Goodbye Southern Baja!

It's been a few days since my last post.

We spent the last few days in Buena Vista waiting for my grandpa's boat to be fixed (it had an electrical problem that was finally fixed after three days) and went out fishing on Tuesday. We went to a delicious sushi dinner that night, which was amazing after eating the same style of food (tortilla and cheese in various forms) for almost two weeks. Yesterday, Mike and I left the beautiful East Cape area and drove an hour and a half to Todos Santos. It is on the Pacific side of southern Baja and is beautiful. However, we're here in May, which my mom just told me is known to be freezing (which it is) and with little to no surf (no waves either). So, even though we're staying in a beautiful spot and it's very picture-perfect, I'm freezing and we're all ready to get on the final two-day stretch home.

We'll drive from here to Guerrero Negro today, which is about half way up Baja. And from there we will head all the way through to Pacific Beach, San Diego, California! Finalmente! I'll try and blog tonight from Guerrero Negro, but it'll be at the end of a long day of driving hard roads and I doubt there will be internet. I am planning on sitting down in San Diego to write one final (and probably really long) entry with my final thoughts and feelings and also upload pictures on the posts I haven't been able to.

Here are some pictures of grandpa, Mike, Maecito and my last day in East Cape, aboard grandpa's fishing boat:

• The first picture is of the last sunrise I'll see coming up over water until my next visit to East Cape.
• The second picture is of Maecito--who conveniently escaped from Kimberly's house and found us right as we were boarding the boat for the day--aboard grandpa's boat, the Dottie B II.
• The third picture is of a dolphin swimming alongside our boat.

That's all for now :)

Grandpa Time

Sorry about not writing since we arrived in Baja. I've been spending time with my grandpa and am thoroughly enjoying being in my second home in East Cape.

Last time I blogged, we were about to get on the ferry in Mazatlan. We checked in around 2, like we were supposed to, and were loaded onto the boat around 4, then left around 5. Although the ferry wasn't very full, they still packed us in amongst all the big rigs on one side of the boat. We took all of our bags out of the back of the car, wrapped them in a big blue tarp we didn't have stolen from us, and inflated our air mattress to lay in the back of the car on. Max (who weighs around 100 pounds) usually sleeps on the floor by the bed but decided that he was terrified of the ferry and had to get in the car with us. So the five of us squeezed on the air mattress for the night and I don't think one of us slept more than a couple hours.

We got into La Paz around 8 in the morning, then had to get our car searched by the military. They really thought they'd found something when they opened my bag of female products, but instantly became mortified when I told them that their good find was in fact tampons. Giggling about the tampon incident the whole way, Mike and I went to Wal Mart in La Paz to get a few things, then drove the hour and a half trek through the desert mountains to East Cape.

I've been coming to East Cape, located between La Paz and Cabo, since I was in my mom's pregnant belly. The Hazards have been coming down to Hotel Spa Buena Vista, in East Cape, since before me. My grandpa owns a fishing boat that he keeps at the hotel and comes down to fish on, with his captain named Vicente, one week out of every month. The rest of the family tries to make it down at least once or twice a year--usually Thanksgiving or Grandpa's Birthday/Mother's Day. This year, my aunt Nina and I were here but my mom and Derek weren't able to make it. My brother is busy in Virginia planning his wedding and my mom is in Florida and was unable to come because she is battling Post Polio Syndrome (for more information on the relatively unknown syndrome, check out http://www.postpoliosupport.com/). I wish that they both could've been here, but I hope that my mommy is feeling okay, resting in Florida and that Derek's wedding planning is coming along. (See you both soon, love you!!!)

Here are some pictures of the ferry ride, Grandpa's 88th birthday party and fishing on Grandpa's boat:

• The first picture is of our car on the (cargo) ferry from Mazatlan to La Paz--can you guess which car is ours? ;)
• The second picture is of my grandpa's birthday marlin--he reeled it in, then Mike and Nestor (the deckhand) held it while I took a quick picture, then it was released back in to the ocean.
• The third picture is of a Mako shark that Mike caught (and ate for dinner that night) with my grandpa's fishing boat in the background. Yes, the water really is that color!
• The fourth picture is of my grandpa, wearing his #88 San Diego Charger's jersey, drinking out of his special birthday margarita glass, and wearing his special birthday hat. Adorable, right?
• The fifth picture is of my grandpa, my aunt Nina and me at my grandpa's party.

