Hola, Mexico! Hola, San Felipe!

We were prepared to get searched at the border of Mexico… or at the very least questioned. So did our buddies from Wandrly who we are planning to spend our entire time with in Baja. Not only did we not get questioned nor searched, we didn’t even talk to a border agent. We saw a green light flash and drove right into Mexico with no issues. Our first stop was to get tourist visas for us all since we are planning to be in Mexico for more than a week. We filled out a form at the INS office, got our passports stamped, handed over $25 a person and we were off! Well, Wandrly got pulled over by a cop within 5 minutes, the cop didn’t speak English and they didn’t speak Spanish so they were waved away… and then we were off!!

We drove straight to a town on the Sea of Cortez called San Felipe. This wasn’t our first time here actually. This was our spring break spot during college and a bit after but this was our time camping here. We weren’t very familiar with the RV parks in town so we drove around to visit them all and settled at La Palapa Campground. The sun was setting, their were open beach front spots and the place was nearly empty. Perfect.

As soon as pulled into the campground, we noticed an Airstream. It ended up belonging to Michelle and Peter, a couple from Canada who we have had interaction with on Instagram. Small world.

We swapped stories and shared drinks around a campfire on the bbq grill. Not sure how we managed not to burn the wobbly palapas down that night but we did it. Haha.

We quickly got into a wonderful routine everyday during our stay in San Felipe. Wake up to watch the sunrise over the Sea of Cortez, get some school and work done in the mornings, then off on a bike ride to town for lunch.

Some kids were a little faster than others. Ahem, Luka. Kick faster!

This little bridge took us into town every day. The spacing between the railings gave me mini panic attacks.

But it is how we got into town to stuff our faces with fish tacos and wave to the resident osprey.

The next day, Tim and Kerri showed up in Big Blue. They ditched their Airstream for Tim’s van, Wandrly ditched their Airstream for their VW bus and we ditched ours for a popup truck camper. And here we all are. Soaking up the sunshine, not worrying about towing on narrow roads. It feels good. Real good.

Looks like their dogs like their choice too.

The kids are so occupied with their new lives, friends, sand and sun. Luka is fine playing alone. Ava has a new little shadow named Winter. And Mila is the new third wheel.

Luka and Wylder. Both 3 years old. Both born on the road. Both in love with sand and throwing it.

As the sun sets each evening bringing amazing colors to the sky, all six kids emerge and play freeze tag. It’s a nice end to our days. From a couple 3 year olds to a 14 year old. A game that makes them all smile and laugh.

The view from our door changes slightly everyday with the extreme tide changes here.

One of the kids’ favorite thing to do is to “help” Tim and Kerri walk their dogs. Especially Mila. She loves Moose. But who doesn’t?!?!

This was the perfect spot to start our time in Mexico. It was familiar and large enough to pick up things we forgot.

And weather was just about perfect.

We usually don’t wake up with the sun. Far from it usually. But how often do you get to see this from your front/back/only door?!?!

Drying our newest addition to the camper. Turkish towels. They take less space, dry in no time and look awesome. I sound like an ad. Haha. I just love things that are making tinier space living easier for us.

1, 2, 3, jump!

The palapas here were a bit wobbly. They are nice spots for tent campers to pitch their tents though.

Play dates, all day long.

Luka insisted to not only make sand castles but be actually part of them.

With a week in San Felipe and all this sand, we had to find a laundromat. We were surprised to find that they didn’t cost much less than the ones in the US… until we figured out it was a full-service drop off laundromat. We sat there and did our own. Haha. Oops.

And in case you are wondering about our 13 year old black cat, Yoda, she is here too.

Trying to figure out which window is her new favorite spot.

She seems to be doing well in here, even with a million stray dogs around and sparrows taunting her at our door step.

This guy was the campground’s guard pup.

This is Muffin, the kids’ favorite stray dog that would visit us in the mornings.

Ava reading at our door. Our real books were ditched for a kindle.

A lantern set off by our Alaskan neighbors. We were hoping for a night reminding us of Rapunzel but got a dud that landed into the sea pretty quickly.

During our stay in San Felipe, Ava the oldest had her last night as an 8 year old.

And woke up as a 9 year old who requested a pizza party. So off to Fat Boys we went with the entire Airstream-less crew.

Maybe introducing Fanta to the kids wasn’t my best move. But look! The can and straw turn into a toy. Haha.

That morning, Ava and I walked up the hill to the nearest bakery to pick out a special cake. She picked out a chocolate round cake and turned down the princess cake topper that the baker offered her.

All the kids helped put candles on the cake. But most of them didn’t count to 9 so we had a few candles to pull out before lighting them up.

And that ends our week in San Felipe. Time to drive into some unfamiliar territory for us. Stay tuned.

Marlene