The most exciting and moving part of our journey yet. The practical details and the exprience itself are interwoven. It is still early to come to conclusions, but one is crystal clear – 10 days are too short. And if the stars align for us as planned next winter we will go for a longer period and go south all the way to the bottom – Cabo San Lucas. Here before you is the amazing journey:

We crossed the border at Calexico / Mexicali east.

We arrived at San Felipe just after sunset. It was our first drive in Mexico. We felt a bit anxious because of our lack of familiarity. The roads are narrow, but this section wasn’t as bad as we had anticipated. It  passes through endless salt flats, occasionally elevated above them, and in parts with no shoulders at all.

In San Felipe we didn’t find the campground hosts but met other travelers who showed us where the beach was (for boondocking). We spent the night and headed off early in the morning after fueling up the truck.

Second stop – Camp Rancho Grande in Bahia De Gonzaga. We met a sweet Israeli family and we all agreed it felt a lot like Sinai (in Egypt). It was only a two hour drive along the coast until the beautiful white sanded bay spread before us, surrounded by mountains on the calm and smooth Sea of Cortez. Within walking distance is a small town, colorful houses side by side, mostly well built, some garnished with whale bones. In all that town we saw one man sitting outside his house playing ball with his dogs. The first day the sea was quiet and peaceful but the next day was stormy. In both it was beautiful and inspiring. But we are here for the whales, so after two days we packed ourselves and continued south.

After a 4 hour drive through a cactus nature preserve with amazingly beautiful cacti of all sizes (highway 1), we arrived at our:

Third stop – Guerrero Negro is a small town that was developed by a salt company and lies close to the famous lagoon on the Pacific Ocean where the whales come every winter to mate and give birth. The lagoon is safe from the Orca whales. In deeper waters the orcas approach and bite the mother’s tail and while she turns to see what happened the others attack her baby. The lagoon is not deep enough for that whole trick and that is why the gray whales are all over the lagoon happy and safe. We found them to be very fond of all the attention they are getting from tourists like us and they love to approach the little boats to get petted while calls of excitement fill the air. We took 3 tours, mostly because the first two days were windy and the whales couldn’t approach as close.

We first arrived at Mario’s campground  just before the town itself. They have a very nice restaurant and their own whale watching tours. We stayed 2 nights for the convenience of full hookups, but quickly realized the only reliable part is the sewer. The water is not potable, and the electricity is unreliable. it is quite small and crowded, especially in comparison with the wide open beaches all over. All the other travelers had dogs too so it was a bit stressful and tight. So after 2 days of trying to figure some power troubleshooting and online work, we left to stay by the lagoon.

Fourth stop – Laguna Ojo de Liebre. South of town, a dirt road through the salt flats leads to the lagoon. At the end of the road is a restaurant with a company that takes tours to the whales all day long (unless it is too windy). Beyond the restaurant, after paying 100 pesos (about $5) there are lots of camping spots. We saw the whales spouting and breaching from the beach. We took our second tour from there, but it was still too windy for the whales to approach us.

On our last day as we were packing and getting ready to leave we saw the water was flat and there was no wind. We decided on the spur of the moment to go out for the third time. Thank God we did. These gentle giants came so very close, surrounded the boat, rubbed against it, rose up for petting, seemed really amused by our excitement and made real contact with us. The peak was when one came up and I was so excited that I gave her a kiss and a hug. I couldnt quite get over this for many hours, actually days. There were babies, and adults, males and females. We saw their mating dance where two males woo one female. It was an out-of-this-world experience. It is almost incomprehensible, this encounter with such a huge creature that goes out to the great ocean, swims all the way to Alaska and back, sweeps krill and secrets from incredible depths, then swims up so gently and quietly to to receive a pet, rolls over to show us its belly, gets closer with its huge eye to see us, then spouts right on us. It feels like they love human contact. These whales are at the lagoon each winter and the best time to see them so close is between January and March. If you go (you should, flights are available to that area too) plan a few days extra so you could pick a day with no wind to go out on the tour. It makes all the difference.

