Gonzaga Bay trip Oct 20-27 Laguna Hills to El Rosario Part 1

We took off early Saturday morning, Chris and I in our Tacoma with yaks on top, and our friends, Shelly and Joe followed in their Jeep. They’ve come to Baja with us before but only on the Pacific side ( Punta Cabras), they are adventurous, so we knew they’d enjoy this trip.
Since they were driving their loaded down Jeep with low clearance, we opted to take the Pacific side down, across the Peninsula and then back up at Laguna Chapala. A quick stop at TJ border to get our tourist cards and we were on our way. We were aware of recent stops by TJ cops so had our eyes peeled, and got through the area unscathed. As soon as we hit the coast there was plenty of fog to deal with, I am glad we did not leave any earlier in the day.
Through Ensenada and past the military checkpoint, we stopped for breakfast at El Palomar.

Our new friend at El Palamor



We usually stop here for breakfast, as it is an easy stop with decent breakfast (I have heard bad reviews recently on this board). The chorizo and eggs, topped off with a round of Tecate, it served its purpose. Chris and Joe picked up cigars for the trip south.
We have our two-way radios, so we keep in touch and stops are made when needed. We had a few geocaches marked and planned to stop for them but not many panned out. One, we thought was by the Mission at San Vicente, we had stopped there before, and like before, it was closed. Later we found out it was the Mission at San Vicente Guerrero, and seemed to have missed the signs for that mission, all together! We enjoyed traveling south through all the small towns.
Through San Quintin, we pointed out our favorites spots to our friends. We love San Quintin and have visited there often. We saw the new Pemex station at the turn off to Cielito Lindo, still seems to be closed, but could open and day. We decided to make a stop at El Pabellon RV camping south of town to check it out, as it has always been a stop we wanted to make. Turns out Shelly had been there 10 yrs + ago, but never remembered the name of the place. We stopped for a stroll on the beach; a cervaza or two and a well needed pee.





Next stop, the Sea lion cave (La Lobera) north of El Rosario. We heard about this fantastic spot on this board and knew it would be well worth the trip. Plus it gave Shelly and Joe a taste of dirt roads to come.





We were greeted by the resident perro. Then the owner of the future restaurant and abalone/lobster hatchery appeared. He had us sign his guest book and showed us around his place. It’s very interesting and when and if it ever gets off the ground, it will be a future great “must stop”. The weather was chilly and the sea was spectacular with huge waves crashing on the cliffs. The sea lions in the cave seemed to be taking their afternoon siesta. We investigated the area and his compound, thanked him and were on our way.













We made reservations with Antonio at the Baja Cactus through the U2U on this board. We had heard so many nice things about his place, and we wanted to take our time to Gonzaga, so we would stay there the first night. Everything good that has been said about Baja Cactus is so true. It has to be the nicest motel we have ever stayed at in Baja. 4 star accommodations if you ask me (baja standards). The rooms were beautiful with tiled floors and exquisite furniture. The bed was so comfortable. My amiga Shelly would tell me the next day that was the best night sleep she had in a very long time. The fact that there is a TV, well, that’s almost unheard of in Baja, and HBO to boot! The shower lets just say, what a shower!!! On our way back 5 days later this shower would prove to be a Godsend!





We did not hear any Jake brakes or Pemex noise. There was a small gathering of partiers on the patio, but they were the only noise I heard, and not too bad, I mean, come on, we are in Baja to party not sleep! We ate at Mama Espinozas. Recently I had read some bad reviews of this establishment but we had never been there. Despite the bad press, it was right next-door, we were hungry, so we decided to see for ourselves. It was excellent! There were no complaints from us. Yes, the prices are a little steep for Baja, but I thought everything was worth the price. And who says Baja has to be dirt-cheap all the time? I think we paid $80 for dinner and drinks for 4, and yeah, for Baja that’s a little high but Shelly and I had the best Lobster burritos we had ever had, and although the margueritas were fluorescent, they were strong and ended our day perfectly. The service was great also. We did not see, Mama, but heard she had just celebrated her 100th birthday the day before. Later, I will learn of a relation to this icon, that we did not know when we visited there that day.
I had heard of predicted strong winds in Southern California for the week we were to be gone. Unbeknownst to me, Baja would not be excluded in this windstorm. Tomorrow would prove to be an interesting day.
To be continued….

Most interesting post, and great pictures. Keep it coming.
We will be leaving for Bahia Asuncion the end of November if all goes well and then off to Mulege.

Buena suerte y que tengas un viaje sin problemas

Perfect trip report Denise!

Looking forward to more...

Thank you!!

I love it....could you expand on El Pabellon RV? Do you know much about it