2008 Pyramid Resort Book Signing (40+ pics)

Arrived in the afternoon and missed seeing and/or meeting some of you who had departed earlier.

Very nice to see those that stayed through the latter part of the afternoon and into the evening. Getting Nomads together in one place at one time isn't so easy to do - and doesn't happen often - but when it does, I always enjoy getting to say hello to those that participate on the board here (and so many that will tell me they lurk regularly, but don't post).



Here are some of the pics I took going into the evening activities (I got my camera out to use when the pot luck began) - and the morning afterwards - right before leaving back for San Diego ourselves...

Fishbuck, Jaime and Jason (?) telling fish stories ??? - Bonni Mackintosh to the right:


Bernie (m); Sonora Wind (r)




Bernie (btw... this can be lightened up in Photoshop if desired):
































Sorry Gail - I thought this looked kind of fun, although I don't know that you would agree....











































After a breakfast prepared by FDT for both our families (thank you sir!), we left the Pyramid a bit behind schedule (which is pretty much our typical M.O. anyway, much to my chagrin). The goal was to get Ryland to baseball practice at 3pm (in San Diego just north of La Jolla) - and to allow mucho tiempo to get through the border crossing line.

The original "plan" was to leave at 10:30 a.m. Alas, our departure from the Pyramid was more like 12:45 p.m.

It's always an interesting decision to make in regards to taking the toll-road north of Rosarito to Tijuana or the free road all the way into the Zona Rio. For me, it mostly depends on which side of the return lanes I think might have less traffic. For this morning (okay, afternoon), I decided the left side ("gringo trap") might be better off - and proceeded on the toll-road. This ended up being a mistake, as the gringo trap entrance was backed up as far as I've ever seen it. We proceeded down the expressway, turned ourselves back around towards the right-side of the San Ysidro border crossing lanes, and found that side to not bee too bad. I stuck to the far right all the way, and we were across at about 2:30 p.m. - I think it was a little less than an hour in line.

Big point to make: I handed the border crossing official the driver's licenses for Michelle and myself - and after answering for him what we were bringing back - he said "have a nice day" - and we were away. There was no request for a birth certificate or passport from us yesterday (or for the two boys, 17 & 7).

Got to baseball practice about 10 minutes late (but the team was still stretching out... so, not too horrible).... and the little guy got to crush a couple of balls during his at-bats....

Great pictures Doug, thanks a lot, we had a lot of fun.

Quote:

Originally posted by fdt Great pictures Doug, thanks a lot, we had a lot of fun.

I saw your pics.... and am a little jealous quite honestly.

Doug and David Thanks for the Pic's

kERI

And to you Bernie

Thanks for keeping us alive.

You remember that?

I wish I would have stayed around for the tasting...

Bob H

Let's do it again!

Fishbuck was all over the place. .

Wow!

You are loved, Bernie!

Just go up this thread and read Keri's reply!

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Sadly, this was the final Pyramid Booksigning (2008). Another place down there tried to duplicate it but that was only once, as far as I can recall? It is too bad we don't have any new get-togethers like Viva Baja, BBBB, or the Pyramid events. It just gets tougher as you get older so let's hope some young blood wants to have a Baja-themed social event. It is nice to meet the person behind the keyboard or behind the website. That was my inspiration for the 4 Viva Baja events I hosted.

Quote: Originally posted by Mother of Dragons

Going through your stuff,, hard to read with the yellow/turquoise, lol Did the get together’s die out or too much organizing for one guy? I know it’s hard to organize even 2 people.

It takes a lot of energy and having helpers goes a long way too.
The idea to meet Baja Internet people was really born back in 2000 when Timothy Walker (TimsBaja.com) suggested that he and I meet and we invited other Internet Baja amigos to come to meet us, too. I brought Graham Mackintosh as we both live in San Diego County and Tim and others were from L.A. and Orange County. We picked San Clemente as a sort of halfway point and met on the pier there.

Here are a few photos taken at that first meeting:


Giesla Van Bree, Mike Humfreville, Mary Ann Humfreville, Graham Mackintosh.


