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!

Yelapa to the Baja!

I don't have a lot of photos to share. I forgot my camera in the truck when we went to Yelapa and then we spent much of our time travelling and doing little else over the last couple of days. We drove from Puerto Vallarta to a town named Culiacan in the state of Sinoloa. Then we drove the next day to Tompolobampo, a town outside of Los Mochis where we arranged to take the ferry.

The ferry left at 11pm and we got ourselves a cabin since it was late at night. I didn't think it would be too comfortable for us trying to sleep in regular chairs in the passenger cabin. After seeing it, I was relieved. We slept rather well and the entire trip was over in a blink. We arrived around 6am but it took until 8am to unload the boat and get everyone through the military check point.

Unlike what I had thought in advance, the military guys are very friendly and most of them smile and even have conversations with us.

After arriving in La Paz and finding ourselves feeling quite awake, we decided to hit the road and we are now in a place called Loreto on the East Coast of the Baja. The Sea of Cortez is quite blue and the beach is littered with whole shells.

That is it for tonight guys, here are some photos.

A tree on the malecon in Tompolobampo, the last town we spent time in on the mainland in Mexico.

A quick pic taken out the window of the truck by Holly. The Baja is full of tall cactus instead of trees.

A view of the road ahead, taken by Holly. There is a little speck in the photo... that is Shawn getting way ahead of us.

This is the view of a little place called Juncito or something like that. It was a tiny little village that appeared to be touristy and there was an RV park nearby on the other shore. I wanted to go down and see if they had anywhere to stay but Shawn was sceptical.

No pics of Loreto yet... perhaps tomorrow.

North bound and down

I'm loaded up and truckin' we're gonna do what they say can't be done.
We got a long way to go and a short time to get there....

The first person who can tell me the name of the song and the artist will win a prize.

Well as thew title says we are indeed Northbound.
But we are not down.
Toll roads here are expensive, $50 from Mazatlan to Culiacan.
And they are rough, rough rough.
I hit a shoe box size pot hole that sent me into a small tank slapper.
Rode it out but scary as hell.

Topolobompo is todays goal.


Brad from Yelapa. Flowmaster.
In addition to being an all aroud awesome dude, he was instrumental in making the Yelapa
Puerto Vallarta section of the trip a success.


Landmark

I posted two shots of this because I didn't get one south bound due to somw tailgating clown that made it impossible to stop and take a shot. So it goes.

Gotta go, more later

Manejando Mas! (More Driving!)

We left Yelapa on Tuesday after Holly and Shawn recovered from their various ailments and we had a fantastic evening spent having dinner with friends at our house. Everyone ate good food, laughed, talked and had a great time. Shawn taught the kids how to tool leather and make little wallets, keychains and the likes with a neat leather kit and tools he brought down with him. The kids were absolutely enthralled, and their Mum was super pleased because it is something they can do anytime if they want to make some money by making souvenirs for the tourists who come to visit Yelapa.

Tuesday morning we got on the boat for Puerto Vallarta where we met our friend Brad for breakfast. Shawn and Brad left together to get the motorcycle fixed and I took Holly and one of her friends to the waterpark for an afternoon of fun. Fun meaning they go on the waterslides while I lay in the sun and read. At suppertime, after Brad left and we sent Holly´s friend home on the boat, we all walked around PV seeing some of the sights and shopping a little.

This morning we met up with Brad one last time for breakfast, shopped a little more, and then headed on our way. We were a bit late leaving town so we didn´t make it to Mazatlan as planned, but instead we made it to this fantastic little pueblo full of smiling people who are very happy to spend time chatting with us. We had our fill of good food and spent time sitting in the plaza watching people go by. A grandmother walked past with a man who was disabled physically and mentally challenged. She walked faster, impatient with him because he was taking in the sights as he went along. He caught sight of us on our bench and decided he would come over and talk. He shook our hands and in gestures and sounds he asked our names. He was especially fascinated with Shawn and then wanted to see Shawn´s tattoo. He was quite impressed. A man came by and gave the guy some change and was really happy to jingle it in his pocket. Then he waved his goodbyes, shook Holly´s hand again and left.

A little boy who was maybe a year and a half old was being walked around by his father and he gave us a very enthusiastic wave as his dad said to say ¨bye¨! A woman at the candy stand was happy to talk to us and gave us advice on getting to an island. I asked if it was beautiful and she said no, but that there was fantastic food there.

