Jan & Mark's to Puertocitos

January 10, 2022

Said our goodbyes then stopped at the store for a bit before heading into the unknown. Well, I'm very familiar with the desert scenery at this point. I knew I would have a roaring tailwind today and tomorrow and it did not disappoint. The wind was up to 25mph!! I could literally feel it pushing me along at times.

My first sand dollar from my friends house (couldn’t get it to upload yesterday)

I saw a roadrunner cross the road. No coyote was chasing it. Meep! Meep! The terrain was mostly flat until I got closer to Puertocitos. Nothing too horrible and I managed fine. Special thanks to the wind!

Remember I had said the highway mileposts had started over? I was all ready to snap a shot of 69 in honor of Bryan Adams "Summer of 69" song (it's a thing I do). Well people, I saw 68. I saw 70. There was no 69. I saw a bunch of posts in that area had been knocked over and I'm guessing with 69 was one of them. Don't worry, I have a back up plan..."I got my first real six string, got it at the five and dime, played it til my fingers bled, was the summer of.........

Summer of 69– I think they said it’s the emergency channel here

I was really looking forward to having a hot dog at the semi famous Cow Patty restaurant right before Puertocitos. One sign said open. One sign said closed. It appeared no one was there. They only serve hot dogs and beer. I guess neither for me.

One more hill and I was at the turnoff for Puertocitos and quickly realized while some cyclists bypass it. A bunch of derelict buildings. I had seen a neighbor of the people I stayed with and he had said they were having lunch there. Couldn't find any restaurants that were open. Teh road turns to dirt near the end and just a bit past it on the left is the entrance to the hot springs. I asked there for restaurants and the guy indicated back the way I had come. Now I was riding into the roaring headwind double checking I hadn't missed it. Not so fun.

Went back to the market and paid for an hour of Wi-Fi. The gal there spoke perfect English and said it was safe here. Just not much open until the weekend. I went ahead and paid the $200 pesos to camp which includes access to some hot springs which I've heard a lot about. At first I thought I was the only one there, but when I went to the other side of the building I met a group of threee couples in their rv's traveling together. There was a bigger wind block on that side so I tent up my tent near them. Felt a bit safer too.

The view from the campground was quite nice

When I asked about showers, I was brought a basin with a dipping cup and he indicated I would pour the water over me. I think I'll pass. We are talking cold water. Got set up and decided to go check out the hot springs.

I had heard the deepest one, the highest up is too hot to sit in unless you catch it with the tide so it can cool it down. The second one was packed so I went down to the ones closest to the shore. Not exactly warm, but it was okay. I eventually moved up a pool and stuck my feet in. Eventually, people left and I had an excellent spot to sit in and soak. Perfect! I had asked someone if they would mind taking a picture of me and turned my head to see how far away my phone was. Instead I saw bare ass! The guy who had just gotten out of my pool. Uuuugh, those Europreans who will just strip down anywhere to change, ha ha.

Glory waiting to go for a dip. The sea is behind the pool and the waves were crashing. Great atmosphere.

It's a good 1/4 mile walk back to camp and I was a tad bit cold on the way back. Washed off with some water from the black water tanks as it would have warmed up a bit from the sun. I think better than my "shower" option.

Decided to boil water to get some oatmeal ready for morning. I thought it was a good idea to use the red light on my headlamp as I didn't need much light. The problem with that was I didn't see my plastic bowl that sits inside of my expensive titanium pot. Ooops! One of the guys from the rv helped me get it unstuck. Let's just say, it will still all be usable, but not so pretty. See if I ever use my red light again when cooking!!!

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 1,258 miles (2,025 km)

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