Baja Day 5- DOG FIGHT AND A NEW PLACE

February 15, 2023

I wiggled my toes and stretched my legs. My eyes fluttered open and I could tell that the sun was already up. I checked my watch. Only 6:45am! Zak had already been awake for a little while doing work. I’ve been waking up earlier here in Baja in part because we’ve been going to bed so early, and because we aren’t used to the time change yet. Auggie noticed me moving around and she woke up and stepped all over me in response. I took a few more minutes to gather myself and slid out of bed.

A NORMAL MORNING:

Excited to spend a little bit of time together and with our pup, Zak and I walked Augs over to the beach to play with her ball. At the next campsite over, a middle-aged lady came out of her camper and asked if her dog could play with Auggie. Because of yesterday’s positive experience with Burt, we were more open to it than usual. However, I still let her know that Auggie can be mean to other dogs sometimes. She said she would give it a try.

UNTIL IT WASN’T:

The dog was mid-sized and black and white. His name was Pookie. He was about Aug’s size, and the lady said he was about four years old. Auggie was not interested in playing with Pookie. She just wanted to play with us and her ball. I was okay with this, but then Pookie got a hold of Auggie’s ball and started guarding it, and well, a little bit of hell broke loose. I heard the distinctive angry growl rip through Auggie’s throat. They would not let go of each other on their own. When we got them apart, there was a lot of blood in Pookie’s mouth. We thought that Auggie might have bit him on the lip. Instead, the blood was Auggie’s. She had a deep gash in her head, and two bites on the left side of her face. We brought her inside, cleaned her off, and gave her antibiotic ointment. She laid on the bench for some time, and we decided that it would be best to keep her out of the sand until her wounds scabbed over. It’s too bad because we were just getting more comfortable with having Auggie and Ashe together.

CALMING DOWN:

After making sure Auggie was okay, tended to, and had her own space to calm down a little bit, I went for a run. I needed some way to dispose of all that pent up adrenaline inside of me. I ran another 2.5 miles or so to and from the lighthouse. Afterwards, I took another shower too, because who knows when the next one is going to be. My shower this time around was warm the whole time because I realized that I had to let the water run for a second before the warm water started to flow. This was exactly what I needed. Nothing like a run and a hot shower to slow a racing heart.

MINI DATE BEFORE WORK:

After my shower, I put on some nice clothes (for vanlife standards), and I met Zak over at Café Siete Filos. It was nice to have some quiet alone time. Zak ordered an Americano and I ordered a mocha, and we split a delicious banana muffin. The coffees came in beautiful clay mugs, they were the perfect temperature too. Nothing too hot, nor too cool. It was nice to drink out of a real mug, rather than the ubiquitous disposable ones that you find all over the US. We hung out together for about 30 minutes before I left to go back to the van to hang out with Auggie and start tutoring for the day. Auggie was still hanging out on her bench, looking tired, and perhaps a little dejected. I gave her some pets and love, and sat in the chair next to her while I started work.

GETTING WATER IN MEXICO:

After work, the gang headed to La Isla (the grocery store) again to get some purified water or “agua purificada”. This was our first time filling up with water in Mexico, and I think that we were all a little bit nervous. Even after filling up with water that is supposedly purified, we added our BacDyn drops (iodine) to our water tank. (Just in case the agua purificada was not as purificada as we hoped.) We think a liter is about 3.7 Liters to a gallon, so, we added 111 drops to our 30 gallon tank… hoping not to get sick!

INTERACTING WITH LOCALS:

When we pulled the van in front of the store to fill up, there was an elderly man standing outside with the hose. I don’t remember his name, but we talked with him. He was 84 years old, and quite funny. We told him our names and when I told him mine, and he asked if I was Irish. Then we went through a whole rigmarole as he tried to explain to us about Vikings in a super animated fashion. Unfortunately, nobody knew the Spanish word for Viking. The man kept on putting his hands on his head signaling what he thought looked like the horned helmets of Vikings, but to me looked like moose antlers. Luckily, the owner of the camp, Antonio, happened to be there as well and translated for us, which helped tremendously, and is why I can tell you what was going on now!

A NEW SPOT– PLAYA LA GRINGA:

After we all filled up on water, we drove over to Playa La Gringa, which was maybe 15 or 20 minutes North of Campo Archelon. We had all been excited about this place, not only because it is supposedly super beautiful and full of wildlife, but also because it is FREE! While living on the road, Zak and I choose free camping spots about 95% of the time, so staying at so many campgrounds in a row in Mexico was starting to feel a little bit pricey! We loved Campo Archelon and their resources, but it was $8 USD per person per night, which adds up quickly.

Currently on Playa la Gringa it is cold, dark, windy, and sprinkling. The boys are all outside looking at Starfish on the beach, but I’m ready to put on my jammies, snuggle up into bed, and read my book! I’m currently reading a mystery-thriller called “A Knife in the Fog” it’s a historical fiction about Jack the Ripper. I got it for Christmas a few years ago, and I’m finally finding the time to sit down and read it! I usually associate trips to the beach with light, fun reading, so I’ve been having a grand old time reading inconsequential for-fun books!  

SPENDING SO FAR (1 USD to 18.69 MXN):

While we were getting water, we also finally exchanged some American cash for pesos. However, the exchange rate was 17.5 MXN to 1 USD instead of the 18.6 MXN to 1 USD I originally found on Google.

• Mocha + Americano+ Muffin- $144.20 MXN- $8.01 USD
• 2kg Chicken Breast + 2 Garrafóns de Agua Purificada- $110.85 MXN- $6.16 USD
• Money Exchange (1 USD to 17.5 MXN) $100 USD = $1750 MXN

CURRENT TOTAL: $6500.31 MXN — $361.13 USD

Interested in reading more about our trip in Baja? Read our most recent post!