12/09 At long last I finally had my first look at the Sea of Cortes (Gulf of California). The Sea was nice enough but the road into Santa Rosalia was just nasty. As soon as you drop down next to the coast the very first thing you get to pass through is a garbage dump. Even after the dump ends it doesn’t get much better. It was just non-stop junk and beat-up looking buildings all the way into town.
I can’t forget to the mention the massive downhill to get to the coast. The elevation change was only 1300 feet or so but the grade was one of the steepest I’ve been down on my entire trip. The 18-wheelers had to slow down so much that I actually passed one of them. The driver gave me a big wave when I whizzed by him. I got another wave when he passed me 2 minutes later as I climbed up the other side of the valley.
Santa Rosalia isn’t what I expected but then again it’s not supposed to be like any other city in Mexico. The French helped found the city in 1885 so there are some very un-Mexican sights. The streets are much narrower than other cities and the architecture has a distinct French flavor to it. One of the things that stands out the most is the metal church also known as the Iglesia Santa Barbara de Santa Rosalia. It was actually designed by Gustave Eiffel (yes, that Eiffel-same guy that designed the tower).
At the restaurant next door to the motel I met Tom and Haley. They rode down from Las Vegas and are on their way to Argentina. Not sure if we’ll be heading the same way once we get to the mainland but I’m sure we’ll run into each other again along the way.
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I hope that tastes better than it looks.
It does kind of look like a petrified turd paddy but it was good.
I hope that was peanut brittle..It kinda looks like something my dog leaves in the yard after eating Marta’s refried beans…
It looks a lot like what I left in the desert when I was sick for those couple days.