ferdic1
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From San Felipe to Cabo and Tecate
http://www.pasadadelasflores.com
[Edited on 1-7-2004 by ferdic1]
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Anonymous
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What a great trip report. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Thanks for posting it..."El Mochilero"
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Marie-Rose
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Registered: 10-2-2003
Location: Victoria, B.C. and Todos Santos
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Mood: Worried...
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Is anyone else having problems openings this site??? Might be my 'puter...can't get into my u2u's either????
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ferdic1
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I tried to edit this and it got lost, so here I go again, with a cut-and-paste reload:
Starting from Mexicali on December 21, we traveled south to the growing, bustling seaside resort of San Felipe. There, we enjoyed a delicious meal of
fresh seafood at the Rosita restaurant on the Malecon (beachfront boulevard), sitting on its outdoor patio and watching pelicans dive-bombing the
silvery water. These birds are amazingly successful, and always a thrill to watch, either skimming the water in squadrons of five or six, or
individually diving from a short height into the water with a mighty splash, re-emerging to gobble their catch before taking off again, and repeating
the performance a few yards further on.
From San Felipe the next morning, it took us seven hours to reach the main highway, Mexico 1. The once-paved, now mostly dirt road was hard driving
because of the pot holes and rocks, etc., but we didn?t need to switch the Expedition to four-wheel drive. It was a real obstacle course, though, and
took a lot of concentration. We went into the shoreline hills but spent not too much time battling the coastal mountain range. A lot of people build
houses along the Sea of Cortez, right on the sand with no electricity (unless they own generators). They drive pickup trucks for the most part, and
hammer down the road with relative disregard, judging by all the destroyed tires and ripped-off retreads we saw littering the roadside.
Out of respect for our new Expedition, we drove very slowly, lowering the tire pressure down to 25 psi and dropping speed to 2 mph in many places,
rarely more than 25 mph. The road was in fairly good condition compared with what it had been, as it had recently been regraded. In the seven hours,
we saw only six other cars and one motorcyclist. Although situated in pristine scenery that took our breath away in places, the roadside was marred
not only with tire debris but also with trash thrown from vehicles and never cleaned up over the years. However, this was not as bad as we saw along
parts of Mexico 1, where whole townships dump their trash in the open beside the highway.
The road was unimproved through Puertecitos, which struck us as surely the ugliest, most run-down ghetto in rural Mexico on a black rocky beach,
albeit within a beautiful headland and bay.
We passed Gonzaga Bay from a distance in our eagerness to reach Mexico 1 before dark, and so could not see much. However, from the distance it was
obviously a very picturesque township on a beautiful bay that we are eager to return to when we have more time.
We reached Mexico 1 about 2:30 p.m. and had an agreeable llantera (tire) man refill our tires to 32 psi before charging on to Guerrero Negro, where we
lost an hour going back to Mountain time and checked into the Motel Malarrimo at 6:30 p.m. After a superb seafood dinner meal, we retired to our
unheated room, showered, and zipped ourselves into our bedsacks. The next morning, a deep seafog was on the land as we nervously pulled out for the
rest of our journey to Loreto.
In Loreto that afternoon, we checked into Coco?s Cabana, a new complex of eight two-room casitas less than a block of the Malecon. The owners of this
compound are two brothers, and they live in a big two-story duplex next door, with a boat and RV. Gringoes from Idaho, they bought this property a few
years ago after coming for Loreto?s snorkeling and diving attractions. There are coral reefs offshore and there are trips out to them for snorkeling
and diving. The whole area is a marine national park.
Coco?s Cabana is nicely landscaped. The kitchens are well equipped, with a new gas stove, fridge, all dishes, coffee maker, blender, everything you
need. We had a double bed and a single bed and a self-contained bathroom off the kitchen. Without television to watch, we sat on the porch, read, and
looked out at the courtyard. Next year they plan a pool in the center of the courtyard. There are palms all around the property (seven in the
courtyard) and all sorts of pretty plants at all the walkways and around cottages.
This compound is at the end of a dirt lane off the city paved road, in a quaint, old-world, typical Mexican neighborhood ? complete with stray dogs,
chickens and roosters in the lanes and backyards. There was a young goat tied in the backyard of an adjacent property owned by the Mexican naval
academy. The cadets living there killed and roasted it for their New Year?s midnight feast!
