The beach in Ensenada
From Ensenada we continued south on MEX1, stopping for the night in San Quintin. It’s pronounced “keen-tin” and we told Quinn people might start calling him keen. We found a very nice campground complete with a playground and spent the afternoon planning our route south and playing in the sand. On the recommendation of our guidebook and a group of bird-watching Californians Witt ran into while out for a walk, we decided to eat at the restaurant just down the street from the campground. It was an excellent choice, with fresh ceviche and fish stuffed with jalapeno cheese and wrapped in bacon. Mmmm bacon. Oh and the happy hour price for beer was $1.50. I love Mexico.
Playground!
The next day we put in a long day driving to reach Bahia de Los Angeles, a speck of a town on the gulf side of the peninsula about 40 miles off the main road. We were treated to some spectacular desert scenery.
Yes, there is a road amongst the saguaros.
We found a great campground where we could park 20 feet from the beach.
This is a Boojum tree, and looks like something out of Dr Seuss. Apparently it’s only found in Baja.
As we neared the coast, we were treated to amazing views of the bay.
Quinn wasted no time in heading to the beach…
… And we wasted no time in breaking out beer, chips, and salsa.
After a few months of staying at deserted campgrounds, we have suddenly started meeting other travelers. We met 4 or 5 other long term travelers in the campground and shared stories and plans over a bowl of guacamole. It feels very good to meet other folks as crazy as we are! We spent the next day relaxing on the beach and going for walks. There’s ample bird life and the scenery doesn’t get old.
On Monday we packed up and headed back inland to re-join the highway, following a retired German couple in their RV. We were both headed to Guerrero Negro, hoping to see some grey whales. Unfortunately are a couple of weeks too early – the whales are still making their way south along the coast. We camped with Peter and Christa and joined them for an excellent meal at a nearby restaurant.
Mmmm. Camarones in Mojo de Ajo
A good meal with new friends. The octopus is plastic. I thought it was real at first!
Jealous again!
I’ve enjoyed reading so far! Looks like we were in the Yukon and Alaska just a few weeks after you and enjoyed some of the same scenery and hikes (Goldensides!)
Glad to see that a young child doesn’t mean you’re stuck at home and can’t camp anymore.
Enjoy Mexico and the warmth!
Jared, thanks for contacting us!
Before we got our van we tried to get Quinn out car camping in a tent at ages 1 and again at 2. The first time he thought it was great, but didn’t get that the tent was a place to sleep. He just bounced around playing in it until he got overtired and starting crying. The next summer we tried again and he actually fell asleep, but perpendicular to my wife and I, leaving me crammed up against the side of the tent with his feet on top of my head. 🙂
I know others have had much better luck with their kids, probably with more persistence we’d have gotten it figured out. But Quinn loves the van and has never had a problem sleeping in it.
Thanks again,
Witt
Hey Jared! Thanks for writing! We’d love to hear how your travels are going — do you have a blog so we can return the favor?
Traveling with a young’un challenges us every day. We hope that it’ll be worth it and that he’ll turn out more grounded and better equipped to handle the various curve balls that life throws him. Most days, though, we just hope that he won’t be spending a bunch of extra time in therapy because of his parents’ wanderlust. 😉
Yay, you made it to Mexico! Looks gorgeous! Can’t wait to see you in Bahia Kino!
Love,
The Slobes
We’re really excited that it’s going to work out. We’re looking forward to seeing you guys!!
I’m getting hungry following your trip.