Gratitude!

After a long period of calm air, the wind finally began to blow for our last two days in La Ventana. This gave me the opportunity to try kiting with the board, which was challenging but fun, and gave Ryan an opportunity to truly "rip" through the water with his kite. Even from shore, I saw him flying clear out of the water a few times. Needless to say, he was thrilled about the way that part of our trip wrapped up. We also enjoyed beautiful, clear nites by the fire pit, yoga in the mornings, great food, and fabulous company during our final days in the desert.

Thanksgiving day was a travel day for us. We loaded up our rental car and headed north toward Loreto to meet up with Jim and Laura. What was supposed to be a 4-hour trip turned into 7, when we missed a crucial turn and ended up going deep into the canyons of central Baja. Luckily, we found a bootleg gas station that was able to fill us up, and after a thanksgiving dinner of tacos at a roadside stand, we were back on course. We found J & L at the marina later in the night and feel very fortunate to be sitting aboard Brainstorm, now. Today we'll head north and anchor off an island in the Sea of Cortez. We'll be in touch next chance we get.

With love and gratitude,

Jess and Ryan.

Go Ducks!

Hi all,
There isn't much that is new to report, as we have been relaxing Baja-style waiting for the wind to blow. For the last few days the air has been calm, the waters crystal-clear, and time has passed slowly and quietly. The big excitement was on Saturday night. Ryan was posted up next to the satellite radio, hoping the solar-powered electricity would last through double-overtime. Even I pulled up a chair for the end of the fourth quarter, anticipating the Duck's victory. What a great game! Ryan was able to express his exuberance in a supportive setting--he was jumping up and down, as you can imagine. So, I guess we'll stay on the edge of our seats until next Saturday. Until then...

Hi fans (ha!)

We have returned to La Ventana, after a 3-day excursion to the Pacific coast of Baja. We stayed in a picturesque little town called Todos Santos and surfed at a break called El Cerritos. The waves weren't stellar, but we got some rides and had a great time just being there. It is such an interesting landscape: stark, mountainous desert with giant cacti edged with the dark, fine-sand beach and perfectly clear ocean. The ocean floor glitters with gold flecks when the sun hits it right. Truly magical.

Now Jim, Alenka, and family have joined us at their place so we are enjoying catching up with them. Today is my final day in a series of kite-boarding lessons. So far the wind is light, which looks good for my lesson. I hope to be able to share stories of kite boarding after this.... We'll see.

By the way, "Go Ducks!" Big game this evening!

Settling in

I am working out the photo glitches, so now we have a few images that show the house, etc. without crashing the computer. We are enjoying J & A's place soooo much! We just love the open-air layout, making us feel a part of the desert. We use candlelight at night and have had just enough solar to recharge our I-Pod and speakers. There have been a plethora of critters sharing space with us. So far they are: bats, a scorpion (see photo), an unknown rodent with very large teeth, a very hairy tarantula, and a sweet blonde dog. I wish I could post the tarantula photo, because it was pretty impressive, but that file is too big. I hope I don't have another photo opportunity of that critter. So far, all our guests keep to themselves, so we are co-habiting quite peacefully.

Kiting!

(Notice the title isn't kiteboarding.) After two days of introductory lessons to the sport known as Kiteboarding, I am almost ready to add the board to the equation. The first lesson was me, on the beach, flying a very small "trainer" kite. Then, yesterday, Ryan and I both went through the safety info associated with flying the big kites (still on land). The exciting culmination of all the preliminary info was a down-wind "body-drag" in 25 knots of wind. What this means is, with the help of my instructor Marie (who is AWESOME), I launched a 7-meter kite on the beach, got in the water with her holding on to me from behind, and proceeded to do something like being dragged behind a water-ski boat, but by the wind. Wow! It was semi-hectic, super-fun, and generally successful. I drank a LOT of salt water and laughed a lot. I think I passed that test, because Marie says I am ready to try kiting today! I suppose you'll hear about that, next. Meanwhile, Ryan went out yesterday and said it was the most wind he had ever kited in. He was impressed that he didn't crash even once. Needless to say, he had a HUGE smile on his face when he stepped out of the water. Sidenote: we still need to figure out how to shrink our photos. For now, I am going to post a general photo of kiting in La Ventana. I'll get the photo piece figured out soon.

With love,

Jess and Ryan

Anticipation

Hello loved ones,

This is the first entry in a blog that will hopefully continue throughout our southward travels. As of now, Ryan and Caleb are already in La Ventana and I will join them there tomorrow. I expect that they are getting "blown away" (yes, pun) by the kiting down there. Ryan has already arranged my kiting lessons, beginning later this week. By the way, I wish the attached photo was of one of us, but its not. Stay tuned for up-close and personal photos along the way.