A Mural Celebrating the Sea

The Story…

When we entered Baja, we didn’t expect to stay long.

We had just spent over a month parked in the desert outside Joshua Tree National Park. We were in a painful state of limbo, along with everyone else on planet Earth.

Covid had seemed to be on its way out, but come Winter 2020 it was rearing its head again. We had made our way to California with hopes that we could fulfill two house concerts that were pre-paid during the Indiegogo campaign. But no luck. With cases on the rise, the state was going into lockdown once more.

We went back and forth. Should we stay in Joshua Tree? Or should we take this chance to hit the Baja Peninsula?

The thing is, we cannot take anything for granted when it comes to this project. We couldn’t assume we would have another chance to travel Baja with the bus. Plus Baja was a big bucketlist item for José, and the sea was calling my name.

We decided to do it.

We entered Baja with that same “Who the heck knows” spirit that has come to embody this project.

Who the hecks knows who we’ll meet? Who the heck knows what sights we’ll see? Who the heck knows what drama will happen? Who the heck knows what lessons we’ll learn?

If I could describe our Baja journey with a metaphor, I think I would use a flower.

It began with roots. The logistics. The things that must be in place for the rest of the show to happen. We crossed over and immediately tackled the tasks of insurance, setting up new phone plans, maintenance on both Sancho (the Prius) and Bobby (the bus).

Next came the stalk. A period of isolation, both socially and geographically. Traveling down the Baja Peninsula is an experience like no other. It is a rugged, vast landscape. Sunbaked, wild, open. Driving through it gives one the sense they are entering a great and wild frontier.

During this time, our only social contact was with Simone and Lucia, an Italian couple traveling the world in their converted military truck. They did a tour video of the bus, and our Youtube channel was suddenly flooded with enthusiastic Italians cheering the project on from afar!

As we moved further down the Peninsula, a change began to happen. And this I would equate with the bud of a flower.

We began to connect with more fellow travelers. One after the next, like a train slowly picking up speed. And the thing is, they came and went. Our time would coincide with a new friend, then we would go our separate ways.

And then a very special thing happened when we arrived in El Pescadero. All those different paths that we had crossed, all those weaving and changing routes…they all came together.

And that’s when the flower blossomed.

And with that, I’ll let our video complete the rest of the story…