Baja Love

We got back from Baja a couple of nights ago. Each time we go it is a new experience, and each time is better than the last. Traveling to Baja with the kids is always very difficult decision for us. Jon has been going for 16 or 17 years and I suppose I have been going with him for about 10 years. It has always been one of our favorite places in the world, a place of rugged beauty and remoteness that we love sharing with our kids. But each year when it comes time to go it is a very difficult and stressful decision to make, many people question our judgement in bringing our kids down there. So far every time we have gone we have made sure we have someone driving with us, it just seems safer to have at least one other car with you down there. This time we couldn't find anyone to go and we ended up going down solo which made us a bit nervous. Long story short, each time we go down there it seems like it is the best thing we ever did for our kids. They come alive down there in a way that is indescribable. Perhaps it is the disconnection from gadgets and other distractions, whatever it is, it is irreplaceable. Already we are all mourning the fact that we are home and longing for our next adventure in Baja. 

The Drive

The kids were HEROS on the 13 hr drive down and the 16 hr drive home. They blew me away with their patience.

Eden drew some amazing pics for various people, mostly Jon's friends, mostly Chris and Greg.

Zi was into his books on the drive

At Camp

Baja (as we know it) is often a windy and cold place especially during these winter months. For the last 4 years or so we have scored with unbelievably beautiful weather, but this year the weather was back to the Baja that I first grew to love. The puffy wearing, bundle up and endure the elements kind of Baja. We were lucky to avoid rain but the wind and the cold grew tiresome for me. The kids however cruised through it as if nothing was different. I could not believe there fortitude in the elements. By Monday, which was day 6 for us, I was ready to call it a trip. I was cold and feeling quite dirty. When we asked Eden if she was ready to go home she said: "No I want to stay till October", then she said she wanted to stay at least two more nights, which of course we couldn't refuse. Now that we are home she keeps asking when we can go back and we keep asking ourselves why we left so soon.

 

The constant wind made for epic kite flying days. Both the kids became expert kite flyers by the end.

During the trip, you could count on Zion to be either pushing his truck around or sitting on or near his boogie board begging for a ride; in the dunes or the water, it didn't matter to him, as long as someone would tow him around.

Zion was constantly covered in sand as was everything he ate.

One of Eden's favorite things to do on the trip was fish in the tide pools with her makeshift fishing pole. 

  

One of my favorite things to do in Baja is explore. The beaches and dunes are so vast and empty. Exploring them with the kids was priceless.

Wind waves in the sand

Zi LOVED sliding down the dunes

Eden loved this picnic on the boat, Eden is pretty obsessed with boats and fishing.

My mangy crew (:

Diablo

Toward the end of the trip, the wind was destroying the wave that we were camped at, so each day we would head up to a place called Diablo. Diablo might be one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is so wild and full of life for some reason. We have seen a baby whale in the line up and humbolt squid on the beach. The kids were in awe of the expansive tide pools and that is where they begged to go back to day after day. But the wind is rough because it is situated on an exposed point, the dunes do not protect camp like they do at Cordone. Therefore we would hang out, play and eat in the truck until the tide was low enough to play in the pools. 

Eden taking pictures of her hermit crabs.

Eden's bucket of captured hermit crabs.

Zion Surfing: He is a crazy baby, he cries and throws fits until Jon takes him out, I have never seen anything like it.

Eden Surfing: it was a bit cold for Eden to surf but she caught a couple of waves. It's hard to tell but the picture below shows the bay. Both the kids rode waves all the way to the beach across the bay. We timed it and it was something like a minute and a half.

All tuckered out

Evenings

Camp was beautiful at night. Each night Jon would read to Eden by the fire while I put Zion to bed in the trailer. Toward the end she would fall asleep during the story almost every night. 

The Road Home

We left camp at 4:30am. The dirt road to camp was endless this year. It took us two hours to go 20 something miles, but it sure is beautiful, especially as the sun rises, and to be honest I wouldn't really want it any other way.