Christmas in Baja

Christmas in Baja
December 2008 – January 2009

Craig had some mandatory time off at work and since my schedule is flexible, we decided to head to the Baja over Christmas and stay for my birthday in January.

We got into the Baja on December 24 and Rasheed (he was still staying from our September trip) picked us up at the airport. We fortunately rented out our San Jose del Cabo condo from Dec. 24-Jan. 14 so luckily we had the second house in Los Barriles to stay in.

Our goal this trip was to relax and play a little bit since we didn’t get a chance to do much of that during our September visit. As you can see from below, we played a lot but also got a lot of work done!

ATV Riding in the Arroyos Outside the House
Our casa is situated between the Buenos Aires and San Bartolo Arroyo’s. One day we rented some quads and headed up both arroyos to check it out. VERY COOL. At the end of each were waterfalls, ponds, wading pools, and HUGE boulders fields that went on forever and would be great to spend hours upon hours hiking.

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Learning to Kite Board at the End of the Arroyo
Craig wanted to take kiteboard lessons and the place to do it was at the end of our arroyo! It was pretty impressive because we could see if there was enough wind to launch kites just by looking out any window in the house. Since it was the holiday season, Craig’s lessons spanned over three days and there were a few days in between while waiting for the wind.

The first two pictures are….life in Baja. A simple and easy way to live and the sandrail would be a fun vehicle to drive around in.

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Craig during a lesson flying a kite from land

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Craig launching in the water Ian showing Rasheed and Craig how to get on the board

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Craig almost up He’s almost there….

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He’s……there and straight legged… And over he goes…..

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With a splash….. and his kite is down

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Taking a break and eating lunch

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Craig is UP and making a wake He’s getting the hang of it

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Victory goes to Craig, he mastered getting and staying up Phil (instructor), Rasheed, Ian (owner/instructor), and Craig

A couple of evenings we met up with the whole kiteboarding staff, crew, and fellow “kiters” for dinner.

Wakeboarding While Waiting for the Wind
One day while waiting for the wind to kiteboard, Craig, Rasheed, and Ian decided to take out the sitdown ski and wakeboard. Of course, when Craig was in the water, no one manned the camera : (

Work - Fencing Another Lot We Own
Of course….Craig and I can’t avoid NOT working while on our trips. We did a LOT of little things around the house and we have another lot in the same area (El Torote – just one lot apart) that we needed to fence. So…..we bought the materials and fenced the lot in our spare time : ) On this lot we are just “sitting on it”, we may decide to sell it, build a small place and sell it, or make it the keeper. Time will tell.

Looking at the lot from the bottom, post, wire fence and sign is our lot.

The property extends up the hill, the next pictures are standing on our hill looking down at the lot and the view.
We had thought to build a tall 2-3 story SMALL place and then make a catwalk from the top floor over to the hillside
and have a party palapa : )

Misc Pictures of the House
Below are a variety of pictures of the house and us in general.

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Our neighbors Don and Martha invited us and other neighbors over for dinner on our last night in the Baja. We had a great time and had a traditional type holiday dinner – tukey, potatoes, gravy, salad, yams, and pie !

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