Fifth stop – Bahia de Los Angeles. We drove back north through highway 1 and turned right to route 12 that leads to one of Baja’s prettiest vistas. The road itself is in very bad shape, but if you go slow you will arrive at one of the most beautiful bays of the Sea of Cortez. We arrived at Campo Archelon owned by Antonio – a great guy. He has hot showers, a restaurant / cafe with amazing food including vegan and GF (a first here) and really good internet. There’s a beautiful beach, a pretty lighthouse about a mile away, and great vibe with lots of working travelers sitting all day with their computers in the cafe. We heard that in the summer at La Gringa close by you can swim with whale sharks. We wanted to stay two nights, it was so beautiful. But a storm began on the second morning and we saw on our weather app that the weather is better up north.

But then we had a new drama – there was no more diesel in the only gas station in town. After a lot of help from Antonio, Elan managed to get some from a hotel down the road. They hold tanks for their generators. We filled up a few gallons and headed off a bit late with lots of hope , half a tank of diesel and no cell service.

We made it back to Gonzaga bay, where we filled up and then drove 45 minutes north on route 5 to Puertocitos. We read about the hot springs in town and decided to give it a go. We made it there just as the sun was setting on a sleepy deserted town, and at the bottom of the hill by the water we found the campground. The guard  charged us  600 pesos to enter (about $35) and the dogs had a bit of time to run around the beach before the dark.

We woke up very early like we always do and after sunrise headed for the hot springs. We didn’t know what we were headed for and oh, the wonder – steaming pools between the rocks going down to sea. There was a woman there who explained that the temperature of the pools depends on the tide. In high tide water from the sea mix with the spring water and reduce the heat. The pools closer to sea cool more than the ones further up, so you can choose the heat you want. Timing was perfect for us to take all clothes off and enter the big central pool. Outside temperature was really cold but the pool was perfectly warm for us to sink into long minutes of pure pleasure with the colors of the sunrise and the smell of sulphur, all kinds of birds flying by and peaceful silence all around. That was the perfect and nourishing ending of a great unforgettable adventure. We are definitely planning on coming back next year, just trying to find a cheaper car insurance.

Conclusions –

• It’s better to arrive before 3 pm to campgrounds, mostly beacuse that’s when a lot of places close.
• It’s better not to drive at night , even though Baja is not considered dangerous. There is no cellular service in most places and no shoulders on the side of the road in case something happens.
• Take an extra gas/diesel container with you, and fill up everywhere you find your kind of gasoline – they sometimes run out of it in their stations.
• There are places without ATM, and a lot of campgrounds, shops, restaurant and gas stations accept only cash. Bring enough cash with you. American dollars are fine too.
• Potable water – buy there or bring with you. The water from taps is not potable.
• Electricity – it is unstable if you connect to hookups and don’t use if you don’t have a surge protector.
• Tools and essential parts – there are no RV stores anywhere but Cabo San Lucas at the southmost point (about 20 hour drive from the border).
• Internet and cellular – the only places with cellular reception were San Felipe and Guerrero Negro. Our Starlink worked great there but we saved on battery power and used it only a few hours a day.
• Dogs – if you arrive with your pets beware of coyotes around dusk and dawn.

  
  We made it to Guerrero negro as our southern most destination; it is on the border between Baja North and Baja Sur. We heard from travelers how amazing it is further south, but can’t say for ourselves because we didnt have time this visit to make it there. We met a couple from a small place by La-Paz called La Ventana. They said it is beautiful there and you could swim with all kinds of whales and sharks. Generally we met a lot of really great people on this too-short part of our journey.

Blessings until next time

Thank you for being here

with love

Elan and Michal

I almost completed our December travel log but then abandoned it in favor of life itself. So much has happened in the last three months. Where do I start?

The last time I wrote here was from the northwest coast of the United States.

At the beginning of October we arrived in California. First stop – Mount Shasta. There is something special about this mountain: an ancient and timeless kind of magic, something I would like to return and experience more deeply.

We headed south to the San Francisco Bay Area. From there we split into two parallel journeys. Elan drove the mothership south to Los Angeles area and I, Michal, flew to Israel to meet Laor, my beloved son, and friends and family. I surprisingly received a summons to come to New Jersey for my naturalization ceremony, and all sorts of other family matters changed our plans until we finally met on Christmas Eve back in Los Angeles.

