Tony & Sandy

Tony of Tony & Sandy died last week of as quick heart attack while walking from his wind surfer up to his trailer on the beach. Go to La Ventana
for photos of Tony, his friends and life here in La Baja. He is missed by all.

Everything is still going well here. We had the competition for windsurfing, kiting and paddle boarding last weekend and I had volunteered to help with the beer booth but wound up walking around with another guy with two galvanized pails full of canned beer and selling it to the crowd. It was fun being the shill and trying to spot a likely customer. On Saturday, they had the Luche Libre style of Mexican wrestling. Sort of an overacted WWF with costumes and egging the crowd on. At the end, they had a greased pig competition with one kiter, one windsurfer and a local Mexican trying to catch the pig, and return to an old couch that had been set up. The Mexi didn't quite get the rules and after catching the pig, he flung it over the heads of some bystanders in the direction of the couch, but he missed and the pig bounced off of the hard packed dirt. I big Ooohhh from the crowd and Suzy, the MC quickly announced that no animals were injured during the making of this event. It reminded several of us old timers of the WKRP turkey drop.

Then we had the volleyball three person competition on Monday and Tuesday mornings. We start at 8 am and go till the wind comes up around 10 or 11. One guy on my team had pulled a muscle windsurfing on Monday afternoon, so we didn't do to well on Tuesday. I think we came in 4^th or fifth out of ten teams. The two person competition starts in the morning and I am playing with the guy that I first camped next to 13 years ago.

Noel, the buddy from Prescott that is loaning me the bike in Sweden should get back from the main land this week after picking up another of his bikes in Guadalajara and taking the ferry back to here. So I have sort of been looking after his girlfriend who stayed here. Fun stuff like emptying their black water and changing over the propane tank. He and I are also planning on riding down to San Miguel de Allende in March for a BMW bike rally.

Joe,I think we had planned on doing Texas early because I wanted to go to Sweden in May, but that got pushed off to June 19^th. So I have from Dogwood til its time to pack up in mid June. I want to take the Vixen down to Cave Creek sometime in May and see if that may be where my next wintering place is. It is getting crowded and noisy down here with a lot of development going on.

La Ventana sounds like a summer camp for adults, doesn't it? It may well be one.

Down to Baja

Hi All,

I enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with Oakley & Liseanne and Rebecca and Dan in Phoenix. Isabella had graciously loaned me her home in Scottsdale while she was visiting her family in St. Louis. We all went down to Tucson and had lunch with Chris and Steve Beck - they are doing great!


I closed up the house on New Year's Day and went over to Jerry's in Borrego Springs. We played a round of golf and then Jerry made a great dinner for us and his friends Mike and Teri. Monday morning I headed south in the SUV. I was going to take the Vixen, but I don't think that it is ready for Baja yet with no solar electric or propane appliances. Plus it will be better to have the SUV for picking up Oakley, Rebecca etc when they come down in February.

I crossed over easily at Tecate and glad that I didn't get the red light at customs as I was carrying a full load of wine. The road to Ensenada was in good shape and there must have been at least 8 new wineries and I also saw a new Museum of Wine being constructed. The mountains were very green and the weather was perfect for an afternoon's drive.


The remainder of the trip was uneventful and relaxed. I really poked around this time, taking excursions, starting late and stopping early. I stayed at the Mission Inn in Catavina the first night, the Frances Hotel in Santa Rosalia the second, and the Perla Hotel in La Paz the last night. I stayed in La Paz as I wanted to make a dental appointment and do some shopping before going out to La Ventana.

The trailer was in great shape, all four tires still holding air and not too much dust on the inside, so I was pretty well set up before dark. Six utilities are required. Water from trenching over to the nearest spigot, batteries connected to the solar, propane tank filled and connected, the refrigerator and hot water heater lit, and a septic tank dug. The weather is still a bit on the cool side, 60 at night and 70 in the day. But it makes for great vollyball.


It seems less crowded in the camp this year, but the usual gang is here. I think that as more people buy or build a house and more resorts are popping up, the campground gets fewer customers. Jack & Nancy from Hawaii showed up in their Vixen. I had met them in Napa when I picked up my Vixen in August.

So life is good. Otto