Yelapa Photos

It looks like I had forgotten to upload any photos of Yelapa so I will do that here and now.


Funny dogs in funny sweaters. When we stayed with Brad in Puerto Vallarta, you could look over the edge of the balcony and look down into the courtyard of the house next door. They apparently owned three dogs who liked to bark at everything, and wore sweaters.


Our friend Brad got us an incredible deal on an amazing property for rent in Yelapa. This is looking down from the topanco (loft) at Shawn in one of the hammocks in the main house. There are three main houses on this property, plus one that is being renovated and two small ones that have been converted into sheds. There is a shared bathroom for two of the houses, and an attached bathroom for the master bedroom.


This is looking along the wall that lines the front hall of the first house. You are looking towards the front door, at night. The entire house had white Christmas lights for nighttime and it was awesome.

At the far end of the house in the kitchen there was a shelf covered in candle holders and various little decorative items, plus above it was canvas with the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe (Mary) with roses.

There were two cats that lived on the property and they quite loved each other. They would spend their afternoons seperate in the jungle, doing whatever cats do, but at night they would come for their supper and greet by rubbing faces and wrapping their tails around one another's. They also slept together on a chair, and this is how I found them one night.

This is a view of the first house from up in the loft in daylight.

This is another view of the first house also looking across the living area and into the kitchen.

This is looking the opposite direction with the hammocks behind you. There is an office here and that dude is Shawn.

This is the view out the middle of the house. There was a swinging bench seat that you could sit on and look at this view if you liked.

This is another view of the kitchen, looking at the dining table.

This is the other direction in the kitchen with some creature that found it's way into the palapa somehow.

If you went out the end of the main house through the dining room, you were on a path that had this view of the tourist beach and the little bay.

This is the "wall" along the one side of the dining room and kitchen with pots set into the cement.

One of the statues found around the house. There apparently used to be a lot of statues and masks that they removed to make everything a little more inviting for visitors.

The woman who originally owned the home collected these wooden chests. They were everywhere, and they were stuffed with things. Tonnes of them had been removed from the house already but you wouldn't have guessed it. There were lots and I had a great time peeking into them all.

Some of the masks hanging on the walls. As you can see, there were a lot of books here... a huge library of them. It made for nice evenings in the hammocks.

Another view of the office with Shawn in it.

If you leave by the front door near the office and turn to the right you come out in a little area that looks like this. If I owned the house, I would turn this into a butterfly and bird watching area. It was beautiful.

Holly stayed in what is actually the master bedroom which is really a house located above the first house I showed you that Shawn and I stayed in. It was made of wood and the walls around half of it were actually doors that were opened. You then could close the entire room up should you have the need to (summer storms). The whole back wall was made of cupboards filled with more containers and boxes and belongings. In the center of the room was a bed.

This is the view out of Holly's shower. The master bedroom had a bathroom off of it that was beautiful. I love showers that have windows in the jungle!

Just one of the many flowers you can find all over Yelapa.

This is looking up at what was Holly's house from just outside the dining room in our house.

Another view from the main house.

Yet another view. Beautiful!

The property was incredible and I really loved being able to just relax and read in the hammocks. Thank you BRAD! :)

We Are Home. Photo Updates to Come.

As you have probably guessed, we are back home now. We left Pocatello at 10am and drove straight home, arriving at about 9:30pm. I slept a lot of the way so it was probably a very boring drive for Shawn. Getting through customs was no issue at all and everything was very uneventful.

We still have a lot of photos that we haven't uploaded, so we will start making some photo posts so that you can see the rest of the trip.

Soon!

Pocatello, Idaho?

We are leaving Pocatello Idaho this morning. We saw Univeral Studios in L.A, which was super awesome, and then went to see the "stars" on the walk of fame on Hollywood Blvd. We also went to the theatre that has the actor's foot and handprints in the cement which I thought was even better. We also visited the wax museum (not very good), Ripley's museum (super good), and the Guiness World Records museum (pretty good).

We left for Las Vegas that night and arrived around 2am. We saw the strip on our drive in and then crashed. Our next day was spent mostly shopping at the outlet malls and the evening eating a buffet. We were so tired after that, we just went to bed.

We drove the next day to here and now we are just driving home... no other planned sight seeing.

Photos to come of various stuff! :)

Sea World Photos

I only took a few photos with my own camera because my bag was getting wet and I decided to stash it for the day, but Shawn will post more soon.



