Art Talk: BC to Baja and Back (part two) scroll down a bit for part one

We headed north up to Loreto where we stayed for 4 days. Spent the time hanging at the Zocalo (square), toured the mission, walked all over the town and one day we went on a day trip to San Javier. Our hotel was comfortable but Loreto is a very noisy town. The bells at the mission go off all the time starting at 6 in the morning and sometimes whole songs are played. I would have to live out of downtown for sure.

hanging out at the square sampling margaritas, craft beer and food

Lots of teens and families hang out at the Zocalo

night time walk on the malecon

This is the Mexican Magnet Hardware

we did an architectural walk around the town

some nice old industrial wood buildings

first mission in Baja with fabulous brick work

love a good laundry shot

We did a day trip up to San Javier Mission which is about
35 klm up in the mountain range Sierra de la Giganta
and was definitely a highlight of the trip north.

The Jesuits were told by Cochimi visitors to Loreto of potential agricultural land across the nearby Sierra de la Giganta. In May 1699 Francisco Maria Piccolo, along with a dozen Cochimí guides and ten Spanish soldiers, crossed the mountains on horseback and entered the valley the Indians called Biaundó. The inhabitants of a Cochimí rancheria at the site were friendly and Piccolo baptized 30 of their children.

^{In October 1699, Piccolo returned with a contingent of Spanish soldiers and Indian converts and began to construct the mission. Piccolo dedicated the mission on December 3, 1699, and San Francisco Javier (also Xavier) became the second most enduring mission established in Baja California.}

This is all done after sailing from Spain to the Sea of Cortez, BCS Have to admire his tenacity!

the mountain range

entance to the village

The Mission

the missionaries made aquaducts, planted
citrus, olives, grapes and other crops

350 year old olive tree

the gold altar was made in Mexico City and then taken apart and
shipped over, taken up by donkey and put back together

baptismal font

cemetary

cactus will grow anywhere

the rock work is incredible...all hand done

the village has about 150 people with ranches all around

village buildings

the art gallery with hand made embroidered bags and cookies by the locals

police station

this house was out in the middle of no where

Headed up the Baja thinking we would camp along the way but it got too cold so one night in Punta Chivato and with the wind blowing we packed up the tent for the last time and headed north. Stopped at a fabulous hotel in San Quintin https://misionsantamariahoteles.com right on the beach, cheap, nice beds and a restaurant. Northern Baja was incredibly green and the flowers were out especially the California poppies.

Headed to the Tijuana border and had to wait 2 hours

to talk to a US border guard for about 2 minutes.

We then landed at our friend's fabulous place in Los Angeles. It was designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. We were going to stay a couple days but messages from friends in Canada said don't come home it is snowing so we stayed 8 days and ended up being part of great family dinners (both are great cooks), going to some fab restaurants and of course galleries and museums.

kids making us dinner

lawn ornaments in the hood

some of the art we saw.....

Annie Leibovitz at Hauser & Wirth (arts district LA)

LACMA

Tony Smith

Michael Heizer

was happy to see this in person

I followed the delivery of this rock online

Charlie White
an amazing printmaker, painter, drawer

Rauschenberg (huge collages and installations)

Dan Flavin

sorry no artists names

Richard Sera (one of our favs)

LA art fashion

Went up the 101 which is so beautiful at this
time of year especially with the rain.
Cut over to the I 5 at San Francisco.

the I 5 and the American Dream
big flag on roof and one on truck

tons of trucks delivering everything everywhere

great day in Portland with art, Buffalo Exchange,
Powell's Books, food and craft cider and beer.
We also visited several design stores and they all
carried only local designers!!

signs around the town

last night on the road and we stayed with our niece
just outside Portland on her amazing piece of land.
Her nine year old made us a delicious dinner of salad and pasta.
Her kids are awesome!!!!
This is the outdoor kitchen she built on the Washougal River.