We are staying a few houses down from the hotel, with my good friend Kimberly, since the only dogs allowed at the hotel at my grandpa's two shi tzus. We'll be here until Wednesday the 19th and will keep on doing what we always do when we're here in East Cape--fish, snorkel, paddle board, and dinners with grandpa. I'll blog again soon, promise!

That's all for now :)

Time to Catch the Ferry!!!

We made it to Mazatlan yesterday in less than twelve hours from Toluca! It was a really long 24 hours of driving, with only ten hours of rest between, but it was worth it because we made it on time and got to stay in Puerto Escondido an extra day. We drove through Guadalajara yesterday and it brought back lots of memories of my summer there almost four years ago. I can't believe it's been that long, but I guess a lot has happened in my life since then...

We didn't have any police stops yesterday because we stayed on toll roads. The toll roads ended up being over $150 US, but saved us over a day of driving. Plus, you can go 85 miles an hour, legally, on the toll roads, and they're four-lanes most of the way. We passed a giant military convoy that was at least thirty Hummers long a couple of times because every time we had to stop at a toll, they could just keep going without stopping. It was crazy to see all the men, with their hands on their triggers, some donning ski masks and some manning massive machine guns. It was a little creepy being amongst so much gun power, but we felt a lot safer on the toll roads than on the 200, that's for sure.

We got into Mazatlan around 6, which was 7 to us, but there was a time change. We tried looking for hotels in a nice part of town, but none of them took dogs. So, we stayed across the street from where our ferry departs this afternoon and parked our car in the ferry lot for $50 pesos overnight. We woke up early and took the dogs for a walk, avoiding the rabid-looking strays, then I checked us in to the ferry at 9, and we're now sitting on the malecon (boardwalk) at a breakfast place that I randomly saw a person using wireless internet at, waiting to board the ferry at 1:30. We don't actually leave until 4, but getting the big rigs on the boat is a hassle, and we get in to La Paz between 6 and 8 tomorrow morning.

Here are some pictures from the road:

• The first picture is of me (still) driving...
• The second is of agave fields between Mexico City and Guadalajara. Agave is the plant tequila is made from, and we also got to drive through the city of Tequila.
• The third is of our "radio"--it's the iPhone plugged in to the car charger. I really miss volume, but at least we have music still!
• The fourth picture is our (good-for-nothing for the most part) map of Mexico and all of the receipts from the tolls.

Goodbye mainland Mexico! Hello Baja and grandpa's 88th birthday fiesta!!! :)

On the Road Again = Paying More Bribes

Written May 10 from a drive-in motel called The Suites on the outskirts of Toluca, Mexico:

This isn't going to be a long post because I drove for over twelve hours today, but here it goes.

We didn't leave Puerto Escondido until this morning, a day late, because we were having such a great time relaxing and were really not looking forward to getting on the road again. Plus, it was the weekend in Puerto, so a lot of cool travelers came in and we ended up spending most of yesterday hanging out poolside with six Australian guys. They were really funny---two sets of two brothers and two other life-long friends--and their jokes and accents kept Mike and I in a good mood most of the day.

We also met a man that I'm upset to say I didn't exchange contact information with. Julio and his wife were staying in a cabana a few up from ours at the Rock Away the whole time we were there, but we didn't talk until yesterday. Turns out, Julio is a Federale (part of the Mexican governmental police force) in Ciudad Juarez (the most deadly city in the world, and definitely the most dangerous in Mexico during this Drug War) that was on vacation from the insanity of the front line for a week. We were supposed to talk more this morning before we both took off, but I am assuming he got called up in the middle of the night to report back to duty. He got into a conversation with the Australians and us poolside, where he showed us extremely gory pictures out of a magazine, including photos of brutally murdered friends and colleagues of his. Having just done a report on Mexican drug cartel propaganda, I helped him translate some of the narco-banners pictured in the magazine and to explain the situation a little bit to the Aussies. They were definitely shocked by the level of violence, but they had also just been in Pascuales (north of Puerto Escondido on the Pacific coast by about ten hours) and had witnessed two US citizens get arrested (actually kidnapped) by men dressed in Federale uniforms but, luckily, they escaped. It seems the Drug War is occurring in each and every part of Mexico--from random surfing beaches along the Pacific coast line to Ciudad Juarez.