Graham Mackintosh, Michelle (M).


Lorenzo de Baja (LdB) arrives.


El Gato Loco (egl/ Matt) and Baja Barb and Norm of BajaLinks.com


Ferna de Tijuana (FdT)


Jens (Yens) of Baja-Web.com and his guest.


Whistler (Glenn)

Also there was Timothy Walker (TimsBaja.com), Carlos Fiesta (BajaExpo.com) and Dick Van Bree (BajaLinks.com)... sadly, I didn't get their photos on my little camera.

So, that went over so well that Dick Van Bree grabbed me when we were saying our goodbyes and said I had to organize more meetings like this!

Tim was a bit shy and not as motivated for organizing an event. M (Michelle) was very supportive and would later organize meetups that took place in Baja. She called them BBBB's (for Boojum Buddies Baja Bash, as we were calling ourselves Boojum Buddies. Her first was at Cielito Lindo in Sept. 2001. Photos at my website.

I named my event, 'Viva Baja' as that was what it was, a celebration of our love for Baja. I invited book authors, Baja businesses, and members of the Amigos de Baja forum (where many of us posted before Baja Nomad). Doug (Baja Nomad) was there as was Fred Metcalf who had a popular message board for many years. It was held at a hotel in San Clemente and included a dinner. We had a Baja show and tell and people got to know each other in person.

My website was originally called DavidKsBaja.com (patterned after TimsBaja.com) but after the success of Viva Baja, as soon as Doug (BajaNomad) was able to grab the URL vivabaja.com, he did and gave it to me... very cool!
Viva Baja #1 had almost 50 guests, #2 had a few more, but when #3 rolled around (and was moved to Oceanside), over 100 came... We had reserved a Mexican restaurant all for this event the afternoon and evening. Several people showed up that had not RSVP'd but the place had enough room and it was great. Viva Baja #4 (in 2003) was located at Capistrano Beach and Msal helped a lot with that one. We kept the location secret so there wouldn't be any surprises with extra attendees, as the restaurant was not as big.

2000: http://www.vivabaja.com/vivabaja/
2001: http://www.vivabaja.com/vivabaja2/
2002: http://www.vivabaja.com/vivabaja3/
2003: http://www.vivabaja.com/vivabaja4/

Well, they were all great but that was enough for me to promote (In thought)! Keri of the Pyramid Resort was at Viva Baja 4 and she liked the idea of have Baja book authors at the event so she created the Pyramid Resort Baja Book Signing events. Her first was 3 months after Viva Baja #4 and she had 6 of them (2003-2008). Photos on my website.

Antonio, 'BajaCactus', liked the concept of a meeting event to share his Mexican culture and asked me to help with the guest list and other minor things, but he did all the hard work and had a tour bus for us and a great dinner. This was Viva Baja Cactus, in 2006: http://www.vivabaja.com/vivabajacactus/

Antonio had already created the Baja-Rosario Cultural Festival in July of 2005 to be held every year for the birth of El Rosario (the mission was founded in July 1774). He promoted 4 of them (2005, -6, -7, -8), trying to get townspeople to take over at some point. However, without Antonio's leadership, the festival fizzled.

It takes a lot of energy to produce events for people! They are wonderful and if I had that kind of energy, I would do more. I was very pleased with the ones I did and the ones that were born from the idea of getting Baja folks together, in person.

Quote: Originally posted by Mother of Dragons

Thanks David. It looks like fun and yes, lots of work, so thank you and your helpers. I love a get together to meet people you chat with online. Is Antonio, BajaCactus, the same that has a car rental company?

Quote: Originally posted by Mother of Dragons

Oh ok. Thanks for clarifying it and will bookmark it for future trips.

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Quote: Originally posted by Mother of Dragons   Oh ok. Thanks for clarifying it and will bookmark it for future trips. I never heard of a Baja Cactus car company... Where are they?

Quote: Originally posted by David K

See how much we learn on Baja Nomad?!! Have a great day!