Mountains and Cowboys

Local Baja California Sur cacti varieties

We made our trek to the mountains in a half day trip and it was a great time.  Seeing the cacti and the long stretches of sun-bleached rocky land reminded me painfully of my summers spent mapping parts of Dillon, Montana for my geology field camps.  We had to hit the brakes a few times when we would come around a curve and see cows grazing a few inches from the road.  There are no barriers or railings of any type on these cliff roads and Graham was astounded by the dozens of crosses and memorials we saw along the side of the road.  We had planned a trip to Miraflores which was only 10km or so from some natural hot springs in the Sierra de la Laguna mountains.  Because our car rental agreement states that we may not take our car off road, and because the reviews of the "roads" to the hot springs seemed a little sketchy we decided to waive the hot springs visit.  I was pretty bummed about that but I don't think a toddler would have allowed me time in the hot spring anyhow.
We made it into Miraflores with a sleeping kid in the backseat.  We got out to stretch our legs a bit and Sebastian woke up and decided to join us outside.  It was a hot day and the local ladies of this village were walking around in flowing skirts, with flowers in their hair, and carrying umbrellas.  We walked across the street and played on the steps of an empty plaza that looked as though it was used for festivities for the town's patron saint the Virgin of Guadalupe.  In fact, every single tiny house had a shrine for the Virgin Mary, or the Lady of Guadalupe, standing at the entrance to their house.  I was amazed that so many of these homes were basically shacks or perhaps simple cinder block cubes, but that the owners of these houses had put so much care and money into their beautiful shrines even going as far as purchasing paint and decorations to adorn them.  While we stretched our legs in the plaza a bit I noticed that a half-dozen ladies with umbrellas stood at the edge of the square and had a morning chit-chat session.
We left Miraflores and decided to head back home and try to make it in time for lunch.  On our way back we ran into hundreds and hundreds of cowboys (both male and female) on horseback riding along the shoulder of the road.  This caused a traffic jam and raised so many unanswered questions for us.  Where were these cowboys going?  I thought they were hired by the local ranchers to round up the cattle we had seen but why were there hundreds upon hundreds of them?  Also, they were dressed rather nicely in starched button-down shirts and spiffy cowboy hats, also none of them had packs attached to their saddles so they could not have been going out for long.  They were not decorated to the point of a horse-show though, and we were in the middle of nowhere at this point with no buildings or arenas in sight.  I told Graham I wanted to google it and try to figure out what was going on but he reminded me that there would be nothing online about this event.

Also this past weekend my husband and I were lucky enough to hire a babysitter for 3 hours and have a nice dinner together at 7 Seas in San Jose del Cabo.  After a month of just the toddler and myself for every moment this was grand.  When I am back in MN my son frequently has time at play groups, with family, and at various activities we attend and we have missed all of those.  When we come back next winter I will look for some sort of preschool that he will hopefully be able to attend for the month or two.  While my husband and I had dinner at 7 Seas watching whales and surfers we were able to eat quietly and uninterrupted at a nice slow pace, and in one sitting!  These simple pleasures really make the whole eating deal a much nicer process.
I can't believe we are now on day 28 of our adventure and preparing to come back home.  Luckily we have still managed to work and release apps while we were here and had a banner day yesterday with the amount of downloads of Rate this Pic.  Also my husband's newest learning app for children with another business partner is being well received in Asia and the press release just went out this morning. I will plan to blog on that soon because it deserves it's own entry.  Thanks for reading!

More Adventures in Cabo

It is tricky to rent and drive a car in Mexico when the entire Baja is preparing for the G20 in July. After finally renting one for a couple of days we set out on our most recommended path to Todos Santos. Nearly every night the gringos in town compare notes on the best eateries, beaches, villages, and so forth. We have sat in on so many of these discussions (often at the hot tub each night) and have found that Hotel California keeps coming up. This is the hotel from that old Eagles song, though that too brings up more debate. On our way to Todos we planned to stop at a beach about 11km south of there and let our little one stretch his legs and play on the sand a bit. Well after going through a half dozen frightening checkpoints where scary men wearing black walk out onto the highway and point at your car and direct you to the side of the road we were a little shook up. These men were everywhere. They carried assault rifles, or some type of scary looking gun, and wore bullet proof vests. Also the highway was actually a half dirt half concrete road with no definite boundary between lanes. Thankfully we had a DVD player to keep Sebastian happy, but it only worked the way there.