Even though some time has passed since then, I want to return to a significant experience we had in Lassen National Park. It is a huge park that surrounds a volcano with geysers, waterfalls, lakes and tens of thousands of trees. Following the recent visits to the national parks, we realized that they were announced this way because each one has a very impressive and special nature, each with its own uniqueness. That is why the sight of such an impressive and large park, almost 70 percent of which went up in flames, is heartbreaking. In the summer of last year the park suffered a heavy blow from wild fires. When we got there, we walked through the destruction and loss from the fires and during a hike to the recommended waterfalls we arrived (almost by surprise) at a stream and waterfalls with the flow of living and rushing water among all the soot and blackness. It was both a shocking and impressive experience at the same time.

With the same intensity of destruction and death, among the remains of the soot, living clean nourishing water flows. Lakes that reflect the mountains that stood and watched the trees go up in flames, crumble and blacken, in the snow that covers the area in winter, in the restoration of what was and what is born now. Like arteries of a visible miracle, water flows between thousands of stumped and burnt trees and reveals the secret of healing and life. Where there was scorched earth, now there is living earth. It will be very intriguing to return there after the rainy winter of the last two months.

Back to the present – we took two days to recover at a campground on the coastline in a small town called Carpinteria, and hit the road again. We crossed the border into Arizona and arrived at Yuma. It’s a town that borders a town called Algodones in Mexico, where many people cross the border to get cheap dental care. In Yuma itself there is not much to do. We stayed about ten days at the Thousand Trails campground, to overcome jetlag, and to be in a relatively quiet place while the world went crazy in honor of the new year.

Luckily we met a group of lovely people, each and every one of them, and we discovered the wonders of boondocking (camping out in the open). We have already had the chance to boondock a few days here and there, but not for long. We were invited to join the “neighborhood” that they created in the middle of nowhere in the heart of the desert. We positioned ourselves close, but not too close to give everyone their own space. Every evening we had a fire together, had a Shabbat dinner, shared meals sometimes, hikes, and lots of conversations of all kinds. It was a really good feeling to be together and find people close to our hearts. After 10 wonderful days together, we went our separate ways but decided to keep in touch and right now I’m writing from our new neighborhood near Quartzsite, Arizona.

Between the previous neighborhood and the current one, quite a bit of water flowed in the river. Actually – a lot of water. We drove towards San Diego and discovered that California had experienced amounts of rain not seen for many years. The positive side of all this rain was the bright green color that enveloped every hill and valley and a magical and lively atmosphere was created. After almost three weeks in the desert it was very refreshing. The less beautiful and even challenging and scary side was a flooded  road near the campground and many hours of helplessness in the middle of a narrow road. The happy ending was that we entered the campground and settled right on the bank of the stream for a week.

I almost forgot the drive through Joshua Tree National Park. It felt like we landed in a parallel universe. Cacti called Choola and the unique Joshua trees next to huge rocks. amazing amazing amazing.

But what I want to return to is the new experience of the simple life out in nature. It is true that we are relatively equipped and have a complete house on wheels (some may say a spaceship), but actually the longer we stay like this in nature, especially in the desert, the pace of life slows down and adapts to the terrain conditions. When the sun goes down, we sit together or alone by the fire. Pretty early in the evening it starts to get cold and everyone crawls back to their dens. Sometimes we download a movie  to watch, sometimes we go to bed early, or stay to talk or read a bit, and the silence envelops us into the night. It is very exciting to wait for the sun to rise early in the morning and to feel the world slowly thawing and waking up. In our area now there is not too much to do in the nearest city, so there is no reason to leave here except to fill the water and gas tanks and get rid of garbage. During the day we connect to the internet and work. I continue to hold Zoom meetings, and Elan is engaged in writing and accompanying schools. When it warms up a bit, we go outside for a walk in the immediate area. Our dogs are free and happy here, and so are we.

In the coming days, the continuation of the plans will become clear. On Saturday I celebrate my birthday and that will probably be the day we go to Baja Mexico for a while. Keep your fingers crossed for us please that these plans will come true and pass safely. We will update of course.

I hope I was able to understand the nature of subscribing to blog updates. Everything that happens here I learn on the fly, so if you want to hear from us the next time I blog, sign up here.

And we’d really love to hear from you in the comments if you’ve read it, if you liked it, and what you’d like to read/see from us next time.

Of course – don’t forget to follow on Instagram – where I regularly upload photos and stories.

