dscn1065.jpg(699486 bytes) -- NIKON-E990, 2003:03:18 10:12:52, [2048 x 1536], fl=N, f= 8.2mm, exptime=0.002 s (1/662), f/7.0 Large -- Medium

On the beach in front of downtown San Felipe.
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Xander on the beach in San Felipe, with the hill North of the beach behind him.
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We climbed that hill, and here is the view from the top, toward the North and the lighthouse.
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Check out the hundreds of fishing pelicans dive-bombing the bay.
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Behind Xander is the graveyard for retired boats.
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We then headed South on the 5, toward Puertecitos. The road parallels the beach the whole way.
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I took these surruptitious images of our car getting searched by El Ejercito -- the Mexican Army. They had checkpoints every few hundred miles. We ended up getting searched by 4 of 8, and can't tell what it is that got us through or didn't.
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Xander on the beach between Puertecitos and San Felipe.
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I just like the blending of blues into whites here.
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Jason in front of a totally monster ocotillo, with tree trunk sized branches.
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Jason driving by the beach on the 5.
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Xander writes in his diary at this awesome restaurant 6 miles south of Puetecitos. His diary entry:

So, Jason and I are in this nice little restaurant in Baja, Mexico. Coming out of San Felipe, we arrived not deterred by potholed road in the town of Puertecitos. Our guidebook promised us a few resaurants, but they were all deserted.

Jason was pressing to continue on a road south which, by guidebook descriptions ranged from "Four-wheel driver's dream" to "only for the most couragous, white-knuckled passenger car drivers". I was really close to wussing out, we had a solid extra tire plus another one suspicously missing the middle(Jason assured me any mechanic could fix this problem, but I was fairly certain it would give us no advantages over this probably tire-eating path to a slow, sun-burnt death in Baja Mexico).

On our side was a cube filled with a few gallons of trusty Tucson ground water, triscuits, a little trail mix, and a protein bar, which had seen better days.

The car eating road turned out to be nothing more than a rough gravel road with bad washboard that Jason easily manuvered our 1995 saturn through. We arrived, after only 10 miles to this great little restaurant. I walked in, but my 'Hola' resounded without any response in the empty restaurant. When I was getting back in the car, a mexican woman with her to two sons showed up responded "Si" to our "Hay comida ahora?" Now she is making us some of, what most definssitely will be the tastiest, most deserved Pescado I will ever enjoy.

Meanwhile I am sipping my Margarita and reading some Hemmingway while Bob Marely sings to me from the speakers.

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At the restaurant, Xander with margarita, Jason with limonada (lemonade).
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The restaurant's dog looks out on the Gulf of California.
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Along the 5.
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These are the Northern end of the Islas Encantadas, the Enchanted Islands, a set of 5 small islands in the Gulf of California. The Mexican route 5 (at right) was hours and hours of beautiful vistas like this.
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We camped that night on Playa Bufeo, the beach farthest from any paved roads along the 5. There was a Mexican family, 20 cabins, and a dirt airstrip quite remote from civilization.
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