Ok so i ask alot of questions , history is one of my favorite pastimes.
What year was your first trip Baja ? Mine was in 1996 , wish i'd know what a great place/people were out there sooner.fishbuck - 2-25-2008 at 03:39 PM
1988 SPRING BREAK. I went with a professor from Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Ca. The college use to take these kind of trips all over the
world.
It was 4x4 only and I didn't have one so I road in the back of a Jeep CJ-7 with no top.
I think it was 8 days of complete exposure to Baja.
Behind the back seat was just enough room for a cooler full of beer. Whenever we were offroad I sat on the cooler holding on to the role bar(with one
hand, beer in the other). Sometimes standing on the seat holding the role bar.
As you might imagine by the end of the trip I had "Coleman" from the coolor top tatooed on my butt. But it was well worth it. I was hooked!baja-spirit - 2-25-2008 at 03:42 PM
Our first trip was in 1986. Camping at Punta Chivato. We were there during spring break and met so many nice Mexicans, that came down to the beach
to camp. Still friends after all these years. This questions brought back some wonderful memories..lingililingili - 2-25-2008 at 04:06 PM
Our first trip was 1989. We were cruising and stopped in various places in Mexico before going on to the the South Pacific. Who would have thought we
would end up all these years later buying a house here!sylens - 2-25-2008 at 04:31 PM
first trip was in 1964 with a group of high school buddies to visit an orphanage. my mom drove us and afterwards, of course, we had to go to avenida
revolución where we did a little shopping and got in one of the tourist carriages where i sat on the zebra-painted donkey
i have a b&w photograph. but don't know how to post
then came down in 1980 to ensenada; 1982 flew to los cabos; 1998 came to ensenada with husband to find a place to retire; found house and bought in
2000 and retired here in 2004.
life is good.
welcome, lingililingili (am i close?)Phil C - 2-25-2008 at 04:36 PM
First trip 1967 in a V.W. van with four surf buddies Eye Opening!!!!!fishbuck - 2-25-2008 at 04:56 PM
My second trip was in fall 1989. My buddy and I found a Piper Cherokee 6 for rent. We both got checked out in it and flewto Palmas De Cortes and
landed on their dirt runway right behind the resort.
Got out of the plane and walk into the lobby. A truck with a fresh caught 500lb marlin was parkrd by the door.
I thought for sure I would catch one. Fished 2 days and not even a darn needlefish!
Still had a great time and caught my marln on the next trip there.
I know it sounds like bs but the next trip you take there is better than the last one which was the best trip ever!lingililingili - 2-25-2008 at 04:56 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by sylens
welcome, lingililingili (am i close?)
Thank you, and you wrote it perfectly!BajaGeoff - 2-25-2008 at 05:02 PM
I started doing trips to Baja on the weekend in high school....this would have been around 1990. My first "real" trip to Baja was in the summer of
1991...two weeks of camping at Scorpion Bay...and we did it again in 1992. Unfortunately, I have not been back since. I know a lot has changed at
Scorpion Bay since 1992.Sharksbaja - 2-25-2008 at 05:06 PM
!958 Just a small fry in an exciting place. Tj and Rosarito exclusively.
!969 My first real Baja trek. Gasoline was our greatest concern. It was a whole lot farther to the cape than it is now.David K - 2-25-2008 at 05:20 PM
1965: Gonzaga Bay via San Felipe, age 8 1/2, Jeep Wagoneer with mom and dad.
1966: Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas (over 800 dirt miles) in the Wagoneer, then back to La Paz to take new ferry to Mazatlan for return trip north.
1967: L.A. Bay via San Felipe, Gonzaga Bay...
During those first years we also went south of San Felipe and west of Colonet (San Antonio del Mar) frequently...
Dad loved fishing and heard Baja had the best, so he bought the Jeep and away we went! We soon went to Baja for more than fishing... we loved to camp
and my mom loved the historic sites.
At 16, I made my first Baja trip without my parents (Spring Break, 1974)... and I have been going back ever since!
Photo of me and cardon on the 1966 trip down the peninsula... I have had 'Baja fever' for over 40 years!
ILikeMex - 2-25-2008 at 05:54 PM
That's a sweet tan-line you got going on around your neck there Grover
First real trip (not just going to do underage drinking in Rosarito) was in 1986. Drove all the way to Todos Santos/ San Pedrito before the RV park
was set up. Beers were about 30 cents each after deposito and tocos were about the same.
