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The Mountain Town Of El Trunfo...

12/9/2011

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9 December 2011

Well the night at La Paz passed fast.  This campground is quite nice and one that we had never heard of throughout all the years we’ve traveled the Baja.  We found the history on the property and the owners to be very interesting.  The Maranatha Campground


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_has only 12 hook-up areas and 6 casitas besides a large play area and picnic grounds to handle a couple of large family groups.  They also offer a great little coffee/bakery shop right outside of the gates.  In 1957, the family flew down in their small single engine plane to La Paz as missionaries from the mid-west and stayed in their own little paradise…  Pictures of their arrival in ’52 still grace the walls inside the office of the campground and if you inquire about them they will tell you the very interesting story of her life as a young child from her birth in La Paz to running the campground today.  Well it was time to continue heading south but before we pulled out, all 8 of us had to stop off at the coffee shop and do a little sampling.  With coffee and a fresh cinnamon roll in hand we all gathered around a table and said good-bye to Bonnie and Doug.  They wanted to stay over another day or two before heading down to Cabo to see what had changed over the years that they’ve been away.  We had heard that Hwy 1 just south of Todo Santos was under construction with heavy off road detours so we opted to take Hwy 19 (the mountain route) the rest of the way to San Lucas.  El Trunfo was the first little town we came to once we started into the mountains.  At one time, El Trunfo was the largest community in all the Baja because of the gold that was found in these mountains.  Item number two:  Eifel (who designed and built the Eifel Tower) designed and managed construction of one of the two smelting stacks in El Trunfo.

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_Item number three:  When the mines were going full out, the wife of the mine manager taught piano to the other women and children that wanted to learn.  Being a fine musician and lover of the piano, she decided to donate her piano to the local museum and with that started others to donate theirs.  Item number four:  The church was and still is a major part for the people of El Trunfo.

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_For the size of the town now it is quite large, but back “in the days past…” it was quite a place for giving Thanks.  As we arrived today we found a crowd painting and caring for the interior and getting ready for their Christmas celebration…I felt I should have grabbed a paint brush because they all looked and sounded like they were having a blast.

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_Today this little town, far from the border and the larger cities, and far away from the average “tourists”, sports a fine “Piano Museum”.  Unfortunately it was closed the morning we were in town.  What was fortunate was that we found this remarkable restaurant/bakery…  It was located a block off of the main road running through town and in this very old “Hacienda”.  The front part of building was the bakery ( this is Bob and Evie looking over the bakery goods thinking about what to buy for their 59th wedding anniversary)

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_and as you followed the passageway toward the back of the building you found yourself choosing a table at one of three very different patio locations (notice the brass covered wood rails)

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_that lead away from the outside cooking area

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_of the restaurant and looking out to the dormant gold mines and the Eifel smelting stack.  The menu was small but the quality… amazing.  I really don’t think this restaurant/bakery could accidentally make a bad meal or bakery item.  The lunch specialty was pizza so we all opted for pizza’s around…

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_definitely not a bad idea.  One thing was for sure, Bob & Evie, Jack & Kathy, and Louise and I were very impressed with our stop and look forward to coming back as we head back north this spring.  If we were to make San Lucas before dark we had better be on our way.  This route through the mountains and along the Sea of Cortez is really the more picturesque route but it does take another 30 to 45 more minutes of travel time from La Paz to San Lucas.  It wasn’t long before we were running past the Cabo San Jose airport and heading into the center of San Jose.  Right away it was evident that things had changed a great deal in the last 5 years since we were here last.  The traffic was at least 10 fold heavier and the building…amazing. Traffic and all we still made it to San Lucas before 3 and then found that we couldn’t turn across the highway and into the Vagabundo RV Park.  Now what…well we continued past and found ourselves taking some “very interesting” roads through and around the narrow and heavily traveled streets of San Lucas until we made a huge “U” turn and made it back to Vagabundos and into our campsite for the next few months…”we’re finally here”!!!

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The Seventh Of December 1941

12/7/2011

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7 December 2011

December 7th of the year 1941 the Japanese flew a devastating raid on Pearl Harbor and it remains one of the great defining moments in world history.  Here we sit in total comfort, watching a video of Rod Stewart in concert and giving a lot of thought about “What If ?”.  It is sobering to say the least. 

Louise and I spent the afternoon having lunch with Bonnie and Doug at a restaurant that we kind of watched “grow up”.  Back in the good-ole days after we moved away from Cabo San Lucas (1992), we took a vacation back to visit the Rohrer’s and they introduced us to a new restaurant called La Picazon in San Jose.  Well today La Picazon is located just off of a dirt road about 5 miles north of Loreto.


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_If and when you’re in the area you’ve got to make an effort to enjoy something as special as La Picazon,

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_the ride out that road (?) is worth every bump once you’ve experienced Alex and Imelda and their restaurant.

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_Tonight we were joined at our “home” by Jack and Kathy (one of our traveling companions down the Baja).  We spent a couple of hours playing and teaching Mexican Train and Chicken-foot.  We all experienced a win except Louise and I just want to mention that here so that I can rub it in just one more time...  The Mexican government has spent a lot of money to make Loreto a destination town and it looks like it.

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_We all enjoyed some time wondering the town and seeing the sights.  This is a town that could draw us back very easily for much more time than 3 days.  It is also the home of the second largest National Park in all of Mexico and consists of miles of beach area and many islands of all sizes just off shore.  It is a beautiful park and one that we would love to come back and enjoy some kayaking.  December 8th and we’ve just arrived in La Paz.  Our drive down from Loreto seemed a little shorter than the last days on the road so that was all positive and the campground was easy to find and priced right as well.



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_Another day ahead of us tomorrow and we’ll be pretty well set-up for the winter in San Lucas.     

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The Baja That The RV'ers Look For...Sanispac

12/3/2011

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3 December 2011

Our third travel day was to the beach area just south of Mulege called Sanispac.  What a difference a day can make when you don’t have road construction to contend with.  Sanispac is a long sandy beach


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_backing up to the mountains where you can drive onto the beach and park right beside the sheltered waters of the Sea of Cortez.  This bay is a shelter that the sailboats look for when the winds start to get a little rough and on the Sea of Cortez it happens quite often.

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_There are a number of islands that surround the bay and that is one of the reasons that all of us with RV’s like it too…it’s beautiful to see, calm warm waters, and just a great place to relax and have a meal and/or a drink at the beach restaurant (a VERY rustic restaurant at that).  On the second morning we all drove up to Mulege and enjoyed things like the internet café, coffee/bakery, taco stand,

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_and the Ole Mission that sits high on the hill (constructed in the late 1600’s). 

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_Mulege is a very nice and picturesque town that sits at the base of a shallow valley with a Palm tree lined river flowing right alongside.  Unfortunately this river has flooded and destroyed many beautiful homes and taken lots of lives over the last few years but they continue to build back.  I just don’t get it…build at the top and look down on the river you crazy “Gringo”.  Yep, it’s those Canadians and Americans at it again.  Well good-by Sanispac and Hello Loreto… 

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