Last night, we went to dinner at with friends we'd met, Nisa and Chaz, at their condo they were renting for the month. It was nice to have a fun-filled day at the pool, a chat with Julio on the Drug War, followed by a home-made dinner of shrimp and pasta, then a final night in our bed at Rock Away. Unfortunately, I woke up in the middle of the night to a dead rat in our bathroom (it wasn't mauled by a dog so I'm still wondering how it died/ why the dogs didn't wake up) and a cockroach trying to get into our toothbrush bag, yet again.

We got on the road at 8 this morning, then took the 200 about six hours to Acapulco, where we took toll roads almost all the way to Mexico City, and now we're in Toluca, which is just north-west of Mexico. We got stopped five times today--twice we were searched at military check-points, twice we just got stopped to chat, and one time involved a bribery. We were in Mexico state, almost to Toluca, and apparently we weren't allowed to drive out-of-country plates on Mondays in the state. It cost us four hundred pesos and our information written down on a white piece of paper, but the cops had me write down "Comandante Ruiz: facilidades" on a piece of paper so that we wouldn't have to "pay" any of their friends in the area more money for driving with Costa Rican plates. I still don't know if it was a real law or not, but being nice and paying the "fine" are easier than being difficult with Mexican law enforcement, or any law enforcement for that matter.

That leads me to now. We stopped about 45 minutes after the bribery incident, and like I said, we're at a drive-in motel that men usually take women that aren't their wives to. But, we have our own private garage, and to tell you the truth, this is the nicest place we've stayed at yet and it's only $300 pesos a night. We're just trying not to think about what goes on in this place on a day-to-day basis :)

I'm exhausted and don't have pictures to upload from today, but I'll post some tomorrow. Buenas noches!

One More Night in Escon

We are rapidly approaching our time to get back on the road to make it to the ferry to Baja from Mazatlan on time. Crazy we've already spent four nights here in Puerto Escondido--they've gone by quickly for sure. We've spent our time at the beach mostly, but also re-stocked some of our kitchen supplies at the Super Che (grocery store) yesterday and the car is currently getting a thorough washing for less than $7 US.

I have been engrossed in my book, Shantaram, while Mike has been engrossed in surfing the left point break at the south end of the beach. We met a nice couple, Nisa and Chaz, and her dad, Nick, and their dog, Buddy, who were staying across the pool from us at the Hotel Rock Away. They had moved to Puerto Vallarta (a few days drive north from here on the Pacific still) from various parts of the US and decided to drive south to look for a new place to relocate. We hung out with them all day yesterday and are going to the condo they rented this morning for dinner tonight. It's been nice meeting more travelers and having someone to hang out with on the beach while Mike surfs. They've asked me lots of surfing questions and it's been nice to help them learn about what a cool culture it really is.

Two nights ago, I woke up to a loud splash in the toilet of our hotel room and opened the curtain (not door) to see a giant rat swimming around in the bowl. I screamed, while Mike and the dogs barely woke up, then went to the reception to get someone to do something about it. By the time we got back, no less than a minute later, the rat was scurrying up the bamboo wall of our cabana and making his way out between the wall and the palapa ceiling. Now, every time either of us go in the bathroom, we've definitely been a little paranoid about swimming rats.

