My best trip report ever in 2008!

Things are going to get really busy tomorrow with a 6:00 AM let's be rolling comittment for Friday.

I've made a comittment to myself to do my best trip report. So I don't get too far behind, and so I have some investment to maintain...I'm going to start now since in my heart I'm already gone.

The maintenance is done, the machines are all checked out. Spare parts are loaded. We have everything we need to do overnight bivouacs on the Dual sports.

My pals Poncho and Caballero as we finished sorting through all the pressure suits, and armor, and boots, and that doesn't even count the fishing gear.

If you see this on the road, give us a shout. I will go to channel 13 on CB if it looks like we can chat that way. Hey we can even afford to pull over.

In the states you can call 530-859-2759 to my cell.

[Edited on 3-6-2008 by vgabndo]

Here's the department of fun.

Here's your invitation to come join us. Drop in we'll be in and out and around.

Here's how to find the place.

OK...next report from an internet cafe!!!

Vag

Have you passed this yet?

I always thank god when I reach this point safe. Can you pass on a fish report?

We have safely returned.

Hi all, first for all the good wishes...many thanks. To Shari and Juan, I'm so sorry for causing you any worry. We passed through Guerrero Negro too early for Sirena to be at work (my judgement) or I'd have stopped in and asked her to forward a message. We stopped at an internet cafe in GN, a block north of the main drag, and maybe half a dozen blocks west. When we walked in, four guys finished, got up and left. When we tried to make our various connections both the computers defaulted to PORN sites. Every time I tried to log on to my ISP, I got more porn. Walked out in disgust. I'm a prude that way. Anyway...I was really sorry not to make the ride. I WASN'T SICK!!! I didn't want to miss seeing you.

A day after we passed the shrine that Pangamadness pictured above, I was sick as the veritable dog and spent several days in bed with the gripa. I love that shrine...it means there are 1366 miles behind me and only about 5 still ahead.

The fishing report was grim. There had been almost six weeks of wind and no one was able to get on the water. The fuel prices, low as they are, are still sky high to the locals, and they almost have to catch fish to turn them into more gas to try again. If they don't catch fish.......

Shortly after our arrival, the wind died, and there were many good fishing days.

While I was still walking, be put the new (repaired) prop on my Honda, and fired her up on a water hose on the trailer in the yard. Then we removed the intake manifold and all three carbs, and cleaned the stuck float needle assembly on #2 and put it all back together. Bingo. All green lights.

We put the skiff on the beach and set our clocks for O'dark-thirty. Got up in the dark, had our ducks all in marching order, pushed into the gulf lapping at our feet like a small lake on a nice day.

Powered down the tilt, twist the key...nada. Rope started several times, but wouldn't run above an idle now. No power to the tilt!!! At the first whiff of something sand-like, a half a blade came off the prop while we were trying to figure out how to disable the power tilt and raise it manually. Fili Dias, the greatest aluminum welder in all of Mexico (Loreto) fixed it after a few days. By the time we got it back, the wind was up. We got ONE chance later, but I had given up by then.

The cough I had was one of those that left my abdominal muscle aching after a few days, was only effective in groups of ~7, and when you would finally fall asleep and relax, the wheezing was so loud it would wake me up! Oh well...

Fish report. Bait was very illusive. The fish were at every level. Two friends boated 4-6 nice yellows between them every time they got a chance to go out. They did equally well on carnada and iron.

I understand that one of my friends down there had a Nomad sighting at Isla San Ildifonso. Was that you Roger?
(Pompano)

Then the third member of our party got REALLY sick. Three mornings in a row he got up and hung up his sweat soaked bedding in the sun before crawling back to suffer another day prone. It was a bad "chills and fever" gripa that all the locals had passed around before we arrived.

KT's lady, who is a nurse, arrived for the middle week to be with her honey. She couldn't do a thing to help our symptoms, but her inside and out beauty, great attitude, and laughing spirit did us all a lot of good. I was sorry to see her go after only a week.