After we settled in, Sheila and I went into Loreto?s quaint downtown area about five blocks south of Coco?s Cabana to see a quaint, very old hotel,
the Posada de las Flores (web site http://www.pasadadelasflores.com ) that Sheila had considered staying at when she was planning this trip. The dark-wood, arched front door must be
8 feet tall and 5 feet wide, 6 inches thick, carved in the oldworld Spanish tradition. The hotel?s walls were about 20 feet high, with dark wood
beams, steps going upstairs, walls the color of sunsets. We had supper in at El Terrazo, an upstairs restaurant a couple of doors down that by chance
that advertised seafood. Sheila ordered seafood soup for one and I ordered shrimp brochette. When Sheila?s ?soup? arrived, it contained two small
lobster tails, two cleaned halves of a big blue crab, two or more big whole shrimp, clams, fish, octopus, vegetables, and there was garlic bread as
well! I had to help eat it and we brought half of it home. With wine for and Coke for Sheila, the bill was $24.70.
The highway south of Loreto hugs the most beautiful shoreline I have ever seen, with sweeping vistas of white sandy beaches, crystal-clear green bays
and capes, coral reefs and myriad islands ranging from small to huge with mountains on them. Then the road turns right and begins to climb suddenly
into enormous mountains, the Sierras de la Giganta, which are awe-inspiring in their blue, rocky grandeur, towering over the Sea of Cortez. Although
well-paved, Mex 1 is still typically too narrow and without shoulders as it twists and winds through many switchbacks to the central plateau beyond
the Gigantas, making for very intensive driving. Not the sort of journey I?d like to take the motorhome on, though we did see even bigger motorhomes
than ours laboring through the passes.
On top, the desert and road aren?t particularly noteworthy. Wild cattle and a few burros, apparently well accustomed to highway traffic, are a
frequent hazard, along with a few washed-out dips in the road (?vados?) that were being worked on. The other drivers try to warn you by flashing their
headlights, but it is intensive driving that quickly tires you. There are long stretches where you can do 60-70 miles per hour, though the posted
speed limit is 50 miles per hour (we think that is mostly to protect the government from liability in the case of accidents); only old Mexican drivers
observe the speed limit, the younger ones fly by you at the speed of light! Highway police (?federales?) are practically non-existent (we heard they
have about eight cruisers to patrol the entire 1,000-mile peninsula). You have to slow down for little towns, some of which have eager police lurking
in speed traps, so you?re down to 20 mph, speed bumps to about 5-15 mph, etc. Driving at night is ill-advised, supposedly due to the habit of cows
lying down on the road to enjoy the heat in the pavement, the lack of shoulders to which you can diverge if you need to, and the presence of locals
driving with non-functioning head and tail-lights (too poor to get them fixed).
We made it into La Paz, a large city of over 140,000, about four hours after leaving Loreto, only to get lost in the traffic in its dense
neighborhoods. Direction signage was non-existent. We ended up having to show someone our roadmap, pointing with our fingers to where we were going
because nobody could speak English. Baja?s few cities seem not to give many directions to and from the highway ? the deeper into the central areas you
go, the more mixed up in local streets and the more lost you become. All the cities are alike in this respect, with residences and small mom-and-pop
neighborhood businesses mingled in together, complete with stray dogs, unpaved sidestreets, broken-down cars, roaming chickens and children, etc. You
don?t feel secure about your location. Then maybe after driving in virtual circles for 12 miles or so, you chance upon another sign and get your
bearings again.
Leaving La Paz, we decided to take the western leg of the loop to Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the peninsula, because we were eager to stop driving as
early in the day as possible, and Todos Santos 40 miles sooner seemed a good place to do that. However, when we arrived we found the hotels and motels
were full because of Christmas. We had wanted to stay in the Todos Santos Inn downtown or the equally quaint Hotel California. Someone suggested the
Hacienda Inn a little out of town, and so we set off it find it but got lost.
Back to town we went, and someone suggested a bed-and-breakfast called Las Casitas, so we went to see it on a dusty side road two blocks from the main
street, only to find it didn?t have a bath or shower in the un-airconditioned room. To shower, you would have to go to the end of the unit to one of
two open shower stalls with flimsy wooden doors 18 inches off the floor and about the same from the ceiling. Everybody entering the courtyard from the
street could see your head and shoulders and your feet while you were showering. There was nowhere to dress, so I suppose you just wrapped a towel
around yourself and dashed back to your room. All very well and good for the backpacking crowd, but not what these two old crocks could feel
comfortable with. The expatriate Canadian woman glassmaker-artist who owned it wanted $60 for the night. She had the place up for sale, asking
$275,000, explaining that she wanted to revert to being a full-time artist back home in British Columbia, but we suspected she really couldn?t make
the place pay.
