Once upon a time, back in 1991, a family of 4 (plus their dog and cat) made the decision to move to Los Cabos. They sold their home, and most of their belongings, and packed up a trailer (and ski boat) and, they moved…
There had been a vacation in the spring of 1991 down to San Jose del Cabo with family friends, a new job had been offered and accepted. By the end of summer that same year, this little family had made the move to Mexico.
A few months later, they moved to Los Cabos …
Our mom (Rene) spent the months before the move preparing by recording like 30 cassette tapes of our favorite music from a popular radio station. The station was doing an 80’s rock series, she was recording on this old huge radio, and every time the announcer (DJ?) would come on she’d race across the room to pause the recording. We listened to those tapes for YEARS. It was time well spent.
Us girls, Wendy and Adrienne, would be 6 and 7 years old when we moved. We spent the months ahead playing with our friends, we were so excited to move, not quite understanding what was at stake – the risks associated with such an adventure.
Mom and dad packed up the things they decided to keep in a 16’ trailer. And then Dad made the first drive down. It was about 1,000 miles from Phoenix to San Jose del Cabo via the peninsula, through Baja California Norte and Baja California Sur on the narrow barely-paved transpeninsular highway.
He was completely unprepared for how rustic and remote the Baja road was. At one point, the boat trailer caught an edge going around a deadly curve and he almost got shoved off a giant cliff never to be seen or heard from again. The road was narrow, the trucks large, and when two trucks (and a boat) meet going around a deadly curve at the same time, very dangerous things can happen. Luckily, he was safe – just a scare, and it wouldn’t be the last. Anyone who has ever driven the Baja, back then or even in recent times, knows it’s just one of those roads you have to be SO alert on.
He delivered the ski boat to Los Cabos (why did he take a ski boat down?? Why not!!) , and went back to Phoenix for the trailer.
This time he drove down the mainland, and adventure was still to be found – he blew out a tire (or two?) about halfway down and was camped out at a gas station in ‘La Palma’ near Hermosillo and Guaymas for 3 days with a trailer full of our belongings, a cat and a dog, waiting for the new tires to be shipped down. Luckily everyone he met along the way was kind and friendly. Mexicans have a solution for everything. They are a people who work with what they have. When the tires blew out of the trailer, there had been damage to the axle. The guys at the gas station helped fix his axle by beating it with whatever they had laying around – it was enough to make the rest of the drive, once the new tire arrived.
When we arrived…
Dad had moved down almost immediately after their trip in the Spring, he started working for our family friend right away, and looking for a home for the family. He rented a house for the family in Magisterial. A tall, two-story bubblegum pink house, right across the street from a basketball court.
Meanwhile, mom handled selling our home in Phoenix, all of their business equipment, packing up what they kept, and getting all of their affairs in order for the big move.
Us girls flew down once dad was settled in, and had a place set up for us to live. It was early September – the rainy season – and it was extremely humid. We were used to the heat coming from Phoenix; but the humidity was so different- we grew to love it, but acclimating to humidity can take some getting used to – it can seem harder to breath, at first. We remember stepping off the airplane for the first time and the wave of humidity hitting us like a blanket – wow, what was this??
It was wonderful. It was Mexico!
For the first few months, we were homeschooled while our parents figured out our paperwork to get us into one of the local schools. We met other expats in the neighborhood who were on the same adventure – our parents became fast friends with some of the crew, and we just became part of this Los Cabos community seemingly overnight.
I remember we had friends in the neighborhood in Magisterial, like Griselda and Adriana (my ‘tocaya’, what Mexicans call each other when they share the same name) – we had no way of talking to some of our new friends since we did not speak Spanish when we moved, but play and fun are universal, so that’s what we did. We road bikes and ran around the neighborhood like we had always lived there. We were welcomed into this new world with open arms.
Not long after, our little family found our dream home: a beautiful three-story house with a pool, three casitas, and a separate apartment over the garage; a huge driveway, a cactus garden, a large backyard, and the most sprawling view of the San Jose coastline – the neighbors called it ‘the cake house‘ – it was located in the expat community known as ‘Gringo Hill’ (for real) right in the heart of Costa Azul – the surf spot of San Jose del Cabo.
Mom had spotted it not long after the move: It was Christmas day 1991 and our family was at the beach in front of Zippers (which was just a bar back then, before it became a restaurant) with some new-found friends. She looked up at this big house on the cliff overlooking the bay and said, “I want to live there”.
It just so happened that one of these newly formed friends, Frank, knew the house and the owner and had just started looking for someone to rent the house.
Mom and dad couldn’t fathom how they’d be able to afford such a house; but, the circumstances made it possible. The owner of the house was at an extended ‘summer camp’ on like a 10-year sentence; and, the house needed some work, so… it was a win-win. Our parents were landscape architects and project managers – they did a ton of work for rent exchange AND they sublet two of the casitas to some friends, and the apartment over the garage to other friends.
The house was also rented at a very reasonable price, as there had been an incredibly unfortunate incident only months before we moved in – some people renting the house had gotten into a spat with some surfers cutting through the backyard on their way to the beach. Things got heated, some rocks or roof tiles were thrown to scare off the surfers, and one was struck and killed. I remember the police bringing the accused to the house a short time after we rented to reenact what had happened. It was all so surreal.
However, even given this very isolated incident, we were not scared off. Growing up, all of our doors and windows were always open. None of our neighbors locked their houses. Most people just left their keys in their car ignition. San Jose del Cabo was the best place to grow up.
What seemed the untouchable became a reality.
And so, it was. Our family moved into the cake house and fixed it up to be our dream house. Us Davis sisters truly thought we had died and gone to heaven.
Things were starting to fall into place – we had moved to paradise, found forever friends, the dream house, a great job. Life was, well, perfect.
A move to Baja in 1991 may have seemed like an impulsive decision, and a challenging adventure with two little girls, a cat and a dog, but it turns out we weren’t the only ones. The growing community of expats and locals thriving together to make Los Cabos what it is today was a gift to experience and be a part of. There were enough families like ours, to feel like the journey was not unattainable or foreign – and, there was a thriving culture to be discovered and appreciated, full of rich history and warm friendly people.
It was an honor to be accepted into this new world. An adventure awaited that at the time could not even be conceived by this little family. And now, we are here and SO excited to start to share this adventure with you. Our memories, and the memories of our friends and family. What Cabo was like then, and what it’s like now. How we came to be who we are today. How Cabo has evolved from a little ranch town, to a globally recognized tourist destination.
We have been so fortunate to call this beautiful place home for nearly 30 years. So, welcome, thank you for joining us. Stick around, we’re bound to share something else you may find interesting.
loved reading this. Can’t wait for more.
Thank you!!
Loved reading this, We first met you at a Halloween party at the Cake House as newbies (all of 2 weeks) in 1996.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the post. More to come!! 🙂