In addition to lots of tacky Cabo San Lucas tchotchkes for sale around Baja in Mexico, there are many of decals and t-shirts and other souvenirs that say "No Bad Days." It is not an empty sentiment. "No Bad Days" is actually a registered trademark and someone is cranking out the inventory which sells because, well..., literally, there are just no bad days.
We returned to Southern Baja (Baja Sur) on January 1st after spending New Year's Eve with wonderful friends in Ahwatukee. We flew in to San Jose del Cabo and retrieved our SUV. We had left it in a storage facility close to the airport before flying back to the U.S. for the holidays. When we dropped it off, we were happy to have reserved a spot because every space was filled with vehicles of expats doing the same thing we were - heading home to be with family and friends.
We grabbed our 4Runner, and then stopped to pick up groceries at City Club, the Mexican equivalent of Costco, with more Mexican products and much better prices. They will sell you an inexpensive one day, one time only pass for products with no warranty (i.e. food only) so you can check it out and decide if you want to join. We loaded up and headed north to Los Barriles, our home for the next month.
Los Barriles is situated along Highway 1, 40 miles north of San José del Cabo and 65 miles south of La Paz. Los Barriles has a population somewhere between 1,700 and 5,000, (reports vary, and the latter number includes a broader municipal area) and about half are locals and half are expatriates who live here full or part time. Many ex-pats are active in the local community sponsoring extra curricular activities, scholarship programs, a recycling program, participating in turtle release programs, spaying an neutering dogs and cats and teaching children important environmental lessons to name just a few activities. There are churches, gyms and yoga, fantastic hikes and mountain bike trails, lots and lots of great restaurants and bakeries. Today I discovered Charlie's Chocolates - pure heaven! Charlie has been selling chocolates out of his small store for more than nine years.
In this tiny town there is world famous kiteboarding, world class fishing and now Tres Palapas Pickleball Resort which is also becoming world famous. The Sea of Cortez is filled with an abundance of wildlife that Jacques Cousteau once called the "world's aquarium". Photos to come of kiteboarding and undersea adventures :-)
We rented a small two bedroom, two bath house in the area called Spa Buena Vista just a bit south of town. It has a lovely view of the ocean from the covered porch that is dotted with comfortable sling chairs on one end and a table and chairs and washer and dryer on the other end. It is a snowbird type home that someone decided to rent out rather than coming down for the season. It's a common scenario. After using a purchased home for a few years, people decide they want to try a new area, or maybe health issues force retirees to stay closer to home for awhile. During the peak season the town fills up and the atmosphere is jovial and fun.
I participated in an awesome pickleball clinic for two and a half days at Tres Palapas being taught by two pros, Jennifer Lucore and Roberto Donatti and then played in an all women's tournament. It was exhausting, and the tournament was windy and the outcome was not in my and my partner's favor, but the entire three days was so much fun and so helpful to my game. Just another reminder about why I love this sport - everyone was so friendly!
There are growing pains associated with the increasing interest in the area of course, but last night we went to the monthly movie night which was a fundraiser for the nascent recycling program. There were probably at least 200 gringos on the community basketball/pickleball courts with their lawn chairs and beverages of choice to go with the available popcorn and other snacks, to view the quite funny movie "Crazy Rich Asians". After hearing about what is going on in the community and the recycling program, the brand new mayor of the town spoke for a bit to tell everyone about his ambitious goals and plans. He got a lot of applause from the mainly American and Canadian crowd. After getting some technical difficulties with the movie fixed, we enjoyed it quite a lot. My cup of tea - a romantic comedy.
Everyone seems to get along so well, and when the sun is shining nearly every day and it's 75 degrees in January, and the water is sparkling blue, the pickleballs are quickly flying back and forth over the net, and the kite surfers are racing back and forth even faster, it's easy to see why there are no bad days.
At the end of each of our days in Mexico, it seems that either Ky or I say to each other, "It was a good day!" While a whole company has been built around "No Bad Days", I prefer "All Good Days!" Small difference, maybe no difference at all, but why bring "bad" in to it at all. It's all good!
Let us know how your new year is starting off - I'm hoping they've all been good days!
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