Escaping the Caravan, a Side Trip to La Ventana

The road from Loreto

We left at 7 am. We faced a 220-mile drive, so it would be a long day. Leaving Loreto, we hugged the coast before turning inland through some real pretty mountains. After a 15-minute break we drove an 80-mile stretch of flat, straight road through open desert plains and farmland in central Baja, passing through the large town of Ciudad Constitucion. Unlike the US, driving through towns in Mexico offered interesting new stores to look at. Not A CVS, Subway or Walmart seen yet. Of course since all the stores signs are in Spanish, we passed the time trying to guess what they sell. Since this is a full travel day lunch was in our rigs, in a large pull out along the road. Our guides have done this trip for years and know all the  roads, the pull offs, the restaurants and taco stands to stop at with 20 rigs.

Coming into La Paz

We started back east toward the coast,  our destination is the capital of Baja, La Paz. It’s a big city but our campground is very small. We wait in line while Bill and Company shoehorn us in, one at a time. We got settled and had our group photo at four by the pool, then it was a pot luck dinner and fish fry with the fish some of the fellows caught in Loreto. (Hubby was vowing to go fishing in Cabo since he missed out on the charter in Loreto due to waiting around for our oil change.) We were told one elderly couple is leaving the caravan. They had broken down on the road to La Paz, and said they wanted the rig looked at, but I think they didn’t like the driving on narrow, mountainous roads. They opted to take the ferry from La Paz to the mainland of Mexico, rather than drive back the way we came.

La Ventana beach, no wind, no windsurfers

We had one free day in La Paz. We used it to drive out to La Ventana, about 45 minutes away to visit a friend from New York’s sister. Clara lives and works for an oil company in Alaska, but has this house on the beach in Mexico to use when she has time off. It took about a half an hour to find our way out of La Paz and onto the right road. Traffic, no signs and some cows in the road all contributed to the delay. We made to La Ventana and spent a nice few hours on the beach visiting and sharing stories of life on Long Island, Alaska, and our journey so far. It was nice getting away from the Caravan for a day and we now have a friend to visit when we get to Alaska.

Relaxing on the beach in La Ventana

We stopped at the CCC for some groceries, walked the dog, and  headed into the Malecon (harbor area) in La Paz for a nice dinner at El Patron on the harbor. It was here we discovered the joy of high-end tequila. Instead of drowning it in margarita mix, it was served in a snifter, with a piece of orange on the rim. It was very smooth and was a perfect way to cap off the night. We had not seen much of La Paz,  we’ll see more when we return. Only 100 miles tomorrow, just over a week into our trip, and we reach our end destination, Cabo San Lucas.

La Paz from across the harbor at El Patron

La Paz Harbor