Sheila told her that I had asthma and couldn?t sleep beside a dirt road and asked if she could call the Hacienda Inn for us, since we couldn?t find
it. Like the manager of the Todos Santos Inn before her, this proprietor also could not raise the Hacienda on the phone, but she told us its owner ran
the Tequila Sunrise restaurant and bar downtown, and gave us directions to it. Gratefully we returned to the paved main street, where we parked
outside the Tequila Sunrise and Sheila went in. She asked the bartender if his boss was also the owner of the Hacienda. He agreed that he was, and
said they would call the Hacienda for us. They finally got though, after making three different calls themselves, reserved a room and gave us new
directions on how to get there.
The Hacienda Todos Santos ( http://www.mexonline.com/haciendatodoslossantos.htm ) proved to be out of town on the same sandy road on which we had already gotten ourselves
lost before. Overlooking the Pacific, it was a beautiful, grand Mexican resort in the old style, built around a sunken, blue-tiled courtyard with pool
and fountain, overhanging balconies, gilded and domed roofs and lots of shady trees. The king-sized bed (a rarity in Baja!) in our unit was two feet
off the floor. All the ceilings were made of red brick, arched between stucco beams. We settled our things into the room and then drove back downtown
to eat at the Hotel California. There was an old Mexican gray-haired couple playing classical guitar music during our meal, which we ate in an
attractive outdoor courtyard.
The next morning at the Hacienda, we found out that the bartender at the Tequila Sunrise who had given us directions and reserved the room for us was
Manuel Valdez, the owner of both businesses, and whose family had also owned the Hotel California. They sold it recently, but retain rights to the
name. We had a hearty breakfast of rich coffee, fresh fruit, juice, homemade muffins, cakes, etc., sitting on the upstairs terrace overlooking the
enchanting courtyard and beyond it, over the high walls of the resort, the blue Pacific.
We then left for our drive on to Cabo San Lucas. It took about an hour and ten minutes along the Pacific shore, with white beaches and splendid
Spanish-style houses right on the dunes, along with ranches, homes for rent, cottages, also dune buggies for rent, camping along the beaches.
Cabo San Lucas was disappointingly small. The world-famous natural arch that marks the end of the peninsula can?t be seen, except by a short boat ride
from the over-developed town marina, and the famous hills above are jampacked with magnificent resort hotels with security gates, so you don?t get to
see any views unless you are a paying guest. Down in the congested streets around the marina there are swarms of never-ending tourists from cruise
ships and the international airport out of town. This is where the action is ? narrow little streets, McDonalds, Burger King, duty-free shops for
internationals, shops hawking gold and silver rings, Cuban cigars, all the generic ?craft? items, blankets and T-shirts that are the same in all the
border towns and tourist spots of all the world. If you?ve been to Santa Fe or Fisherman?s Wharf or Key West, you?ve seen it all before. Of course,
there are gamefishing boats for rent and glass-bottom boats for seeing the coral reefs, but the day we were there it was too windy for that. I had my
first American food in over a week, a Burger King Whopper that was made in front of my very eyes and tasted better than any U.S.-made Whopper I could
remember.
We had no time to tarry, and perhaps are doing the place scant justice. We rushed on to San Jose Del Cabo 18 miles to the east and found it to be just
like Scottsdale (Arizona) on the ocean, very upscale and plush with Scottsdale-type architecture, even down to the house colors, and golf courses
overlooking the Sea of Cortez, sandy beaches, more yachts and gamefishing boats at anchor waiting for the wind to die down.
All in all, the kind of gorgeous, paved-over and denatured environment that makes me want to find a rocky arroyo with a cactus and a scorpion or two!
The drive back from Cabo to La Paz was completely different, as we took the eastern loop, rejoining Mexico 1 that we had left to go to Todos Santos on
the Pacific side (Mex 19). The terrain was much more hilly and lush, with many bridges that had been washed out by the hurricane this past summer. In
one case, the government had put up two temporary metal wheel tracks, each about two feet wide and two feet apart that you had to place each wheel on.
The other detours around washed-out bridges were made of pipes covered over with compacted dirt (much better). We saw a Mini Cooper in Cabo with
California license and wondered if he could make it across the metal wheel tracks. If he didn?t, he would have to turn around and go back through
Todos Santos. It was a beautiful ride and much different than the one via Todos.
