15 Favorite Images of 2015

As we paddled out onto the crystal clear waters of Baja's Bahia de Concepcion last January, little did Millie or I know what monumental changes were in store for us in 2015.

Cancer took Millie just 2 months later, and a month after that, I got my own cancer diagnosis.  Life is very different now at the end of 2015 than it was at the beginning-- not in a significantly better or worse way necessarily, just forever changed.

My photography took a bit of a back seat to the more urgent matters of life this year.  Not as much time and energy for tripods, dragging out the best (heavy) lenses and cameras, or enduring long waits or long hikes to get "the shot."

Yet, looking back over all of my 2015 images, I did manage to experience some pretty diverse scenes this year-- so without further adieu, here are my 15 favorites from 2015.  Enjoy!

A Bit of Heaven & Hell - Returning Up the Baja

It was a mere 715 miles from Bahía de Concepción to the U.S. border.  An easy 2-day drive on most U.S. roads, but Baja Highway 1 sets its own rules.  Hans, Ursula, and I decided we would make the narrow, winding, shoulder-less drive in 6 days rather than 2.  After 7 weeks in Baja, we were now moving at the same laid-back pace as most of the locals (rather than that of over-scheduled, over-stressed, and over-stimulated Americans). 

Along the way, there would be gray whales to touch, French baguettes to savor, cactus trails to hike, and plenty of serene beachfront sunrises and sunsets to enjoy.

There’d also be a few moments of terror and mishap too…no journey that includes climbing “the Grade of Hell” past 3 volcanoes would be complete without a bit of terror and mishap!

Touching Gray Whales

Our winter in Baja had so many magical moments on or in the water-- kayaking the gorgeous Bahía de Concepción and Balandra Bay, snorkeling Cabo Pulmo, swimming with sea lions at Isla Espiritu Santo, and touring Land’s End at Cabo San Lucas. 

As special as each of these experiences were, they could not come close to our final , incredible day on the water-- when we would each get to touch (and be touched by) the gray whales of Laguna Ojo de Liebre just south of Guerrero Negro, on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur.

Magical Days at Concepción

Before I start today’s post, I’d like to express my sincere thanks for the kindness you all have shared with me this past week since the passing of Millie.  I knew she was one well-loved dog out there in blog-land, but honestly was amazed and touched by the outpouring of comments, emails, and phone calls.  It seems she left a hole not only in my heart, but in many of yours as well.

I spent last week mostly consuming myself with work.  I’m currently volunteering at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico for a few months, and it’s been a perfect place to begin healing—surrounded by caring fellow volunteers and lots of amazing wildlife to watch and learn about.  I’ll start posting more about this place soon, but first wanted to finish up and share the final few posts of our winter Baja trip, as our last week there was pretty amazing!

Northbound to Loreto

 

When Hans, Ursula, and I had decided to caravan back up the Baja together, we initially thought we’d skip Loreto and just head right for the Bahía de Concepción.  But with a couple of rare days of rain predicted further north, we decided it’d be best to wait out the weather in Loreto.  The town welcomed us home with an amazing sunset and more!

The Ultimate Baja Fish Taco Quest

Ah, there is so much to love about visiting Baja—the gorgeous beaches, the abundant marine life, the world-class water sports, and of course, the always friendly and fun people.  But more than anything, what will make a person crave Baja again and again (even  just a few days of leaving it)?  Two words – fish tacos!

Sure, I had eaten fish tacos before this first trip to Baja.  Mainly, in Southern California at the fast-food chain restaurants known for them: Wahoo’s and Rubio’s.  I also had some surprisingly good and fresh fish tacos last Fall at a chain restaurant up in Utah called Costa Vida.

As good as these were, they were just pale, tasteless imitators compared to the real thing in Baja.

Top 10 Things I Loved About La Paz

I had no intention of coming all the way down the Baja this winter, but when the stops further north did not quite “ring all the bells” for a perfect winter nesting spot, I had to keep driving further south until I found that perfect spot.

La Paz might not have been the prettiest town in Baja, nor the most historic, but there was just something that made it instantly welcoming.  Like finding cool, refreshing spring water after a long parched walk across the desert (or in this case, a 1,000 mile drive down Highway 1 !!!). 

Here are the Top 10 things I loved about my month in La Paz:

Visiting Cabo Pulmo National Park

Our final day trip of the bottom of the Baja peninsula took us from La Paz to the East Cape’s Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park.  Established in 1995, its mission is to preserve one of the finest examples of live coral reef in Mexico (and one of the best diving destinations closest to the U.S.).

Cabo San Lucas in a Day

We had done nearly every attraction before it, but could not put it off any further without missing it entirely.  It was the day to finally rent a panga boat and visit Lands End at the bottom of the Baja peninsula!

Only problem being…we’d need to drive through Cabo to get there!

Daytrip to Todos Turistas

Rather than drive our RVs further south, we decide to stay parked in La Paz and do 3 separate day trips to the sights we want to see—Land’s End at Cabo San Lucas, snorkeling at Cabo Pulmo National Park, and exploring Todos Santos and Playa Los Cerritos on the Pacific side of the cape. 

First up is the day trip to Todos Santos (which translates to “All Saints”). The town promotes itself as an upscale artist and culinary tourist destination and is described in many tour books as an upcoming “Santa Fe of Baja.”

