We are spending our last hour in La Paz right now. We’re headed up to Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida for a last romp in their turquoise waters and red arroyos, but in a few days, when we start that two and a half day sail across the Sea of Cortez to the mainland, we will say goodbye to the Sea of Cortez. Strangely, this next step doesn’t feel like continued exploration of Mexico, but rather the first step of the next stage of our journey across the Pacific. That our thoughts have shifted further west in preparation for the big passage only makes it clearer that our last days here are upon us.
My throat first tightened a little when I realized that our stop in Agua Verde would be our last, that our kids would never again be able to obsess about Uncle Tio’s cats or charm the campers on this remote beach (see our post last year on Free Range Parenting in Agua Verde). In Bahia Salinas, as I watched the kids climb on what remained of the rusty salt mining equipment (they had cleaned up over half of it since last winter), I felt the pang of changing times, knowing that not only would my kids not be able to climb on that dilapidated machinery again, but other kids might not even have the chance. And I simply felt sad when we realized we would not be able to stop at Puerto los Gatos (read Finding Favorite Places) again due to a series of strong north winds that would have made the anchorage untenable.
In the past month here in La Paz, we have made a point to visit so many of our favorite places – the Serpentario, Claro Fish Jr, Harker Board Co, Doce Cuarenta, Mercado Bravo, the playground – and to spend countless hours walking on the waterfront malecon, our favorite (and free!) activity. In the many months that we have spent here this year and last, this city became a second home to us. Dylan just declared tonight that “La Paz is the best place we’ve found so far!” We think so, too (though only because we generally put our beautiful secluded anchorages in a different category entirely).
But as many lasts as there have been in our last two months in the Sea of Cortez, we know that La Paz is not a “last” for us. As we bungee-ed back and forth from La Paz last winter and returned to its familiar streets and trees and faces this winter, we realized it had truly become our second home. We need to shove off the dock in five minutes, so I will leave it at that. Except to say that we will definitely be back.
Informational Addendum: We are headed to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle to prepare the boat and the crew for the 3-4 week passage to French Polynesia in March. Tom has two friends who will help him make the big puddle jump. The kids, cat, and I will stay in a little apartment in La Cruz until it’s time for us to leave. We will spend a week in LA camping with my parents, then start the 4-flight journey out to Atuona on Hiva Oa in French Polynesia.
ps. Dylan is doing great. He is happy and excited about everything this year, and we’re thrilled about that. He loves making the videos we’ve been doing, so keep checking Youtube for those (there have been three so far).
pps. There are very few pictures in this post because my computer refuses to upload them right now. I’ll make up for it later.
