Great Mornings

It’s a two cups of tea day today. I woke up about 6:45 and took Brutus for a long walk down the beach. When we started out the sun hadn’t even hit the sand yet because there is a slight hill leading up from the beach. The water was glassy and clear and after getting a few hundred yards south we had passed most of the small houses and the sun hit. The sand is firm enough that it doesn’t make me crazy to walk on it and Brutus ran up and down from the hill to the water as I walked. This isn’t a good shell beach, but there’s kelp to step on and pop the floaters if you need some entertainment on your walk. I walked maybe a mile to the end of the white sand part of the beach, and while I did see a few other sets of footprints (both human and dog), I didn’t see a single person in my hour of walking and yoga on the beach. When I got back to the Rialta Jay was just getting up. I made my first cup of tea and took it to the hill to sit and watch the ocean for a while. There were three dolphins playing just out in front of us for at least 45 minutes or so. There are all kinds of birds to watch and occasionally a procession of pelicans will fly by; peaceful, to say the least.

We spent the last two days away from here, one night at a place called Camalu, and the next night at a place called Freighters, which had a shipwreck on the beach. We weren’t overly impressed with either place, mainly because there was no sand on the beach but just cobblestone, and at Camalu there was a lot of trash. We considered going further south to check out more places, but in my opinion, if you find something good, you should stay with it, so we are back at Erendira. We could drive down the beach and camp for free, but we decided to stay at the Malibu Beach Sur again since they have water and a bathroom as well as showers (when the water is on), plus we feel secure here and the weekend is coming up. We ran into a couple from Santa Cruz, CA in Camalu who told us there have been lots of kidnappings in Baja recently. The man went on to say that there was an incident where a couple was involved and the assailants held a gun to the guy’s head while they raped the girl. Also, he thought that Monterey, CA was full of homosexual pedophiles and he hated it there. I told him we choose not to live in fear and we’ll go where we want, but you could tell he was worried about us. Did I mention that he also told us he was a minister? Interesting conversation I guess, but a little more information than I want or need. We have been careful ever since we got here, but I don’t like it when people put ideas into my head. Anyway, that is so far removed from the experience we’ve had in Baja. We went into the little town of Erendira to get some groceries at the beginning of the week and met a man at the Taco stand who claims that he is 99 years old. I once met a man who was 105, and maybe because of that I don’t second-guess too many people on their age. Other than his teeth, or lack thereof, he looked to be doing great. We really are doing something wrong in the states to have so many health issues at such a young age. The key, I think, is to live by the ocean and eat more fresh fish and vegetables, or maybe it’s the 10 peso carne tacos.