December 2019
We settled into Martin Verdugo’s Beach Resort nicely and had the dust washed off the trailer by a few late season storms. The heavy rains soaked the campground and flooded the main street. The rainy season ended and we looked forward to dry sunny days.
Every evening we met up with friends at the wall for happy hour, and on Fridays, we got together for happy hour, finger foods and a game of Bocce in the lower part of the campground known as “Tortilla Flats”
We often rode our bicycles to the Saturday markets, art shows, shopping for groceries, or out to Lazy Days for a margarita or two before stopping at Dylan’s Hot Dog Stand for dinner. The latter was rather challenging after a few stiff margaritas while navigating sandy roads in the dark. We had laughing fits at our feeble effort.
We made the most of our days, driving around the Baja, exploring little towns, meeting friendly people, driving through deserts, hiking to waterfalls, and snorkeling the reefs. We had settled into our Baja routine and lived each day to the fullest, then wound down in the evening with a few cocktails, exchanging experiences with new friends and getting further recommendations on other places of interest. We never ran out of stuff to do.
Because we loved the Los Barriles area, we looked at various properties for sale or land to build on. We heard about a palapa for sale in the campground. We looked at it on Friday 13, but I was hesitant to move forward. Susan on the other hand was certain we should buy it and pouted until I looked at it again. It had lots of potential, but needed a lot of attention. We felt up to the challenge, made a final offer, and bought it on Christmas day. Merry Christmas – our immediate family can enjoy it for years to come.
The fishing in the Gulf of California and Sea of Cortez is amazing. If you don’t have a boat, you can still catch lots of amazing fish from the shore. The trick is to cast the lure out 100 meters. It took time, but I perfected my cast. I caught quite a few fish, released them, and only kept my first Dorado for the pan and BBQ.
January 2020
The fishing was great. To make moving up and down the beach easier when chasing feeding dorado, I bought myself a second hand four wheel drive quad from one of our friends. I spent many hours riding the beach at first light and watched many spectacular sunrises.
When the sale had gone through and money transferred, we started a big clean up in the palapa. Kitchen cupboards were emptied, useable stuff was kept and the rest donated. We emptied the bodega, repaired the shelving, and started painting walls and columns.
When the boys arrived, we took them on a campground tour, pointing out all of the facilities, then when we walked past our palapa, we pointed to it and said “oh, by the way, welcome to Casa Linga Longa, this is ours”, and “the quad is also ours”. They were surprised and thrilled.
As originally planed when we moved into the campground, we had to leave Site 23 on Tortilla Flats up move up to Site 56 on Snob Hill. The boys helped with the move and we settled into our new spot closer to the hotel rooms where the boys were staying.
We hired a highly recommended contractor – Abel. He started the old kitchen demolition. The rusty wire fence was removed, all of the overgrown palms were removed, and the root system was dug out.
I gutted the trailer down to the studs then removed the plumbing and low voltage wiring. We moved windows to suit a brighter floor plan. The wheel wells were removed to make more floor space.
We took a break from renovations, and took the boys to all of our favorite spots, exploring the arroyo, driving the coastal road, hiking into the waterfall, snorkeling and eating out at all of our favorite restaurants. The days were full of activity and the evenings were full of celebration – the week passed quickly, then we took them into Cabo for their last day out before heading back to the airport.
We had a blast with the boys despite a few scrapes, a bent roll bar, and one bruised ego. The drive back to Los Barilles was quiet as we were each lost in our own thoughts about our sons, looking forward to the next adventure with them.
The next day, we returned to the renovations and finished the back wall, kitchen wall, and side wall construction.
I framed in the washroom area, and the walk through closet walls, then ran new wiring to the plug points, switches, and lights. We had a frame welded up and installed it in the wheel wells to take new floor plywood inserts and wall panels. I repacked the insulation, and prepared the studs for new wall panels.
We designed a pedestrian and vehicle gate for the palapa, then hired a local welder to manufacture and install it for us. The double bars at the bottom were spaced to keep other dogs out and Chloe safely inside the palapa.
Susan had a brilliant idea to make crushed glass in white concrete counter tops. We put out a call to our friends for their help to gather as many coloured bottles as possible. We wanted to grind them up into small pieces the size of coarse beach sand. Susan rose to the challenge, we all contributed as many bottles as possible.
