Exploring Baja Mexico- Bikes in Wine Country & Deep Sea Fishing

One of my best memories is now from Valle de Guadalupe, the heart of Northern Baja's wine country, and the area that produces 70% of Mexico's wine. The Terra del Valle bnb (the traditional non-air kind with real breakfast and homemade marmalade) where we stayed for a night was nestled beside an expanse of orange groves and adjoining dirt roads with horseback riding next door. Katharine, John and I grabbed the available bikes and went cruising into the countryside to hit up a couple wine tasting from the vineyards within just a few miles of our place. Finn, of course, came too. At first I tried to kindly shove my rescue long-haired jack russell pup into a tote bag but after about 100yards on the bicycle his wiggly bod found itself happily running alongside my bike. I've never seen him so happy to run! And as a proud dog mum I was stoked with how well he could keep up. He was obviously stoked for this boundless freedom of movement that doesn't quite exist inside our studio apartment. With a few shots left on my 35mm manual pentax, I'm so glad I had this camera on my shoulder. The unedited, tactile feeling of these photos, with that slightly grainy vibe, helps take me back to that gritty dirt road, the golden sun, and the cruisy vibes I now associate with mexican wine. It was a perfect day to celebrate KP's 30th trip around the sun. :) 

A must for brunch in this area is La Cocina de Dona Esthela.

Now for the ocean... Patrol the marina near Ensenada and you can find a good deal on a deep sea fishing boat that'll take you into towards the foggy island surrounded with seagulls, dolphins and snapper filled waters. xx

Desert Cruise

Joshua Tree, May 2017. 35mm

Mexico City is in Full Bloom

In the courtyard of Frida Kahlo's home Angel Trumpets bloom against the painted blue walls. While across the city and a safe $6 uber drive away, the prickly cacti are in full glory at the UNAM campus in the university's extensive (and free!) botanical gardens. There is a flower market somewhere between all that with fresh cuts from the generous hands of their shop owners.

The time is oh so fresh to explore all that is Mexico City. I spent 4 nights here en route to Cuba with my two girlfriends and was floored by just how awesome this place was. Low cost of living. Huge arts scene. Was a breeze to get around (we took an uber to an ancient pyramid WTF) -uber has an awesome +safe +cheap presence which literally helped make everything we wanted to do happen with zero notice. The Aztec Teoticuan pyramids are about an hour outside of the city, blessed with the Sun & the Moon... arrive early if you want to climb them both. We scaled to the top of the Sun and that was a feat of itself.  Now, to create what could only be the best day ever, later that evening we placed ourselves on the primary colored hard plastic seating of an old school wrestling ring for a Lucha Libre match - only to satiate an unknown bucket list item of seeing men in shiny bright spandex pounce on each other. YASSS. What a treat!!  Thank you Katharine's hairdresser for the suggestion. [MYSTICO!] 

 These few snaps of film are place holders for the spectacle that was 4 days in this huge and vibrant town.  We stayed at the most adorable air bnb in Zona Rosa- which if you're thinking of heading out there for a long weekend... just stay in this neighborhood & you'll be setting off on the right foot. And perhaps most importantly, to flow just-like-so between the murals, and bikes, and dancing, and bommmmb tacos, and museums ....be sure to sample all the varietals of Mezcal you can. The good stuff down there is dangerously smooth!