It took so much longer than google maps estimated and was nauseating. Thankfully we found the random bumpy dirt road to the beach (playa Los Cerritos) and hit the jackpot of all beautiful beaches. We watched about 3 dozen amazing surfers dodge rocks on the waves, and ate another delicious lunch of shrimp stuffed avocados while our son played. This place was so cool. But it turned late and there was no way we were going to fit in another stop. It is so hard to remember that when everyone recommends these beaches and restaurants that they certainly don't have a toddler with them who is still in diapers. 2 year olds aren't too excited about lounging in a chair and watching the surf.
Later that night we ate on an organic farm (Floras Farm) in the desert which was totally new for me. The brought me my salad that had carrots, avocado, jicama, Swiss chard, lettuce and tomatoes from the veggie rows only 10 meters away. So fresh and delish! We have truly been spoiled with the food here in San Jose del Cabo.

At this point we have reached a bit of a bump in the road because my husband had to take a last minute flight home to MN due to some tech issues, so my son and I have gone back to walking the hills of our neighborhood. We hope to return to our scheduled vacation in the next few days once my dh returns with a couple more laptops since he is still developing iOS apps while we are here. Yes, that means I am writing this on an iPad which is insane since the touch screen annoys me and the images are wonky. I hope before this trip is over I will be blogging about a future trip to the Baja mountains which I am planning for next weekend. Fingers crossed.

Coke Bottle Fences

These frightening fences surround our condo compound. I almost ran into one while scavenging for stray golf balls the other day. I have never seen these before and I think they are genius and kind of beautiful, especially along the blue glass portions of the fence line when the sun hits it just right. Some folks have said these were made to keep birds from roosting, others have said they are for security to keep the riff-raff out. They appear to be broken glass Coca-Cola and Fanta bottle shards stuck into cement.

Mexican Gummi Bears out of a Wheelbarrow

On the downtown streets of San Jose del Cabo there are many street vendors rolling their goods each night.  I was fascinated when I saw one man selling bread rolls from his car, his passenger seat and back seat were literally piled with fresh bread rolls.  There is no such thing as plastic packaging on any of the bread products here.  The sellers will just hand out the bread with their bare hands.  They do carry a pair of tongs around with them for when us Gringos swing by.  Last night my sweet tooth got the better of me and I could not handle one more dang piece of flan so I kept my eyes open for a wheelbarrow full of candy that I wanted to try.  My husband seemed a little surprised because I am usually so cautious with what I eat (hygiene-wise) but my pregnancy cravings were making all the decisions last night.  I found the wheelbarrow I was looking for on central plaza.  The owner of this wheelbarrow had filled it full of 20 different tubs of various candies and spiced nuts.  He took out his tongs and let me sample some mango spicy gummy candy and some spicy orange candy.  I have decided that I am not a spicy candy person so I bought $30 pesos worth of gummi bears.  Not too bad!

We have run into some challenges the last few days with a broken hard drive on one of our MacBooks and a very public toddler tantrum.  We were lucky to have some friends staying at a nearby resort who asked to watch our son one evening while we went to dinner just the two of us, they also offered to bring our broken laptop back to MN to get it fixed.  We are so lucky for such great friends.  Sometimes a couple of hours away from a two-year old is just what you need to come back refreshed and ready for another excursion in a foreign country.

I finally tried Ceviche (aka Cebiche) at Mi Casa restaurant in town the other night.  It was exactly as I imagined it minus the purple octopus tentacles I was surprised to see.  The one we ordered was a cold mixture of shrimp, fish, scallops, and octopus marinated in lime juice all afternoon, it was very different.  Well at least I tried it.  :)  My husband thought it was pretty good.

