A Quick Trip to Los Cabos

The terrace at Casa Galeria, La Jolla, San Jose del Cabo

Did a quick trip down to Los Cabos this past week. We’re putting our house there on the market. We bought it seven years ago; on a whim really. We were down visiting my brother and his wife and spotted a hurricane destroyed house near them that needed a major rehab. We were some combination of brave and crazy, and we bought it. It was completely destroyed; zero landscaping, no pool, windows boarded with plywood, and there wasn’t a scrap of building material other than the concrete shell that we were able to reuse. All of that of course made it super affordable.

We resurrected that house and, if I may say so myself, made it a work of art. We loved it. Part of me still can’t believe we’re selling it, but life marches on. We want to be spending as much time with family between our travels that it just made sense to base ourselves out of our home in Canada again. So I went down to pack up the last of my things and say goodbye. Greg will do the same shortly.

This little cactus is a fun story. A few years ago the artist collective i’m part of was invited to do a show at Pez Gordo Gallery in Palmilla. Nine of them flew down and stayed with us at the house. We each did a painting on location for the show. The group is called 13 Feet Off the Ground, and the show was called Puertas, as all the paintings were done on wooden doors. It was a great experience. There’s a fun video of the whole experience here if you’re interested. The night of the opening another artist friend who happened to be in town came by. She brought a little gift; a tiny baby cactus that she’d spotted in the dessert. She brought it in a soup can and it was about 2 inches tall. On the bottom of the can she’d written something like “Audra found me in the dessert but I want to come live at Carol’s house”. So of course I replanted it in the garden. That little sprite grew so much over these few years! I had to sketch it while I was there so I can kind of keep it with me forever when the house sells.

Audra’s Cactus

I could get all maudlin about leaving Los Cabos, but the truth is we still have a foot in the door there. We bought another house with a group of friends. It’s in a neighbourhood called Cabo Bello, and the house is called Vista del Arco'; which means view of the arch. Aptly so, s it faces the famous landmark dead on. It’s another fixer upper with good bones and a great view. The rehab is just about done now. I think we’ll probably put it on the short term rental market for the time being. This house is mostly just an investment, but I feel like we still have a connection and a place to stay when we visit in the future. . I sketched the view from the terrace while we were there.

Vista del Arco

This whole trip was mostly packing, saying our goodbyes and tying up loose ends, but we did sneak in a little couple time. We went to the Sunset Mona Lisa for a little hand-holding dinner. It’s a magnificent spot hanging over the water. At the moment the sun plunges into the sea all the staff all pull out horns and stand regally on the rocks while they play a beautiful tribute to the sun. It’s a moment. And the food. OMG. Crazy good. it cost more than my flight down and back, but for a special occasion it’s totally worth it.

Carol and Greg, Sunset Mona Lisa

Now I’m back in Canada; waiting for Greg to follow. I’ve got a busy couple weeks of packing and organizing here. We’ll have Christmas and New Year’s with the family, then head off on our big adventure.

Adios for now Cabo. We’ll pop back down between our travels this coming year, but for now it’s a sweet farewell.

Thanks so much for reading, and don’t forget to sigh up for updates to follow along on the adventure!