Blessings until next time

Thank you for being here

with love

Elan and Michal

The reasons – unwilling to accept what was written, unwilling to accept the writer, unwilling to accept the natural rhythm of things. and more…

I (Michal) decided to abandon the tired reports of: “We traveled from here to there, we went through all this and then that, we were cold, we were hot, we were scared and now we are in a beautiful place”, etc…, in favor of ruminations and processes I go through (and sometimes we go through) during the journey.

I did not find myself in that technical reporting, but if anyone is still interested in following the journey and understanding where we were and what we did, there is an updated page of the route here.

So if not that, what am I writing about?

I am constantly questioning the nature of this adventure.

On the one hand – I want it to continue forever.

On the other hand – I keep asking what I’m doing here and why.

On the third hand – I wonder if it is possible to continue and hope to fulfill myself while moving, asking if it is or is not possible to combine my love for adventures with holding a quiet and loving space for people asking for my heart.

On the fourth hand, Fifth hand and more –

What is my reason, our reason, to be in such a long journey so far from the world?

Here’s my take on it (for now):

We are celebrating the one year anniversary of our departure from a stable home and heading out into the world.

The beginning was stormy and challenging. When our  travel routine settled down, the questions started to arise.

There is no doubt that on days of traveling and hiking with new views and the search for camp sites, the questions disappear and the new experiences revive the excitement and remind me of the taste of adventure. I would even go so far as to say the taste of existence.

On such a long trip, there are a lot of quiet and unexciting moments (for better or worse). You can also say very boring; these are the moments when I start to question everything, abandon my path,  look for answers and dig into the depths of my soul.

I am currently writing from a house we rented in Berkeley, California, after about three months of wandering and exploring the Northwest coast (Washington and Oregon). Half an hour after we moved here it completely felt like home to me – our home, my home. The same is true everywhere we go – we find a camping spot, whether it’s a designated site or an open space out in nature, once or twice out on the street near a friend’s house, unpack some of our stuff and immediately we have our home.

I mention this because it is not taken for granted, at least not by me. I’ve been wandering this world for 45 years (and a half!) Without feeling a sense of home, shaken by any change, unable to maintain continuity, feeling like I don’t belong anywhere or to any group. Also I fear a lot, I fear almost everything.

Along with all of the above, I embarked on this adventure on my own free will and choice. I’m starting to understand why. At least one reason, there are surely more.

As mentioned – what I’m missing is a feeling of home. And what I try to give to the people I work with is a home for their hearts.

Now in this ongoing journey, I understand that I have created a home that goes with me everywhere I go, even when I am without our physical “home”. For me – that’s a lot.

I want to believe that there is a deep meaning in all of this, and that it is revealed as we go. I keep hearing inside my head many unaccepting voices of judgment about what I’m doing, and it can ruin whole days for us. We are experiencing a confusing period, in which we are disillusioned with many ideas that we had (mostly me) and there is something very liberating in giving up the fantasies, growing up, relaxing into what is and what is not. I want to believe that learning and nurturing, disconnecting from the world as we have known it until now, dealing with the loss of such disconnection, the beauty, the excitement, the emptiness and the void, have a deep meaning in them without the need to immediately draw important conclusions from this regarding our gifts to the world and the immediate benefit. Not that I cancel it, but when I am in a constant search for meaning, usefulness and practice, I detach myself from the thing itself and remain observing, sitting on a fence, on the one hand – my role and function in the world, and on the other hand – the adventures and amazing experiences I go through, without being neither here nor there . Just observing detached and not choosing. not surrendering not present.

In our conversations I say that my dream is to be all in, dare to go all the way with life, that’s what I mean. It can seem that I’m really doing it, but inside I know that I’m not devoted to anything, I always keep one eye squinting in other directions, so that I don’t miss anything. The truth is that it is quite exhausting and not fun.

In conclusion, I welcome the break, I love Berkeley very much and am excited to be here and now, in addition to waiting to continue the journey soon. The plan is to keep going south along with the sun, not before taking advantage of the proximity to a major airport and visiting family and friends in Israel. Our plans are fluid, and with diving into the journey comes a kind of inner silence that allows the gifts of such a journey to be revealed. I would love to share again soon.

To summarize the journey itself – the three months since we arrived on the west coast have been stunning in their beauty.

