bajapablo
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Trip Report 6/12-6/18
6/12
We left St. George about 9:00am and after a side trip to see the scenery, wildlife, and debauchery at Lake Havasu, we entered Mexicali at 6:00pm. At
the military checkpoint North of San Felipe,
my buddy mistook the waving of the flashlight as a pass on through instead of a stop (which he finally did), our bags, cab of truck, and bed of truck
were searched (don't know for sure if it was a result of his speeding through and then slamming on his breaks). In my backpack they found a bottle of
800 milligrams ibuprofen (purchased in Mexico three years ago), the young guard asked me why I had this and wanted my prescription because 800's are
?muy fuerte?. I told him they were for my teeth (root canal done on wed) but he kept pushing his point that I shouldn?t have them without a scrip and
that they were very strong. Finally after staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity and then asking him what he wanted me to do, he said
?go ahead, but give me one pill?. That done, we were on our way and due to the half hour delay we reached San Felipe close to 9:00pm. We went to
Tony?s on the Malecon and had fish tacos and cokes for dinner. We stayed the night at the same place we stayed last year in town called Club de
Pesca. It was $24.00 which was a little out of our price range but since it was in town, had showers, flush toilets, and we split the cost four ways,
we decided to stay.
6/13
The next morning had Machaca at Tony?s and then the day was spent with lots of hammock time, reading, swimming, napping and eating. We watched the
Pistons win game 4 at Tony?s while getting our fill of fish tacos once again. After the game, we packed up and hit the road for Nuevo Mazatlan, we
hit the fresh fruit stand south of SF and loaded up on oranges, mangos, sandia, and apples. We hit a military checkpoint just south of SF and were
just asked to turn on our interior light and where we were going and then waved though. After an hour on the road of discussing scary movies, we
pulled into Nuevo Mazatlan and were the only ones there, being sufficiently spooked and being the 4 macho men that we are, we back tracked to Laguna
Percebu and had a good night?s sleep for $10
6/14
I was awakened this morning by a crow or raven looking bird that dive bombed my feet and actually hit them as they were hanging off the end of my cot.
After my yell, we were all awake and we hit the road for Bahia gonzaga around 8am. We aired down to 25 psi (hot), which was very solid advice and we
are glad we took it. The road was nothing worse than the majority of forest service dirt roads I?ve been on but we took it slow and easy. It took us
a good 3-4 hours to gonzaga going slow and taking many pee breaks. My buddy has a dodge full-size pickup 2 wheel drive and it did fine. There was a
military checkpoint just north of gonzaga and all they wanted was a cold soda. We went to alphonsina?s for lunch ( a little pricey by our standards,
but very good and well worth it) and ended up staying for about 2 hours shooting the bull with Antonio y Irmita. After much joking, laughter, and
story telling, Antonio recommended staying at campo beluga, so we did. It was $10 and had nice showers (hot) and toilets (flush). A guy named Moreno
was running the place and after telling him that Antonio sent us with the promise that he would have four women give us massages and take us fishing,
he told us his panga captain was out of town for the month of June and loaned us his fishing pole for some shore fishing. Moreno also showed us the
jaw of a shark that he had cut out after just catching it a few days earlier. More hammock time, nap, reading, and meeting our neighbors who were
from Flagstaff and beach combing. After showering and settling in for the night, the neighbor came running down the road about 10pm (they had left
for dinner to alphonsinas at 7ish) and said they were stuck and needed help. They had tried a shortcut and got high centered. We stood around and
watched them dig out. We helped with some verbal encouragement and lame advice and soon they were free. Now that we were wide awake, we hit the
rancho grando store for candy bars and soda and chatted with Miguel who was working. Finally we got to bed about 1am which seemed to be par for the
course so far...