The waves were insanely huge three days ago and have been steadily getting a little bit smaller each day. Mike and I took pictures two mornings ago (posted below) and a couple yesterday as well. After the dog walk/picture taking of the surfers, we came back to the room and slept in a little longer, until the heat woke us up again for good. Yesterday, when we re-woke up, Nisa told us that a surfer had drowned when we were sleeping. His name was Noel Robinson, from Northern California, and the link to the Surfline article about him is posted below. Where he drowned was literally across the street from our hotel. RIP Noel:

http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/rip-noel-robinson--underground-norcal-charger-filmer-drowns-at-puerto-escondido_43204/

It's time to go and pick up the car from the wash, but here are a few pictures:

• The first is of a massive wave three mornings ago, right in front of our hotel.
• The second is of a surfer getting out of a giant barrel.
• The third is of Maecito digging a hole, trying to get at a burrowed sand crab.

Remember that I also have a Facebook album with more pictures. The link is posted on the last blog entry.

I'll write more tomorrow from a new location in Mexico. It's been nice Puerto Escondido--until we meet again!

Five Days in One Place, Thank Goodness!

We're now in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico. We crossed the Guatemala/Mexico border two nights ago around 5 and it was the easiest, quickest border yet. The only problem I had was my passport amendment on the last page changing my last name from Tresize (my dad's) to Hazard (my mom's). The custom officials couldn't read in English and thought that because there wasn't a stamp/seal of some sort, that the printing might be false. After calling Mexico City to ask if it was okay, we got all of our paperwork sorted out and were on our way. We stopped at the first hotel we saw, which was clean and nice but it had no name other than "Hotel" and I couldn't tell you the name of the town because I forgot to ask and it wasn't on the map.

We got on the road yesterday from the "Hotel" around 10, stopped for some food, then took the wrong toll road about two-three hours out of our way. My mom gave me a Mexico road map book on the trip south with Ryan, but there are literally tons of different roads that can get you places in Mexico, but the signs are not very clear or at all in abundance. There are, however, a ton of "Don't drink and drive," "Keep the road clean," and "Don't mess up the signs" signs. If only they said the location of the way we were heading a little more often...

Anyway, we got into Puerto Escondido last night around 8 (sorry mom and grandpa for driving a little after dark but we were so close and there was nowhere to stop at sundown!) and were able to check into the first hotel/ cabanas we stopped at. We're staying at Hotel Rock Away, at the south end of Puerto Escondido, right across the street from an awesome beach break with giant barreling waves. The cabana we're staying in is $250 pesos (around $23 US) a night, which is cheap for the location, but the shower is in the same room as the sink and toilet (think motor home-esque) and there's no kitchen for us to use. But it's cheap and right across the street from the beach, in the middle of the main drag in town, and the dogs have their own space to chill out and relax. Max has been exhausted from his self-appointed role of protector, so he's been happily passed out the entire time we've been here, minus the time spent on the beach of course. We were all ready for some down time off the road and I personally think that this is one of the best spots we could've chosen for a few days off.

I woke up this morning and took the boy dogs for a walk down the beach at 6 am, while Missy and Mike slept in. There were a ton of yellow and black sea snakes washed on shore, presumably to die. They're beautiful looking and super poisonous, but have tiny mouths so they can only bite things like your pinky toe (according to Mike). Either way, I kept yelling at Maecito and Max to get away whenever they got within three feet of one. After the walk, we went and woke the two lazies up, then went to drop off the laundry and stop at an ATM. We haven't gotten laundry done yet, since most of it was stolen in Nicaragua, so I'm extremely happy to pick up (what's left) of our stuff in a couple of hours. Clean sheets and towels from home are something that I am glad I brought and even more glad they weren't stolen. I guess it's the little things, right? After laundry and the ATM, Mike and I took the dogs to the same beach that Ry and I surfed when we were here, but the waves were small so we came back to the main beach and went for a long walk with the dogs, then to lunch at a palapa on the sand. Mike and the dogs are all passed out now and I'm about to go read more of the book I'm currently obsessed with on my Kindle, called Shantaram, by the pool at our hotel. I highly, highly recommend the book to any traveler or adventurer at heart--it's about an Australian man that escapes from prison and moves to India and describes his adjustment to the culture while not being able to communicate with anyone from back home.

I haven't taken any pictures of Puerto yet, but I will tonight and the next couple of days for sure. I started a Facebook album with my pictures as well. If you'd like to see them, they are at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2125456&id=24504079&l=1613876b46

I will keep both the blog pictures and the photo album updated as I go.