In La Paz, we stayed at the Perla Hotel on the Malecon. It was an older, three-story building with limited parking underneath that made us nervous; we
unpacked everything valuable and took it all to our room by elevator, then had to take it all back down in the morning. Maybe we should not have
bothered, because they locked the garage at night and had 24-hour security in there. Although poor, and always looking for a tip, all the Mexican
service people we met seemed very honest. Dinner served in the hotel?s open-air restaurant was our first encounter with disappointing food since we
came to Baja ? boiled beef brochette and vegetables, instead of broiled! In our room, which was very nice and clean, we saw our first television in
weeks, and watched the Brian Dennehy movie, ?The Perfect Witness,? original soundtrack with Spanish subtitles. I think we picked up a little Spanish
from it!
Passing through Cuidad Constitucion, we took a side trip of about 33 miles west to San Carlos, a desperately poor village on Bahia, means ?bay?)
Magdalena that hosts a major sardine and tuna cannery. This is the only deepwater port other than Ensenada on the Baja?s Pacific coast, and is also
the site of a major diesel thermoelectric generating plant for the Baja. Bahia Magdalena is a principal calving lagoon for the California gray whale
and San Carlos apparently comes alive with tourists flocking to watch the whales in January through March. There is a Whale Festival in February,
which probably feeds the town for a year. We were a tad too early for that, and found only dispirited inhabitants in their broken-down shacks. It made
us uncomfortable to be among them in our big new Expedition.
In Cuidad Insurgentes, I ventured against Sheila?s advice to purchase a shredded-pork ?torta? from a streetside vendor (she was afraid of getting a
bug from unclean preparation). The stand is the first one on the left as you go into town from the traffic circle. I could barely make myself
understood, but managed to have the man not put on lettuce or tomato, just the pork, mayonnaise, mustard and pickled jalapenos between the two seared
slices of bun. It was a very clean stand, I thought, and I was impressed by the clean smartness of the man?s 12-year-old son helping him, as well as
his wife and daughter sitting on chairs beside the stand. A family operation, like so much of the commerce in Baja, large and small. Anyway, getting
back into the Expedition under Sheila?s disapproving gaze, I began eating the torta. It was delicious, so much so, that Sheila broke down and ate
nearly half of it. She had to agree it was good.
On our way back into Loreto, we stopped to see the Mexican government?s joint FONATUR Camino Real marina and golf-resort attempt to attract U.S.
tourists. They hope to finish this someday but it doesn?t look like they will. There is a Canadian-Arizonan company (website http://www.loretobay.com ) that appears to be doing something there, building Mexican-style homes and their d?cor as shown in a display at the
resort is beautiful. They had pictures and examples of their colorful tiles. Sheila would love to sell our house and build a Mexican-style one, much
smaller than ours, filled with the colors and designs we saw.
This resort is one of two just south of Loreto where you pay up to $400 a night for a master suite that includes all-you-can-drink booze,
all-you-can-eat food, parties, golf, windsurfing, kayaking, snorkeling on the coral reefs, etc. However when we were there the wind was so high, no
one was doing anything but sitting around the pool all rugged up or in the hot tub with only their heads exposed to the wind. One man was playing
basketball with his kids. We felt sorry for them ? they had spent all that money and were virtually marooned outside of town with no way to get in
except by taxi.
For far less outlay, we were much better off than they. We retained our precious independence and all the options that come with it. There are loads
of trips and things to do Loreto and great restaurants and sports bars. Admittedly, this is not a good time of year, as the weather can get cool ? as
it has done. For three or four days now, the wind has made it too cool to enjoy the beach.
While in Loreto, we had the best fish (fresh yellowtail) tacos anybody ever ate at El Taco Del Ray on Benito Juarez, a few blocks from the Malecon.
The brothers who run this place really love their work, and are loved in turn by the locals. We also took advantage of our free time to drive 35 miles
into the rugged mountains west of town to see the San Javier Spanish mission, which was completed by the Jesuits in 1758. We took two other visitors
to Coco?s Cabana with us ? Christa Hanson-Walker and her 24-year-old daughter Britt, from Washington State, with us. The road was terrible, with steep
drops into spectacular canyons and hairpin bends, but the views of the distant island-studded shoreline and weird geological formations were
spectacular.
When our time came to leave and return home, we took a 25-mile side trip from Mexico 1 north of Guerrero Negro to see the beautiful Bahia de Los
Angeles, a large fishing camp on a spectacular, island-ringed bay made famous by John Steinbeck in Log From the Sea of Cortez. Arriving too late to
scout for the best accommodations there, we settled on the Villa Vitta downtown. This proved to be the most primitive bedroom of our entire trip. The
electricity runs only from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and again there was no heating. This motel had lots of lower-income young families with noisy
children who played and shouted late into the night as we tried to fall asleep.
