Leaving Colorado last Friday was both exciting and extremely sad. Leaving family and so many wonderful people who have supported me over the past year and encouraged me on this adventure was tough, to say the least. I spent many of the first miles counting my blessings and wondering what this next stage of my life was really going to be about and why I had been given this amazing opportunity. I am sure all will be revealed if only I can be open to understanding that there is a purpose to life and that  I truly do have a role to play.

The first couple of days riding through Colorado and Arizona with overnight stops in Naturita and Flagstaff were uneventful and it was about trying to stay warm as my body was asking what the hell I was doing subjecting it to 8 hour days in the saddle. It takes a little while to build up the calluses. As much as possible I plan on camping but with temperatures below freezing I resorted to hotels and cabins in campsites.
Here was my first campsite north of Yuma in the Kofa National Wildlife refuge. The only wildlife I saw was a 3 ft rattlesnake so I decided to sleep in the tent rather than "cowboy camping"

I crossed the border at Mexicali and headed headed south down the Baja peninsular with few stops as the first hundred miles or so until arriving in San Felipe really does not have a lot to recommend it, just hot and dusty. A stop at this roadside cafe provided lunch of a very good tamale and a long talk

with the proprietress who was wearing a plastic shopping bag on her head - who knows what that was about.

The desert is in full bloom after very heavy rains in the last month with purple flowers giving way to vast stretches of orange and yellow. The most incredible thing is the smell of the pollen that is so strong as it wafts across the the road. The cacti ( I think that is the plural for cactus) are also getting in on the act as some of them have small leaves that are bright yellow that make them look luminous This truly is a magical place

I have made overnight stops at Bahia San Luis Gonzaga and Bahia de Los Angeles and watched incredible full moon-rises over the water to be followed what seems a few short hours later by a magnificent sunrise in the same spot.
I was camped at Dagetts Camp at Bahia de Los Angeles and after having spent some time sitting on the ground under my palapa an older man came over and enquired if I might like a camp chair to sit on. I thanked him and said that would be most kind of him. Ten minutes later he came back on his ATV with a chair and a beer - there is so much kindness in the world.

Coco is one of the legendary old reprobates in this part of the world and holds court in a little cafe/shack in the middle of no-where. The ceiling was adorned with many a pair of women's underwear.

I had no idea it was Saint Patrick's day until I walked into a bar in Mulege and everyone was wearing green ( as luck would have it I was wearing a green t-shirt ) and they were serving corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. A great end to a day of hard riding which included over 200km ( I have gone metric) on dirt that made me realize that my bike when fully loaded and with both tanks full of gas is just not as nimble as it should be.
The dirt part of the riding is fun but the main roads is where you really need to pay attention as small shrines can be seen on any sharp or "peligroso corner"

Just a couple more photos and then that is it for now