Sunrise Over Vista del Cortez

My brother Kirt and I work up before dawn on this January morning with the goal to watch the sunrise from his Vista del Cortez property. Both of us wanted to check out the light, how it played on the water, the mountains and the San Bartolo Arroyo. I wanted to imagine what I might see if (ahem, I mean when) I built my dream house on one of the lots. And I played it out in my mind. I saw myself staggering out of bed in the morning, grabbing my tea and walking out on to my imaginary deck just as sun was rising from the horizon of the Sea of Cortez. What if I got to see that every morning?

So Kirt and I jumped on the quad we were renting from our Los Barriles friend Betsey Rodrigoz (who owns a goregous villa for rent – about a minute’s walk from the beach, and a five-minute drive to the Vista del Cortez property). We hit the shortcut road just past the Kiteboard Ranch, and made our way up the hill –  just in time to see a Mexican dog strut by with a whole, dead chicken in his mouth. Some farmer was going to be furious. But for this moment, this dog was so puffed up with pride and radiating so much joy that it was impossible not to laugh out loud at the sight of him.

We were on a mission to catch the sun, timing our ride at just under seven minutes from the beach and town to the top of the property. We jumped off the quad, and raced up the built-in steppath to the lookout platform Kirt built on four of the 58 lots. From the platform, you get to feel what you will see from the second story of the home you’re going to build on the property. We quickly scrambled up the steps to the top, just as the sun was beginning to rise up out of the Sea. We were both so stunned by the incredible show of beauty that I don’t think either of us said a word for about 10 minutes. All you could hear was the sound of deep quiet, the peeps of the early morning birds, and the clicking of the shutters on our cameras.

Here’s what we saw from this 1/3 acre lot, standing on a platform in the Vista del Cortez Eco-friendly Community ~ on the Sea of Cortez.