We ate at a little taco stand that had a little plastic table. After eating a taco, the lady asked if I wanted something more and described something to me that I thought was perhaps soup with fish and cream in it. What I got looked just like a taco except instead of ingredients in a tortilla, it was ingredients on a little round waffle type thing. It tasted great. I talked to her after, getting the name of what it was again and realized two of the words sounded very similar to the words fish and soup, and that was why I got all mixed up.

Tomorrow we leave for Mazatlan and beyond. We are in an internet cafe today or there would be photos. Hopefully there will be some soon!

Yelapa!

We made it to Yelapa on the 8th and Brad helped us get settled in a beautiful house. The property is huge, and the main house is massive. The entire house is open walled on three sides and we have an incredible view of the ocean and main beach. We are on a hillside almost literally in the trees. This place used to be owned by an old woman who collected books, old antique wooden trunks, and strange stuff. We are living in a library, surrounded by her collection of books. There are two hammocks perfectly placed in the main room and I think we will be doing a lot of reading.

We are on a dial-up connection so there won't be lots of photos for now, but we will have lots to share soon.

I am mega tired so I am off to bed. Holly is almost completely better, she just has a sore stomach some of the time and can't eat as much as usual. She found her friend and they have been hanging out ever since. Shawn and I are hoping to do a little exploring. I have talked to some friends a little bit here and there and hope to find them tomorrow for more chatting.

Things are good!

Puerto Vallarta!

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta this evening and got the truck and motorcycle safely tucked away in secure parking for the price of a Yelapa pie. Holly is still sick but doing well. She has had a mild fever, sore head, and a sore stomach but hopefully she will feel better tomorrow. We are staying with our friend Brad for the night and will take the morning boat to Yelapa. Besides the flu, everything is great. Soon Holly should be back up and running and we are going to be in Yelapa for about a week.

Goodbye Guadalajara!

Holly is doing pretty good so we should be hitting the road in the morning. I have some time so I thought I would upload the photos I've taken while here. I will write up some descriptions as I go.
We took Holly to Disco Roller on our first evening here. It was a bit of an experience because the floor was larger and functioned much like driving in Mexico, everyone kind of doing what they want with no apparent rules to guide you. We didn't stay very long.

This lady was at the market when we ate. She was making fresh handmade tortillas from a massive ball of dough.

The market is in a building that consists of four floors of craziness that open onto this plaza in the centre. You can see that the food stalls spill out into the middle.

Out in the centre of this plaza there were three different setups offering all types of birds for sale, from tiny flitting birds to songbirds, and parrots to ducks and chickens.

One of our favorite snacks: fresh cucumber with lime and salt. We got this massive cup for almost three dollars.


The view above the centre of one of the main market buildings showing the roofs of the middle stalls and two of the surrounding floors that run the outside of it all.

The market was lumped into sections with like stalls beside each other. There were fruits/veggies, sweets, meats, live birds, crafts and craft supplies, leather goods, boots, saddles and clothing, shoes and stereos, jewellery and purses...

These guys played us a song while we ate our lunch.

After wrestling, lots of kids got into the ring and posed for photos. Some really big kids did too.

The next day we went walking around and visited a very large cathedral. There was an English speaking man there who gave us a tour and explained a lot of things for us.

Dad, here is a picture of the pipe organ for you :)

There are sections like this all along both sides of the church featuring important saints and figures.

A view of the front.
One of the statues in the church.

Another view of the pipe organ.

This was behind glass, and each circle holds a bone fragment of an important Saint.

This is the body of a little girl who died a very long time ago. The story was about how her father didn't have her baptised because he wasn't a believer. A year later she was murdered by a man who strangled her and dragged her body through the streets (I think because she wasn't baptized, but I am not clear on this part). Later an important religious man heard about her death and had her body brought to the church. They dressed her in this dress, and had her face made up to hide the skull. He said that the top half of her body is real. All the little papers you see in the glass case are requests from people that want or need a miracle. When she has performed enough miracles, they will Saint her.

This is in the basement of the church where some important cardinals are buried. One of them was a religious figure who was killed in 1993 by drug dealers at an airport. There is controversy over whether he was simply mistaken as being involved in something, or if he actually had been messed up in the drug scene.


This is the outside of the cathedral.

Just a view of the street downtown looking towards one of the museums.

This little guy is one of many statues around the street I just showed you above.

Shawn at the Plaza de Mariachis!

Me standing with a vendor that I just bought some stuff from. I love shopping from my dinner table! :)