6/15
Pemex at Gonzaga looked as if it had been closed for a while. Headed to Rancho Grande Market for some pictures under the whale ribs and did some more
talking with Rafael and Miguel. They gave us the scoop on El Rosario (Miguel?s wife and daughter work at mama espinoza?s) and we hit the road. We
stopped at coco?s to give him some fruit we had brought(thanks for the suggestion on doing this) he was very appreciative. I hung a just finished
guarauna can on his aluminum can fence and coco took us inside. He still has that kitten someone talked about on an earlier trip. After the kitten
jumped out of the shadows and attacked one friend?s shorts and then sharpened its claws on my other buddy?s leg, Coco grabbed it by the neck and put
it on it?s leash. Coco showed us his panty collection, we took a group picture, looked at all the nostalgia, and hit the road. We drove straight to
el Rosario and apparently missed some awful cool stuff near Catavina (next trip). We are lovers of the ocean and wanted to get to water ASAP. We hit
El rosario and went looking for Miguel?s wife. She works breakfast and wasn?t there, We talked with mama espinoza?s grandson (Oscar, I think) and ate
lunch, again out of our price range, but the fresh crab was great. We drove out to punta baja (let down) and also stopped at the trading post and met
Kim who runs the post and was very friendly. She gave us lots of info and answered all of our questions. That evening we went back to Espinoza?s for
Cokes and to watch the Pistons win it all. We met a cool dude who makes the Baja-almanac maps. He shared stories and insights with us for well over
an hour. Very nice guy-bought us drinks. Landon- the next ones are on us. The editor for Discover Baja.com was also there eating, he heard us
talking and came and introduced himself and talked to the map dude. After the Pistons won, we went to the Baja Cactus motel $23 for 4 and stayed.
After only staying on the sea of cortez last year in July and then the 2 previous nights, we were not prepared for the cool nights or June gloom of
the pacific side.
6/16
We slept in and then hit the panaderia and got lots of good stuff for breakfast. The guys at Rancho grande had told us of a cool spot called the ?oyo
de robero? where there is a large sinkhole looking thing with a tunnel for the ocean to enter and the seals swim in and hang out. There were only
about a dozen seals when we looked. We took a wrong turn going there and after 4 hours of hiking up and down arroyos we back tracked and made the
drive in 10 minutes.
We also went to Pabellon beach. Only three other campers there and beautiful beach. We also went and checked out cielito lindo. We had lunch at the
Wet Buzzard. The price was right and the food was awesome. Laura was wonderful as was her daughter Jennifer who hung with us and Laura has a new
baby Rogelio who is 2 months old I believe. Cute little kid. Nice people. We talked about staying at pabellon it was $10 dollars but we wussed out
when it got dark and cold and headed back to the hotel. We took our sandia in to espinoza?s and had cokes and shared it with the staff. They gave us
some sort of hot, sweet, and sour sauce to put on it and it was good. We chatted with, I believe Oscar, as well as a couple he knew from Lindon, CA
that had been coming down for 40+ years. Again, it was nice talking and sharing stories.
6/17
Breakfast at the wet buzzard. Went to the old mill, took some picture of the flowers and bougainvillea. We went to gypsy?s and hung out at the
beach, reading, beach combing and clamming. My buddy talked to a mexican there clamming and got some tips. He then got to clamming forks and we dug
clams. The tide was coming in and we had to do it in close to waist deep water for the big ones and we kept getting nailed by rollers but it was fun
and we got about 10-15 clams. We took them up and talked to Laura and Mam Cruz. Laura was leaving but mama cruz said she would cook up the clams for
us. My buddy helped open them and then she took over and cooked us a wonderful meal. We met 3 other school teachers (like us) from Malibu and
thousand oaks who were on a brotherhood trip similar to ours. They had caught some fish and had mama cruz cook it up. As we were leaving we ran into
our camping neighbors from gonzaga. They had stayed the last 2 nights in the boulders of Catavina and had a great time. We were running out of money
so we decide to head north and get closer to home. We made it to Ensenada (big military checkpoint near santo tomas-asked a few questions and waved
us on) and stayed at our biggest splurge of the trip a $40 dollar hotel(hotel Varga). Another 1am bed time....
