A Trip To Baja 6
Up before sunrise and packed for a last dawn breakfast at El Requeson, we ate fruit and cereal as our shrimp, eggs and tortillas were all gone; time
to re-supply !
Did I mention that the evening temperatures had been in the mid to high sixties and the days were always sunny and 80-90. Sometimes I think it must
always be that way in Baja.
On to Loreto and a quick stop for more shopping, ice and fuel. While the wife was in shopping mode, strolling through town, I found a little barber
shop and got a shave and haircut for about $5. Nice way to pamper yourself with a steamy towel and shave !
After a quick tour of the mission and then some fresh tacos in town, we were ready to gas up and leave for Cuidad. If we got there early enough to
make reservations, we could have the Veiner Schnitzel dinner made by Manfred's wife.
No problems on the way to Cuidad; after the curvy section we went 90 mph all the way there. OK, so here is where we started to notice a bit of white
smoke coming from under the hood on the passenger side..........hmmm.
Once at Manfred's, we made our dinner reservations with his wife and set up camp. The pool was being repaired, as usual, but we and 5 other campers
had the place to ourselves. We used ALL the hot water in the showers, filled our water tanks, flushed our other tanks and charged our batteries.
Dinner was fairly good, as usual, nothing special unless you're a german missing some home cooking, but it sure made the night easy !
Bedtime stories in the camper until the little one fell asleep then a few more stories I'd saved for my wife.............., then more blissful sleep.
(I always find it amazing that I sleep so, so well in our camper; better than home. )
Manfred's has always had a few neighboring roosters which can be counted on to wake you a bit before your official sunrise. Not a bad way to wake up,
all in all. We packed for a quick shop in Cuidad and planned for a few more groceries, some frozen shrimp and a few souvenirs for the folks back home.
All is packed but, what was that thing I wanted to do but can't remember ? Oh yeh, the white smoke !
Opened the hood and found a small leak that appeared to be oil coming from the passenger side valve cover gasket; some of the bolts were even loose.
It was dripping down onto the manifold and burning; maaking the white smoke. No problema; a little tightening and maybe some permatex if things get
worse, right ?? I tightened and cleaned and checked the oil level which was fine. This WAS my first diesel truck so I wasn't as confident in my
fledgling mechanic skills as usual but all looked good now, right ?
OK wife, now we're ready to shop and then head past La Paz to La Ventana/El Sargento for some more relaxation and to hopefully run into a few friends.
Shopping was..... more than expected, as usual but we got another kilo of the frozen camarones, met and befriended a family at the grocery(that was a
story I posted earlier), and got out of town before 10am.
I have to mention the ground pork in the un-refrigerated butcher's case that was molded into the shape of a pig's head and snout ! Flies in the
nostrils and all !!
Cuidiad towards La Paz; gotta love those white concrete culvert walls always narrower than the road and always right where you're passing an opposing
truck. 90 mph, what the heck ! "Hey honey, is that the white smoke again ?" "Yes dear, I think it is." CR-P!!!
Well everything is running fine and we haven't started in fire yet. It IS a diesel after all and not easy to start on fire like gas, I think. So we
keep going to our destination with a wary eye in the bit of white smoke.
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