Burroback Riding

Yesterday the kids and I went for a once in a lifetime experience of riding burros through the deserts of Baja. We met a caballero that told us he had some burros and horses for rent and would we like to go. Of course I said! We drove to his ranch in the mountains where he loaded me up on a horse and the two big boys on the cutest and tiniest of burros. Phelan´s burro was like a stuffed animal it was so cute. Ryder´s burro was fairly lazy though and we had to wait for it several times and Ryder had to learn to ¨whip¨ it if he wanted to get it anywhere. Our guide was a true caballero though and taught the kids to throw rocks in the caves before entering because of snakes and taught all of us desert tracking of coyotes, rats, rabbits, lizards, snakes, etc. It was sometimes difficult as you do have to watch your legs with the cactuses and Ryder and I also experienced a bit of bushwhacking while trying to pick oranges from a trees while on a horse. We hope to go again this weekend before leaving Muluge and heading north.

Lots of Weekly Photos

These aren´t our best photos but I´m just trying to catch us up with all that we´ve seen. Please scroll down and see other photos we´ve added to other blogposts!

Muluge Baja Sur

We have arrived in the absolutely gorgeous town of Muluge Baja Sur. It´s on the Sea of Cortez side and it´s warm. Actually HOT. We are camping in a campground that was devestated by a hurricane two years ago and have been attempting to help the owners recover their losses by creating a website for the campground as well as doing some kitchen remodeling. The town is located on the Rio Muluge that leads to the Sea. It´s so lovely with a small town built into the rock siding of a mountain. It reminds us so much of Ecuador and Peru. The kids have been playing in the tidepools and walking to town with us to eat giant chicken sandwiches and tacos. The hiking is superb and tomorrow Ryder and Phelan are going burro riding into the hillsides. I wish I could post a photo of Ryder right now. He has evolved since we´ve left. His hair is getting long and he wears this giant dirty sand dollar he found on the beach around his neck. Phelan, not one to be left out, also has a necklace made of elastic cord and has a constant dirty face from the powder we are camped in. We sometimes worry they are not getting much out of it and then they surprise us and talk about the difference between the birds, octopuses, starvation, families with 11 children vs. 3 and so on. We bought Ryder a soccer ball which is now his opening line with all kids ¨quiere jugar¨ They kick his butt but he doens´t seem to mind but does get nervous when they talk to him. They have learned so much adventuring with us, valuable lessons we hope last a lifetime. When they complain they are bored we hope to remind them of the day we spent all day rolling a round rock down the road.

The Most Beautiful Desert in the World CATAVINA

Good-bye Campo

Tomorrow we leave our rented house and move south to places like Mulege, Santa Rosalia, Ensenada and San Ignacio. We plan to see lots, camp much and eat well. Our conversations might not be very plentiful but please shoot us an e-mail and then we'll get back to you soon. Thanks for everyone's constant support!

Our Aquarium

When we first arrived at the Campo, a neighbor gave us an empty aquarium. He told us to put some salt water from the ocean in it and gravel on the bottom and start it up. Whenever the kids find something cool under the rocks, throw it in and see what it does. This, I must say, was a huge highlight of our month here at the Campo. We've had everything in there from crabs and snails to squishy sea anenomes, limpets, sea stars and the star of the show - the OCTOPUS. It was a tiny octopus that the neighbor caught and gave to us. The coolest part of the octopus is that it would catch small crabs in our tank and eat them. It would also change colors from white to orange to sometimes red. Eventually we would empty the tank and let everything go and start over. It waw hard to let the octopus go but we didn't want to accidentally kill anything.

The Brownings Visit

Thanks to the Brownings for making the effort to get all the way down here! We had a great time hiking, exploring, collecting, sand surfing, chicken shackin', kissing, drinking, howling, riding and watching. Thanks for the sweatshirt and you're welcome for the lice and colds. Much love.

4 Wheelin'

In the desert - everyone goes 4 wheelin. The roads here in Mexico are bad, like really bad. You turn to go a short distance and suddenly you're on a road that has grit your teeth and pray washboard or potholes or mysterios dips out of nowhere. Driving a 20 year old VW van makes these adventures sometimes a bit more nerve racking. So, for fun, a neighbor has leant us some 4 wheelers! Steve has been taking the bigger boys out together for small forays into cactus land. Ryder says it's more fun than Legoland (but then he says that almost everyday). Everyone has dune buggies and Baja bugs too.

Is Mexico Cheaper?

The answer is yes! Here are some prices to compare...

5lb. cantaloupe $2.15
5lb. bag of navel oranges $1.00
six pack of Corona/Tecate $4.00
1/2 gall of fresh squeezed OJ $3.25 like fresh squeezed!!!
3 fish tacos, beans and rice $2.50
1lb. fresh, just off the boat giant shrimp $5.00
30 fresh corn tortillas $1.00
1 giant, as big as your head, apple fritter 50 cents
1lb. cactus $1.00

Tonight for dinner I made cactus salad. Steamed cactus is kind of like a citrus green bean. I'm sure it has some sort of goodness in it but I thought we ought to start eating it regularly as it is found everywhere down here. Ryder almost barfed while trying to eat it. It's got an okra kind of sliminess to it. I think next time I'm going to add it to some meat and fill a tortilla with it.

The Weekly Photos

We're having technical difficulties loading photos. I don't have the mental energy to figure it out right now so this is all I've got. I can tell you that we saw dolphins today completely jumping out of the water, right off our deck. It was fantastic!

We've been hanging with Deirdre and Alex for the weekend and like usual, it is easy to just "be" and drink mucho margaritas. Thanks Alex for bartending. We took them to shell canyon yesterday, showed them the giant cactuses and we walked a beach with whale and dolphin bones on it. We ended the day by howling at the moon over the ocean. It was a good day! Everyone was pooped by 8:00. For more pictures of our house and beach check out Richard and Marlene's blog at www.rmdopp.blogspot.com

Seriously old Cactuses

What these photos don't tell you is that these are 1500 years old! I'm not joking. When they're Phelan's size, they're 50 years old. They were all in this one valley and Richard, Steve and I went for a hike around the valley to check them out. They come in all different shapes and sizes and they were really quite incredible.

Panaderia visit

We have a favorite panaderia (bakery) here in San Felipe and last Saturday we went on a tour of the back room. Eduardo was very kind and served us freshly baked cookies and coffee while we watched. The kids got to help make pineapple pies and we stole their secret recipe as well. Do you see the fancy imprint maker (a coke bottle)? It was really fun but Omy said she didn't think the room would pass inspection in the U.S.

We got a New Camera

Nothing better than holding your baby, drinking some tea and watching the sunrise over the sea with the ones you love. Peace to all.

P.S. Thanks to R&M for the camera.

The Weekly Pictures