TWO HAPPY CAMPERS

Cactus Wonderland -> San Ignacio //

We wake, go for a walk, and immediately decide to continue our drive south. The cold wind offering no appeal to stay put. All the way to Guerrero Negro the highway feels narrower, the drop-offs steeper, and the pot holes bigger than I remember. Unfortunately I’m usually an anxious passenger no matter what. Fortunately Mark is a great driver and unaffected by my nerves. 

We skipped breakfast for good reason. To arrive at Tacos El Muelle in Guerrero Negro with an appetite. Our favorite taco truck in Baja doesn’t disappoint and a brand new Auto Zone solves our newly discovered need for differential fluid. 

A few more hours driving south and we arrive in San Ignacio, our destination for the night.  A new campground, a short walk from the town square, has rave reviews online and is an absolute delight to the senses when we pull in. San Ignacio is a lush oasis in the middle of an otherwise barren desert. And the Paraíso Misional campground an oasis within an oasis. We find a beautiful nook in-between towering palm trees and set up camp. We sit in our chairs and exchange giant grins. There’s a slight breeze rustling the palm fronds overhead, the temp is neither hot nor cold and the humidity nil. The cherry on top, clean, hot showers a stone’s throw from our home for the night. 

We walk the town square at sunset, reunite with the local town square dog that escorted us around last year, and agree that San Ignacio is quickly climbing the ranks in our long list of favorite Baja destinations. 

We can’t help but walk the town square again after having dinner back at camp. It’s Saturday night and the town is bustling with music, dogs, families, and travelers. We find a seat in the square to savor it all and befriend a few of the local dogs while we do. 

Back at camp everyone tucks in to their tiny homes for the night, the quiet campground amplifying the chorus of frogs on the river’s edge and the music playing in the town square. I sit in my chair beneath the glow of our dreamy twinkle lights and try to embrace the oh-so-elusive feeling of deep contentedness that has come for a most-welcome visit on this perfect December evening.