Since the three of us total 175 years old, the rule from the beginning was "nobody gets hurt". Where our illness and the motorcycles interfaced, we gave that a "little" thought.

Did we wear any rubber off our knobbies???

OH YEAHHHHHH. More on that next time...

KT and KS in serenade mode. A nice addition to any camp.

Here's KT and Les

We took a ride out to the end of Punta San Antonio. Here's Poncho and "Florence Nightengale".

Carlos Slim has fences all over the place. I was backed up against the one that cuts off the entire end of the point.

Here's Senor Slim's house between San Antonio and Punta Pulpito.

My landlord is doing the construction. (Good contacts for a stone mason from a fish camp!)

The road runs up to his private air strip.

[Edited on 3-29-2008 by vgabndo]

Here's Pulpito from the same vantage as the previous image.

[Edited on 3-29-2008 by vgabndo]

Some of the "secret" rock art of San Nicolas'

...more rock art

From sea to shining sea

After taking KT's lady to the Loreto Airport, we returned to San Nicolas where we were already packed for a ride on our bikes. KS, who had been mightily sick thought he could make it, and was also packed. We ran the 11 miles out to the pavement at El Rosarito (south of Bahia Conception), then south on the ONE to the turn west.

The road to San Isidro varies SOMEWHAT

There were sections of really rocky washboard, some rough arroyo crossings, and really pretty scenery.

Some of the road was just YAHOO.

After about 35 miles, KS had to make the turn

Knight had been SO sick, and it was pretty gutsy to even try the ride, but his cough was back, and his strength was below safe levels to keep up...so then there were two.
(He lost 15 pounds on the trip)

No...he isn't going to pivot on the sidestand!

[Edited on 4-2-2008 by vgabndo]

Finally after 61 clicks we arrived at the top of the switch-backs leading down into the valley of San Isidro/La Purisima.

I think this is the definition of an oasis. Rolling through the farms, gardens and orchards the air was absolutely SWEET.

As reported elsewhere...we found no lodging or eatery in either village, so we continued with our plan to go to San Gregorio for the night.

(gas was available from bbls at two locations)

[Edited on 4-1-2008 by vgabndo]

The ~5 miles from the San Juanico road to San Gregorio has some challanges for old guys on heavy dual sports. The start is fairly solid, from there it is sand varying from a couple of inches to (say) forty feet deep. Throughout the trip this mountain boy (senior citizen) learned a lot about dropping a gear and hooking it on at the first shot of fear about a deep sand section. YEEOOOOW. We don't do much soft sand up here.

At the end the arroyo terminates at the "other" ocean in an estuarial area that was uncommon in my experience in Baja.

Looking the other way into the wet lands.

When we got to San Gregorio we found no place out of the wind to camp, and lots of blowing sand. It made us thirsty...very thirsty. Hummmmm, hot food, beer and beds in San Juanico they said.

We were soon on our way to Scorpion Bay.

"They" were right. The bluff road ends at the bar. We grabbed a first cold beer, threw our camping gear into a $35.00 palapa, and headed back for more beer and a "never better" cheeseburger and fries overlooking the little break they call "heros". Ya gotta love the in-roads made by our surfing brothers.

We had done 111 miles in a little over 5 hours with lots of stops.

It was a great night. The palapa would have slept 9 on pads, six of them off the floor. NO JEJENES! (San Nicolas was thick with them) The dawn was foggy and picturesque. Breakfast was excellent. Packed up and ready to look for some gas for the KTM. The DR 650 has a 300 mile range.

Los Chino's fine gas station. It is on the north side of the main drag on one of the first streets coming into San Juanico.

[Edited on 4-2-2008 by vgabndo]

There were lots of places to just turn the big 650's loose.
On the coast south of San Juanico.

Back in JEJE-LANDIA all safe and sound. Round trip from sea to shining sea to shining sea (with a couple side trips) 205 miles.

A very cool ride.