Its been a while since we wrote last! We had an absolutely amazing time in our motorhome in the Baja, Mexico and would thoroughly recommend it! We didn't feel unsafe for one minute..in fact we haven't felt so relaxed and welcomed in a country as much as the Baja! It is right up there as one of our favourite destinations and by motorhome has to be THE best way to experience it!

John and Jerry Burden, our partners in the motorhome, flew from Canada to Cabo San Lucas and we spent an awesome week with this awesome couple! We then flew back to Vancouver direct via Westjet for $400 each....bargain hey! J+J drove "Miss Adventure 6" safely back to Edmonton, Canada to commence their year of motorhome heaven!

We then commenced our journey home to Cairns after an amazing catch up with the Peck-Paddon clan in Vancouver and Paul's family at Ocean Shores, NSW. Belinda's Mum and Cairns welcomed us home and presented us with an awesome apartment to lay our heads in for 10 fantastic weeks (way too short) Special mention has to be made of the wonderful visit we had with Kate, Johnathan and the lovely Michelle and the bike share we have with Annette Cooper and Mike Mabbutt! You might have gathered we like to share when it comes to owning travel vehicles! We have caught up with most of you in Cairns..those we haven't, we better catch up soon, if not see you next time round!

We will be back on 2 wheels again this trip. Our great friends Csilla and Oli will deliver our European Super Tenere (that we own with them) to Thessaloniki, Greece where we will stay with them at a bargain 5 star resort with everything included (including cocktails apparently!) for E100 per ROOM in early June for 8 magic days with their 2 young boys!

The bike is set up and ready to cruise to amazing Annecy, France (via Italy) where we will housesit 4 dogs for 10 days, then we will meet Brian and Sandra Smith in Southern Germany for their 40th wedding anniversary on 8 July. (Pat introduced them to each other, so we just HAD to be there!)

Next destination is another housesitting "job" in Switzerland near Bern for 3 weeks (the same wonderful couple that we housesat for 2 years ago- Franzisca and Romano!)

We will then ride the bike back to Thessaloniki, Greece mid Oct where we fly to Muscat, Oman to see good friends now living there...Chris and Dale Bartlett...enter the scene again! They will show us the REAL Oman for a couple of weeks.

End October we will be on our way to wonderful Sri Lanka. We have heard great reports of this place and cant wait! We would love to housesit there too. Bin's cousin Olivia is marrying Nick and honeymooning in Sri Lanka so it would be great to see them, but give them some time alone...hehe! We will probably drop into India as a visa run..maybe check out Goa and a few other "must see's in India". The next flight is back to Jill's arms in Cairns end March 2013 from Sri Lanka via Ocean Shores to catch up with 2 kids that are growing up WAY TOO FAST for their wayward Aunt and Uncle's liking!

We will have our Australian phone with us for sms (text) ONLY 0061 419 309 309 and our NEW ADDRESS: patandbin (at) gmail (dot) com Please delete the old one's as we dont check them anymore!

Keep in touch and we hope to meet up with some of you on this trip...these moments are always highlights for us...and remember...life is full of moments...just make them magic ones!

We are getting ready to get back on 2 wheels on "Miss Adventure III" in Europe...leaving Cairns in just over 2 weeks!

We are writing to let you know we have fallen for a yahoo look alike email to upgrade. We clicked on it, put our email address and password in and wham..they had everything they needed to delete our contacts, inbox and folders with all our details! Somehow they also got into our hotmail account as well.

They also wrote to all our contacts saying we are in Manila and in trouble and need money. This is a scam. We are in Mexico, not in trouble and do not need any money...

We have no other way to contact our friends to tell them not to worry..please tell anyone we know in case they also got the email and are worrying about us!

We will not be using the yahoo or hotmail accounts any more. We now have a gmail account with the same beginning as our old accounts.

We hope nobody else ever falls for this trick...believe us...its a real pain!

We have just found paradise in the Baja, Mexico and we must describe this place to you!

About a 1/3rd of the way down Baja we were driving along the coastal mountain roads when we looked down to see this big horseshoe bay with small islands and yachts anchored just offshore. We couldn't resist it...100metre wide beach stretching for 2 km. Getting closer we noticed a tropical restaurant at one end and a couple of RVs parked next to palm sun shelters just above the high tide mark and facing a waveless shore line.

Santispac Beach

The few people that are here are all Canadians and are so relaxed and friendly and help with any questions we had. The regulars say there are better spots only a few km's down the road, but we are finding it hard to weigh anchor!

Walking around the headlands we have never seen such an abundance of colourful and multi shaped sea shells. While having our morning coffee in our arm chairs we watch countless birdlife, like pelicans and ospreys dive bombing for fish. Egrets, sandpipers and herons strolling the beach, while vultures spiral the updrafts.

