Anticipating Pelicans

Now it is getting close.  The quilt top is finished; shopping for American toiletries complete.  As I think about what clothing to take, I let my eyes rest on the blue sky out my window, etched by winter trees.  I imagine our Pescadero evenings with a warm and pleasant sea breeze dancing about my legs when something glittery distracts my eye.  I turn my gaze and see the flash again. What glitters is simply the snow blowing off my neighbor's roof.  So much for daydreams.


As part of my preparations for the trip, I read John Steinbeck's The Log from the Sea of Cortez. Within the first thirty pages he takes time to describe one of my favorite Baja scenes, something I look forward to watching over and over again:  the "Mexican frigates," aka pelicans.

 

"A squadron of pelicans crossed our bow, flying low to the waves and acting like a train of pelicans tied together, activated by one nervous system.  For they flapped their powerful wings in unison, coasted in unison.  It seemed that they tipped a wavetop with their wings now and then, and certainly they flew in the troughs of the waves to save themselves from the wind.  They did not look around or change direction.  Pelicans seem always to know exactly where they are going."

And we only have some idea of where we are going.  Once we are free from the regimen of airlines, airports, customs agents and money changers and have darted our way through the corridor of condo salesmen, we will step out into the warm Baja air and look for the Mexicans who are gathering and waiting for the next city bus.  These buses are more interesting and efficient than the tourists' buses located nearer the airport, positioned for convenience.  We rode one of these into Cabo San Lucas our first trip down.  What I thought was a friendly courier on board with us was actually another friendly salesman hoping to talk us into spending precious Baja time touring condos, riding ziplines and swimming with dolphins in a tank.  The city bus, filled with the sounds of the soft Spanish murmurings of other passengers, will take us directly to the bus station of San Jose del Cabo.  There we can check the schedule for buses to Pescadero the next day.  We will walk the mile and a half to the central downtown area where we will look for a hotel.  I'm looking forward to the walk in the warm Baja after a day in airplanes with their stale air, even if I walk with the weight my pack on my back.

I remember a hotel in San Jose where we stayed last year.  It is comprisesd of several buildings joined by stairs and catwalks.  More intriguing than the catwalks is the breadth of selection in their take-one/leave-one library of English paperbacks.  But then, we shouldn't be needing fresh reading material at this point in the trip and maybe we will try a new place, one that had no room for us last year.

After an evening in San Jose, spent brushing off our Spanish and enjoying a truly Mexican meal,  we will return back to the hotel for a good night's rest, The next day we will take the ninety minute bus ride to Pescadero.  Once there we will need to again walk a mile to our "new" hotel.  What we've learned about Pescadero however, is that one rarely walks more than half a mile before being offered a ride, often communicated by a simple thumb-jerk to the back of the truck.  Details such as "How far are you going?" get worked out enroute as the cab windows are always open and the pace on the bumpy dirt road is always slow.

We've reserved a casita in Pescadero for our first month in Baja.  We know little about the "hotel" except for the promised wifi and proximity to the beach.  At this point in the anticipation of a trip I am always intrigued with the balance of expectations and reality.  I find myself simply hoping for warm relaxing days and a better look at Baja culture. Mostly, I am looking forward to the simple life of Baja where everything we need is on our backs or in our pockets and life is easy.

Waiting

While waiting for our Baja departure date, the idea of a blog came to me.  This introductory post serves merely as a means of testing the process to see if I like it.

Right now, Bruce and I are pondering the mundane issues, like "How much shampoo will we use in 2 mos?"  You'd think we'd have that part pretty well dialed-in by now, but actually we don't.  You see this year, we can check one bag free and that means we can take all the liquids we like and we free ourselves from having to spend our first Baja hour in the Walmart of Cabo.  Freedom indeed!

Our first month will be spent near Pescadero, staying at Las Palmas Tropicales in Casita Oleander.  We've not stayed here before, so I'll have to let you know if it lives up to the description on the website (click on the blue letters to view the website).  Near as we can tell, we should be just a few block south of the surf motel where we stayed last year.  The advantage this year is the free wifi in our casita!

So while we wait, I find myself imagining sun on my shoulders, toes in the sand, holding the pages of my book open against the warm sea breeze.  All this is rather hard to imagine as right now I hear the 50mph wind blowing at my house during a 33 degree day.

I pass my days sewing little wool blocks into a very warm quilt.

Ah, waiting.....