 

I Spy Enrique Iglesias

Anna Kournikova's Tennis Court

My husband has been kidding me nearly every single day that we've been here that he has seen Enrique Iglesias.  This pop star is plastered all over the walls of the concierge's office and has his photo on Alegranza's website as well.  Apparently he is a co-developer of this condo, which is a little confusing as to why a pop singer would be associated with a condominium development, but mainly he and his lady Anna Kournikova either have a penthouse here or stay here.  We are a little fuzzy on the deets but my husband loves to tease me about this.

Hot Stone Shrimp Bowl

We are starting to see how all these open-air eateries are rated by the Americans around San Jose.  It seems the quality of the restaurant is a function of 4 items; the fish tacos, guacamole, salsa, and ceviche.  The salsas are freshly made here, in fact some are made in a mortar and pestle right in front of us at at the table.  The only item I have never tried is ceviche.  The waiter a few nights ago described it as cold cubed raw fish chunks with other stuff.  This was the most unappetizing description that I could think of and therefore I have not ordered it yet.  After a little research I see that it can actually be made of shrimp, fish, octopus, scallops, etc, and that it is supposedly a tasty little appetizer.  We are planning on trying this in the next few days.  We just had a wonderful hot stone dish made with shrimp, flank steak, avocados, peppers and other tasty items that we spooned into corn tortillas, yum!

We spent some time at one of the only swimmable beaches in Los Cabos called Playa Chileno.  We took turns snorkeling while the other would stay with Sebastian on the beach and play in the sand.  We also found out our snorkel has a leak after getting a mouthful of salt water. :(

We won't be going to the beach for the next few days because we have officially found ourselves in a 3-day cloudy patch which everyone claims is SO odd.  We don't mind it one bit, temp in the 70s with a bit of a drizzle?  This is NICE weather to me, and frankly the cloudiness is a nice little break from the sweltering sun.  Besides, the hot tub at night with some light rain is still pretty wonderful.

Golfing in the Morning

So many things to be grateful for today.  First of all Microsoft (MSFT) is over $30 for the first time in a year, and Apple (AAPL) is up at $466.  Loving it.  Also loving the fact that I have hit the putting green with my 2-year old every single morning for the past week.  My son, who normally does activities in 3 minute increments, will entertain himself at the putting green for upwards of an hour.  Usually 30 minutes of putting in the morning breeze is just what we need to wake us up a bit and loosen up our joints.  Along with my Z-Health joint mobility exercises this pregnancy is SO much more comfortable than my first one.

 We are planning on taking a taxi to the Mega grocery store here in town tonight.  Graham is mostly excited for the fact that it is next to an honest-to-goodness Starbucks.  It has been a little challenging finding ingredients that we typically use in our meals and I have had to be a bit creative for our lunches.  There are a lot of dried goods here, legumes, rice and such and their produce is a little different than I had imagined it to be.  Their dairy section is just odd.  Unpasteurized quesos (bathtub cheese) and UHT milk are not exactly appetizing to me these days, in fact unpasteurized dairy products are incredibly dangerous for pregnant women.  At least my son is eating jelly sandwiches and pears on a regular basis so I can sleep a little better at night knowing he will be getting some form of nourishment.  I am off now to scrounge up some lunch for the family.  

On a Yellow Submarine

I went on my first submarine ride ever. If you were thinking that it sounds really claustrophobic and nauseating than you were right! The top of this yellow submarine is actually your typical boat because it is only partially submerged in the water. The ride up top was actually really enjoyable. Beautiful view of the Cabo arch and lover's beach. Sea Lions swimming along beside us and popping their heads out of the water. The time came to view the fish down in the "submarine" and that is when it got a little rocky.

It is whale season which means the water is a little more murky because it is full of minerals so we only saw angelfish, surgeonfish, and parrotfish (the really colorful curious fish).  We were happy we went on the boat ride along Cabo San Lucas if only to say we have done it, we are not sea people!  We were rocking for a while after that.  It helped that I had prepared for possible sea-sickness with Sea Bands, ginger candy, and ginger gum thankfully.  