First Trip to Baja
standingwave - 2-25-2008 at 06:15 PM
first trip was 1982-3 (if I don't count a day trip to Tijuana in the 70's). I decided I wanted to learn how to surf and if I was going to spend a lot
of time under the water in the process then the least I could do for myself was go somewhere where the water was warm. First beach was Los Cerritos -
can you believe I spent days at a time there in January '83 with no one else on the beach? The next year I stayed at Pescadero and over the next few
years did learn how to surf. Not the easiest place to learn but the water was warm and the beach life was good. Made many friends I still keep in
touch with. The picture was taken in 1986 at Pescadero.
Sallysouth - 2-25-2008 at 07:01 PM
!958, to Estero Beach.Not much there then and after that, south driving the penninsula in 1971.(to the tip and back, long journey, with babies!)RonnieRockCod - 2-25-2008 at 07:46 PM
January, 1947. Good luck, RRC.Steve&Debby - 2-25-2008 at 09:17 PM
Ensanada 1983,then San Felipe 1984. Been going back to Baja almost everyyear since then.First time in Mexico went with parents and sister in the back
of a 1960 International one ton with a cabover camper.Rode in the camper all the way to Mazatlan and back in 1968. Only two high rise hotels back
then.805gregg - 2-25-2008 at 09:21 PM
1957 dad took the family down PCH to TJ in our new '57 Ford station wagon. Quite an eye opening trip for a young lad of 9. On my own with friends who
could drive in '63 to stay and surf at our friends house at campo Lopez K-55. First trip to the tip '73 when the road opened.Sunman - 2-25-2008 at 09:47 PM
1986 - San Miguel. Still seems like yesterday.Sallysouth - 2-25-2008 at 10:56 PM
Heh, 805gregg, You know about the left break between 56 qnd 55? That was my surf spot back then,right after mija was born in Ensenada.We lived in an
old pannel truck, parked on the cliff at 56, hubby would go out surfing, come in and we took turns.He watching Juanita, me surfing...She was three
weeks old then.(goofy foot )Wow them were the days!805gregg - 2-26-2008 at 07:34 AM
Sallysouth we normally surfed the point, where my friends trailer was located, or the left off the big rock. I don't remember a left further south.
Wasn't there an Aztec shrine type building next to the old road a little further south?Skeet/Loreto - 2-26-2008 at 08:25 AM
October 1950- Sailor at North Island-2 Trips toTJ- Still donot like it!
October 1967-Flew my First Trip to Ray Cannon's Place at Bueno Vista
Stopped At Loreto and fell in Love with the Sea of Cortez
1972 Tio Don O'Neil and I purchased Property North of Loreto
1976- Purchased First and Only Panga from Mac Schoyer La Paz
1983 Moved on the Property North and Started buliding Rancho Sonrisa.
planted over 250 Coco Palms and other Plants.Moved fulltime to Loreto.
1992 Formed Ranchosonrisa SA De CV-Moved full time to Loreto.
2001 Left Loreto returned to the States.
One of the Best of my many Adventures, The People, The Sea, The Beauty of Baja Sur changed my Life.
Skeet/Loreto
San Felipe 1975
beachbum1A - 2-26-2008 at 01:26 PM
About two years before we were married, my girlfriend and I went camping in San Felipe back in 1975 when there wasn't very much there of the town we
know today.
Started out to go camping over a three day weekend somewhere around Doheney Stae Park but didn't have a reservation and all the campgrounds in So Cal
were filled up so we made a last minute change in plans and headed to Baja for our very first trip.
So crazy cause looking back we didn't even hesitate, even though three of the four or us had never been to Baja before!
Cemetary shot
beachbum1A - 2-26-2008 at 01:36 PM
ligui - 2-26-2008 at 01:58 PM
Skeet , thanks for the input about your beginnings in Baja . Would have loved to have seen it in the early days .
Was the fishing as good as they ?
Off Cabo San Lucas
David K - 2-26-2008 at 02:11 PM
Yah, fishing was okay back in '66...
bigboy - 2-26-2008 at 02:23 PM
First trip was to Punta Banda in 1964 on a diving trip. Many trips from there to San Quintin diving and fishing.
In 1971 I bought a Ford 4X4, with a tin boat on top, and headed to the tip of Baja. Went to Cabo twice before the asphalt road. Hundred of trips since
the first one and have property on the east cape and a house in Campo La Jolla on Punta Banda.ligui - 2-26-2008 at 02:38 PM
Nice hat david k , Bigboy , did you ever dive in San Quintin bay and see the locomotive engine that was suppose to be in the entrance ? I've heard
it was agood spot for bugs.
