Winter in Baja Day 75: Not your average Monday

Las Animas //

I happily wake to the sound of Mark launching the drone.  This means two things; 1) the sunrise is worth getting up for and 2) Mark is doing something else besides dwelling on the trailer debacle.  I step outside to witness a sea as still as glass, and savor a magnificent sunrise.

We all sit in our chairs this morning enjoying conversation while simultaneously spotting dolphins, a sea lion, jumping fish, and a variety of birds occupying the bay before us.  Mark inflates the paddleboards while I make us breakfast.  I cut open four peaches to see that none of them are good.  I’m not sure if it’s because all of our produce had to endure hours upon hours of bumpy road to get here or because the freshness of fruit in Mexico can be hit or miss.  Either way we’re moving through our food rations at a quick rate, a factor that will determine how much longer we want to stay at this particular spot.

An hour or two is spent on a leisurely paddle out to two small islands in the bay.  While we’re on the water I realize how normal it feels to be paddleboarding in Mexico on a Monday in February.  It’s strange to watch your life transform from a dream in to shock that it’s really happening and then in to normalcy.  I spend a moment trying to remember that this is indeed not your standard way of living.  And then four dolphins swim past me and drive that point home.  

Back on land I shower and prepare for a Zoom meeting while Mark works on getting the toolbox reattached to the trailer.  The shower I took draws the honey bees in.  Between being swarmed, multiple things around camp breaking, and the crack in the trailer frame, Mark is having one of those days where this way of life feels frustrating.  

For the last week we’ve been contemplating how much longer we’d like to be in Baja and we’ve come to the conclusion that the trip is reaching its natural end point.  The trailer needs to be fixed, Josh and Darci are headed back to the States soon, a change of environment sounds nice and so do the comforts of our larger home on wheels.  With that, anything about this life that feels normal quickly fades away because I know it’s coming to a close.  I’m not sure why something has to end in order to heighten my cognition as to how great it was.  Nevertheless, whatever happens over our last days here, I’m going to spend them reveling in appreciation for everything Baja has given us this winter.  It’s been pretty damn incredible.