Baja California - Todos Santos and a Mexican cop

I am staying here, in La Paz, in a house exchange. Dale and her friend, Evelyn, came and stayed at my place in Long Point, a year ago in September. Now I am staying at one of her 2 houses in Baja California Sur. Today I went to visit Todos Santos, where her other home is and had lunch and a tour with her.
Todos Santos is about an hour from La Paz, after you get out of the urban sprawl, which can take a while. It was back on the highway that I came in on and then take the turn off for Todos Santos and the road takes you right onto the main street. I immediately felt more relaxed. It has a small town feel, easy to find a place to park just one block off the main street. I was early for the lunch date with Dale so just walked around.

Looking down the main street. The Pacific Ocean is on the distance at the right.

I stopped at a gallery and looked at work by Jill Logan and  Lee Mothes. Some lovely work. I especially fell in love with the waves but it was all way out of my price range. I continued on, looking for galleries but didn't actually find any more. There were however lots of tourist/souvenir shops to peruse:

Elaborate bead work

Silver jewelry, many with precious stones.

Cut work which I was told was made from bark and cactus wood.

Also leather, wood carvings, frig magnets and T shirts. Some in stores and some in little market areas off the street.

Woven blankets, rugs, table runners, shawls.

A variety of ceramics; mugs, plates, jugs, bowls and skulls (human and animal)

Down a side street and it is less touristy. This is the church that sits on the location of the original mission building.

In front of it is a large open square with trees and benches and a pretty band shell.

Along one side, the theatre. The Festival de Cine Todos Santos takes place in March and runs for 10 days.

I met up with Dale who picked me up and took me, off the tourist path, to a Mexican restaurant.

Dale had an enchilada and I can't remember the name of what I had but it was a pepper, stuffed with shrimp, battered, deep fried and then covered with a red sauce. It was served with a salad with peppers and avocados. It was delicious, light and fresh. Plus a beer. I only seem to drink beer in Mexico.

Dale then took me on a quick tour of the community.

First the Beach Club, on the beach but with a lovely pool and a restored lighthouse.

From here we could see the fishing beach, where the fishermen drive full out towards the beach, pop up their motors and let the surf drive them in.

Beautiful views and

absolutely nobody on that long, lovely beach.

Next we drove up to a restaurant on a nearby hill top.

Views back towards the mountains, hazy today.

Down into Todos Santos, so much greener than the surrounding mountains or the area around La Paz.

Down the coast. Looking down on the Beach Club and the fishing beach.

Back into town and Dale showed me her lovely home and then a couple of downtown hotels in original brick buildings.

The church and theatre from a roof top bar. Great place to have a drink and watch the sun go down.

Todos Santos has a very relaxed feel. It is also very lush, very green. The valley is famous for its organic agriculture and one of the English language publications described it as "bohemian". The beaches are also famous for their surfing opportunities and only some are safe for swimming.
It was a lovely afternoon and Dale was an excellent host and she got me back on the road before it was dark however that was not to be the end of the days events.
Here's were the Mexican cop piece of the title comes in. I was driving along the main road into La Paz, in the middle lane of 3 lanes of slow moving traffic, transport trucks on either side. Lots of honking of horns and loud Mexican music coming from all around. I saw blue flashing lights a few cars behind so eased into the right hand lane to let him pass, as did the cars behind me. But he didn't pass, so I moved off onto the side of the road. Big black SUV. Big uniformed cop with a gun in his holster. "What did I do?" He only knew a few words in English; "4 way stop" "Your license" "Fine 160 US Dollars" There was no way I could see a 4 way stop, jammed as I was and no way I was doing anything different from all the other cars around me, except of course I had a rental car sticker on the back, but I wasn't about to argue with the man over that. However I told him I had no US dollars, I'm from Canada not U.S. I only have Pesos. He kept repeating "160 Us Dollars no problemo". I was getting the picture. I wasn't about to pull out the pouch that had my U. S. money in it (I had about $100) so I pulled out my wallet and showed him that I had 300 pesos and kept repeating that I didn't have USdollars, only pesos. This went on for a few exchanges and then with a sigh he said "No problemo Senora", took the 300 pesos and gave me back my license. Whew!
I guess I got off lightly, he asked for the equivalent of $220 Canadian and got the equivalent of $20 Canadian.