Sights of Steinbeck country

John Steinbeck spent some time in the Sea of Cortez and eventually published The Log from the Sea of Cortez, his book is a result of a month long marine specimen collecting expedition. We have witnessed more marine life in the Sea of Cortez than most other places we have cruise. Our first month sailing, I read to the girls The Pearl by Steinbeck, a book any family should read if headed this way.  It's neat to think that almost all the places we've seen in the Sea of Cortez, Steinbeck had been to.

This blog entry covers from Bahia Conception, Isla San Marcos, Santa Rosalia and ends with a passage that took us back across the Sea of Cortez to mainland Mexico. If you click on the "Where are We" tab you can see our progression. 

Playa Santispac in Bahia Conception

Don't tell our mothers...we like to take rides from strangers. We hitched a ride into town with a fisherman who needed to fill up the truck with gas using a gas can out of his fishing panga. 

I'd say that the El Coyote Trailer Park has seen better days.

We left Bahia Conception and headed towards the Island of San Marcos. Coming upon the island heading north it's a hideous island as the southern part of this island has an active gypsum mine. We almost kept going but figured we would check out Sweet Pea Cove first and then decide. We decided it looked great and stayed for two days. 

Hiking past a small fish camp to the plateu on top of the island.

Terrapin in Sweet Pea Cove off Isla San Marcos

Mainland in the distance

We found an awesome sea tunnel to swim through.

                    

Mantra Ray jumping out of the sea at sunset.

                  

Needing some provisions we sailed to Santa Rosalia, a unique town unlike any other that we have visited. Santa Rosalia is an old mining town with European influence. Iglesia Santa Barbara (pictured below) is a steel church originally built in Brussels that was disassembled and shipped across the globe to Santa Rosalia. The architect of the 110 year old church (still being used) was Gustave Eiffel, as in the Eiffel Tower. 

Iglesia Santa Barbara

Picking up a new broom for the swabbies

Just about every town in Mexico has a square that will offer a place to sit in the shade during the day and fun things to do at night. 

While Phil spent hours working in the insanely hot sun on boat projects, the girls and I took a tour of the copper smeltery. It was unbelievable to me, that something this huge was sitting completely open for the public to explore. Back in the States, this would have been torn down a long time ago and if not, there would have been a fence around the perimeter with "stay away" signs posted everywhere, and a few dozen lawsuits pending for the trespassing idiots who ignored the signs and hurt themselves. Not in Mexico, enter at your own risk, and if you happen to break a leg, tough nuts!

Watch your step!

I wanted to stay another day or two in Santa Rosalia but when the thermometer is reading 104 degrees at 10pm, it's time to move on. After two days of no sleep and only being able to exist off of ice cream sandwiches and beer, it was time to go. I knew it was too hot when I was buying ice cubes, for the cat!

Starting at 3am, we sailed across the Sea of Cortez back to the mainland side and hit up Las Cocinas.

Gorgeous Las Cocinas where the desert meets the ocean.

Moving across the Sea towards mainland made a huge difference in our ability to sleep and eat as it was almost 20 degrees cooler.  Our beloved guidebook doesn't talk to much about this area, for us it was one of our favorites.

Captain Fluff joining Jessica for a beautiful sunset.

                    

With the girls enjoyed a Minecraft party of their own, Phil and I grabbed a kayak and went off for a date night hike to catch the sunset. 

                   

I've never been one to "love" the desert, until this trip. When cordon cactus and red rocks run straight into a gin colored sea, it's amazing. 

Our next stop was straight to San Carlos to secure one of the last marina slips and wait for Hurricane Blanca, which thankfully was uneventful. We will be heading back out into the Sea of Cortez tomorrow!