Baja California with the Z's - Day 31: Abandoned Housing Projects, Bees and Structures on Stilts

A nicely warm day with gentle winds through most of the day.  It would get into the low 70s and felt great.

Sunrise was cloudless but colorful:

The only "negative" encountered this morning was what I saw when I raised my curtain to let in the light:

I had known that the car campers were nearby, but hadn't looked out the window yesterday afternoon to see the angles involved.  Fortunately, they left soon after I took this picture.

After breakfast, I went out for an exploration ride with Yagi, my TW200.  I wanted to take a closer look at some housing structures visible in the distance which I believed to be abandoned.

First up was a house with a small dome on the roof.  You could see it as you drove in from the highway to our campsite.

Yep, it was abandoned, with a half-finished look throughout.  I am unsure why it was never finished/repaired after the hurricane that went through this area last year.  

The house had an outside stairwell that allowed easy access to the roof.  I believe the idea was to give folks a nice view of the nearby beach.  The dome's purpose was just to provide small windows to let in the light to the central point of the house I believe.  Still, an eye-catching feature you might say.

Further to the north, you could see what looked like a fancy house.  Once I got near though, it was definitely another half-finished house that appeared abandoned. 

I wandered inside for a bit, noting how people had been tearing at some of the installed insulation, floors were only half completed, and fixtures were missing along with quite the mess in each room.

I'd walked past it twice before I looked up towards the ceiling and noticed this:

Yep, bees!  The whole thing must have been 2-3 feet across I think.  I'd seen some bugs flying about before I saw the hive but had thought they were just the same type of wasps I'd seen down at BLA.

Having spotted the above multitude of bees, I left forthwith.

Bee video courtesy of Chris Z.

There was this structure near the highway as I left the above house:

What looks like a storm damaged single wide

manufactured home.

Continuing north a bit more, I saw what looked like a home built out of shipping containers:

I stopped and talked to one of the workmen onsite and turns it will be a Taqueria someday soon.  There was still much work to be done on the interiors as I walked around after getting permission to do so.

I then turned towards the beach areas and checked out, from a distance, what I initially took to be tiny homes on stilts:

Most of them had old campers parked underneath them.  I don't think think the structures on top are meant as homes but as covered observation decks for folks to look at the nearby beach.

Still, they mostly all seemed to be in disrepair, the campers sure looked dilapidated and scavenged for parts in some cases!

It was getting close to lunchtime by now so I headed on back towards the campsite, I found trails leading back to camp without having to return to the highway first.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing in the gazebo, listening to an audio book, re-leveling the VRRV to a better position and just enjoying the weather.

I hosted dinner for the Z's in the VRRV, it was Arrachera and Fries.  It turned out to be pretty good too.  Different brand from the one we'd tried down by BLA but still tasty.

As you can see, it was only 600 grams vice the 800 grams version from SuKarne that we got at BLA.  It was only 170 pesos however, and fed the three of us to satisfaction.  I think we're going to have to go into San Felipe and get some more of these Arracheras.

Baja California with the Z's - Day 30: Back Near San Felipe

We left Punta Bufeo shortly before 9AM today and about two hours later, were in San Felipe picking up a few groceries, burritos from a roadside stand for lunch and finding a spot near the beach.

We had originally hoped the find the wide spot right on the beach empty to occupy it but the same fifth wheel trailer with the truck sporting an ATV carrying roof rack had gotten there first.  Those people must be starting to think we're following them, we first saw them in BLA, then Punta Bufeo and now here!

Just as well we didn't get that spot, other camper rigs showed up later and they parked very close to the fifth wheel trailer folks!  Perhaps they know each other, perhaps they just like to intrude.

Instead, we got a spot pretty close to the beach but small enough to not easily allow some intruding party to get too close.  As it was, there were tent campers across the road.  Oh well.

The spot we'd originally thought we wanted is the 

road ends on the beach

A better choice....hopefully.

Uma didn't have any issues with the sandy conditions here, so far anyways, we'll see when it comes time to leave next week.  

Baja California with the Z's - Days 28 & 29

Tuesday, March 21

A very windy day!  The wind would blow and gust strongly all day long and we would spend most of it indoors!

Sunrise was pretty good:

The gusts were so strong at one point that they blew Yagi, my TW200, over!  I went outside, picked her up, and backed her into the leeward side of the VRRV for the rest of the day.

It kind of, sort of, became partly sunny after lunch and I went out for a ride. I basically spent the time chasing the sun or waiting for cloud support in order to take pictures.

The "highlight" of the ride, was finding a trail behind the dunes to our southeast and locating a large flood plain at the base of the rock formation that I believe there's the name of Punta Bufeo.

The Ocotillo is not blooming yet....

Typical condition of the trails crisscrossing the area

Some more views of the beach:

Dinner was aracherra with rice and beans in Chris & Lori's Overlander.  By mixing it with some ice tea, we were able to finish the last bit of what we were calling rotgut whiskey.  Label 5 is the brand, which Chris had bought in BLA, the small bottle that lasted quite a while since the taste wasn't that great.

