutes we were surrounded by whales. Here a mother whale and her calf approached our boat to be petted. I would say we saw at least a thirty different gray whales, if not more. They seemed to be at every point on the radius, like the numbers on a watch dial. 

A dolphin or two decided to accompany us for awhile. They seem to enjoy riding along. 

I can't figure out why whales are attracted to humans in boats. Like dogs, they just seem to want attention. We don't feed them or give them anything. Here is a close-up shot of my left hand petting the mother whale. The round yellow things are barnacles. 

These creatures are huge but move swiftly, powerfully, and majestically through the water. We did see two whales mating, frolicking through the ocean at high speed. Well, we learned a thing or two. The one picture I caught was, um, blurry, and probably best that I don't post it. I will leave those images to National Geographic. Think 200-pound pink banana, and you will start to have a blurry picture similar to the one in my camera. 

Much to my relief and enjoyment, I didn't experience any kind of motion sickness on the trip. 

Unlike a whale watching trip I tried over ten years ago in the open ocean off of San Francisco, this one was tame. The San Ignacio bay has calmer, gentler waters, and the whales are in close proximity. No need for long hours in the open, rolling ocean. This was easy. And if I can do it, anybody can. 

Back on shore, we noticed how the ospreys had built their nests atop posts. The bird on the right gave me a few warning squawks as I approached. This was as close as I could get without sending it into hysterics. We saw so many wild animals on the trip, several I could not get a picture of. But a couple coyotes scrambled up near the side of the road, buzzards and turkey vultures flew in the skies above Catavina and San Ignacio. Burros, cows, sheep, goats, lots of stray dogs, too. 

Back at the town square, we had some time to visit the church. 

I know he is a saint, but I never found out why he is holding a broom. Cleanliness is next to Godliness?

Church doors. . . 

The garden outside the church reminds me a lot of village scenes in Lebanon. 

On our way back, we did stay at the good hotel in Catavina. That afternoon, we hiked up the hillside in search of ancient cave paintings. Beautiful cacti and rocks make up the landscape. We thought this one looked especially interesting. 

Here is what we found inside the cave. 

The general consensus was that the cacti and rocks were more interesting. 

Local Business

We have been trying, for several years now, to buy products manufactured in the U.S. With all due respect to the hard-working Chinese, we are just sick of buying cheap quality goods that come from China, especially. Long hours of research online have turned up interesting items, items such as plastic flip-flops, cherry wood salad bowls, leather belts, and dish-ware.

This year, we have learned about new things and want to share them with you. 

I did a lot of research on different kinds of turquoise. I learned, for example, that turquoise is named after the mine from which it has been extracted. Among the rarest turquoise is solid blue Persian turquoise and Bisbee turquoise from Bisbee, Arizona. The Bisbee turquoise is a dark blue. Only 3% of the turquoise in circulation is all-natural, meaning it has not been dipped in a type of resin to "stabilize"it. Turquoise is a soft stone and prone to crumbling. I also learned that much of the turquoise up for sale is either reconstituted from a powder form or a complete fake, made of howlite and dyed blue. I realize now that all my other pieces of turquoise are complete fakes!

The turquoise in the photograph is all-natural Royston Turquoise, from Nevada. It is known by its brown markings. I love this piece because it has an aquatic look to it and reminds me of an adventure I had in Maui, when six giant sea turtles made me the focus of their swim. 

After our standby bath rug received an unwanted splash of bleach, we set out to find rag rugs made in America. Rag rugs are made from leftover fabric. They could be made from denim jeans, shirts, and so on. The rag rug concept was first brought over from Europe, then established in the United States. When every penny counted, folks used old clothing they could no longer wear and made floor rugs with them. This practice continues with the Amish and with craftspeople in New England, especially. There aren't too many people making rag rugs out here in California. The Amish rugs I found online are what you would expect leftover Amish fabrics colors to be-- dull browns, mostly. 

