Baja Bound Blog

Labor day weekend is always a great time to head to Baja for an end of the summer getaway, and this past holiday was no exception! We had plans to head down to La Mision after work on Friday afternoon and got down to the border just after 6 pm. There was a lot of people heading south, and the wait to get into Mexico was almost half an hour. Once we got across and got to the toll road, the traffic cleared up and we were making good time. We arrived in La Mision at around 7:30 and had a quick glass of wine with some old friends before unpacking the car and getting settled in. A graphic designer friend who lives in La Mision had arranged for a place for us to stay, and we were completely blown away by the amazing accommodations that we had for the long weekend. Our hosts, Vinnie and Trish, have a beautiful two level home right on the beach, with the bottom level serving as their guest house and a vacation rental as well. We felt spoiled! After getting our gear moved into the house, we ate a quick snack and made our way down the beach to visit our friend Doug, who has a huge patio with a great fire pit. Doug’s house is a vacation rental too, but when he is down in La Mision, his house always seems to be the post-dinner destination, as the fire pit serves as a gathering place to see old friends and make new ones. The one thing that is always so amazing when I visit La Mision is the hospitality and warmth that everyone has towards one another. After enjoying some great company and the crackling fire, we headed back to the house to turn in for the night. When we awoke on Saturday morning, the sun was out, the surf looked small but fun, and the water looked deep blue and inviting. I threw on my trunks and went out for a surf. I would venture to say the water was somewhere in the 70 degree range. It was cool and refreshing, and definitely too warm to wear a wetsuit. Even with the small and inconsistent surf I still stayed out for almost two hours without getting the slightest bit cold. After a nice breakfast on the patio in the sun, we decided to take the dogs down to the beach so they could have some fun. If you have never been to the beach at La Mision, it is beautiful and absolutely HUGE! There is a ton of wide open space for just about any beach activity you could imagine. The dogs had a blast, tearing up and down the beach and through the shore break. Afterwards, we rinsed the dogs off in the yard and then relaxed on the patio. The dogs were absolutely exhausted after all of the romping around and intense exercise, and quickly fell asleep in the sun. After a little down time, the surf was starting to look really fun as the tide was starting to drop out. One of the nice things about La Mision is that it seems to hold off the the prevailing northwest wind that usually picks up in the afternoon along the coast. Conditions were clean and glassy for the majority of the five days that we spent in La Mision.  I surfed again for another few hours and could tell that the swell was starting to pick up. There was a combination of a southwest and northwest swell forecast for the weekend, and it seemed like the northwest was starting to really show up. The waves were still only in the waist to shoulder high range, but every so often an overhead set would come through. I was super stoked, since the forecast had indicated that it was going to be shoulder high at best. That evening, we had been invited over to our friend Kathleen’s house for drinks and appetizers. She spent several years creating and decorating an amazing vacation rental property right on the beach that can accommodate up to 16 people. The house has two levels and a variety of rooms, casitas and sections that can be used for smaller groups as well. It is a great setting to host an intimate wedding, yoga retreat, cooking classes, or just a quiet weekend away from it all. I did not know until this weekend, but Kathleen has been recommending Baja Bound to her clients for their Mexico insurance for almost three years now!  After touring the entire property, Kathleen served up some of the best pico de gallo that I have ever had. Her unique recipe included fresh tomato, cilantro, onion, avocado, fire roasted green chiles, a hint of garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper. It was terrific! After some great conversation in the living room, we made our way down to Doug’s house again to enjoy the beach side fire pit. It was the perfect ending to a great day in La Mision. Sunday morning we woke up to slightly cloudy skies and a lot more swell in the water. I rolled out of bed, threw on my trunks and jumped in the ocean. The surf was now consistently head high and really fun. I spent the better part of two hours in the ocean surfing by myself…with only one other surfer out 150 yards down the beach. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out at the beach with the dogs and relaxing. Sunday night was the La Mision Fandango, which is the main reason for us coming down to Baja for the holiday weekend. The Fandango is one of many fund raisers held in La Mision by BECA,  an organization started eight years ago to help keep the children of La Mision in school. In Mexico, families must pay for their children to go to school after the sixth grade, and most families cannot afford to. BECA was started to break that cycle and give the children an opportunity to finish school and go on to college. The program has grown rapidly over the last few years and now supports the education for 88 students, which means the program now has to raise $35,000 per year. The Fandango is an outdoor dinner and art auction held at El Rancho Rio, which is set back on the north side of the river valley about a mile from the beach. The event started with a cocktail reception and silent auction, and there were quite a few amazing items to bid on. I ended up bidding on and winning a rustic handmade cross made out of driftwood and wire. It is a fantastic piece! After the silent auction ended, dinner was served, and the live auction was underway! To start off though, a handful of the BECA recipients came up to get recognized, and then made their way through the dinner tables to introduce themselves and thank the BECA supporters. There was a great painting by resident Charlie Wild that was amazing, but as expected, the price went quickly out of my range, and ended up selling for $600 with a matching donation from his son. Great stuff! After the auction was completed, the dancing started and lasted for about an hour before the 2008 Fandango came to an end. Monday was our lazy day, which involved sleeping in, taking the dogs to the beach, surfing and generally catching up on some much needed rest. The beach was pretty quiet as most of the locals had returned to work. The ocean was cooperating nicely though, as the swell continued to churn out consistently fun head high surf that I had all to myself, although it would have been nice to have someone to share the waves with! That night we grilled up a bunch of chicken and steak and took it down to share it with everyone staying at Doug’s house. It was going to be our last night around the fire pit, and we enjoyed it to the fullest. On Tuesday morning Doug had arranged for some of the locals to come by with horses so we could all go for a ride on the beach. I had not ridden a horse since high school and really enjoyed it. We got back to our place and began packing the car to return home. We headed north at around 2:30 and got to the border at around 3:45. The border wait was not bad at all, and we were across in about 40 minutes. All things considered it was one of the most enjoyable long weekends I have spent in Baja! If you have any interest in heading down to the magical seaside community of La Mision, check out the resources below to learn about the variety of accommodations available.

Vinnie and Trish’s vacation rental (where we stayed) – 3 bedroom 2 bath just steps from the beach!

La Casa De Gracia – Sleeps up to 16 people, but you can rent single rooms too!

Doug’s vacation rental – Sleeps up to 12 people and has a great fire pit!