Post-6
Baja 2016 - The Ultimate Road Trip

One Dog, Two people and Four Wheels

A wild 6-month ride wheeling through Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, Heidi, Tom and Sam here we go…

Santa Rosalía; Heidi and I remember eating lunch here six years ago when we rode through on our motorcycle. All we remember is looking out at the water while we ate tostados, and Heidi drank a beer (the road getting here is intense). Today we are staying overnight so I pick up beer for both of us.

While driving into town we see a few questionable but inexpensive hotels. I pull into the parking lot of one place, $16 per night, that’s when the discussions begin. Heidi says “I don’t want to stay in a dump!” I reply with “I know. We just need to check it out, in case we need something to fall back on” That doesn’t help. Heidi has two dog friendly hotels picked out. We never found the first hotel, the second hotel Heidi says “You’re not going to want to afford this!” in a stressed out tone. “let’s just go back to one of those dumps in town” I say “We don’t know how much this will cost” The hotel is a beautiful old style Mexican resort right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Sea of Cortez. And I agreed, it probably is too expensive. After some more heated discussion I finally run into the hotel lobby and ask how much for the night. Under $37 US for the night. Wow, we can’t do much better than that.

We decide we need to stay here for a few more days. Heidi upgrades us to a patio room overlooking the sea for six bucks more a night. OK, we can do that. This way I can get some work done and give us time to check out the city.

Hotel El Morro has an attractive pool overlooking the sea. There is an attached restaurant / bar also. This with our private sea view patio is everything we like when we travel. Finding it unexpectedly only adds to the adventure travel joy.

Santa Rosalía is only a mile away. The next day we take a hike along the Sea of Cortez. Here we go -->

At the corner of town is Tacos Sicodelicos, it’s a very popular place today, and that is what we look for in Mexico. If locals (Mexicans) are eating there in numbers, your chances of getting bad food is minimal. There is a small seating area inside, maybe six tables. The owners home is attached to the rear of the building. This is perfect to us so lunch it is.

I wanted to wait for this guy to go first but he insisted I go first “si, gracias!” It was fun watching the guy with the gun talking on the phone, he was in control of something that’s for sure. Heidi and I always run through scenarios about people we meet or see. Heidi thinks he’s secret police. I theorize just a tough dude with a security job that requires a gun. We love to talk about our daily adventure back at the hotel during the sundowner.

“Tacos de carne asada“ The best so far this trip!

Marathon hikes through new cities is what we enjoy doing most. A new Latin American city is at the top of that list. Today we don’t know where we’re going so it’s a total adventure, we’ll experience the city’s culture first hand by exploring on foot and we can practice our Spanish anytime we want. This is great, plus we can get in a four hour hike by default and that feels fantastic.

Enjoy our day exploring Santa Rosalía, Baja Mexico. Here we go…

We love real Mexican street food and Santa Rosalía has a great street food culture.

Empanadas are my favorite food. This guy has no empanadas today but his coffee is good.

Fisherman cleaning the mornings catch

Santa Rosalía was founded in 1884 by a French copper mining company, El Boleo.

The mine is still in operation today. Every day we see people at the hotel wearing mine company cloths.

Here is an empanada stand right next to Tacos Sicodelicos. It wasn’t open earlier but now it is. “cuatro empanadas de pollo por favor, para llevar” (four chicken empanadas to go please). These will be great back at the hotel.


We run into some interesting characters on our way back to the hotel.

While Heidi and I were walking back, about a mile and a half, a federal police truck pulls over and offers us a ride. How nice is that. We decline stating “nos gusta hacer ejercicio , gracias senor (we like the exercise thank you sir) He gives us a friendly wave and drives off. We have felt nothing but safe here so far and that just adds.

Back on our patio at El Morro we enjoy cocktails while watching the world go by.

The next morning Sam and I head down to the beach early. The goal is to watch the activity down at the harbor at the start of the day, just for the fun of it.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Mexico “Dia de San Valentin” Heidi and I talk about our first Valentine’s Day together ‘Chi Chi’s Eau Claire Wisconsin’ twenty-eight years ago. It seems like it was just yesterday. We are so lucky to have found each other…

Stay tuned for more Baja Mexico fun…

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