Being an enthusiastic traveller always ready to strike out on an adventure I created a wide cuff bracelet in copper to honor my voyages to distant places. I hand stamped each city and country that I remember fondly in my travels onto the surface of the cuff as a pleasant reminder of the places I have been and as a reminder of the places I have yet to go.
Our first Big Adventure together was in Cabos San Lucas in Mexico. We were there on a company retreat and had the afternoon to ourselves with no scheduled activities planned so we took advantage of the opportunity for some sight seeing. The rattle trap van had been rented to transport luggage from the airport to our hacienda and was our only available transportation for the day so we grabbed the keys and with map in hand, we climbed into the cargo van and were off on our Big Adventure. For those of you unfamiliar with Mexico once you leave the tourist areas of Cabo San Lucas the roads become very narrow and the surrounding areas are desolate with only scrub brush and cactus as far as the eye can see.
Our destination was Todos Santos, an artist colony and the home to the famous Hotel California that the Eagles had written a song in tribute of in the 70's. Welcome to the Hotel California, any time of year you will find us here...
The van was a bit more tragic than we had first thought and we began to wonder if we would make it to our destination without a break down. There were no towns in between as we had anticipated just points of interest on a map.
We saw the occasional bony steer and an occasional donkey here and there. I have no idea what they were eating as I couldn't see anything that a cow could survive on and no water for them to drink. It was a bit alarming to be driving around a curve in the highway and see a long horned steer beside the road with no fences to keep them away from the highway.
We began to see burned out cars in ravines along the highway with shrines nearby for those that perished in the crash. It seemed that when accidents happened the cars were left to rust where they lay. It reminded me of the Mad Max movies I had seen starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. We became even more suspicious of the steer and began to watch more closely for signs of them lest our rattle trap van end up along the highway joining the other abandoned vehicles laying in rust.
We arrived in Todos Santos without mishap and easily found the town center. Anxious to get out of the van for a bit we parked and climbed out onto solid ground with a sigh of relief. We found a flea market and purchased souvinirs, a coffee mug for Dan and a pottery vase for me. We found no artist colony but we did find a cantina, where we purchased cervazas and took a seat under an umbrella out of the hot sun. As we sat musing about where we might find the Hotel we looked across the street and there it was covered in vines. The windows were boarded closed and a no trespassing sign was nailed across the front door. It appeared that the hotel had been closed for quite some time.
It was a grand adventure and set the bar for our future adventures together. Now we jokingly proclaim that we are off on another Big Adventure each time we leave for vacation. Our trip involved staying in a beautiful hacienda on the coast, seeing whales, eating the best banana pancakes on the planet at the Palmilla, deep sea fishing, visiting Sammy Hagar's restaurant the Cabo Wabo and of course our adventure to Todos Santos.
The Hotel California is now open once again and available for your next Big Adventure.
This customizeable bracelet is available for purchase in my etsy shop where you can add your favorite cities and countries to create your own personal Travellers Bracelet.
Thank you for visiting...
Blessings, Julie