Wednesday, March 22

Mostly sunny with some wind, but not as windy as yesterday!

After consulting with Chris Z., I rerouted the three overflow tubes that come out of the top of the VRRV's fresh water tank so they're mostly level with where they exit the water tank.  This, to hopefully prevent the "siphon effect" when I fill the tank with water.  I'd been using stop valves to prevent water loss through the siphon effect but I'd rather not have to keep using them.  We'll see how it goes next time I tank up.

In the afternoon, I went for some riding.  First, to the local dump I'd found across the highway to dispose of two bags of trash; one from each RV.  Then I just meandered about a bit.

I did take pics of a Class C that had come in yesterday afternoon.  It was obviously sporting a lift kit, perhaps 5" lift?

Note distance from wheel hub center to bottom 

edge of RV habitat

For comparison, Uma's hubs are even with the bottom

of the VRRV habitat!

It's not like I've been "grounding" any bits of Uma's underside, with the exception of the mud guards for the front wheels.  Still, I find the concept quite interesting, lifting Uma up like the Chateau depicted above.

Here's some more "wave action", this time slowed down to 1/4 speed, for your enjoyment.  We displace tomorrow, moving north back to the San Felipe area.

Baja California with the Z's - Days 26 & 27: More Beach Time

 Sunday, March 19

Sunday's Sunrise

While Chris and Lori Z. would spend the day relaxing on the beach near their overlander; I would get in a couple of rides checking out the area some more 

First I explored for and found the sandy road leading to Federal Highway 5 for the settlement of Punta Bufeo.  The town used to host airstrip, but now it's just a bunch of houses to seemingly owned by ex-pats with sand rails.  They picked a good spot, it seems, to have a retirement or vacation home.  There's even a "hotel" here but it looked a bit run down to me.

Once at the highway, I crossed over and explored the trails for a little bit.  I spotted and headed over to what appeared to be an abandoned boat:

The boat was stripped of equipment but I didn't spot any hull damage.

Returning to and crossing back over the highway, I headed north less than a mile I think to the entry that had the sign for the La Poma campground next to which we are boondocking.

The second ride, was to explore the trail that runs parallel (sort of) to the shoreline and heads north.  It takes you past several private homes, and eventually peters out north up Baja Playa del Sol campground.

The map says it goes for the north, the trail, but I lost it soon after I passed that campground so I turned around.

Got turned around while seeking the trail so headed over to the beach.  The stretch I got on had a large amount of sea shells:

I found the survey markers I'd seen on a previous ride and turned off the shore onto the trail which took me near the Baja Playa del Sol campground.  Enroute, I came across a large spread pile of objects.

I stopped for a closer look:

I guess the fishermen who caught the above Trigger Fish kept only the bodies, the heads being unsellable?

Soon enough I retraced my way back to the Punta Bufeo area and our campsite on the beach.

Not much else got done once I got back but to sit by the beach and watch the waves.  There were weekenders walking by and enjoying the weather.

Monday, March 20

Monday's Sunrise, not bad...shot from my RV window

We hung about the campsite, sitting in the sun sometimes, almost always trying to be in the wind to keep the little flies away.

Close to Noon, we were approached by a lady and what turned out to be her nephew.  She, Clara Orozco, and her sister-in-law are the owners of the beach section listed on iOverlander as free camping!

She told Chris and I, that it had been reported to her that some fishermen were using the shell of a building near us as a base and making a mess.  

They run a campground in Puertecitos and had come down to check out things.

They had ascertained that the fishermen in question were not making a mess and confirmed it with us.

They did however ask us for a fee for camping on their property; and to quote them: whatever we thought was reasonable.

We ended up negotiating 800 pesos or $40 dollars for the amount of time we had already been here and until we left, whenever that might be. That's open-ended so I think we're all good.  The fee was for both rigs, so not too bad at all.

Later after lunch, I did a short ride to the area west of La Poma campground and found the local dump!  Yep, they just bulldoze a pit about 1/4 mile from the highway, and you dump trash onto it.  

As per the sign in the picture, there were piles of metal junk and wood bits in the surrounding area.

I rode about another 1/2 mile and came upon a big stinking bunch of piles of clams or some kind of shellfish.  Just sitting there, piled up and rotting.  Ugh.

I quickly left the area and crossed back over the highway.  Wandering around, I came upon what looks like an enclosure to a water tank storage area.

Further wandering found me near the entrance to Punta Bufeo's campground (not sure it exists anymore).  I found the depiction of Orcas to be a bit of misleading advertising.  Of course, perhaps we're here in the off season for Orca, who knows?

The rest of the afternoon was spent near the rigs, sitting in the shade and sometimes wandering about the shoreline looking for interesting rocks.

Monday's sunset was pretty good.  I was being chatted up by some tourists from the SF Bay Area during the photo shoot but managed to get shots in spite of that.

It was pretty windy today but not too bad.  Supposed to be windy tomorrow as well so we'll see.  Still a pretty nice day at the beach.