A taste of our wild life

Inside a sea cave on Isla Carmen.

     When I first started this blog almost five years ago, I admit I had rosy visions, colored greatly by other blogs I had seen. I was going to be this great regular poster, with beautiful photos of the places we visited, enhanced by my picturesque descriptions. People would leave comments, ask questions, and somehow all kinds of people would know who we were and what we were doing.... **And cue hysterical laughter and eye-rolling at my own naivete.**

      I have nothing but respect for people who do have blogs like the one I envisioned. I appreciate reading what they have been up, where they are, and seeing their experiences because I know full well how special and rare they are. However, they take a lot of work, and that's just for a blog. YouTube? Oh, forget about it. We may attach a link to a drone video Joe makes and uploads occasionally, but I'm going to say right now that there will never be a Cruising Kyrie YouTube channel out there! I know my limitations.

Discovered this big skull in an arroyo.

      All this is to preface my unapologetic lack of posts. I love to write, but I'm having a hard time lately figuring out how to share what we are experiencing. I have no idea how many people actually read this blog. Do people really want to know what we are doing, especially right now with these crazy times we're all living in? How do I explain that we are doing the best we can to "shelter in place," but with five people in such a small space, we have to get out or it just won't be pretty. To that end, I freely admit we have been out snorkeling, kayaking, exploring areas in the dinghy, in isolated locations.

Say hello to our friend!

Top of the cliff above our anchorage.

It's been amazing to be back on the Baja side of Mexico. The mainland is lovely, but there was an honest-to-goodness coming home feeling when we arrived at the Painted Cliffs on Isla Carmen after our crossing from Topolobampo. It's also been hot! We have adjusted to the temperatures down here, somewhat. Being nearly lifelong Alaskans, it feels weird to feel a little cold, look at the thermometer, and see 68 degrees. The kids actually start complaining when the temperature drops below about 72, and then start laughing at themselves. I remember telling a friend from Juneau about being cold in the high 60s and she told me I had just revoked my Alaska card! As I'm typing this, I had Levi check the temperature. According to our thermometer, it's 88 degrees outside, 81 inside, and I'm comfortable in a t-shirt and shorts. Good thing, because it's only going to get hotter! The original plan was going to be go back to the States for the summer so we could be somewhere cooler, but we nixed that idea. Instead, the current plan is a reservation for at least July and August in a marina in San Carlos, where we can plug in and have an A/C to keep cooler during the times when the mercury boils. As usual though, plans can and do change, so something different might happen! The heat may not be as bad as we anticipate and we decide to join friends in a bay farther north. Who knows?

        Current status for Kyrie? We are hanging on a mooring ball in 

Puerto Escondido (Hidden Port), about 15 miles south of the town of Loreto. We arrived on Monday (it's Friday, May 15 as I type), with the plan to get our FMMs (tourist visas) renewed as soon as possible, get a few other chores done, and get out of here and back out to isolation as soon as we could. But something happened that we didn't anticipate--we like it here! I can see why a lot of cruisers leave their boats here for the summer or homebase out of here. It's a hurricane hole, almost completely landlocked, with beautiful mountains nearly all around it. The marina is on one side and at the opposite end of the mooring field (no anchoring allowed in this area) is the area called "The Windows." These are open to the Sea of Cortez, providing cell service from Loreto, as well as another beautiful view. It's absolutely gorgeous! Wildlife is everywhere also, and I don't mean the cruisers.... :) Today alone, we saw mobula rays leaping out of the water, bottle-nosed dolphins swimming and jumping, and (a creature I've been wanting to see ever since we arrived in the Sea of Cortes) a whale shark, lounging in the mooring field right next to our dinghy! Other friends have shown us photos of whale sharks, but this was our first in person. 

 

My Holy Grail of animal sightings so far! A whale shark
about 15 feet away from the dinghy!

 Despite these uncertain times we're living in, I can honestly say I love our life right now. All the benefits--the sunshine, living on and in the water, the friendliness of the people we have encountered and all the sights and experiences--far outweigh the "inconveniences" of bucket laundry, provisioning by dinghy, making our own water, and having five people live in such a small space. This decision to sell everything and go cruising has certainly changed us as a family. I can't wait to see how life--even this life in the time of Corona--continues to mold us. Let the journey continue!