We worked from sunrise to sunset seven days a week, then took a break from renovation when Pat and Amanda arrived. Again, we toured all of the regular spots while enjoying their company, and taking a well earned break. Pat soon discovered the incredible Seafood Omelet at Taqueria El Viejo. It was an regular morning stop for us.
February 2020
We returned to the renovations, working long days, and collapsing into deep recuperative sleep as soon as the sun set. We were seeing good progress day by day. While shopping for supplies, I found a good California table wine in four liter bottles. They went down well and washed the dust from my throat.
We prepared the formwork, laid rebar, and poured the concrete countertops. When they were leveled off, Susan sprinkled layers of crushed glass and patted them down into the concrete until she had the pattern and density she wanted.
We installed the windows, then Susan finished the painting while I ground the countertops to a smooth finish. Once we had cleaned them off, and they were dry, we ground them to remove rough edges, and sealed them with a concrete sealer to prevent staining.
March 2020
We installed a 100lb propane bottle on the outside and plumbed the gas line through the wall into the new stove. We moved one of the fridges out of the bodega into the kitchen. Susan was in her element in the new kitchen.
We bought some outdoor furniture for the lounge, and bought a dining room set, hand made out of a local termite resistant wood. We met with a local carpenter/cabinet maker, and designed our kitchen cupboards.
We liked the floor space, but decided to improve it with ceramic tiles. This would make washing the floor down much easier. We bought our tiles from Home Depot in La Paz and on our way back to Los Barriles, we had puncture.
Relieved the tire was repaired and we didn’t have a flat in the middle of nowhere, we returned to Los Barilles with 2000lbs of tiles, then stored them for our contractor.
I continued installing the ceiling, and wall panels in the trailer. Susan primed and painted the surfaces in preparation for trim and wainscoting. We stapled a mesh onto the plywood floor, laid down polymer cement to level the floor, then laid ceramic tiles. These should feel cool underfoot on the hot days.
Then the world went crazy over COVID 19. The markets crashed, people were hoarding toilet paper, governments were recalling all citizens, and last flights were being announced. Everybody was scrambling to head home. Flights were booked solid, the roads were very busy, and we chose to continue our construction while staying away from the general population and the busy roads heading north.
We moved from site 56 on Snob Hill to site 60 so we could be closer to the palapa. The kitchen cabinets arrived and were installed. They were better than we expected. The trailer plumbing was completed and I installed the vanity sink and toilet.
With COVID news and lockdowns, we cleaned up and repacked our travel trailer, then configured it to leave at a moments notice.
We received a quote and timeline to replace the old leaking roof. The contractor said it would take about 4 weeks. This worked out well for our plans so we decided to stay on, get the work done, then start our return journey.
We packed up the palapa because it was going to be a very messy job. The contractors had a few workers on site and removed the old roof. The old palm fronds and cross pieces were removed because they were brittle. The main beams were in good condition and left in place.
April 2020
The Mexican Government sent out a notice that all businesses were in lockdown, and all contractors were given one week to end all projects. The roofing contractor immediately increased the crew from 5-16 workers,. It took them six days to remove and replace the entire roof.
We received emails from the Government of Canada to return home as soon as possible before all borders were closed. All businesses in Los Barilles were in lockdown, and the campground gates were locked.
We met with staff at Verdugo’s and arranged to leave contractor payments with them. They would pay the roofing contractor to completed the roof cleaning and varnishing, then spraying to prevent termite damage. They would also pay Abel to lay down the ceramic tiles on the palapa floor once the roofing contractors had completed the job.
We packed everything away, checked all vehicle fluids, checked all tire pressures, secured all cargo, and made ready for our return to Canada. We relaxed on our final days in the deserted campsite, sitting alone at the wall looking over deserted beaches.
The campground gates were locked, and police were patrolling the town and the beach – reprimanding anyone who disobeyed the law.
The sun set on our last day before we started the return drive to our home province in Canada.
During our absence, Abel (our contractor) would continued to lay ceramic tiles on the palapa floor after the roofing contractor had completed their cleanup.
