Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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1978 Pt Escondido trip (1) - the journey
The following is an account I wrote recently of one of my favorite trips to baja. I wrote it in order not to forget. And in order that Alex would
know about dad's past. It's fun reading and I hope you enjoy it.
Val and I go way back. We had been friends since boyhood. He and I had been planning this trip for months and now, in July of 1978, we were newlyweds
heading for Pt. Escondido with our young brides.
In his excitement Val had planned our driving schedule to the hour. His system entailed the three of us driving 2 cars, with the non-driver sleeping
the in back seat for a 6-hour resting shift. Nadine, his wife, and I ended up talking through her shift and the whole thing broke down somewhere south
of Ensenada as she was too tired to resume driving. I could hear him lecturing her from my car window at the next rest stop.
We ran out of daylight near El Rosario and found a small hotel for the princely sum of $7 a night. The room had 2 beds and it had been agreed that Val
and Nadine would occupy one and I the other. The couple had been unsuccessfully trying to start a family for 3 years now and apparently Nadine was at
the ?right temperature?, or something or other, that night. Needless to say, falling asleep was difficult that evening, despite the long drive.
I remember the following morning as being particularly glorious. The highway was really bad in those days and you spent most of your time dodging
potholes, swerving from one lane to the next. Somewhere south of Catavina I started to hear a persistant clanging from the back and pulled over to
investigate. A loose bolt had fallen off and the board that supported my aluminum boat had fallen off the trailer I was towing. I stared in amazement
at the metal bracket that had worked it?s way through the hull. Meanwhile, the happy couple, who were following in case of a breakdown showed up 10
minutes later. Yes, they had seen the board on the highway back a ways and had carefully driven around it.
After retrieving the missing board I stood around wondering how I would reattach it to the trailer without a drill to make the necessary hole(s).
Across the highway a bemused Mexican went about his work showing little interest in our little calamity. I asked him for advice and he slowly
sauntered over and examined my toolbox. He took out the largest screwdriver and hammer and nodded his head. That was it! I was going to drill holes in
the wood by pounding them out with a hammer and screwdriver. Why hadn?t I thought of that? It was a different world down here, I thought, and these
people are very resourceful.
As night approached we searched for hotels but found none. Somewhere south of San Ignacio we just pulled off on to a dirt road and searched with our
headlights. Not knowing where we were we just laid our sleeping bags next to our vehicles and dozed off. Half an hour later I heard a scream from
Nadine who was convinced that coyotes were assaulting us. The local ranch dogs, having seen our car beams in the darkness, had come over to
investigate. In fact, I woke up several times that night to the sound of loud sniffing over my sleeping bag.
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Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
Posts: 1148
Registered: 8-26-2003
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Skipjack Joe...
I can't tell you how happy it makes me (us?) that this is just the first of a multiple-part post.
Great story.
Mike
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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Keep em comin'
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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Thank you for not dinging me for the X-rated part, bajajudy. There was a reason why I included it. You see, Slava was born 9 months after our humble
baja trip. Baja's warm climate and relaxed atmosphere was able to accomplish what all the advice from the Stanford medical 'experts' could not. Nadine
had been convinced that she would never experience motherhood. But I am getting ahead of myself.
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baitcast
Super Nomad
Posts: 1785
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: kingman AZ.
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Mood: good
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Problems
Hey Joe great to see your in the writing mood
again,its always the first or the early trips you remember the
the most.
Whats great for me is that they remind me of long forgotten experiences,as I read I think to myself,O! that reminds me of the time we and so on
BAITCAST
P.S. looking forward to part 2
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64855
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Great stuff Skipjack!
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