Our time in Puerto Vallarta is quickly coming to an end. As ever, I am a bit in awe of just how quickly time can pass us by. Three months. It sounds like such a long time to spend in a city that we have only granted one week stays in the past. Time flys by in a heartbeat. The big question now is … Whats Next?
We love to BBQ. The tantalizing smells aside, who doesn’t love the perfectly cooked steak, shrimp kebobs, or delicious grilled vegetables? For variety, throw on a pizza, flip some burgers, or grill a whole fish. Whatever you are craving, now is the season to get out and get grilling!
Time, that most fairydust of qualities, tends to fly or drag; all dependent, upon your inner happiness. I remember with startling vividness the endless, mind-numbing hours spent watching the clock from the inside of my cubicle. Willing those last hours and minutes to go faster. Just as I have tried to slow down time throughout my life; on vacations, amazing nights out, those great moments in time you never wanted to end. What I’ve learned in 120+ days on the road is that time, once the enemy, now a friend, still can fly by in an instant.
The 83 Pueblo Magico towns of Mexico may very well be enough of a reason for a visit to the country. We have previously visited several, including Alamos, El Fuerte, and Creel just last year. Recently we relished our time in Loreto and Todos Santos, finding ourselves completely intrigued and enchanted by stepping back into time to experience hand formed cobblestone streets and woodbeamed ceilings. Wanting to escape the city, it was time for a little magic.
We are, of course, always “home”. When you live in a tiny house on wheels, home is, literally, wherever you park it. However, among all of the amazing places we have visited around the world, Puerto Vallarta is our most often visited, and one place we really feel like we are coming home to.
Well, I’m going home, back to the place where I belong
And where your love has always been enough for me
I’m not running from, no, I think you got me all wrong
I don’t regret this life I chose for me
But these places and these faces are getting old
So I’m going home, well I’m going home
Yesterday someone commented on a blog post I did, telling me, in effect, that I was a whiner. I spammed his comment, not even bothering to engage in any sort of dialogue with such nonsense, but it was actually a perfect setup for this post, which I’ve had in mind for sometime. The fact of the matter is, life on the road is just that. LIFE. There are good days and bad days and cranky days and ecstatic days. As we have gone along we have shared so many stories of wonderful times and pictures of magical beaches and exciting adventures. While all we’ve shared is absolutely accurate, there is another side to overlanding…. the other reality.
These days our life has become consistent in it’s inconsistency. Our days are mostly spent circling San Diego. We have been here for 12 days. We have spent nights in 7 different locations. Our nomadic lives have taken on an even greater transiency .
At this point we hope the T-rex just eats us already!
The crowing woke me first. Soon after the garbage trucks begam to rumble by, the dogs began to bark, the birds to chirp, and the music to play. Ahhhh, the symphony of Mexico.
La Ventana ~ a conflicting mix of emotions will forever come into play when we hear that name. For La Ventana is perhaps both the best and worst of our time in Baja. It is fair to say that the town itself was not our favorite, yet our two weeks there were two of our best in the company of wonderful family and friends. And while the day to day took on a comfortable pattern, La Ventana is also where we said our final goodnight to Porter. La Ventana will always be bittersweet.
We spent 87 nights in Baja, camping at 19 different campgrounds (4 of them multiple times) 87 nights. Nearly 3 months. Here is a list of where we stayed so match up with the stories of our time that have been flowing as we traveled. I’m working on a follow-up blog but the writing is coming slowly. Baja, although wonderful, took a toll on us in more ways than one.
Estero Beach RV Park ~ Ensenada, BC
We had stopped at Clam Beach en-route and planned to stay, but after driving on the toll road 40minutes into Ensenada and with darkness approaching, we opted for the closer option of Estero Beach. Pricey at $40 night (negotiated down), we were irritated at paying so much, and yet in our two nights there we recovered from our traumatic border crossing, spent a couple of hours streaming Netflix, and during a break in the storm on day two dipped in the steaming hot tub. Just what we needed. Close to downtown, it offers nice facilities, laundromat, pool, hot tub, beach walk, and even a museum. We ended up staying here again for our final night in Baja before crossing the border.
