transitions, part II: la paz to tucson

i can say very little about the impressiveness of driving up baja. this was our second time doing this drive, and, once again, we did not have sufficient time to explore all the little side towns and side roads along the way. nevertheless, the landscape as you head north, swinging back and forth from the sea of cortez to the pacific and back again never ceases to be dramatic or impressive. and, truthfully, impossible to capture.

so from north to south ... some of the highlights



[turning the corner into loreto]


[bahía concepción]


[bahía concepción 2]


[volcan las tres vírgenes]


[misión de san ignacio]


in an effort to see cave paintings, we drove down a side road up into the sierra. and then ... the road became more and more difficult and bumpy and rocky and my poor car, all loaded down with all of our belongings was not happy with very little clearance and i kept thinking, oh my god, we are in the middle of nowhere and what am i going to do if we get stuck up here?!

so we turned around, much to my dismay. but not without the reward of seeing the vistas through the sierra.







the next morning we entered "valle de los cirios" a protected area that covers most of northern baja and the habitat of "cirios" the strangest plant i have ever seen. somewhere between a cactus and a tree, they look straight out of a dr. seuss book, from another world. just a single trunk, with little thorns/leaves sticking out the side and curving and twirling at the top. they are amazing. i love them.



[valle de los cirios]


[morning silhouettes]




as luck would have it, we drove past a little nature walk through the cirios that ended at some cave paintings, so i got to see some anyways, despite the abandoned chase the day before.





baja california (the north state) is so huge with so little towns and people. winding roads and big landscapes, big sky. so much that i will miss from baja ....





and then, of course, a lovely crossing at tijuana (and this is otay!) to say goodbye to mexico ...



[tijuana border crossing with the line in sight!]


adios mi querido mexico ....

and p.s. it is a miracle that i got my car with everything from mexico and everything that i left in san diego to tucson. my uncle david is a miracle worker ....