BajaNomad

Baja, where are you going?

Baja Bernie - 9-17-2010 at 05:32 AM

Thought I would share this with all of you...

Baja, where are you going?

Most of my post here have been simple attempts, on my part, to share the Baja I have known over the past 45 years….Those memories have never been clouded or ruled by the laws of man but much more often by the common sense of the Mexican people and their guests.

Over the years many of us have chosen to place our hearts in Baja for assorted reasons. Some we understood but others we can only marvel. One of the overriding reasons, I believe, is/was the desire to escape the cluttered and highly regimented life in the United States. A place where common sense no longer prevails and one that is ‘ruled’ by judges and attorney’s—I didn’t mention politicians because saying that would be redundant.

Many recent threads have convinced me more than anything else that the end of a naďve and simple era is over, done, and for all purposes gone. I am must thankful that so many of us have been allowed to experience the simple pleasures of Baja and its wonderful people. That we were allowed to wander around this paradise at will—stopping to savor its quietude, the hot winds of her deserts, the sun and waves of her seashores. The hurricanes that thunder ashore around the Cape, the bounty of the Sea of Cortez and so much more.

We have been allowed to sip of a culture that has taught many of us that time really has no meaning unless it is spent with friends or its passing has added to our understanding and enjoyment of life. We were blessed to see a blending of the two cultures and the emergence of a third that somehow is more than the sum of the two.

I understand—but do not appreciate the fact that many of us ‘visitors’ do not feel comfortable without our definitive laws and rules that control most of the functions of our lives. Those very things that have driven many of us into her arms are now engulfing Baja and changing her forever! Her simple and free pleasures are, more and more, forced to conform to a more orderly society where folks require the security of the much more complex society that we had thought to leave behind us as we escaped to Baja.

I am sure that one day soon the lovely towns and villages of Baja will mirror such cities as Tijuana, Cancun, or Acapulco where the free life of the individual is sacrificed for the ‘good’ of the many. These changes will end up swallowing up those folks who would ‘march to a different drummer’—or in the case of some—dance to a piccolo player.

Watching my footprints being washed away by the tide has always been a magical moment for me and I just hope that my passing will be washed out to sea as were my footprints in the sand—rather than being held captive in a slab of concrete.

Yes! I know that ‘progress’ is good—but losing the freedom to roam around mi Baja is not progress and may not be so judged by anyone’s standards.

Bernie Swaim—August 2007

No, no! I am going nowhere—yet.

woody with a view - 9-17-2010 at 05:38 AM

i can show you some places that will never submit to progress.......

DENNIS - 9-17-2010 at 05:44 AM

Hang in there, Bernie. Good to see you.

Skeet/Loreto - 9-17-2010 at 06:33 AM

Yes Bernie. Very well writtin, I feel very much the same.


Except TAMBEBECHI Don,t think there are enough Adventure Types to enjoy itOR FIND IT.

Skeet

mcfez - 9-17-2010 at 07:18 AM

This story makes you look back...

Notable change on the Sea of Cortez side really hit me hard when I realized that those mound of white rocks meant change in the future. There was mound after mound stacked and painted, all the way to Coco's

Yes Skeet....it be a good new post to see who's the Adventure Types here....
Quote:
Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
Yes Bernie. Very well writtin, I feel very much the same.


Except TAMBEBECHI Don,t think there are enough Adventure Types to enjoy itOR FIND IT.

Skeet


05.jpg - 42kB

Eli - 9-17-2010 at 07:22 AM

Bernie,
Remember Dad's story about throwing the beer can from the car to mark the spot where civilization ends? I still hold true to that theory. You just got to get off the main roads and Baja is still there for Ya. See David's latest pictures by BajaTripper.

And that said from someone who got all peey and left in "75" when they paved the road.

Sure am glad I got over it and came back.
Do I think I could today repeat the feat of coming home with $3,000 DLLs., no knowledge of building and from that creating by far still the finest Construction Company in the East Cape? Perpetuating myself here for the last 21 years? Nope? But, I couldn't have done it before the year I did either, it was a dumb luck, perfect catch the ring on the carousel moment.

Viva Baja! It has given me a great life! Hope you come see me sometime. Maybe we can visit Auga Caliente, the old way of life is still there.


[Edited on 9-17-2010 by Eli]

Phil S - 9-17-2010 at 07:57 AM

"to Coco's corner". ???????? Am I missing something here? I remember this trip to San Felipe just to say I'd been there. Then on south stopping along the way to each little village we came upon. Including a stop to meet Coco, and drop off some oranges for him, as I'd learned to do when I became a 'Nomad" member. Then on south then west of hwy 1. Then on to Rattlesnake Beach to spend the winter. What's changed since those earlier days of the 90's?????