Anyone dived it ?bigboy - 2-26-2008 at 03:07 PM
Nope.........never dove the bay or even heard about the locomotive at the entrance to the bay.
We would camp on the beach, south of the cinder cones, carry the boat then the motor then all of our dive gear and row through the kelp and surf and
dive Isla San Martin. After the dive, we would reverse the procedure, drink a few beers and nap on the beach only to do the same for a few more days.
It was at San Martin that got me interested in calico fishing. Still after the calico's and I fish a few calico tournaments every year!ligui - 2-26-2008 at 05:06 PM
Just looked up San Martin after your post , didn't know about these islands and seamounts .
Thanks again Nomads Can anyone give more info on diving in this area ?ligui - 2-26-2008 at 06:04 PM
fISHBUCK ..... I do like this.... I know it sounds like ' BS ' but the next trip you take there is better than the last one which was the the best
trip ever .David K - 2-26-2008 at 06:34 PM
The Baja Adventure Book discusses the seamounts and diving and ship wrecks, too.
The railroad locomotive was lost while it was being loaded onto a ship for transport to a new home at an Arizona mine, in 1909. A heavy swell was
blamed for the accident. The 1.6 tons of rails, 50,000 ties and flatcars from the short lived Peninsula Railroad did make it to a California port and
on to the Santa Clara mines at Swansea, Arizona.
The causeway across the narrow part of the inner bay at San Quintin was the biggest problem in the first part of building the railroad that was to
connect San Quintin with Tijuana, Yuma, and south to Bahia de los Angeles!
This will make a good subject to write a story on... stay tuned!ligui - 2-26-2008 at 07:40 PM
On it's way to swansea, Arizona in 1909 , David what were they mining at the mine in Az. ?David K - 2-27-2008 at 10:24 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by ligui
On it's way to swansea, Arizona in 1909 , David what were they mining at the mine in Az. ?
Gold and copper, according to page 57 of Baja California Railways by John A. Kirchner (where most of anything about trains in Baja can be found!)
Martyman - 2-27-2008 at 11:54 AM
!965- Camping with my folks at Half Way House. First adventure trip (without parents) took us down the peninsula in 1979 on the way to Guatemala. I
was gone for 3 months on $450 !!! Those segunda clase trains on the mainland were awesome.livencabo - 2-27-2008 at 12:34 PM
1942, I was 2 years old and my father slipped away for a beer at the cantina in Ensenada. He sat me up on the bar at Hussong's. That was the last
trip for a while when my mother found out.Wingnut - 2-27-2008 at 03:08 PM
First trips to Mexico were: 1950's to Agua Prieta across the border from Douglas AZ with my Father and brothers. We went twice a year to sign up
vaqueros to work the ranch.
1965 - 1970's: Many trips to Nogales while college student at the UofA and numerous trips to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point for you English speakers) to
fish off the old wooden boat run by Marcellus. We fished with nylon hand lines catching grouper, parga and such in the Sea of Cortez. Great bars and
beaches in those days. Visited Tiajuana in my college days.
1990's: Took my first trips to Cabo San Lucas and fell in love with it. Been back ever since usually twice a year. Run the gamut down Highway 1 (got
my sticker!) and more. Have taken the ferry from Guaymas and across and of course flown into Cabo numerous times. No matter how I got there, it always
felt like I was home when I arrived. Plan to retire part-time in a few years....No place like Baja!DianaT - 2-27-2008 at 03:14 PM
1951----
Five years old and parents took us to the bullfights in Tijuana.
Hated it! Spend most of the time covering my eyes. I never wanted to go back!
DianeFatboy - 2-27-2008 at 09:35 PM
Also a late bloomer as some of the others, first was around 1989 (lousy memory!) for Tecate Enduro...could have been a XCountry or Hare Scramble,
maybe even a Hare and Hound, it was most defenitely a motorcycle race of some kind!!!
Dang my memory SUCKS!!! Of course I was racing about 45 races of year of all those kinds of events with some Motocross thrown in for the fun of it
back then. Now, 15 years later, it is hard to keep them all straight.
I sure wish I could have went there in the late '60's or early '70's though!Sparetimewanted - 2-27-2008 at 10:23 PM
1977, during Easter break of my senior year in HS. My folks let me drive two buddies to my friend's uncles house (trailer) in Puertocitos. The drive
took much longer than expected, and the last stretch from San Felipe was all sand and all in the dark. We got stuck twice and locals pulled us out
both times. What a great adventure for 3 17 year olds. 2nd trip was in 1980, a drive to CSL.
I sure envy you guys that got to go down there before the road was paved.
Eye Opening!!!!!