The biggest building in town also happens to be the most well-known, the Hotel California (and yes, they indeed play the Eagles’ “Hotel California” album seemingly non-stop throughout the hotel lobby and bar). 

Millie’s 10th Birthday Bash

After “ruffing it” on the beach at Tecolote for a week, we headed back to AquaMarina RV Park in La Paz to meet back up with Hans and Ursula.  The owners here are so warm and friendly, and park is so immaculate, that we decided to just stay here and do day trips down to various spots on the cabo rather than move RVs further south.

So, I got the View all parked and planted for the next 2 weeks just a few spots down from Hans and Ursula’s View.

One of the first orders of business was to celebrate Millie’s 10th birthday!

Snorkeling With Sea Lions!

Some days, I struggle to come up with adventures that are blog-worthy…but this day was certainly not one of them!  Hans and Ursula had been reading the online forum of La Paz Gringos that had glowing reviews of the Espiritu y Baja Private Tour group and their day trip offering to Isla Espiritu Santo just off the northern coast of La Paz.  After friends Wendy and Bobby graciously offered to dog-sit Millie, and finding a few calm, sunny days in the forecast on WindFinder.com, we booked our all-day tour for the coming Saturday.

I was not too sure about the “swimming with sea lions” part of the tour.  I didn’t have my own wetsuit or snorkel gear, and rental equipment didn’t sound very appealing.  But, when we arrived to the Espiritu y Baja office along the La Paz malecon, all our worries immediately began fading away.

Millie Falls Overboard!

A few short kilometers west of Tecolote Beach (north of La Paz, Baja Sur), sits an absolute gem of a aquamarine beach—Playa Balandra.  When the north winds are howling at Tecolote, the protected, shallow inlet of Balandra can be as calm as a baby.  The waters here are so shallow that you can walk nearly across the inlet (especially if its low tide).

But for our visit today, we had two objectives—swimming for Millie, and kayaking for me, Hans, and Ursula.  So, we arrived to Balandra right at high tide to enjoy our day.

Free Beach Camping in La Paz

After a week of full-hookup, high-speed WiFi luxury at AquaMarina RV Park in La Paz, I wanted to try out the free boondocking beach 15 miles north of La Paz, Playa Tecolote.  While perhaps slightly less scenic than the Best Boondocking Beach in Baja (Playa Santispac on the Bahía de Concepción), Tecolote was free and even offered quite a rarity for beach boondocking in Baja-- a decent Telcel signal for internet surfing!

Dude-Watching at La Ventana

Everyone knows that whale watching tours are a big deal here in Baja every winter.  But ask any windsurfer or kite boarder where they yearn to go in Baja, and you’ll hear one universal response—La Ventana! 

The word means “window” in Spanish, but here I think it’s more appropriately translated as “WIND..OH!!!”  The northern winter winds seriously blow here, and that’s why it’s such a world-class destination for these sports. 

My brother loves to windsurf almost as much as he loves to snow ski, and La Ventana has been on his bucket list for years now.  So I did what any loving sister would do when only 45 minutes away from a sibling’s dream destination.  I drove down to check it out for him!

Of course, there’d be plenty of tanned, muscular young men calling each other “Dude!”, so I considered this daytrip my “Dude Watching Tour” (ah, such a research assignment!).

Millie and I jumped in the Tracker and started following the first VW bus we saw with surf gear loaded on the roof.  This would surely lead us straight to La Ventana…. and we were right!

Shopping & Strolling Around La Paz

Like any Saturday in the U.S., the biggest shopping day of the week in La Paz, Baja Sur is Saturday.  Ursula and Hans have lots of mercados (markets) and tiendas (stores) to show me.  We start with the organic veggie market next door to the RV park. 

1,000 Miles to La Paz

Millie and I completed the final leg of our “Baja 1,000”-mile journey from the U.S. border to La Paz on New Year’s Eve.  It was about 220 miles from Loreto to La Paz and would have been an easy 5-hour drive had it not been for a couple diversions along the way…

Christmas Week in Loreto

As much as Millie and I loved Playa Santispac, the lack of phone or internet signal would be just too big a barrier for the upcoming Christmas holiday.  I looked forward to video chatting or calling my family, and wanted to be somewhere with good connectivity.

Loreto was happy to oblige! 

The Best Boondocking Beach in Baja

Whenever I thought about spending my winter days lazily boondocking on a beach in Baja, this was always the scene I always imagined—RV’s (not too many, not too few) parked around an emerald bay with views of islands in the distance.

When we first drove down Baja Highway 1 and crested the hills south of Mulegé to see this stunning picture postcard in real-life for the first time, I knew I wanted to come back ASAP to camp at Playa Santispac along the Bahía de Concepción.  So after a few days together in Loreto, when Hans and Ursula continued south to La Paz to visit their old sailing buddies,  Millie and I backtracked 70 miles north to find a bit of paradise on the beach!

Lovely Historic Loreto

If you’ve ever visited San Juan Capistrano in southern California, and marveled at its mission dating from 1775 as being the oldest of California, that’s true.  It’s the oldest mission site in the state of California—but not the oldest of all the Californias!   That title belongs to Loreto, Baja Sur.   Jesuits began their mission work here nearly 80 years earlier, in 1697,  and Loreto was the original capital city of both Alta and Baja California.

Today, the Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó serves as Loreto’s historic and spiritual center.  Hans, Ursula, and I spent a few days exploring this town and its historic missions just before Christmas.