The road to La Paz
26 September 2015
After a nice 9 day stay in La Bufadora we boarded our bus not looking forward to the 22 hour ride. The last bus, T.J. to Ensenada, as I had mentioned prior had very nice seats. However as soon as we sat down we knew this was going to be a long ride. Within an hour our backs hurt and we only had twenty one to go. After a long restless night (with some sleep, but not much) we were awakened by the bus driver at 5am. He was standing over us trying to tell us something like “GET OFF THE BUS” no is poss see bly. What the heck? It became apparent that we were in a major tropical storm and the road ahead of us was washed out. When Leiann got out of her seat I noticed her shorts had something all over her butt. They had sprayed the toilet down with apparently near full strength bleach and her navy shorts on the butt were now rust colored. Good news was? They clean the toilets! Amid much confusion we were herded on another bus after an hour and it seemed like we were going to be able to ride it to La Paz. No one was able to speak English so we were not sure what was going on. I tried talking to the new bus driver about our bags that were still on the other bus, but he just waved me off (I think his life was mass confusion about then) We started backing up in the new bus but our bags were still on the old one. We got off the bus and got our bags, finally. After more confusion regarding if we could get a taxi to a hotel (first no then yes) we made it to a little hotel for $22 bucks that had a hot water shower (a luxury), t.v. and WIFI. We were able then to go online and see what the hell was going on. The storm 16E would not pass for another day. It rained like hell all night. The next day the sun came up and we ventured out to see rocks all over the road that had washed down the hill and the national guard in heavy equipment cleaning it up. So we figured we would stay another day so they could get the roads fixed before we headed out again. We ended up happy that we got stuck here in Santa Rosalia as it was a cool little town that we otherwise would have missed. The town dates back to the early 1800's and was a big copper producer run by the French. It turns out the copper was shipped by four masted wooden ships up the coast to WA State with copper and came back with wood from the Pacific Northwest (who woulda thunk). The next day we loaded up on a much better bus and eight hours later we were in La Paz. We took a taxi to the little hotel we had booked, $24 , again hot water shower (woo hoo), t.v. and WIFI, what a deal. We looked up some old cruiser friends here Tom and Jeanne of S/V Eagle had dinner at a fantastic fish place and shared old stories and new ones since we had last seen them four years ago. They drove us around town and gave us lots of good low down on things to do and see. They also told us about a very nice hostel and took us by for a look. It was a big upgrade from our little hotel (as nice as it was for the money). We moved the next day and have now been here two nights. It's just like we like it, communal cooking area, plants everywhere, nice a/c, t.v. WiFi, refrigerator in the room (really big luxury), king size bed, very clean, a little restaurant attached what else do ya need and it's only $160 for the week (7 days). So we have been out exploring and checking out the area. We have met a local who is bilingual and we enjoyed meeting him and are trying to hook him up with a job (he is a waiter now and “ours”). He had to drop out of med school because he could not afford to continue now. He is still going to school though and we tried to encourage him and told him about a possible job he could do online for a US company which would allow him to go to school and work online instead of working as a waiter for $9 a DAY. So we are hanging here maybe for awhile before heading across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan (another 16 to 18 hr ride on a ferry this time). More later STAY TUNED! Oh just a couple more items: Leiann talked me into a getting a pedicure while she got one and so I did. I did not however get polish on my toenails despite the girls trying to talk me into it. Did enjoy the massage chair and my feet do look pretty spectacular! Yesterday we went grocery shopping and another first for us was taking the cart down the escalator, yep you heard right, and it is a typical thing to do. Did I mention Leiann does not like snakes! Be sure to check out our pictures in the galllery