As Susan (Steph's mom) said, we are finally on the last leg of our trip. We have a few more days here, then a couple days to get to Mazatlan, where we'll take the ferry from mainland Mexico to La Paz, Baja. My grandpa's 88th birthday party is next Friday night in East Cape (about an hour south of La Paz and an hour north of Cabo on the Sea of Cortez) so Mike and I will spend about a week there, fishing, ATV riding, snorkeling, etc. then a few days in Todos Santos to surf, then a night in the middle of Baja, then home.

I can't believe that it's only been eleven days and that we only have about two weeks left. Time sure flies when you're traveling through six countries in less than two weeks! I'm glad I have this blog to go back and re-remember this whole crazy adventure :)

Antigua, Guatemala

Here we are, in Antigua. I uploaded the blog I wrote yesterday this morning from a cafe with internet, but my computer died and a three-pronged plug has been impossible to find. So Mike and I are sitting at an internet cafe, with the dogs laying in the doorway waiting patiently for us. We got to Antigua around 730 last night (I can't seem to find the semicolon key on this keyboard, lo siento) and of course, the third hotel let us stay there. But after we checked in, the guy who had said we were allowed to stay became a little hesitant and said that we would have to be out before 8 in the morning because his supervisor was coming in and would be mad at him. We were planning on staying two nights if we could find a place to stay, but it seems fate is telling us it's time to move on to the next place. We woke up at 6 this morning, I took the dogs for a walk and managed to find a tiny piece of grass for them to use the bathroom. Antigua is completely cobblestone and is surrounded by three volcanoes, but it's not very dog-friendly. I would love to come back and spend some time here in the future, just without the dogs.

From here we will be driving to the last Central American border we have to cross--Guatemala to Mexico. We should be in San Cristobal de las Casas tonight, but we'll have to see how the border is when we get there on a Monday morning around lunchtime.

Here are some pictures of Antigua:

• The first is of my new favorite little girl, holding Maecito's leash at an open air market.
• The second is of a typical church (including the power lines in front) in Antigua.
• The third is of one of the three volcanoes that surrounds Antigua, with a cobblestone street leading to it.
• The fourth is a typical bus of Guatemala--it's an old US school bus, decked out with lights, stickers and paint.

It's time to get off the internet and get back on the road...hasta pronto!

Karma Karma Karma!

Nicaragua-Honduras-El Salvador

written May 1

Another million years have passed since the day before yesterday when I wrote last. I am currently writing this from the El Salvador/ Guatemala border and haven’t been able to find a place with internet where I’ve been staying, so I’m writing on a word document and will upload this to my blog later.

Mike and I were woken up by a ship being packed with crates, which sounded like bomb blasts, at 4 in the morning yesterday. Since I was already awake, I went out to the car to get some chapstick--which I’d parked in front of Hotel Central in Corintos, Nicaragua and paid the man who watches the area a few dollars to keep an eye on the car--to find the hazards on. Weird, I thought, I know we didn’t leave the hazards on. When I opened the door, I found the part where the car stereo had been completely dismantled and missing the stereo. After checking the rest of the car, in a complete frantic mess, I realized that Mike’s entire suitcase was missing, in addition to the cooler, the tent, every single toiletry and tool, all of our dirty clothes that were in the laundry bag and all of our dry goods. What was left was my suitcase, the styrofoam cooler, my empty Coach purse pushed under the front seat, our tennis shoes, the tarp for the tent and some snacks. Luckily, we had all of the paperwork, passports, computers, cameras and the iPhone in the room with us. And Mike’s surfboards (and my one) were safe and sound inside the hotel lobby. But, Mike and I were both shaken up and felt like someone was trying to tell us something about this trip--we just weren’t quite sure why it had to be in the form of our car getting broken into.

