Los Cabos and Surrounding Areas

Well, we're getting some of the "blogging kinks" worked out finally.  It's been interesting trying to figure out new ways to get things done while trying to work with both a PC and an iPad.  But - we're getting there.  By the way - speaking of getting things done, I finally got a video I especially like loaded on one of the earlier posts.  If you get a chance, go back and check out the video that was added to "Settling In - Baja Style."  I think you'll enjoy it.

Now - about the area around Cabo San Lucas ... First, let me say that the tip of the Baja peninsula has evolved into something that I think is quite different from other parts of Mexico.  You might quickly say ..... well, duhhh - it's a resort area!!!  Well, I think many people here in the U.S. have formed the impression that most folks in Mexico are poverty stricken and/or drug cartel employees.  Yeah, I know that's an over-generalization but we get that a lot on the news.  Anyway - I just wanted to say that notwithstanding the prevalence of resort properties and the huge number of foreigners who visit the area, the Mexican citizens we encountered seemed to be relatively affluent, well educated for the most part, and seemed quite "middle class."  Yes, the cost of living in Mexico (outside of the resort areas) is about a third of that in the U.S. but the "standard" of living seems to compare very favorably.  The stores we visited (Mexican and U.S. based) seemed to have a wider variety of goods available than comparable stores in the U.S.  Gasoline is far higher but the cost of other auto services seems quite reasonable.  Those I have talked to who have received health care in Mexico seem genuinely pleased with the care they were given - medical, dental or medications.  I know many if not most of you know a lot more about our Southern neighbor than I do but I just wanted to let you know that during our travels I did not see an impoverished, third-world nation.  Far from it!!!!!

Our first road trip out of town was to the neat town of Todos Santos - the home of something you might be surprised by - but we'll get to that later.  The road out of Los Cabos started off great - excellent surface, signs and markings and in an excellent state of repair.  I had read about the "Trans-Baja" highway that was opening up the area for development but had not seen signs of major highway systems as we were flying in so this was reassuring to me!!  However - that didn't last long.  The highway is undergoing major construction - or, more appropriately, reconstruction (destruction?) - and they do it differently down there.  Whereas we tend to construct new highways parallel to the old ones and then open them after construction is completed, down there they seem to have simply dug up whatever vestiges of roadway exist and let you ride around on bumpy dirt while they are working.  One day the highway will be great but for now, it's ROUGH.

There were a few of them in which the displays of the goods they had to offer were almost "art" in themselves. 
Although it was closed at the time of our visit, (much to the GREAT chagrin of some in our group) the mission of "Nuestra Senora del Pilar de La Paz is an interesting local site.  It contains a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary - or "Our Lady of the Pillar" who is the object of the city's biggest annual festival which occurs in October.  (Gloria and Larry got to visit Spain a while back and I think they were pretty close to the "original" church of the same name.       Of course our great timing ensured that we would not be in Todos Santos for several events that looked like they would be outstanding.  The Todos Santos Music Festival was held the second week in January and they had some really interesting groups in town for that.  And - if you hurry you can still catch the 9th Annual Todos Santos Film Festival.  It ought to be verrrry interesting.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention is that Todos Santos seems to be a rather popular destination for surfers.  That was kinda amazing to us because the waters along the coast here - as we talked about regarding Cabo San Lucas - are quite treacherous.  But ... for those with either a death wish - or who are a whole lot more daring that I am - the sparkling, turquoise waters of the Pacific generate waves that would likely be the envy of the surfing set.  Kowabonga, dude ... careful now, y'hear!!    
 




 We did a good bit of sightseeing around the town and finally came to the destination that Larry and Gloria just couldn't wait for us to see - The Hotel California!!!  I'm not sure if it's what "The Eagles" had in mind with their hit song of the same name - but it sure should have been.  It is quite a place and we had a great lunch there.

The furnishings in the hotel were really remarkable - paintings, statues, other sculptures, lighting and furniture - and I hope the pictures do them justice.



The outdoor plaza was watched over by a group of Mariachi musicians and, although they weren't able to produce much music themselves, they sure supervised the playing of some great tunes - Mexican and U.S.   After lunch and before hitting the road we decided that we all needed to visit the "bano" (restroom, Gringo) and started looking around.  Welllllll  - if you couldn't figure out which was which by looking at their petite little signs, something is waaaayyyy wrong!!!!  Check these out ...

  One of the most interesting things we did while in Todos Santos was to visit the "Earth Ship" house.  If you have never heard of that term, it's something you really need to know about.  Naturally, Larry knew all about the "Earth Ship" project and had seen information about the experiment in Todos Santos.  We stumbled across the structure almost by accident and just drove up to the building.  There we met Anna Sorrentino Ambrosi, one of the most delightful and interesting folks you'll ever see.  She was delighted to see us and happy to take us on a tour of her home.  I'm going to put a link for the "Earth Ship" project here so you can see the overall concept and another one for the  Earth Ship in Todos Santos  so you can see Anna's place.  I'm going to add our own pictures of the unusual structure but I'll save that for a later post.  You're probably about worn out by this trip so I'll check back in later.  See ya.