One craftsperson in New York makes these rag rugs from leftover fabrics at a textile mill. She makes a whole other line of rag rugs from sock toe clippings at a sock factory. Sound business and friendly to the planet. I thought it was worth checking out. The talent is all in how the colors are chosen and put together. This is the one we finally ordered.

This one is from a another company in Vermont. 

These rugs are machine washable and reversible, too. 

I only added this picture because I have had so many questions about it. This is a silver pendant. The center is not made of gems but of heather cut in a cross-section. It is a piece from England. The heather there grows on the moors--think Wuthering Heights. It is dried, dyed, and cut, then coated with a type of clear resin. 

Trip out to Jacumba

We had been planning, all vacation-long, on spending a day up in Jacumba to enjoy soaking in the hot springs. It's a wonderful way to spend a winter's day. But with all the Christmas dinner hosting and general business, we had had a hard time fitting it into our schedule--until today. 

And away we went!

But first, we had to stop in for a quick bite at The Barbecue Pit. This is one of those no-nonsense restaurants. Look up at the board. Voice your pick. Grab your tray. Pay. Eat. Leave. Except today, there were other folks also taking pictures of it as I was. It is a San Diego landmark, but we were still surprised to see tourists acting touristy out in our neighborhood. 

We had fueled ourselves, not our car, and we drove east into the high desert. 

Yay! We arrived at our destination, our aching backs yearning for that hot soak. Oh, I worked extra hard in the yard the day before, knowing, believing I would get my reward today. Oh, yeah!

Oh, no! We discovered that our favorite hot spring destination is under serious reconstruction. The jacuzzi was empty. The pools were empty. 

The restaurant was reduced to new paint on the wall, and empty space!

A team of men were working on the roof and exterior. They seemed intrigued by our visit, happy to have company, a diversion. One man gave us a tour of the interior to show us all the work they have been up to since March. But where would we soak, we asked? The men indicated there was a bathtub somewhere yonder, but would we find it?

We tromped around awhile to check out some of the derelict properties of the town. Jacumba looks something like a ghost town these days, but I know one day, it's going to be a hopping haven. It must, because of its precious healing hot springs. 

If I ever win the lottery, I will buy significant property up here and transform it into a local paradise. 

Even the derelict ramshackle structures up in Jacumba will all be fixed up one day. That is my vision. 

Oh, Lord, don't buy me a Mercedes-Benz, but help me win the lottery, and I will transform this town!

Today, the air was crisp, about 52 degrees. 

One other reason I love going to Jacumba is because it gives me a chance to watch for birds. I was double-equipped today. I had my camera and my newly acquired binoculars. Jacumba is super quiet. All I could hear was the light breeze and the birds tweeting in the trees. 

And there were so many birds up in the pine trees. 

I waited, pointed, clicked, until. . . 

This old dog started barking at me. I don't think it was mad or alarmed. I think it was barking because it finally had something to say to somebody. It was lonely and I was there to hear it. 

The most spectacular thing I saw today was a barn owl. I'm not sure what the bird in the above photo is. I caught this picture later. 

The barn owl was in this tree. It seemed ghostly white and swooped out toward me as I stepped under the tree to take pictures of other birds I had spotted. The owl flapped toward me so quickly I had no chance to take its picture. It really surprised me. It flapped in a distinctive way, almost folding its wings as it flew. 

I stayed awhile longer hoping the owl would return, but I didn't see it again. 

Well, we didn't find the bathtub the workmen had told us about, so we continued to drive east, in search of another hot spring they had told us about. 

But we were starting to run low on gas, and the only place that seemed open for miles was the Lazy Lizard Saloon. 

It started to feel like we were characters in a movie where it starts out bright and cheery, until we run out of gas and are killed by some crazed man holding an axe. Each gas station we found had been abandoned. No gas for miles. No vultures were circling overhead, but I was expecting them. We eyed our gas gauge and decided we had better head back. But we still wanted to soak. Could we find that bathtub back in Jacumba?

One of the workmen we had spoken to earlier led the way in his bright red truck. And there it was. . . a bathtub set up under a pipe gushing hot spring water. 

105 degrees, they said. 

Not a bad day after all!