Awesome Tortilla Soup with Avocados

Using the stroller in Mexico is a little tricky.  One side of a street crossing may have a handicap accessible ramp but the other side may not.  Sometimes we stroll over cobbles, sometimes dirt, there is no guarantee that if you are on a given sidewalk that it will remain intact your entire journey.  We are getting great exercise lifting the stroller and walking up and down the hills of Cabo.  It is incredibly hilly and rocky here.  Graham has had some amazing meals because he is allowed to eat anything.  I follow a gluten-free diet so it has been a little tricky for me. 

 Of course good old corn tortillas and Huevos Rancheros work just fine.  And I have had some unbelievably fresh salsas, guacamole, tortilla soup and salads with papaya in it, but every so often we run into a meal that doesn't work out so well.  We are having fun trying out new places to eat and new dishes everyday.  

Only slightly seasick here

Sebastian is up and wants to play again so off we go!  

Our newest free app Rate This Pic is being downloaded everyday on the app store, make sure and get a copy for yourself.  Send in your pics that you want to see uploaded and rated on the app.  Think "Hot or Not" premise, but for any image cute/scenic/funny etc.  We have been getting a lot of de-motivational style posters that have been cracking me up like this one. 

Sun Salutations

Roosters are often portrayed crowing at the break of dawn but did you know they can crow any time of the day or night? I just looked that up on Wikipedia after my confusion with hearing them at 3:45am as I checked up on my son. We got up a couple hours later and watched the sun rise with the roosters still crowing. Pretty beautiful! (minus the constant noise)
I wish I could say my family and I were performing our morning yoga routine on the terrace but instead we have already endured a tantrum over Wall-E and which lap to sit on.  Now we are off to play some golf as this is my son's new favorite game and the putting green is 50 feet away.

These trees lining the street are uniquely shaped. The squares are my favorite so I had to share.

18 liters of Mexican milk

We have arrived in San Jose del Cabo!  Day 1 of 29 glorious days and we were greeted with heat, for us anyhow.  It is currently 79 here but feels insanely hot.  We ate sandwiches on our new garden terrace overlooking both the Sea of Cortez as well as the infinity pool here and I had to remove my elbow from the sun because it was stinging!  Shows how MN pale I am.

There was the usual confusion at the airport of who was driving us back to our condo.  We waited around a half hour eventually making an expensive phone call to our resort.  Our driver ran up with our sign even though he claimed to have been here 20 mins, no worries we had been enjoying the surroundings.  Sea, desert, and mountains all in one.  Cacti EVERYWHERE.  All of the local houses were small gray cubes and rectangles.  

We love our condo.  Beautiful stainless steel appliances, granite surfaces, luxury bedding, yet the towels are literally mismatched secondhand beach towels.  Strange considering all the other work they put into the details, but this is Mexico.  We have great flat screens, artwork, and furniture throughout the condo yet there is speaker wire hanging out of holes in the walls.  We were a little surprised to see a 3rd bedroom here, that had not been advertised.  Thought there were only going to be two, I guess now we could accommodate guests if any were to venture down to the southern most tip of the Baja peninsula.  Funniest of all was the plethora of Mexican dairy products waiting for us upon arrival.  We have 18 liters of UHT milk, both whole and "light" varieties.  Also 1.5 liters of strawberry yogurt drink.  I had put in an order for groceries for us and somewhere in the translation they thought I wanted a TON of milk even though I only asked for a half gallon of whole and skim milk.  Not sure how we will finish 18 liters but it makes me laugh.  

It is only nap time and I still have the rest of the evening to play!  Both my boys are sleeping and I am ready to explore.  Even though the flight was stressful this morning (apparently 2 year olds don't like to be strapped into a seat for 4.5 hours) I am so glad that we made this decision to come down here for the month of February.  It is the first time our passports have been used since we got married.  Sebastian's passport photo had every single security official cracking up at the various checkpoints.  Except the policia federales upon arrival.  They did not crack a smile.