6/18
Slept in and hit the road. Military checkpoint just north of rosario. They searched our bags and the interior of the truck. Funny thing, out of all
the checkpoints, no one checked anything in the back of the truck and it was loaded to the brim with a tarp over it. They all lifted the tarp and
looked, but never checked our bags, coolers, duffels etc. Only stuff in the cab.
At Tijuana we hit a panaderia and got some goodies and then we said adios to a wonderful pais. We hit stop and go traffic on I-15 at 2pm and it
turned a 7 hour drive to st. george into a 10 hour marathon, but after a double double w/ cheese animal style at in and out the rest was gravy. We
arrived safely at 12am. A good ending to a great trip.
Cool things I saw and did that I didn?t mention in my report:
Elephant/boojum trees
Cirrio trees
sand dollars for the first time in 30 years
dolphins off of cilelito lindo
jellyfish on the beach near cielito lindo
gonzaga bay
vivabaja sticker at alphonsina?s
stars like you wouldn?t believe
good times with friends
did I mention the great food
friendly people American and Mexican
saw the colors of the spectrum in a cloud over san felipe while getting some much needed hammock time. I will try to post it.
Fine sand beaches.
Drinking oregano oil at the suggestion of my herbalist (sister-inlaw) to defeat Montezuma.
My buddy drank scope.
Things I heard about while there that I want to do:
Cave paintings at Las Pintas y Catavina
Fishing
Bull fight
baseball game
Eat more
Bahia of LA
Meet a man driving to the tip with his son and daughter, I?d like to do that with my family.
Seven Sisters
Fly
San ignacio to see the whales
We had a great time, meet cool people, saw beautiful scenery. Next year?s trips was already in the planning stages on the drive home.
Sincerely,
bajapablo
[Edited on 6-19-2004 by bajapablo]
\"changes it lattitudes, changes in attitudes\"
J.Buffet
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bajapablo
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"No Bad Days"
was our motto on this trip. thanks bajalou! Also, natalie ann (Nena), I gave irma and antonio your regards.
\"changes it lattitudes, changes in attitudes\"
J.Buffet
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Skeet/Loreto
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Thank you for your very good Report! It has the flavor of Liking the people of Baja!
Wait until you get to Baja Sur, it gets Better!!
Skeet/Loreto
"In God I Trust"
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bajapablo
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I was laying in a hammock in San felipe
when I saw this cloud go by. It had the colors of the spectrum in it. It looked better with my sunglasses on so I held them over my camera lens when
took this picture.
\"changes it lattitudes, changes in attitudes\"
J.Buffet
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bajalou
Ultra Nomad
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Location: South of the broder
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Great report
Great report bajapablo, thank you for it. and the picture.
About "no bad days" I first got it from a decal at Latitude 22 in Cabo San Lucas. Really liked it so I have decals on both sides of my desert rail.
In March of 2001 Time mag did a issue on "Border Towns" and included San Felipe. The reporter here named her segment of the report "NO Bad Days"
and credited my rail for the saying. Now it has become the ralling cry for the town and the developers here.
And I still believe in "No Bad Days"
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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BajaCactus
Senior Nomad
Posts: 663
Registered: 5-22-2004
Location: Km. 55, carretera transpenisular, El Rosario, B.C.
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Nice...
Seems like you really had a great time bajapablo. Next time I hope we can say hello at BajaCactus.
Thanks for sharing your trip with us.
Antonio M.
BajaCactus
"Where the Baja is much more than a dream..."
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64535
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Thanks for taking us with you, vis your trip report! Viva Baja to you!