Bright and early the next morning, we set off for home, first detouring two miles north of town to visit Raquel and Larry?s hotel-restaurant ( http://bahia-de-la.netfirms.com ) on an unpaved, sandy road that advertised 24-hour electricity and Internet connection. Right on the water?s
edge, this modest establishment has spectacular bay views and was obviously where we should have spent the night. Raquel was preparing breakfast in
her upstairs restaurant for a group of French tourists when we were there. She promised us breakfast in 35 minutes, but as we were in a hurry and
suspected she was talking Mexican minutes, we departed, after admiring the view through her large patio binoculars.
We then noticed we were getting low on gasoline, and being perhaps a hundred miles from the nearest Pemex station, decided to buy gas at a 2
pesos-per-liter premium from a private vendor on the edge of town (first waiting until the electricity was turned on at 8 o?clock!). We enjoyed the
prettiest desert we have ever seen during our drive back to Mexico 1, stopping frequently to take pictures of giant cardons, boojum trees, agaves and
other plants.
The northward journey along the Pacific coast took longer than we estimated, slowed by dense Friday-afternoon traffic in the myriad small towns we had
to navigate. The result was we got only as far as Ensenada before we had to stop for the night. We had a heated room (at last!) at the Hotel Paraiso
Las Palmas downtown and retired early.
The next day, we left Baja by way of Highway 3 through the quaint mountain town of Tecate, where we stopped for one last, very delicious beef taco
from a corner restaurant and stand downtown, before joining the end of a three-block queue of vehicles waiting to enter the U.S. Half an hour later,
despite a Condition Orange terrorist alert, we were impatiently waived through the checkpoint.
Later, when passing through the near-border California town of Campo on our way to Interstate 8, Sheila spied a billboard outside a little restaurant
that boasted genuine ?Mexican? food. We stopped and she ordered a torta from a Chicano behind the counter who assured her, with an appropriate Mexican
accent, that everything was homemade, fresh, by his mother in back. Sheila waited while the torta was built and delivered in foil wrap. Back on the
highway, she unwrapped it to discover grilled hamburger meat, lettuce, tomato and onion on a flimsy, typically American but now thoroughly soggy
hamburger bun. The tortas we ate in Baja were all on special, dense bread buns that were resistant to sogginess, nicely seared to charred crispiness
on the hotplate, and the fresh beef was coarsely chopped or shredded ? definitely never tired old, freezer-preserved hamburger.
A rude proclamation of what we had lost by coming home!
[Edited on 1-7-2004 by ferdic1]
[Edited on 1-7-2004 by ferdic1]
[Edited on 1-7-2004 by ferdic1]
[Edited on 1-7-2004 by ferdic1]
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tunaeater
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Excellent report
Very nice and detailed just how i like them. Thank you so much for sharing. Sounds like a trip I want to take sometime.
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David K
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First I would like to thank you for sharing your story and the taking time to write it and post it (twice?).
It did seem that many things troubled you and I wonder if you seek answers to those things or just hope changes will come about? Puertecitos is a
shamble, but not a ghetto. The village started as a restaurant and an American community of trailers and stolen U.S. street signs, surrounding the
cove or little ports (puertecitos).
You should have driven the 2 miles to Alfonsina's on Gonzaga Bay and not wizzed by. It is one of the most beautiful in Baja. See my pictures on the
beach there from Thanksgiving http://community-2.webtv.net/VivaBaja/1103
There really is only one 'city' in Baja Sur, La Paz. The other towns wouldn't have arrows to the highway as it would most of the time be the only
paved street or off a ways on a entrance road. To avoid downtown La Paz, there is a well signed cut across along a levee that gets you on south.
The words about Cabo San Lucas mimic mine, we couldn't wait to get out after I took my companion to see the Finisterra Hotel's view, and down town...
You can only see the cape/ arch frm Hwy. One... far out of town towards San Jose Del Cabo http://davidksbaja.com/baja15/page3.html
Chickens, dogs, kids, and mechanically challenged autos are part of Mexico... It is not like the U.S. or Canada, and that is why many like to go
there.
Bahia de los Angeles is not a fishing camp... But a town with motels, restaurants, grocery stores, Internet cafes, and a wonderful museum, that even
has a movie screen showing 'Ocean Oasis', much of it filmed at Bahia de los Angeles.
