Winter time in the Pacific Northwest is short on sunshine, long on rain. By the time February rolls around, it’s typically time to go in search of what’s lacking. This year we decided a return to the Baja Peninsula, Mexico was in order. We’ve spent quite a bit of time there sailing the coasts but hadn’t done much overland exploration.

So, we loaded up our FWC rig with two people, one crazy dog and a lot of gear, selected “Avoid Highways” on Google maps, and headed south. Over the next 7 weeks, we covered 5700+ miles, visiting 2 countries and 8 states (6 in the US, 2 in MX).

Because we never pass up an opportunity to experience what our own country has to offer, as well, we took the long way there and the long way home, traveling indirect and low traffic routes, enjoying hidden and not-so-hidden gems along the way.

We ticked off a few national treasures we hadn’t visited before – Death Valley NP and the Mohave National Preserve in California, and Great Basin NP in Nevada… All different, all beautiful.

And we checked out a bit of southern UT.

On the Baja Peninsula, we visited some of our favorite anchorages in the Sea of Cortez — Agua Verde and San Basilio — this time by land.

New coastal spots made the list, too, including San Juanico, Puertocitos and Los Frailes, which provided some great snorkeling.

There were desert hikes,

And water sports.

We did some off-road exploration… airing down, airing up, testing the rig and collecting new pinstripes.

There was plenty of remote camping and wide open spaces,

With a little city time sprinkled in.

We found respite from the heat in the beauty of the occasional oasis.

Enjoyed cultural sites, small towns, daily life, and cocktails on the beach.

Saw roadrunners, a rattlesnakes, and one very annoyed bull.

And ate A LOT of fish tacos (and delicious ceviche). 

We met some wonderful people along the way and were blessed with an abundance of warm air, sunshine, and vitamin D… Exactly what we needed!