We left Corintos before 5 am and were into Honduras by 11. In the three hours that it took us to drive through Honduras, we were stopped at police checkpoints seven times--they wanted to get us for not having two emergency triangles and a fire extinguisher (the thieves left those, how nice of them) or any excuse they could think of. We also had to wait 45 minutes for a peaceful protest against the government that was blocking the highway. Finally, we made it to the Honduras- El Salvador border. In all of the Central American borders you have to check out of the exiting country, then drive over a bridge into the country you’re entering and do tons of paperwork on both sides. We checked out of Honduras in a relatively short amount of time but entering into El Salvador took over six hours. There was no system, so we got to sit and wait for a 24 hour pass, since they couldn’t enter our car into the system.

By the time we left the border, it was 5 pm. Mike and I drove another four hours, past San Salvador, but started looking for a place to stay around three hours into the drive. Finally, when we were so fed up with everything, we saw a sign for a hotel. I missed the turn because the sign was literally where the turn had to be made, so I was going to turn around and go back, but we saw a sign for another hotel. I knocked on the gate at the Casa Blanca Hotel that entered into a private parking lot (obviously a must from now on on this road trip) and asked if they took dogs, they said yes, and how much, $12 US, perfect! We parked and were introduced to the owner’s 29 year old son, Mario, who showed us to our room and told us to come up to the bar on the top story if we wanted to. A few minutes later, we were hanging out with Mario and his friends, having an amazingly good time. We had a couple of beers, some good conversation, made a plan to go surf at Jutla in the morning for a couple of hours with Mario and maybe his girlfriend, then went to sleep happy as clams. Last night made me believe in karma, especially traveling karma, so much--we were both so down from the car getting broken into, getting harassed in Honduras by the police, then spending eight hours getting into El Salvador, thank goodness we randomly stumbled upon Casa Blanca.

We woke up this morning at six, then went to the beach for a few hours. It was about a forty-five minute drive from the hotel (I’ll have to email Mario for the name of the town it’s in) down the mountains to the beach and the terrain of El Salvador was breathtaking. The rain forest reminded me of Costa Rica and the beach too, but of course it had its own cultural touches to it. Mike caught some waves while I played on the beach with the dogs throwing coconuts and Mario watched, we got some breakfast, then left. Mario was nice enough to take us to get toiletries after that, then to a Multiplaza mall (there’s two in Costa Rica and they’re comparable to any nice mall in the US that I’ve been too, and the one in El Salvador was the same) to get Mike some clothes, since he’d been wearing his only outfit for two days. We got back to Casa Blanca around noon, took a shower, then headed up to the border so that we wouldn’t overstay our 24 hour permit. If it wasn’t for the permit, Mike and I both agreed that we would’ve stayed at least one more night at the hotel to see more of the country with Mario as our friend and guide. But such is life, so we have to come back some day. (Mario, if you’re reading this, Mike and I will definitely be back to visit sooner than later and you should try to make it up to San Diego if you can!)

Okay, so that brings me to now. We’re sitting at the Guatemala side of the El Salvador- Guatemala border and supposedly we’re almost finished. I know our passports are checked, and the dogs are good to go, but the car takes forever to get put into the system. Really, couldn’t it be a little more time-efficient. But I guess that would mean we would see a lot more (or any for that matter) other travelers doing the same route as us.

Here are pictures of the last few days:

• The first one if on the way out of Popoyo--we were stopped by a massive herd of cows so I thought it’d be funny to remember.
• The second one is also on the dirt road out of Popoyo--it is a typical house that we saw all over the country of Nicaragua.
• The third picture is a “Bienvenidos a...” sign, but also note the massive guns the Honduran military (who looked like children) have.
• The fourth picture is of the peaceful protest in Honduras. I love the picture of Che on the yellow banner.
• The fifth picture is of Maecito sleeping on top of Max in the backseat, waiting at the border to get into El Salvador. He is currently in almost the same position, so I’m thinking it might become a habit for the rest of the road trip :)

We’re still waiting at the border and were just informed that (even after the seven hours it took them to do it) El Salvador put 15 instead of 17 numbers for the car’s VIN, so they are fixing it “as quickly” as possible. Vamos a ver... We’re trying to get to Antigua tonight and I’m guessing there will be lots of wireless there since it’s a huge Spanish studying hub, so I’ll post this later and write a short little summary of the rest of the day, too. And that’s all for now folks...