Mexican 1000 - and back again - part 2

Saturday morning we left La Paz and headed up the coast.

I decided that Arwen, Mary and the kids needed to see San Javier.  It had stuck in my head since the third day of the race and it would be our last chance to see the town before the paved road reach it.

We got to Loretto and headed up the hill.  Arwen got to drive the land cruiser and have her first experience behind the wheel on a dirt road.  The main road was pretty easy but the detours gave us some rough bits.

Cows!

Horses in trucks!

San Javier was extremely quite.  Almost as if it were waiting for the pavement to get there.  The Mission wasn't open but we had a chance to run around it.  

We stopped and had a soda at the local bar/families living room, and then headed back down the hill and up the coast.  The detour took us a little longer than we expected.

As the sun set we got to El Requeseon, one of my favorite spots on the sea of Cortez.  It's a small island connected to the shore by a sand spit.  The story goes that shepperds would use the island as a safe haven for their goats.  Thus the name Requeseon, goat cheese.

When we arrived the moon was coming up and it was going to be the highest tide of the year.  We talked to the care taker and wished we could've stayed but the lack of sleeping bags or any camping gear made that a bit too much of a challenge.

We headed north, Mary remembered a hotel just south of Mulege that mom and dad loved.  She spotted the sign for El Serenidad and we headed to the hotel to find Ned Bacon's "Killer Bee" parked int the lot.

The Killer Bee -tucked behind the black truck

We wandered in  and ran into Bacon and the crew of the 332 Bronco.  It turned out it was the Saturday night pig roast.  My mom had told me about it but I couldn't remember where it was.  The pigs at El Serenidad are raised on dates from the palm trees which creates some of the sweetest pork ever.  We enjoyed the bbq, conversation and too many of the best margaritas we had in Baja.  We chatted with the owner, Don Johnson (not the Don Johnson), he'd been there since the 60s and remembered my folks.

Eventually we settled into our room for a good nights sleep.  The rooms were old and funky while being clean and comfy.  It was a great place to stay.

The next morning we got up, had a swim and headed to Catavina.

the story continues here