The moray eels were so strange!


The dolphin tank had areas with windows and they would just stay there staring out at you, just as much as you were staring at them.

He looks like he's friendly, but he's devising ways to extract the most fish from your wallet (they cost six dollars for three miniscule fish).

Sea World San Diego

Yesterday we went to Sea World, and it was HEAVEN on earth, I swear! It was probably the coolest place I've ever been. Not only was it awesome to see whales, dolphins, bat rays, moray eels, otters, sea lions, belugas, star fish, and sharks, but we also got to FEED dolphins and bat rays!

I had no clue we would have hands on contact with the dolphins. They are in a pool with a short waist-high wall and you are allowed to lean over and put your hands in if you'd like. The dolphins are only interested in fish though and won't normally let you touch them unless you have little fish, which you purchase at a price of six dollars for three.

When we arrived at the dolphin tank, the dolphins were getting worked up because it was near feeding time. One came over to me and let me pet it's head and side, but a second one snuck up and sent a wall of water over at us. Shawn and I got soaked while everyone around the pool laughed.

It wasn't until later that we were able to feed the dolphins, which was awesome. The dolphins come up and let you pet their foreheads and bug you for fish. You throw little fish right into their mouths.

We also went and fed the bat rays which turned out to be my favorite experience. They have a weird soft feeling. Their skin is almost slimy, but not in a gross way. They were huge... if you put your arms out in front of you and make a circle like you are hugging a beach ball, that is the average size of the rays, and larger. When we arrived, one came right up and put his face into my hands, searching for fish.

Their mouths are largely soft and mushy. Unfortunately, when I was feeding one, his vacuum of a mouth sucked my fingers really hard and they slammed into his "teeth". I don't think they have teeth, rather it seemed like my finger had rammed into a plate. Either way, it hurt, but it wasn't a huge deal.

Everything was amazing to see, but being able to touch some of the creatures was by far the best part of my day.

Photos to come!

Whale Watching to Tijuana

Finally, a photo update! This morning we woke up, hit the road, and crossed the border. It was a little more involved than that of course, but the actual crossing part was rather easy. We ended up crossing in Tijuana instead of Tecate though, and I have to say there were a lot less roving bandits and tumbleweeds than I had expected.

Enjoy the pics!

World expeditionist and ceaseless adventurer, Arthur J. Fanshaw ready at the bow!

Cute, be-whiskered, and STINKY, wow.

Whales were spotted by the spray they puffed out of their blowholes before their head surfaced, closely followed by their back. Some of them would stay at the surface for a few breaths like this before diving deep and swimming far away again. It seemed we were always chasing the spray, trying to get close enough to see the whale. A few times we got close enough to see their bodies under the water. A few times they would raise their tails high enough for us to see. They were amazing despite not getting a super good look.

Large birds of prey of some sort that built their nest at the top of this pole that sticks out of the water in the middle of the bay/lagoon.

Guerrero Negro, the town we stayed in for the whale watching, is actually known for it's salt. They trap lagoons of water and let it evaporate, a process that takes months, and then they scoop up the salt, wash it, then load it onto barges for delivery all over the world.

On the road to Ensenada. The landscape turned into forests of cactus and succulent plants of all types. It was amazing. The earth was red and brown, spotted with boulders, and treed with cacti.

More cactus.

And more cactus.

There is a MASSIVE flag in Ensenada and this was the only way I could get a photo of it. If you stood at the base and tried to put your arms around it, they would perhaps fit around half the diameter of the flag pole.

On the road from Ensenada to Tecate. The land was full of vineyards and wrinkled mountains covered in green. It was SO beautiful.

More landscape.

The view on our way into Tecate. This is a border town but we discovered we couldn't cross here because we needed to get our deposit back that we had to pay in order to bring vehicles into the country and they had no office at this particular border crossing.

After we loaded the motorcycle into the back of the truck so we could all be together at the Tijuana border crossing, Shawn noticed this guy sitting beside the fence watching us all. This picture hardly does him justice as he is actually a MASSIVE mastiff. I knelt down to see him and he was larger than I was in that position.

On the way into Tijuana, just a random photo out the window.

Looking back behind us at the border crossing in Tijuana. You can hardly tell from this photo but there are actually eight or so lanes of traffic and it goes back for blocks behind us. Back under that bridge was where the street was lined with market stalls packed with goods that guys were trying to sell to you while you inched along in your lane. They were walking up and down the lanes offering blankets, statues, candies, churros (donut type things), and other souvenirs. It was crazy!

