Out of Guerro Negro

Thursday, November 10

Out of Guerro Negro about 9:30 am.  Another beautiful day.  We stayed at Malarrimo last night.  They are supposed to have internet but it wasn’t working – again.  We usually stay here and it seems to me it has never worked properly.  Well, there was electricity and the showers were clean and warm.  Life is good

I can’t believe it – we just passed cyclists, two adults and two children – one child between 6 - 8 years old riding his own bike, both adults loaded down with camping gear and the younger child – a toddler on the front of a recumbent!  The father was riding in the middle of the lane next to the young rider.  I guess this way is safer, everyone has to go out into the oncoming lane to pass them.  Heaven help them though when they meet an 18 wheeler and another comes up behind them at the same time.

The area around Guerro Negro is usually particularly desolate, very little vegetation, and most of it very low growing and dead looking.  This year the wind was blowing sand across the highway - reminiscent of blizzards in Alberta.  Definitely desert territory! 

At km 73 it was great to see San Ignacio, a picturesque oasis in the desert.  Although, it also looks dryer this year.  Time for gas, a nap for Lorne, lunch, and to see what treats there are in the store.  This town grows date palms and there are always dates for sale.  We have bought the dates before but have found them to be quite gritty.  So now we pass on the dates.  The grocery store attached to the Pemex almost always has some date bakery items that are usually quite good and I can’t resist buying something that I haven’t had before.  This day I was looking for a date taste treat to buy and found a package of large Florentine looking things… I don’t know if I should really go on with this story…. 

Now this store has definitely improved its appearance since we started coming down the Baja.  It always has had meat hanging in it, usually near the front door.  Strips of fresh meat hanging on a clothes rack like thing, usually dripping blood on the floor – old blood, new blood.  Then there is the chest deep freezer that is usually fairly full of chicken pieces.  Not wrapped in anything, just tossed in the freezer, cold but not frozen.   It usually has quite a few vegetables that are not too bad.  This year it has had a face lift and every thing looks fresh and clean (except for that hanging meat – although there were fresh looking newpapers underneath the meat to soak up the blood, and the rack was further into the store and not the first thing you see when you step in).  

Now, back to the Florentines… well… there were four of them in a package wrapped in plastic and placed inside a glass display case near the front door – upon close examination it looked like a leg of an insect was sticking out between the Florentines.  Upon closer inspection I am sure it was a cucaracha.  At any rate the cucaracha was quite dead and it looked like it was coated with the candied sugar too…..  I bought an avocado and left.  I know, Florentines are one of Lorne’s favourite but I made a decision not to buy them for him this time, I'm sure there was flour in them.  

We stopped in at San Lucas Cove to give John and Beatrice a hug and carried on all the way to Loreto.  They both look well and happy.  Married life seems to suit them.  We pulled in at Yolanda’s RV park around 6ish again.  She no longer has her excellent restaurant open.  Yolanda and her mother said the restaurant was primarily open to serve the locals, the customers at the RV park were not where most of her business had come from.  Since the local economy is bad and tourism is down there was just not enough business this year to make it worth their while.  Too bad. Great food.