Osprey - 9-17-2010 at 08:00 AM

Bernie, to get completely filled back up, get rid of that empty, freeway feeling you need only arrange for a small plane to fly you around the mountains of Baja, slow and low enough to see the thousands of ramals and seeps and camps, and ranchos where time stands still, frozen,waiting for those who tire of sitting by the pool with a good book.

mcfez - 9-17-2010 at 08:43 AM

Well.......(!).....a paved road being constructed. And bridges. No McDonald's yet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIj8nxRb9AU&feature=relat...
Quote:
Originally posted by Phil S
"to Coco's corner". ???????? Am I missing something here? I remember this trip to San Felipe just to say I'd been there. Then on south stopping along the way to each little village we came upon. Including a stop to meet Coco, and drop off some oranges for him, as I'd learned to do when I became a 'Nomad" member. Then on south then west of hwy 1. Then on to Rattlesnake Beach to spend the winter. What's changed since those earlier days of the 90's?????

knuckles - 9-17-2010 at 09:35 AM

You nailed it Bernie, then and now.

Osprey - 9-17-2010 at 09:53 AM

Perhaps I didn't explain my view properly. I'll try again. The Baja you remember is still there but you expect to find it right alongside Highway One. The Old Baja is waiting for those of you who want to see it badly enough to get off your asses and go look see. Anybody agree with that?

Eli - 9-17-2010 at 10:06 AM

Yep Osprey, I get it. I think it is the same thing I said in my own way.....

mcfez - 9-17-2010 at 11:25 AM

100%
Quote:
Originally posted by Osprey
Perhaps I didn't explain my view properly. I'll try again. The Baja you remember is still there but you expect to find it right alongside Highway One. The Old Baja is waiting for those of you who want to see it badly enough to get off your burros and go look see. Anybody agree with that?

Pescador - 9-17-2010 at 12:15 PM

Well, Osprey, you are right, but even in the back country, I see little incursions of progress. I was at one of the rancho's way back in about halfway between Mulege and Scorpion bay and camped for the night when a friend said he had to run because he did not want to miss his favorite TV program, "Dancing With the Stars", and I had to just kinda shake my head and wonder.
I recently got back from a great trip over to Asuncion where some of the "Old Baja" is still alive and well, but was told by everyone not to drive main street without having your seat belts fastened and secured and I had to reflect back on a trip to Kino Bay in the early 60's when on the road between Kino Bay and Hermosillo when I hit a bump and the muffler fell off of my old Chevy Pickup. I had picked up 3 or 4 hitchhikers who were loaded with Tecate and we were going down the road singing, passing beers back and forth, and generally having a great time. We sure were not going to run over anyone due to the load noise that preceded our arrival. Those guys who I gave the ride to became good friends and we shared many experiences over the years following that trip.
Kinda like that old Waylon Jennings song where the cowboy is now working in a feedlot selling cigarettes and beer on the weekend at the convienience store.

mtgoat666 - 9-17-2010 at 12:57 PM

change is good. while many of you pine for the days of yore, perhaps the people that have to go to work and earn a living like to have devlopment and an expanding economy...

you are sad the rancho has TV, but maybe the rancho likes having better access to food, medicine, water, power and TV and internet ??

toneart - 9-17-2010 at 01:00 PM

Well said, Bernie! And Osprey, yes, I agree with you. Pescador has added part of what I was going to say.

I used to cross the border at TJ with a girlfriend, unbuckle our seat belts and pull into the first liquor store on the left, just after the offramp. We would buy a six pack of cerveza and head for Rosorito Beach. The intention was not to get drunk. It was to get an instant hit of feeling free!

Now, I am not suggesting that you would express your freedom in this way, but the way I described above, was symbolic of launching the trip into a radically different culture and escaping from another culture. We soon found the real difference in culture by encountering the sweetness of the Mexican people. Freedom!

The "old Baja" that is in our memories and hearts still exists but is harder to find. It is more than a geographic location; it is a feeling. The feeling is this: Freedom! So, yes, you have to go off the highway to find it. The "wildman" in us still seeks the time-gone-by Old Wild West. Many of you Baja pioneers know what I am talking about.

Mexico has learned from us that there is revenue in the kind of law and order we have. They have observed and they have learned. The feeling is repression and intimidation. To further evoke this feeling is that one cannot depend on a uniform interpretation or enforcement of the laws in Mexico. So you could say, "we brought it with us".

