I met Ann Hazard, author of COOKING WITH BAJA MAGIC and CARTWHEELS IN THE SAND in Ensenada one weekend last winter. A group of us Baja nuts met at Hussong's. After partying the afternoon away, we all went to dinner and finished the evening off dancing in the disco at the Hotel San Nicolas. Next day, I bought one of each of her books. My wife, Leslie promptly snagged them.  She had her nose buried in CARTWHEELS all the way back to L.A. (The good news is, she read the juicy parts of CARTWHEELS out loud to me and yes, there are some juicy parts!)

If you want to check out Ann's books for yourself, I suggest you plan on attending one or all of her Book Signing Events this year. She's always up to something whether it's teaching a cooking class, doing her slide show, speaking at an environmental event up here, or traveling south of the border and doing it all again in places like Rosarito, Ensenada, Punta Banda, San Felipe, Guerrero Negro, Mulege, Bah¡a Concepcion, Loreto, La Paz, Cabo or Todos Santos. Wherever you catch her, Ann will regal you with stories of her family's four generations of Baja travel adventures from COOKING WITH BAJA MAGIC and share the secrets behind CARTWHEELS IN THE SAND. If you're lucky you'll get to watch her whip up some major munchies and delectable drinks.

AMIGOS Y AMIGAS, take it from one who knows. You will definitely be injected with a lasting dose of BAJA MAGIC! Ann will show you how to create the ambience of Baja in your own home. In no time at all you'll be dancing barefoot around your kitchen as you get ready to throw your own colorful, lively Baja style fiesta! And it's a given your family and friends will RAVE about the food....

I talked with Ann the other day after she returned from an 18-day trip down Mex 1 to La Paz and then down Mex 19 to Todos Santos.   I asked her first to give me a little background on her Baja Fixation. This is how it went:

Ann: "My dad began traveling Baja when he was ten back in the early '30s. My grandfather, Pappy Hazard, raised cattle on ranches on both sides of the border and had a fishing shack on Punta Banda. In fact, here's a photo taken back in June of 1934, when my dad was 12. In those days it took seven or eight hours to get from the border to Ensenada on a dirt road, and then another couple of hours to get out to Punta Banda. That road was only accessible at low tide. The rest of the time it was under water. This is my dad, here. He's standing up on the left. Pappy is crouching down just to his right.   Pappy was also a good buddy of Erle Stanley Gardner, one of the original Baja Aficionados and discoverer of some of the first cave paintings."

Carlos Fiesta: "Cool photo. Vintage Baja. Tell me more."

Ann: "When I was little, Baja was Never-never Land to me a place where I felt more at home than in my hometown. I loved the endless empty hills, sunny skies and see- through aquamarine water teeming with fish. My sister, Nina and I ate tacos before we ate hot dogs. In fact, we ate them every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner on our first La Paz adventure, back in 1961. Nina even had her picture taken with John Wayne on that trip (see "Baja Straight On" for photo).

"Back then, most of my parents' friends thought they were nuts. We were sure to be robbed by banditos, they said. If not, we'd ingest toxic amoebas and come down with an incurable case of Montezuma's Revenge. But my dad obviously has some serious cowboy blood in him, and my mom's part renegade too. We spent our vacations traveling in Baja and mainland Mexico every year when I was growing up. We visited cities and seaside resorts; we took our camper to remote beach and mountain villages where we were the only gringos for miles. My parents went lots of places without us too---just about everywhere they could reach by road in Mexico. Here's a photo of them with my aunt and uncle (lineup L to R goes: Aunt Hope, Dad, Mom, Uncle George) on some Baja beach back in '69. This other one is of me, my sister Nina and two guys we met down at Rancho Buena Vista on the East Cape at Thanksgiving 1970."

Carlos Fiesta: "Nice pics. You guys definitely got around. But how did all this become a cookbook?"

Ann: "My mother let me loose in the kitchen early on. We were more or less partners in culinary crime, plagiarizing together as we recreated our favorite meals from our trips south. Over the years we collected recipes and kept them in a file box. Later on I spent time in Spain, the Imperial Valley of California, Colorado and New Mexico and added recipes from those places to the collection. Eventually I ended up with 175 recipes. Then I added the travel stories to the book and hooked up with Laguna Beach artist, Bob Bonn. His wonderful, whimsical, colorful pictures added just the flair I was looking for."

Carlos Fiesta: "So just what is Baja Magic then?"

Ann: "An attitude." 

Carlos Fiesta: "So how do I get it?"

