12/26/24-Thursday-Day 20 “Heart Beach”

Our time at Rancho San Dionisio has drawn to an end and Clarence leaves us a bowl of fresh avocados to divvy up amongst our group before we depart. As we make our way down the dirt road towards Santiago I keep a very keen eye on Wanda’s odometer. She is about to hit a very big milestone! With each passing mile I can’t help but think and even say out loud to Heather “If you had told me when we bought this truck over 13 years ago that it would roll over two hundred thousand miles in a foreign country, not to mention the southern reaches of the Baja peninsula in Mexico, I would have called you crazy!” And yet after a few more dusty miles pass, she does just that. Our tiny home on wheels turns 200,000 and then 200,001 and the miles just keep adding on as we continue our descent from the mountains. 

We stop once again in Santiago at Restaurante Pericu for a big plate of chilaquiles before continuing on to Los Barriles where we resupply groceries, water, and fuel. This is our first time in Los Barriles and it is certainly a gringo hotspot, somewhere we have no interest in staying. After our chores and running around in town are completed we continue north, initially away from and then along the coastline. As we make our way out of town Heather and I talk about how grateful we are to be traveling with such an amazing and capable group of friends. There is a certain comfort in knowing that no matter what happens, the people you are traveling with and living alongside of aren’t going to leave you stranded but will instead be there to help you through. 

After climbing a couple of steep hills we round a corner to find ourselves looking down on a rocky beach where Josh and Darci have already set up camp on a spot that our friends have dubbed “Heart Beach”, a name given for the heart shape formed by the jagged hillside separating our camp from the sandy beach just south of us. Once the camper is set up we each string our twinkle lights and the vibe is officially set!