Wish you had gotten recomendations before staying at the Villa Vita hotel, but you know better, now! The Costa del Sol (just north on the highway) is
highly praised and Raquel & Larry's, as well.
It sounds if there was enough good to cancel the bad you experienced... Will you go back?
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ferdic1
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David: You bet we'll be back! More often, and for longer stints, probably based out of Loreto.
I didn't mean to sound negative in any of my comments, except about Puertecito. Picking our way through it intimidated us from further exploration,
but next time we'll give it a closer look, as you suggest.
In addition to getting lost in La Paz through lack of adequate signage, the same happened in Ensenada, and as I related even in Todos Santos! Sorry if
I sounded like an instant expert on Baja "cities"!
None of this is to be critical, even the references to dogs, chickens and delapidated autos in the dusty side streets. They are all essential to the
charm and authenticity of what attracts us to Baja ... if they keep the faint-hearted and insincere out, so much the better for the rest of us!
[Edited on 1-7-2004 by ferdic1]
[Edited on 1-7-2004 by ferdic1]
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David K
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10-4, understood. I avoid cities as much possible, as I love the open country. In Tijuana, the bypass along the border fence helps a lot. In Ensenada,
use the coastal route by the harbor and not the inland route (which is signed for San Quintin). In Mexicali, just continue along the street with the
train tracks in the center. It is a learned thing and your trip was your first lesson... congratulations, you passed! 
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academicanarchist
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Baja Trip
During your trip did you visit any of the mission sites?
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academicanarchist
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Mexico
It sounds as if you observed poverty which is pervasive in Mexico, which has an extremely concentrated wealth in the hands of a corrupt
economic-political elite.
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Anonymous
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We visited San Javier mission west of Loreto. It's a bad road, but well worth the trip when you get there. They have done a splendid job with both the
church (largely in original condition, especially its west wall) and its environs -- newly cobbled entrance drive, nicely paved parking areas, a good
restaurant, etc.
On the way in, there are cave paintings in a very pretty cliff-canyon area just off the road with a waterfall.
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academicanarchist
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San Francisco Xavier
The church there was completed in 1758, and took a decade to build. It was one of several large stone churches built or initiated around that time,
including Loreto, Mulege, Comondu, and San Ignacio (completed in 1786. It is a beautiful church.
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academicanarchist
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San Francisco Xavier
Here is a photo from 1975.
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ferdic1
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The building looks the same now, but the foreground is much different, with paving and other improvements for visitors. As for taking a decade to
build, I believe I read somewhere that it was started in 1699!
[Edited on 1-7-2004 by ferdic1]
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academicanarchist
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San Xavier
The Jesuits established the mission in 1699.
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Anonymous
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First time...?
Was this your first visit to Baja (pretty ballsy driving all the way to Cabo, if it was!)?
Pretty standard experience for the hotel crowd.
D. Brooks
San Diego
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ferdic1
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This was our second long trip into Baja, the first being a year ago when we spent two weeks traveling to and from Mulege by motorhome. We are not of
the "hotel crowd," although the difficulties of the 38-foot motorhome last time, put us into the "hotel crowd" this time.
So we packed the Expedition like campers would, ready for anything (shovel, ax, inflatable beds, camp stove, water by the liter bottle, blankets,
bedsacks, tire inflators, battery recharger, etc., etc., very little of which was actually needed).
If it were not for being 63 years old and asthmatic, I would rather be a tenter in Baja (but I can't tolerate campfire smoke). That's why we have a
motorhome, but it's really too long for Baja roads, even Mex 1.
We're dedicated to Baja now, and will be coming as often and for as long as we can (not being retired yet, that's a limitation). My hope is to attend
the Baja Bash in San Quintin next March, when we might steal enough time to also do some serious whale watching, somewhere.
[Edited on 1-8-2004 by ferdic1]
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dbrooks
Junior Nomad
Posts: 60
Registered: 1-7-2004
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
Mood: The shock treat
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Hotelr vs. Tenter
No smear intended with the "Hoteler" comment.
I just returned from the Pacific side after a week on the somewhat torturous Baja 1000 course between El Rosario and Santa Rosalillita.
I have a Land Cruiser that was absolutely unstoppable in the mud, deep dust, sand, flooded vado's - that thing is a machine!
You should take the Excursion on those routes the next time - well off the beaten path. We ran into one vehicle ? and one VERY thirsty kid that was
homesteading for his family in the middle of nowhere - in 140 miles of dirt roads.
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