Oh, you will quite possibly take many trips down the highway and hanging around in towns without incident, but that old feeling of Freedom is not the same. Obviously, there are laws in place to prevent people from getting hurt or hurting others. Admittedly, I live by a double standard: "Freedom is OK for me, but not OK for you (if you can't handle it or if you abuse it)." I am confident in my discretionary conduct that I won't get myself in trouble. But there is that feeling just around the corner, or sitting on my shoulder, that it is no longer entirely up to me.

Cypress - 9-17-2010 at 01:10 PM

There's no shortage of out-of-the-way places in Baja, even on the coasts and a whole lot in between. No water, no power, no people.:D

Osprey - 9-17-2010 at 01:15 PM

Last time, I promise. You are all right about the place because it is not one thing, it is many. I live off the blue highways so my perspective is local, hometown. Baja is not a place, it is an idea, an attitude. Living small town Baja evokes words like rustic, simplistic, antiquated, unmodified, basic. Not a day goes by that my life doesn't rub up against the bare-bones backward, lovable, forgiving, common sense non system of how people tolerate each other where it's too windy and hot and humid and unbelievably wonderful.

toneart - 9-17-2010 at 01:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cypress
There's no shortage of out-of-the-way places in Baja, even on the coasts and a whole lot in between. No water, no power, no people.:D


This is true, but you are speaking only of geography. There is also your security to consider, now more than before. Can you really feel free camping in those places? Some can. Others can't.

toneart - 9-17-2010 at 01:28 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Osprey
Last time, I promise. You are all right about the place because it is not one thing, it is many. I live off the blue highways so my perspective is local, hometown. Baja is not a place, it is an idea, an attitude. Living small town Baja evokes words like rustic, simplistic, antiquated, unmodified, basic. Not a day goes by that my life doesn't rub up against the bare-bones backward, lovable, forgiving, common sense non system of how people tolerate each other where it's too windy and hot and humid and unbelievably wonderful.


Yes! The key is to live local, be local and love local! (Local intentionally used as a noun instead of an adverb). ;)

bajalera - 9-17-2010 at 06:24 PM

One noticeable change brought about by the highway is that all ranchers--no matter how far out in the boonies-- now seem to have pickups or cars, and the arrival of passing travelers no longer brings whole families and a skinny dog or two out to get a look at you.

BajaNomad - 9-18-2010 at 06:41 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Baja Bernie
We have been allowed to sip of a culture that has taught many of us that time really has no meaning unless it is spent with friends or its passing has added to our understanding and enjoyment of life.


Doug

Baja Bernie - 9-18-2010 at 10:03 PM

Thank you my friend

You have hit the essence of what I was trying to convey.

schwlind - 9-19-2010 at 05:57 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Baja Bernie
Thought I would share this with all of you...

Baja, where are you going?



Bernie... your words are so eloquently written and for me, embody my feelings. Yes, there may still be many areas of Baja… untouched by “progress”… but things just don’t seem to be as simple as they once were in this beautiful land…

Linda

Thank you Linda

Baja Bernie - 9-19-2010 at 10:54 PM

Simple they are no longer!

I feel so blessed that I was able to wander about and learn so much from my Mexican friends...In that wonderful time when Gringo's seldom felt the need to change Baja to reflect those things that they had been running from when they arrived in this fantastic land.

I was changed by my new friends and I never felt the need to change them.

Bajafun777 - 9-20-2010 at 06:30 AM

Definately one must get out and explore to find that "peace" which is followed by that "smile" which leads to that " AHHH Feeling" to which we keep seeking more of the same,LOL.
Now have two months of living in Baja completed and one more to go before my wife and I take off down to La Paz and Cabo by Jeep. We have been planning this trip for some time and yes it was on my "bucket list." We have been reading the forums here more often and decided to leave from Las Gaviotas at 7am and hopefully get to Guerrero Negro by 4pm if all goes well. The second day we plan to start at 7am and hopefully get to La Paz by 5pm, as we do not like to travel at night for safety concerns on the two lane road. Any suggestions on hotels in Guerrero Negro appreciated and we are leaning towards staying at the Cowboy Hotel from what we have read here. Now La Paz we have not even got a lead where to stay there yet, so any suggestions would be appreciated. I just do not want the beds to be like sleeping on a concret slab and most of you that have stayed in Mexico hotels know what I am talking about. LOL
Our third day we will be in Cabo but will not leave La Paz until 9am and hopefully enter Cabo by 3pm. We will then stay a week in Cabo, then back to La Paz for a week and then back to USA border to go home for holidays before taking off to mainland again after January 2011. Life is short and you have to make it run as long as you can with as much FUN & MORE FUN, as you can.LOL Take Care & Travel Safe bajafun777

Gary

Baja Bernie - 9-20-2010 at 10:09 PM

Have a ball my friend and smell the roses.