Each morning the local Mexicans come around selling fresh fish, fruit, vegies, bakery and handicafts. The American who runs the restaurant and collects parking fees charges $5.50 per night. The climate here is so mild with the days hitting 25 deg C and down to 15C at night.

The downside is no telephone, internet, TV and electricity.

Today we took our bicycles to explore the beach villages down the coast. At our first gringo style village a lady came out to chat, next thing we found ourselves having tea on her patio when her husband roared up in his fishing boat, yelling for us all to get in to see the 200-300 dolphin pod in the next bay.

It was an unbelievable site and the dolphins were attracted to us by curiosity and to the sound of our outboard motor. They swam just under the boat and surfaced an arm span off the bow and Belinda could nearly touch them as they surfaced. After half an hour we headed back to the cottage for a beer and barracuda tacos that Bob had just caught. We eventually had to force ourselves to leave as there was a live band playing at our beach restaurant and we had to shower up for the party that followed. What great serendipity! All of the gringos living here are so friendly to open up their home to strangers.

Next morning we rented 2 kayaks to venture to the gringo village in the opposite direction. Only to find equally inviting residents there. Such a relaxed atmosphere. On this adventure we spotted frigate birds, oyster catchers and many hummingbirds, as well as all the others we mentioned before.

For a change of scenery we decided to change beaches to a free camping sand spit beach, some 20km down the road to meet up with some new friends. We only made it 2 km to the next picturesque beach as we just couldnt drive past it.

Next morning ....off to the spit. We only made it another 2km to the next postcard beach. Tomorrow..off to the spit..we hope!

Each beach we kayak out to circle the islands. Some beaches have kayaks for rent, at some the neighbours lend us theirs. The whale sharks are in the area, so we soon hope to paddle amongst them.

Last night we were invited to a pot luck dinner on the beach put on by some of the other RVers. Some return each winter since the 90's. A few had guitars, so the entertainment started shortly after dinner and finished about 9pm, which they call Baja Midnight!

This morning we must leave, but it is already 2pm and we are having trouble getting the energy to move the RV! Our biggest concern is how to keep the beach sand out of the RV!

Ths Spit...with 360deg views...eventually!

We entered USA near Vancouver mid September 2011 with the aim of going down the Rockies to Mexico and then coming back up the West coast in Feb 2012 as far as the weather will allow us. Our RV partners John and Jerry will then have a holiday in her, drive her back to Edmonton and we will fly back to Cairns via Vancouver early March 2012.

One of the best buys in the USA is a year long National Parks pass for $80. When its $20 per entry, thats a great deal! So that was our plan National Parks here we come. Now we don't need cities and hotels we can wake up in the middle of national parks, watch sunrises and sunsets, do some great hikes and bicycle rides...not to mention the stars at night...awesome!

The first state we travelled in was Washington and our goal was small country roads, away from big cities, so we followed stunning route 20 to Sandpoint in Idaho. We wanted to do Waterton National Park- Highway to the Sun Scenic Road, but it was closed for the season already...we had to get moving! So we headed more SE along highway 200, 90 and 191 to Yellowstone National Park. We were late in the season, lots of campgrounds had closed, but the weather was perfect! With an RV you have to watch freezing temperatures and snow as your pipes can freeze and crack...picture the sewerage pipe doing that??

We heard about a great motorcycle road called Bear tooth pass, so we did that at sunset...awesome and ended up in Cody, home of Buffalow Bill. While travelling we don't do any homework, just wing it...we never know what to expect and whats around the corner! We ended up in a gun fight in the main street with prostitutes and drunk men everywhere...it was all a show..hilarious!

Then back to Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park and Jackson. By now it was definately end of summer tourist season, early Oct, and all the sales were on! We bought hiking boots, Chaco sandals, warm jackets, all for around 60% off!

We then headed West on route 20 towards Craters of the Moon and Sawtooth National Park. We stopped for lunch at Sun Valley and were still there 2 days later! Sun Valley is a gorgeous, upmarket ski resort town where the rich and famous ski. While we were there the weather was gorgeous, so we parked right in the centre of town and cycled everywhere. Pat gets Belinda to knock on the door of the house we are parked outside of and asks if its OK to park there the night...they are all so friendly, one lady even offered to do our clothes washing!! We found a great thrift shop that had lots of jackets, warm boots, waterproof jackets, thermal underwear, all for bargain prices..heaven! There was a great wholefoods supermarket and the library had wireless internet...its a wonder we ever left!!