We moved from the magical beaches of Washington and Oregon to the mountains, escaped fire, inhaled dust and smoke. The National Parks: Olympic, Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, and the ridge of volcanoes from Baker to Shasta in California live up to their reputations. We went from minus degrees up to 32 (celsius) in one day. There were nights close to the peaks, and nights by the ocean waves. We tried our luck with whales, and saw tails and backs.

Whidbey Island and the San Juan Islands were wonderful. Sailing on the ferry at sunrise was one of the most beautiful moments of Rosh Hashanah.

And so we continue our journey, taking us with us everywhere we go, and the layers peel off at their own pace, some quickly, some remain, some dissolve with the sea air. I am both excited and afraid about the deserts in the south, and look forward to finding out where the wind will take us.

You are welcome to discover with us.

see you soon (or a bit later)

Thank you for being with us on this journey,

Elan & Michal

Hello friends, and thank you for being here with us.

Last time I (Michal) wrote, we planned on kayaking in the Upper Missouri River. 

If you read our previous posts, you probably noticed the recurring theme of plans changing and  new ones becoming our reality.

So… We didn’t reach our desired destination – A  left turn, as our GPS suggested, started as a relatively wide and paved gravel road. After about an hour it became a narrower path and slowly and gradually we found ourselves lost deep between the mountains, secluded from the rest of the world, with half a tank of gas, no cell service  and not knowing where and how to find a “real” road. After about 3 hours of driving, on narrow paths, up and down the hills of Montana, hitting the bumper and soaking in dirt and dust, we  met our angel in a pick-up truck. Angels in  Montana wear cowboy hats (apparently). We stopped next to him and first thing  he said was  – you look lost.

He was extremely nice and friendly, and gave us directions to a paved road and a gas station. We drove another two and a half hours on dirt roads through the hills all the way to highway 2, far far away from where we wanted to be, but  relieved and happy  we made it. 

Thanks to this  adventure, we found ourselves driving straight to Glacier National Park, and the Rocky Mountains. The weather gradually changed from the great plains, almost desert heat to snowy and chilly, foggy and rainy.

We camped two nights in the Native American Reservation campground at the bottom entrance of the eastern part of Glacier Park. Our site was secluded and on the little creek.

Just when the  sun set, I walked  through the woods and had a special moment with a fox. We were both a  bit scared, but also curious. We took a moment to stare and then each headed her way.

We were lucky to see a Grizzly Bear crossing the road right in front of our car, and then stopping by the side of the road to snack on the grass. We think she was a young female.

These encounters are exciting and impressive, and sometimes unbelievable, and are a big part of what makes this adventure – a great one.

We continued  on our way to the west side of the park, but had  to detour from south, since the middle section  was still covered in  snow and impassable. 

The  west side entrance allows only reserved cars in, which made it impossible for us to enter (we didn’t even know we are coming). It isn’t enough to have the national park yearly pass, they allow only a limited amount of cars to  drive through the park during the day, so we wore our adventure suits again and headed to the river  bank, where we heard  it  is possible  to boondock. Surprisingly we found a perfect spot by the North Fork  of the Flathead river all to ourselves on 4th of July. and the next morning we parked not far from the west entrance and walked in to get the inner shuttle that tours this part of the park. The beautiful glaciers  with green / teal / light blue colors, the  snowy peaks, and waterfalls all over were breathtaking. 

And off we go – Washington state calls and we have to be in Whidbey Island, near Seattle soon. We camped in a parking  lot of Cabela’s in Idaho, in a rest area along highway 2, in a county park. One night each, and  then more  driving. 

We drove through the North Cascades National Park, impressed and washed by its  beautiful mountains, trees, lakes and more and more snow. The heavy duty truck proved itself through the  mountains, and the drive was simple and  smooth.

We arrived  on time for Elan’s Week of teaching in the ‘sound circle Teacher training’ course on the sweet and beautiful Whidbey Island. More about theIsland and Washington soon.

there wasn’t a lot of time (or cell service) to work, scroll endless hours on social media, ask existential questions, or any carefree time. It felt good to be on the move, to be more in the realm of ‘DOING’, and a bit less in the ‘BEING’.

Another thing I noticed was  the shared excitements brought a new spirit to our relationship and the adventurous mode showered us with fun and lively energies.

