Visiting San Felipe, Mexico......Risky or Fine?

Posh, huge suites, all brand-new.... on a beach without boundaries filled with shells and sea treasures...would you say San Felipe's Playa Del Paraiso has it all?

 While we kids played in the sand and attempted to identify the parts of dismembered crabs, the parents checked out the suites a bit more carefully.

Ahhhh...all rooms have balconies with views out over the infinity pool to the sea.  And look at the perfect red tiled floor!      Well....Ok, maybe the pool is more exciting.

We walked the streets and checked out all of the rooms at each resort.  We should seriously rewrite the San Felipe chapter in the Lonely Planet Baja Guide.  We finally settled on El Cortez as the best value for the money...and the best location for seeing everything on foot.  Not having to buckle the kids in a car to see the sights is always fine.

The Malecon (pictured above) was just a bit up our private beach.The shops and vendors (especially the carts with fresh food) make the waterfront an exciting spot. 

The best thing about our rooms had to be the purple chair.  It was FINE.  Arden concentrated on the sea life and adopted a crab as his new roommate.    He also fashioned a worthy habitat for his new friend.

So where's the best place to eat in San Felipe?  “Riquisima comida en el restaurante Chuy Place."

Chuy's Place is FINE.  We were serenaded by The Street Tiger and his electric guitar....but regardless...we loved this place so much we had to come back.  If you haven't had a Baja fish taco before, then read this and get one...soon.  They are FINE.

We loved our resort.  Everything was kept so clean...the pools, the beach...

We walked on the beach every night to get to the Malecon.  Fisherman were dragging in their boats loaded with shrimp and huge fish they filleted on the spot for George's fresh seafood restaurant.  We walked in the dark past RV parks and shops and never felt anything but safe.  So what do you think?  Is Saint Phillip Risky or FINE?

Just in case you can't make up your mind, let me borrow your imagination.  Let the peace of your own balcony overlooking an inescapably lovely body of water enter your soul.  Then marvel at the nearby geologic testaments of the area's volcanic past and earth's rupture as the tectonic plates jostled and bullied each other around...and you should be able to sense the true power and beauty of the area.  If not, you'll need to visit for yourself.  Buena suerte!

San Diego's World-Famous ZOO 'n Hotel del Coronado

The kids took to Coronado Island's beaches, but the adults were weary of the wet sand messes...and there in the background the magnificent Victorian Hotel del Coronado beckoned from "somewhere in time".   It was like prying barnacles off of the Midway to get the kids to give up their circular trenching in the sand...but we adults had already wandered off...drawn on my curiosity.  A closer look disclosed Dr. Seuss statuary surrounding an ice rink...ice, sand and palm trees...??  We tried to separate the wet sand from the children's flesh as it got colder after the sun set.  Losing battle....but they were all good sports about it.

We discovered exotic gardens and a mystifying Dragon Tree for Zoe.

...This all-wood National Historic Landmark was built in 1888 to be "the talk of the Western world."  It is not only a living legend...but it's said that a ghost is a permanent resident.  What Victorian resort would be complete without a resident ghost? Kate Morgan checked into the resort on November 24, 1892, and never checked out. Reports of ghostly happenings, all thought to be connected to the death of this beautiful young woman, have been circulating at The Del ever since.  We had to check it out.  One step inside and it was as elegant a Victorian Moment as imagination allows...yet too dreamy to be real.   In this altered state you could definitely imagine both ghosts and Saint Nicholas were very, very real.

Somewhere in Time - Merry Christmas!

San Diego Zoo Polar Bear Exhibit

So...what of the zoo?  Oh, my camera's battery died after filming the pygmy hippos.  But the rap about Paka getting lost from us in the parking lot lives on!

"I'm a Problem", original rap by Newel and Paka after Bob's traumatic wanderings in the Zoo's vast parking lot - Click Here to listen:  http://iamtpain.smule.com/trackid/1788064?did=23205269

Crazy FUN in The FLORIDA KEYS...now that the storm is over!

Treasure hunting!... not exactly panning for gold.  But the sun came out!    Now it's time to clean up our beaches from all that the storm left behind.  Plastic of all sorts is the main trash item amongst the tonnage of sea grasses and coral that were uprooted by the churning waters.  But thanks to Bob's metal detector, there were coins for the collecting, too.  (You can order your own detector at good-deal prices from the Amazon.com link to the top-right!)  Beach-goers wanted to have some detector fun, too.  We offered to let them try it out, but they said they had to have their own.  Especially fascinating was how many dimes were in the sand offshore.  We're not sure why. 

      We survived the deluge and our campers are on the beach and doing what they came here to do. 