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bajapablo
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Bajacactus, was that your hotel
in el Rosario?
davidk, thanks for your friendship/insights on this board. I saw your sticker at alphonsina's and antonio said you and your son go there. He tried
to show me another sticker on the window that you had signed but it had sun faded and you couldn't read it. At mama espinoza's I was talking with the
map dude about this great site(nomad) and mentioned your name. We were both trying to pronounce your last name when the editor from discover baja
came over and told us how to pronounce it correctly. Thanks again to everyone who makes this place so special. As you can probably tell I'm still on
the euphoric cloud nine. sin drogas
\"changes it lattitudes, changes in attitudes\"
J.Buffet
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bajapablo
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grover it was crazy
because he kept freaking over these ibuprofen for 30 minutes and I kept telling him they were like aspirin and he kept saying they are very strong.
My buddy said I started raising my voice to him because he wasn't getting it. Heck the bottle was in spanish even. I told him they didn't mess with
your mind or anything and he kept acting like they did. So after the stare down and him asking for one we all busted our butts off laughing all the
way to town. But all my buddies were actually freaked out at first because I had just finished telling them the story of the lady who got thrown into
prison for not having her scrip...Anyway, it was an adventerous start to a great trip.
\"changes it lattitudes, changes in attitudes\"
J.Buffet
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64535
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Thank YOU Pablo... I just heard today from Baja Guera (Fishin'Rich and I went to her yard sale today), that Discover Baja has a new editor... Graham
Mackintosh! Was this editor a short red haired fellow with an English accent?
Anyway, my last name is short, but can be mispronounced, so I just go by 'David K'... My last name rhymes with 'beer' (ain't it great)... change the b
for a k.
I never signed a sticker, or remember signing one? If you would like a Viva Baja sticker, U2U me your mail address. Not a lot left...
Adios amigo!
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Location: San Diego County
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In case you haven't seen one!
Because my web site is now VivaBaja.com, the next printing will not have the old URL, making these collector's items, LOL!!
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bajapablo
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sticker/editor
So maybe my spanish comprehension wasn't up to par and I misunderstood but
I pointed to your sticker and said do you know that guy and antonio said oh yea he signed one over on this window too and showed me a sticker and it
was faded out and he said never mind.... and that was that.
As for the editor being red-headed and named Graham Mckintosh, that wasn't the guy I met. The guy we met, I think his name was gary peterson from
humboldt county CA. (I read the entry log at mama espinoza as we were leaving becaue I forgot his name even though I heard it when he introduced
himself. So that may not even be it). He said he created map dude's ad for his baja-almanac map for discover baja.He did mention after he told us
how to pronounce your name that he had tried to get you to write for his newsletter...Ring any bells.
back to the sticker. I want one. I will u2u info.
\"changes it lattitudes, changes in attitudes\"
J.Buffet
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64535
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Hmmm, Ray L. was the editor (BajaRay) for the past two + years. I did write the obituary for Choral Pepper and Ray did ask for more articles... but
then I didn't get any more emails from him when I submited some article ideas. I thought some of my trip reports (like the Exotic Canyons trip last
April) might be interesting... No reply, Oh well.
If BajaGuera is correct and Graham takes over, then expect a lot of stuff (from Graham and me!).
Your stickers are in the mail!
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Natalie Ann
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Bajapablo - I really enjoyed your trip report, had to keep interrupting DH's morning paper to read him snippets. Also thank you for being my
messenger - cokes on me in Baja. 
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
.....Oscar Wilde
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BajaCactus
Senior Nomad
Posts: 663
Registered: 5-22-2004
Location: Km. 55, carretera transpenisular, El Rosario, B.C.
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Yes...
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Originally posted by BajaPablo...Was that you hotel in el Rosario?
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Yes Pablo, Bajacactus Motel is the one you stayed at, however, sorry I could not been there to chat a little. Maybe next time.
Antonio M.
BajaCactus
"Where Baja is so much more than a dream..."
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bajapablo
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Bajacactus
next time for sure.
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GeoRock
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I love to read well written and fun trip reports. Thanks for my evening entertainment!
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