That’s it for now.

Thank you for being with us on this journey,

Elan & Michal

We are sitting together in the car,  driving for hours, cross country from East to West. Since we left NY, we have experienced so much and traveled many miles into the Northwest. We are rushing the 60 hour drive from NJ to Seattle for a work-related commitment. We could have gone on a faster route, but we chose to stop in beautiful destinations.

About an hour ago we crossed the border from Wyoming to Montana. We are on our way to spectacular cliffs that we will probably describe in the next post.

These are the events since we wrote last: We left NY to Ohio, where we camped one night near Cleveland and another in a “hole in the wall” on our way. Not a lot to write about from there, but the fun fact we met Elan’s niece which we love and haven’t seen for a while.

From Ohio we drove and spent two nights with family. We left the rig in their neighbor’s garage and received a 5 star experience in their house, with great warmth and the most beautiful garden. We spent a lovely afternoon on the beach of Lake Michigan. It felt like a sea or the ocean with white sands and an endless blue horizon. Then we drove around the lake’s south shore, down to Indiana. We spent a night in a little farm literally in the middle of nowhere. We arrived just before dusk and managed to find very little air between the mountains of mosquitos, not allowing any living creature to stay outside. We shut everything, fell asleep and ran for our lives as soon as the sun came out. We then drove through Illinois, without stopping, and made it to Wisconsin to yet another Harvest Host farm in a beautiful green area not far from the Mississippi River.

Part of the fixing and upgrading of our rig in Tampa included adding Lithium batteries. Combined with the built-in solar panels, they are supposed to allow us many days out in nature without hook-ups. But… what happens if the fridge stays a bit open, you have a fan working, and you charge your laptop? Great question! We ran out of electricity, surprisingly, right after night fell.

Long story short, we connected to one of the farm’s outlets inside a building crawling with bats, covered the connections with plastic bags, and finished in perfect timing for a cloudburst and pouring rain. Power was back, the rain stopped, and we all were back inside safely watching  thousands of fireflies outside our windows.

Next morning we left the green valley and crossed the Mississippi River into Minnesota, crossing the whole state and stopping a few times for lunch and walks with the dogs.

We arrived in South Dakota sometime in the afternoon, to the small town Sioux Falls, left the rig at the state park and went to see the falls. It was actually a small park in the center of town, with waterfalls running down rock formations. The next morning we took our kayak for it maiden paddle in Palisades Lake. It was fun and adventurous. We left the area with mud on our feet, heading towards Badlands National park. We got a recommendation to spend the night in a place called – Boondocks on The Wall. 

Boondocking means camping out in nature without any hook-ups. This place was on the rim of the cliffs overlooking the whole valley of the park. The recommendations proved accurate: it was a beautiful place and an exciting experience. We drove up to the rim through the park, where there are endless grasslands from which huge rocks and cliffs in all sizes emerge upwards, and saw plenty of undisturbed wildlife.

We arrived, set our outdoor kitchen, and cooked with the most amazing view. When the preparation was done, we transformed the cooking table into a dining tackle and had dinner, watching the beautiful view and the colors of sunset. The sunrise on the following morning rose from the valley below and left us speechless. I don’t think the photos will be able to show the magic.

We were debating between staying another day and leaving, but we saw the weather forecast was for 100 degrees Fahrenheit that day, and again – nature showed us the way. Away from there. Continuing to another recommended place – Custer State Park. 

We camped near Custer for two nights, went to see the huge carved heads of the presidents in Mount Rushmore, the beginning of the rock carved for Native American hero, “Crazy Horse”, and drove down Needles Highway. The most impressive of the abundant wildlife we saw were the Bison. We drove through a herd of hundreds of bisons – big males, moms and calves, young ones and old ones. So many of them!

This long journey stretched through ten days and as I said I (Michal) am writing while we are driving long hours through Montana. Once in a while we share the wide expanses of the open road with another vehicle. There will be a hill or a mountain here and there. You can drive a whole hour without seeing the smallest of towns.

Lunch was a picnic at the foot of Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, a huge rock with a striped texture, emerging from the ground, surrounded by red sandy soil and greenery. We laid our rug by the rig, feasted, rested and headed on our way.

We will update soon, probably from Seattle

Thank you for being with us on this journey,

Elan & Michal