Ann: "You already have it, Bozo! But for a refresher course, go somewhere away from buildings, freeways and noise preferably in Baja. Focus on the beauty in God's creations not man's. Go home. Kick off your shoes, put on some Mariachi music. Give a big old sigh and cast off the cares of this crazy, mixed-up world. Imagine imagine yourself in a simpler, gentler place, celebrating life and beauty with people you love."

Carlos Fiesta: "So Baja Magic is about savoring life...."

Ann: "You got it. It's about sharing. Caring. Laughing. Not being so intent on controlling everything. The Mexican people accept that life is full of question marks and infused with paradox and they don't mind not having all the answers."

Carlos Fiesta: "How would someone know when they've caught it?"

Ann: "You know the minute you get in line at the border going north. Instead of being glad to be heading home, you're bummed. You want just another day, or week, or month ... or forever! The opposite is true when going south. I feel lighter the minute I cross the border. The stress seems to fall by the wayside. I breathe in the ocean, the hills and the sky and I relax. I'm happy. Excited. On an adventure!"

Carlos Fiesta: "Exactly what it does to me. So now tell me something about your newest book."

Ann: "CARTWHEELS IN THE SAND is a novel and guidebook in one. It's the story of Dana, Holly, Camille and Barb four forty-something women who journey down the magnificent peninsula. It's actually been called a 'City Slickers' for women by some folks and a 'non-chick chick book' by others. My boyfriend says it's like being a fly on the wall in the women's locker room. These women are definitely outspoken, a little outrageous and very real. Here's how it starts: Dana's father who lived in Los Barriles on the East Cape of Baja Sur died unexpectedly and left her---a very single mom---his '78 motor home. The day she got home from his funeral, a woman she knew slightly came to visit her at work. This woman had landed a contract to write a completely unconventional Baja guidebook. But to do it, she needed an RV and three women to travel with her for a month."

Carlos Fiesta: "Tell us about these women especially Camille! She's something else!"

Ann: "Dana is an adventure-starved executive chef. Holly is an eco-tour guide and travel writer who's got some skeletons in her closet that cause her to be both paranoid and controlling. Camille---your favorite---is an outspoken deejay and songwriter. She's one of those people who always says things out loud that the rest of us only say in our heads. Then there's Barb, a straight-laced businesswoman with an obsessive fear of dirt."

Carlos Fiesta, "You know, Ann. It's hard to imagine four women living together in such close quarters for a month. They definitely have their ups and downs, that's for sure. But we see growth in all of them on this journey, and that's another thing Baja's about to me. It changes me for the better just about every time I go for longer than a few days."

Ann: "Yes. It definitely opens my eyes, forces me out of my safe little rut and stretches me in new ways. To me, it's like the last outback in this hemisphere. But Baja is about more than just challenging me by changing my environment and eliminating many of the trappings of modern life. It triggers introspection---which leads to emotional and spiritual growth, and healing as well. That's part of what we experience in CARTWHEELS."

Carlos Fiesta: "By the time people finish your book, they'll know these women better than they know most of their own friends."

Ann: "Yes. And they'll have the knowledge to make the journey themselves safely and sanely....

"Hey. I want to share of couple of surprising things with you. I wrote CARTWHEELS with baby boomers and GenXers in mind, but I've found that my friends' parents and in-laws love it too! These are folks in their 50s, 60s and 70s and they're just as enthusiastic as their kids. Go figure...."

"Another thing: CARTWHEELS IN THE SAND has been read by nearly as many men as women. Several men have actually told me, 'Hey, I want to meet that Camille chick! Is she free tonight?' A more serious-minded man said this to me: 'I learned more about women from reading your book than from anything I've ever read or heard in my life. And you know what I realized? We're really not so different after all!'"

Carlos Fiesta: "Amigos y amigas, CARTWHEELS IN THE SAND is a story that will touch your heart. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll grind your teeth in frustration. You'll cheer. It's also a bona fide, user-friendly Baja California guidebook, complete with a travel index, map and detailed information for the occasional or avid eco-tourist. You'll find out where to go, what to take and how to travel safely and sanely in Mexico. You'll also learn more about Baja's engrossing, unique history, geography and culture than you would ever learn in a lifetime of trips to the tourist hot spots like Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada and Cabo!

"I recommend CARTWHEELS IN THE SAND and COOKING WITH BAJA MAGIC to everyone who loves Baja whether you're a long-time Baja Aficionado like me or a newcomer. I also recommend it to people who've never been here, but find those persistent little tendrils of curiosity tickling at the back of their necks and even to those who are convinced that everything south of the border is terrifying and dangerous! Ann's books not only demystify Baja, but she definitely explodes the myth that women can't travel alone here. Go girl!

"And, by the way, check out Ann's other articles on this website and others that are linked it.

"Hasta!" 

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