beautiful Baja

I didn't just get back from Baja, but I went from there immediately to a conference in Chicago and worked 55 hours. So needless to say, blog posting was put on the back burner for other things to take place like sleep, and figuring out what the heck I'm saying to these kiddos the next day. ANYHOW, Baja was great, fantastic, fun!

The first night we stayed in a hotel. I got some quality pool time and soaked up the sun. The weather wasn't as warm as I thought it would be, but it was still very nice (low 70's, a little cold for swimming!). The people of Loreto are very nice, some too nice. I had a couple of offers from guys asking if I needed a Mexican boyfriend. I would laugh, they would laugh, I would walk away quickly. But overall a beautiful small fishing town that makes it's money on tourism.

After the first night in the hotel, it was kayaking/camping time. One of our guides was local, so it was really interesting to talk to him about the town and life in general. Very nice and knowledgeable! He fixed my kayak on day 3 when it broke. Something happened with the cables for the rudder, so we couldn't steer. Instead of paddling in circles, Antonio made semi-repairs in the water, then total repairs when we got to the shore. Just another good reason to go with a guide! The food was amazing, the sunrises and sunsets epic, and I just enjoyed paddling. I could paddle all day long. We saw some amazing sea-life in the tide pools and on shore, but one day we saw a huge manta ray! Very cool!

The last day we woke up early to head to the Pacific side to watch gray whales, their babies and dolphins. I had been on a whale watch before in New Zealand, but this was much better as we were on a smaller boat, saw baby whales, and we also got to see some dolphins interacting with the whales (one dolphin decided to jump OVER the whale instead of swim around and put on quite the show for us!).

There was also a lot of beach time, meaning relaxation time, and I was all about that. No computer, so I couldn't look for jobs, no cell phone so I couldn't contact anyone. It was just me and my thoughts, which is what I needed. I'm still trying to work through not getting the job at Yosemite. For awhile I thought I was sure it was going to happen, then not so sure, to it didn't happen. And now it's time to regroup. With some options disappearing, I've realized on this trip that I need to go in another direction. These thoughts are pretty new and still forming, so we'll see what happens. But beach time was good. And beach time often turned into nap time, and there's nothing wrong with that! I was also pretty proud of myself because I had never been camping for 5 days...but I did it! All without a shower, and a sink, and a flushing toilet!

Go kayaking in Baja. It's wonderful.