After lovely, lovely uninterrupted sleep
except for my bladder and being too hot in the middle of the night and someone snoring and someone moving over to the spare bed then moving back after few minutes ~ what was that anyway, sleep walking? until 6:45 this morning, we got up!
And with my really great organizational skills, we had all the coffee makings in one bag, which included the coffee bean grinder, the french press and our two cups
oops forgot a spoon for stirring and removing the excess grinds ~ no worries, tear a page out of our travel book and scoop with that so enjoyed our coffee while reading and lounging
too bad I didn't use my really great organizational skills when we were packing the truck so I could have some vino easily accessible...Checked out and started the drive, drive, drive thing across the Vizcaino desert.
Not too much to see here, but there is an noticable change in the cactus that grows when you go very slighly up in altitude.
We decided to have a late breakfast in San Ignacio and check the nice gift shop / Damiana shop / T-shirt shop for a blue rimmed wine glass for the rest of our trip
beats the bottom of a water bottle or the cheap plastic water glass I am using at the moment..., so turned right along the date palm lined rio into the small town of San Ignacio.
We parked at the central town square and noticed a new restaurant right across from the mission. We sat outside with a nice breeze blowing, beautiful trees shading us with an incredible view of the beautiful mission AND had a great breakfast!
Then we walked around the square and I wanted to look at a building I had photographed in the past - turned out to be the find of the trip!
It was an old house, turned guest house in the 1800's, still a guest house with a spectacular garden, complete with a three page typed and laminated "self-tour" of the garden. We walked the garden, pet the cat, pet the dog and were amazed.
What a cool find!And on top of it they rent rooms ~ I will post pics and link the website later, but what fun we had there!
They also have a gallery of art for sale by local artists, which included some of the owner's photographs, a book store and the owner's own library you can look through.
We spent about an hour with Juanita (actually a gringa named Jane, but the locals call her Juanita), learning the history of the house, the history of the plants and about life in San Ignacio over the years.
Way Cool!I love when we find someplace new that is old... why did we never find this place before?
Uh oh, now it's 1:00 and the gift shop I wanted to go to is closed for siesta, so it's plastic wine glass again tonight!And then we found a place that is new that will be really cool in a few months ~ a hotel out by Volcan Tres Virgenes.
After we left San Ignacio we started along the mesa towards the dreaded Cuesta de Infierno and saw a new hotel sign pointing off into the desert.
Jim asked if I wanted to check it out, and I replied, "Yes I do", so he turned the lowrider Dodge Dakota around off the road carefully (remember this truck is 2wd vs. the other truck we own - a 4wd and the volcanic rocks are sharp!) and we drove down a very newly paved road and found construction in progress at a "eco-tourist cabana style" place on a hilltop with commanding views of the volcanos and desert. Jesus, one of the builders told us the area was known for big horn sheep and deer. The views from the rooms and soon to be completed restaurant were beyond beautiful. I can picture us sitting on one of the deck's with our afternoon wine / beer looking out over the desert for sheep...
Another find!Then down the hill from hell - wow was that easy going down!
Not so scary when you are on the inside and can't be pushed off into thin air...
And back to the Sea of Cortez!Arranged for a room at Las Casitas ~ room number 5 which we have been in at least two times before.
And now I have wireless internet, chilled chardonnay out of a plastic water glass, a sleeping husband on the bed next to me who is going to be starving if I don't wake him up to walk to dinner, a beautiful view of the Sea and the pangas heading out to squid fish, a view of Isla Tortuga where Jim caught 8 dorado in 15 minutes when we crossed from Santa Rosalia to San Carlos on "Thistle" in May of 2000, and dinner of "Hot Dogs Exquisitos" to look forward to!!!
Pics and link info to our finds for the day to follow!
A little bit of Dad is here near the sign...
Dinner at Malarrimo and Jim was happy to find not just one, but two Sierra Nevada bottles!
The fountain at Malarrimo where a little more of my Dad is.
The beautiful mission at San Ignacio.
Our new favorite breakfast place in San Ignacio.
With it's beautiful courtyard and garden.
On the back gate: "Until this point (in your life), the mill (has ground your fate). (Now) each one to his own road." 
The lake and volcano at San Ignacio.
Our second find of the day ~ the almost completed new eco-tourist hotel overlooking the volcanos.
Hora feliz at Las Casistas in Santa Rosalia.
We love the room decor and view!
And the incredible "hot dog exquisitos"!
Which are now called "hot dog chayuta" or "chayulta" or some name, but it will always be "exquisitos" to us and all the cruisers!
One of the many, many scrap metal piled high trucks we saw heading North.
These are all the old vehicles we used to see squished in the desert!
And what we found on our deck when we returned to the boat!
He was a little dried out, but I tossed him back into the water just in case...
Made our coffee, checked weather, read some, took showers and slowly packed up.