A big storm was coming so we decided to try to outrun it and head East towards Salt Lake City heading along route 80 past the salt plain. Mistake! Never try to outrun a storm...you would think we had worked that out by now! Well, we thought we were going to beat it, cruising along the Salt Lake when a mini tornado (that we didnt see coming) blindsided us and ripped our awning to threads..it was old and rotten anyway! It was the scariest 5 seconds (felt like 5 minutes) of our lives and Pat heroically kept the RV out of the salt lake and out of the way of oncoming traffic til we could get to the Salt Lake City Library where we camped for the night with free wifi internet and a stiff rum! Next day saw us headed up to the gorgeous ski resort town of Park City, then highway 40 east towards Dinosaur National Monument.

Our goal was to get to Boulder, Colorado to see Chris and Erin Ratay before Chris went on a rafting trip. We got there on time and Chris asked Pat to go on this BOYS only trip, so off they went! Erin and I stayed home waiting patiently for their return!! NOT..we painted the town RED! Boulder is a gorgeous University town with bike paths, coffee shops, gyms and great outdoor shops!After about 10 days...completely breaking our 3 day guest rule, we reluctantly left our very comfortable American home base and headed for Aspen via gorgeous Independence Pass. We camped (in the RV) in the front of a vacant house in downtown Aspen, a holiday home of some rich and famous person and rode our bicycles all over town, even did a guided historical society tour by bicycle! We loved it, the Aspen leaves were changing colour (amazing rainbow of colours) but it was getting cold -6deg C in our RV at night and we didnt want any frozen pipes!

South we continued to gorgeous Crested Butte, Black Canyon National Park, through Silverton to stunning Durango, Colorado. Colorado really is stunning and if you like hiking, biking or just driving...it doesn't get must better than this! Scenery to rival Belinda's favourite country Switzerland.

West we headed towards amazing Mesa Verde National Park, back up the mountains to Telluride (another gorgeous ski town) and down before it snowed to Moab, Utah. Snow was on our tail and keeping us moving! Moving is expensive when your RV runs at 4km/litre!

Utah has got to be USA's best kept secret with Arches and Canyonlands National Park, camping alongside the Colorado River, cycling around Natural Bridges National Park and driving down through Monument Valley! Our eyes and camera were working overtime!

The grand finale was the Big Daddy Grand Canyon! We saw it from the north and the south rim. They closed the north rim for the season the day after we left due to snow...we had to keep moving..damn snow!

Zion National Park was stunning on a gorgeous sunny day. The next day a huge storm came with lots of snow and we couldn't get up to Bryce Canyon National Park...time to head south towards Las Vegas. We stayed at Circuscircus resort from Mon- Thurs for $33/night, cheaper than the RV park at $45/night and free camped at Walmart during the weekend when the price went up! Vegas is an amazing place with lots of deals and not so FREE shows! We loved it and checked it all out!

Chris and Dale Bartlett, long term friends currently living in Muscat, Oman had arranged holidays before their conference in Vegas, so we picked them up in our RV and raced them off to Red Rock Canyon to cycle the scenic loop. They travelled with us for about a week and we visited Death Valley, Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Park. We even got up to Lake Tahoe and dropped them off at the airport at Reno. It was great seeing them again and we loved having them for every kilometre of the 2,000km we did together.

Chris and Dale in Yosemite, California.

We then came down scenic 395 back to Death Valley before another huge snow and wind storm closed route 395. We arrived at Tecopa Hot Springs RV park 5 minutes before a huge windstorm that lasted 2 days. We had died and gone to heaven. There were 2 indoor private 2 person spas, a communal hall, a huge DVD swap collection and THE friendliest people we have met yet! They are all snowbirds, have been coming to this place for years and we were the new (and young) kids to arrive! They made us feel so welcome, with happy hour at 4pm, early morning coffee together, music jam sessions, Date Farm tours...unbelievable! We didnt really care about the 80km/ hour winds outside! But...we had to keep moving!!

Still heading south in California we went through the Mojave Desert, then along the famous route 66 to the Colorado River, then to Joshua Tree National Park, Palm springs, Borrego Springs and finally to the famous"Fountain of Youth Resort and RV Park" near Salton Sea. Its a mini city with amazing activities and facilities and more friendly people with lots of time on their hands! We could have stayed there for a week, but we only had a few days left on Belinda's 3 month visa so had to keep moving...we will be back!

Yesterday we crossed the Mexican/ Californian border at Tecate and will finally slow down and spend the next 2 months in Baja, Mexico. We have put on 25,000km since Edmonton (6 months) and have thoroughly enjoyed every moment and have never felt so free in our lives! Retirement has just become a reality for us and we intend on making the most of every day that we are blessed with together.

As usual its the people you meet that make a trip and a life and we have the good fortune to have met some great people, but then you make things happen don't you.