Catavina

Sunday December 16...10:15pm

Up and on the road by 8am this morning. We figure on doing no more than 3 hours driving on the days that we do drive, so by getting on the road early we can be pretty much set up by lunch hour or thereabouts. Plus, it gives lots of time if anything unforseen happens along the way.

The water had turned funny at the campground last night, so we never got a chance to fill our holding tank with fresh water. We don't drink the holding tank water...except after it's been boiled for coffee and tea, but we at least want the water that we put in the tank to be clean and fresh. We stopped and filled the gas tank in the town of El Rosario. There's a section of road coming up where there's no gas available for a long time...besides, we like to keep the tank well over the half way mark. Oh, by the way, taking the exchange rate into account, we are now paying about 67 cents CAN per litre. Fuel prices are set by the Mexican government so there's not much fluctuation in price. Definitely the cheapest we've paid for gas, so the next couple of months should show a big difference in that aspect of our budget. At the gas station, we asked about filling our fresh water tank, and the guy pointed towards a water purification outlet....we drove over, but they wanted $30 for 80 litres of fresh water. No way, we said. As we were leaving, the owner came out and asked if we wanted our tanks filled for $10, but we had already made arrangements to use an outdoor tap back at the gas station. Even then, we were told to turn it off before we were done. At least we have enough no to keep us going until the next opportunity.

As we drove inland from El Rosario, the landscape was fairly boring. But a few miles before Catavina, there were big boulders all over, and big cactus growing amongst the boulders. Much more interesting. As we pulled into the town (don't blink as you're driving through or you'll miss it) of Catavina, we pulled into an RV park, but it was basically just an empty parking lot and they still wanted $6...so we moved onto another one that at least had toilets and was away from the main road....for the same $6. Took Whiskey for a walk among the rocks and cactus, but we soon found out that her feet aren't immune to the pricks of a cactus plant. I ended up carrying her part of the way, and we cut our hike a little short because of that. Poor Whiskey doesn't like cactus needles in her paws!

Harry and the road and the landscape nearing Catavina

Ruth and a big cactus while on our hike

View from our desert hike.  Sherman is parked in the bare bit near the top righthand side

Not quite as nice today. Temperature only about 16, and quite a few clouds in the sky. Heading towards the eastern coast of the Baja tomorrow...supposed to be warmer and lots of beach camping.

Total Nights Sleeping in the RV... 64...

December Fuel $ 788.32

December Grocery $ 232.66

December Overnight Costs $ 38.00