Hurray!  In the photo on the left, the birds have even joined in.          Ahhhh....the Florida Keys at their best.

Bob had been trying his best to get me to take up the fine art of snorkeling.  He'd say, "You have to see the coral beds..."  Well, sadly, today quite a bit of coral washed up from the storm and is bleaching in the sun.  I picked some pieces out of the smelly sea weed piles and made my own coral viewing area...and I didn't even have to deal with a mask filling up with water to view it.   >> sputter<<     >>sputter<<    Below are my films of an "undersea adventure" on Loggerhead Beach, Bahia Honda.

Florida Keys Cuban Crisis

 go to http://youtu.be/PvNuxTM19Dk  to see the above Cuban Refugee Boat video on YouTube
(if you can't get this to play on this page....)

Every Friday the volunteers have a happy hour at John and Thel's site...I think it's at their spot because they are veteran volunteers and kindly shepherd us "new kids" when we need it.  This Friday one of the park rangers started telling the story of an unsinkable refugee ship that was paddled ashore not long ago on Bahia Honda State Park.  It was not unbelievable that they made it safely here from Cuba, as their "ship" did not even sink when it was shot through with a bullet or two.  It's "secret for success" was masses of styrofoam encased in sturdy gunny sacks, reinforced with steel reebar.    No, the amazing part of the story was that every Cuban who puts a foot on dry ground is awarded $10,000 (kids, too) and given every assistance to set up a new life in Florida.  If they didn't get all of the way up on the beach, they were taken back to Cuba, where they would be put in Cuban prisons.  But then the stories really started flowing.  There was the refugee who collected for his entire family, used $5,000 of the cash award for a down payment on a new boat, which he promptly used to haul 28 more Cuban refugees back to Florida, charging them $5,000 cash per person!  I thought if any of this could be true, I should have heard something about it before.

I checked out Catholic Charities of Central Florida to confirm the "wet foot/dry foot" stories we'd heard.  Another ranger said the Cubans were so anxious to be quickly picked up by authorities that once they came on shore at this park, they'd go right to the concession stand and wait for someone to "turn them in".  What?  Why would that be?   John, our host, told us that one night he heard a large group of refugees coming ashore right behind his trailer...cheering, because they had stepped on dry ground.  Another day John saw one in an inflatable boat, lined with spray-in foam, unable to land and he threw him a rope.  Was this refugee guaranteed a $10,000 grant and full services?  ...or were these just happy-hour-stories?

Here's what I found out:  "Once a person or family is enrolled they receive the following services:

• community orientation services
• financial assistance
• employment assistance
• referrals to local agencies for additional services

Eligibility for services is limited to those individuals with Refugee, Asylee, Cuban/Haitian entrant or Amerasian status. Program enrollment must occur within 30-days of arrival or in the case of asylees, within 30-days from the date asylum was approved."  [So that would explain why the rush to be apprhended.]  But I couldn't find specified cash award amounts.

Wouldn't it be cool 2B Cuban?  Viva los Cubanos!

In one sense it almost seems like a bribe for Cubans to risk their lives to reach our shores.  But isn't the aim to relieve suffering and oppression?  I admit I have a bias here.  My own grandparents were immigrant "refugees"... wanting religious freedom.   They certainly struggled.   I wonder how different life would have been for them if they'd received assistance.

Viva Cuba Libre!

Our Old RV turned into a Hippie Wagon

We found our much-loved Winnebago at Carpinteria State Park. It was parked right on the beach with a bold sign in its window pointing out the entrance all hippies were to use. We found it locked, but later found the owner and her boy friend and their two dogs. We got to tell them how we loved the changes...especially the purple velvet curtains and the comfy couch where the dinette had been. Bob was joyful over the discovery (see photo closeup). I was nostalgic and thinking of our many adventures with the gas-guzzling beast. Here's some photos from the Winnie's album.

San Clemente State Beach - Health Spa Hosting

With the bikes fixed, this park became our own "health spa". You could soak in the ocean, chase and be chased by waves, bike the beach and the gorgeous bike trail along the coast. The bluffs here are an erosional wonder. The trails wander through bunches of flowers. You don't even realize you are getting in shape as you explore the canyons. Wonderful!http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/San_Clemente_Sb/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=CA&parkId=120082&pstate=CA

P.S. California's state park hosts are strictly volunteer....no pay/no stipend. You do get a spot to park your rig and hookups (if available). We don't know if it's true, but we heard that management tends to not treat the hosts very well in Southern California. In Northern California it seems you have to apply and wait at least a year or two for a spot...so hosts must have a better time of it there. On the up side, you can volunteer for as little as a month. There's complete information on all of the host jobs at this link: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=911