We are staying in San Diego tonight and hitting Sea World tomorrow morning. There will be more photos soon!

Last Night in Mexico

Tonight is our last night in Mexico, which is hard to believe. While it seems so short, the trip also seems so epic. We've been in so many different places, met so many different people, done so many things, it's hard sometimes to figure out where we were just a week ago.

Tomorrow we are up first thing in the morning and driving for perhaps three hours to get to the border. Hopefully everything will go smoothly there, cross your toes for us.

Tomorrow night we should be in a hotel in San Diego where we hope to hit Sea World the next day.

I've been really tired in the evenings or I would have posted photos. They will come soon!

Ensenada

and finally a day off.
We arrived yesterday and quickly found our hotel, which is awesome.
The desk guy Steve has been more than helpful, including parking my bike in a locked section of the hotel. Very cool.

The last couple of days riding were crazy tough. The stretch from Gurerro Negro to San Quentin was punishing. 450 Km of waffle iron. I didn't think a pavewd road could actually be that bad. Honestly I didn't really enjoy most of the ride.

The short pull into Ensenada was better but mostly straight and flat, sort of like a drag race. ot interesting, but fast at least.

pictures are taking too long to load and I want to eat so pictures later.

Guerrero Negro and Whales!

We left early in the morning (9am, woah, early) and drove to Guerrero Negro because we read that a whale watching boat was leaving at 11am. We arrived with plenty of time and had ourselves some breakfast before our departure.

From a little boat we saw several whales today, including a mama and her baby. We got rather close at times and I could see the body of the whale just under the surface as it's tail waved up and down to propel it forwards. Puffs of water sprayed into the air when they blew air out their blowholes and made a neat noise. When they come up for a breath, they puff air out of their blow hole then their head disappears as their back comes up out of the water. They were amazing.

We also saw dolphins who seemed to really enjoy speeding right at our boat and zooming alongside it for a second before speeding away again.

We did our best to get a few photos but those will come tomorrow. Our wireless connection was too weak from our room and I am typing this while I sit in the lobby.

Just a quick update.
Bike is running really well, adjusted the chain this morning.

Military checks are everywhere in the Baja.
So far all the military guys are super keen on the bike. One actually
took the liberty to take a seat.


Bike and chicken on the road. he crossed first.


at a rest srop


a common sight on the Baja. Gasa stops are far and few between

Have a wracking cough. I think its from breathing in the fumes of the road.

Loreto to Vizcaino

This morning we took things slow and I spent some time walking the beach and picking up shells. The beach is literally littered with whole shells, most of them clams and oysters, but there are others as well. It is weird to see so many shells compared to the coast of Puerto Vallarta.

We left near noon and started to drive to Guerrero Negro, a town we plan to stay in for two nights so that one afternoon can be spent whale watching.

The drive was partly through mountains with curving roads and ocean views. The water looked so blue and clear from up high, but on investigating closer on a rest stop, we found that it was a little murky. It was a cloudy day so I didn't feel bad that I wasn't going to do any swimming.

We passed many little beaches where tourists had parked their RVs, some of them for long term stays. One man that Shawn talked to had been down here for six months now, staying for free on a little quiet beach.

Our drive took longer than expected due to all the curves and two military checkpoints, but it was beautiful. The mountains were more like enormous heaps of red rocks covered in cactus. The cactus were those huge straight type that sprout arms of a sort. They are super cool.

As it began to get dark, we found ourselves in a little town that hugs the highway. We haven't even seen the town itself, we just saw the little stores and hotels that line the road. We are in a cute little hotel that is very comfortable and had great food in their restaurant.

Tomorrow morning we plan to get up early, drive the last hour to Guerrero Negro, and find out where to go to see the whales!

View around Loreto.

Birds chilling out.

Another view in Loreto.

Looking back at the surrounding landscape in Loreto.

Birds in the ocean.

Our hotel in Loreto.

A roadside shrine but instead of containing a statue of Mary, this one contains a statue of the Santa Muerta (Saint of Death).

You can see the shrine in the bottom right of this image.. just a shot of surrounding landscape.

Lanscape, beautiful!

There were a tonne of shells at the bottom of a tall cactus and I have no idea why. We thought that maybe birds carried them here.

Big cactus.

Shawn!

The road!

Our hotel room in Vizcaino!