BajaNomad

Salt Lake City to LaPaz

oldjack - 7-30-2009 at 11:50 AM

Family members will be leaving Salt Lake City and driving south to LaPaz for 3-4 week visit....

what route is recommended from Las Vegas southward and to which border crossing... AAA recommended going thru San Diego... seems out of the way????

they have been lurkers on the website.. but have only flown down in the past.... this time it is an auto-tour...

mtgoat666 - 7-30-2009 at 12:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Lee
Quote:
Originally posted by oldjack
what route is recommended from Las Vegas southward and to which border crossing... AAA recommended going thru San Diego... seems out of the way????


SLC to Oceanside about 8 hours. I-15 from SLC South to 91 to 55 to 5 South (at Anaheim). I like staying in Oceanside the night before crossing. About 45 minutes to the Border crossing about 6am. No problem.


lee is wrong to divert you thru OC, he is just diverting you thru OC traffic nightmare that only works off peak hours.
fastest is south I-15 thru san diego to south I-5 which takes you to mex border at TJ, where you cross and take mex route 1 to la paz.

comitan - 7-30-2009 at 12:10 PM

Go with the goat!

Cypress - 7-30-2009 at 12:16 PM

Go to Mexicali, then down along Hwy 5! You'll get the real deal and have a story to tell.:bounce:

Bajahowodd - 7-30-2009 at 12:19 PM

I'm with staying on the I-15 to either I-805 or I-5. From 805, you can go to either Otay or San Ysidro.

mtgoat666 - 7-30-2009 at 12:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bajahowodd
I'm with staying on the I-15 to either I-805 or I-5. From 805, you can go to either Otay or San Ysidro.


newbies should go to otay only if they want their first taste of mexico to be getting lost in TJ.

LisaR. - 7-30-2009 at 12:28 PM

If they are going to need FM-Ts, San Ysidro is their best bet, by far. There is a really excellent thread on doing this (I don't know how to link a thread yet, but you can search for it, or maybe someone would be kind enough to link it?). The whole process takes about 15 minutes, and is much easier at San Ysidro than anywhere else.

Bajahowodd - 7-30-2009 at 12:44 PM

Both goat and Lisa make good points.

Lee - 7-30-2009 at 01:49 PM

Boy was that a brainfart.

Stay out of OC -- I was wrong. Stay on I-15 to SD. I'd stay overnight in that area and cross the next morning. Or, you could take the scenic route down the coast and stop in San Juan Capistrano for dinner at El Molino de Oro.

Pescador - 7-30-2009 at 07:36 PM

Well, my wife thinks that all roads in California are populated by stupid, speeding crazies who pass you in the break down lanes, do 4 wheel drifts right in front of your bumper, and generally drive so aggresively that she said we would never take that route again. It got so bad the last time we tried that route that she bit the towel in two that I asked her to put in her mouth to muffle the screaming.
So if we go that way, we go south from Las Vegas through Parker or Las Vegas to Needles and Blythe , to Yuma and then cross at Tecate and you don't even have to take three years off of your life.

Diver - 7-30-2009 at 09:31 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Pescador
we go south from Las Vegas through Parker or Las Vegas to Needles and Blythe , to Yuma and then cross at Tecate and you don't even have to take three years off of your life.


That's been our preferred route from that part of the country.
95 south to Yuma then west to Tecate' for a relaxing crossing.
No LA, SD or TJ !!!

Diver - 7-30-2009 at 09:34 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by LisaR.
If they are going to need FM-Ts, San Ysidro is their best bet, by far. There is a really excellent thread on doing this (I don't know how to link a thread yet, but you can search for it, or maybe someone would be kind enough to link it?). The whole process takes about 15 minutes, and is much easier at San Ysidro than anywhere else.


Have you tried getting your FMT in Tecate' ??
10-30 minutes depending on if you get there with a caravan of folks.
Bank is 50' across the street.

LisaR. - 7-31-2009 at 12:50 AM

I haven't tried Tecate (well, the cerveza, sure). I have gotten FM-Ts in Rosarito and Ensenada, and both were a big pain, with alot of wandering around after getting vague directions. San Ysidro seemed very easy in comparison, but it's good to know that Tecate is another option! And I definitely agree with the ease of crossing the border there!

fishbuck - 7-31-2009 at 02:50 AM

Go in through San Ysidro. By far the easiest way to enter in.
I think several posts in here show exactly how to do it including satelite maps.
But I'm sure someone will post it again.
It ain't that hard. Just go in through TJ.

karenintx - 7-31-2009 at 06:20 AM

If you are wanting to get to La Paz "ASAP" and not interested in driving the Baja...you can always go thru Nogales, AZ. Easy getting the FMT and great tollways all the way down to San Carlos which does not require a windshield sticker. There you catch the ferry over to Santa Rosalia or what we did was buy our windshield sticker (which is needed if going past San Carlos) while at Nogales then drove down to Topolobampo/Los Mochas. That ferry is bigger, nicer and runs 7 days a week. From border to "Topo" was about 550 mile and 10 hours of driving. Of course there is a charge for the ferry but we figured between the gas, hotels and food it would be a wash.

Again just depends on fast you want to get to La Paz. If you want more info...U2U me.

All that love driving the Baja...I am just throwing out an other suggestion. We were in a hurry to get to CSL. Total time from Ft. Worth TX to CSL was 72 1/2 hours...saved about 1300 miles of driving.

woody with a view - 7-31-2009 at 05:54 PM

Quote:

saved about 1300 miles of driving.


and years of storytelling about all of the cool places that don't exist because you didn't see them, i think!:light:

karenintx - 7-31-2009 at 06:35 PM

Hey Woody...didn't say we haven't driven the Baja. I said we were "in a hurry"...hence the reason for taken that route at that time. Now we have years of storytelling and pics about all the cool places we drove thru, the people we met...like the guy on their Harleys from Kansas we met in a seaside restaurant and more..

woody with a view - 7-31-2009 at 06:36 PM

:D

David K - 7-31-2009 at 07:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by LisaR.
If they are going to need FM-Ts, San Ysidro is their best bet, by far. There is a really excellent thread on doing this (I don't know how to link a thread yet, but you can search for it, or maybe someone would be kind enough to link it?). The whole process takes about 15 minutes, and is much easier at San Ysidro than anywhere else.


Check my DAY 1 trip report (Baja 709 Great Days), I included photos!

Bajahowodd - 7-31-2009 at 10:51 PM

I must say that karen's post is very interesting in that by going through the border at Nogales, gives you many miles of great highway. Very unlike highway one on Baja. That being said, I'm not so sure that your stateside drive to get to Nogales from SLC will give you any benefit. Personally, if I was in SLC. I would be tempted to try it at least one time. The ferry is kinda like taking a cruise in the middle of your trip.

LisaR. - 7-31-2009 at 11:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Quote:
Originally posted by LisaR.
If they are going to need FM-Ts, San Ysidro is their best bet, by far. There is a really excellent thread on doing this (I don't know how to link a thread yet, but you can search for it, or maybe someone would be kind enough to link it?). The whole process takes about 15 minutes, and is much easier at San Ysidro than anywhere else.


Check my DAY 1 trip report (Baja 709 Great Days), I included photos!



I know, (not to hijack this thread, but...) Mark and I got home Sunday night, checked Nomad, and saw that you had posted part of your trip report already--complete with photos of immigration. We took over 800 pictures and didn't get that. You are the master! I'm not kidding, we really said that to each other.