BajaNomad

LOS BARRILES TO TECATE

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 10-19-2010 at 12:38 PM

Hola,

left los barriles on thursday, oct. 14 for san quintin and here is my trip report to the best of my brain cell damaged memory.

didn't stop to smell any roses ( or cacti ) as i was to meet a friend and go fishing out of san quintin.

didn't see any cops in ciudad constitucion and did stop at all intersections.

many military checkpoints along the way:

north of la paz

north of loreto

san ignacio

mountains south of el rosario

south of santo tomas

first and last booths at the ensenada/tijuana cuotas

didn't have any major inspections at all but usually, i get pulled over at the loreto inspection stop and they have unloaded my 5' x 8' utility trailer in the past.

most of the bridge construction sites have paved detours. the construction at the maneadero area was dirt but was very driveable and seemed to have been graded recently but was wet and slippery from the drizzle and mud.

just south of guerrero negro to the U.S. border and all the way to los angeles had drizzle and the mountainous area in the maneadero area was very wet and slippery and there were 3 accidents due to the wet weather.

on sunday, fortunately, i got lost again going to the tijuana crossing and after exiting after driving along the fence at the international border, the traffic was all backed up and stopped. as i exited by mistake early, i followed the tecate free road and crossed at tecate.

at the tecate crossing, the line started at the top of the steep hill after the left to go to the border crossing but it only took an hour and 20 minutes to get to the inspection booth.

30 kilometers from ciudad constitucion, i unfortunately got to test the 066 emergency number on my mexican cell as i had a flat tire on the two lane road with no shoulder and was blocking the northbound lane of mex1. had two operators that did not speak english and my spanish was not adequate to describe my situation. the third operator did speak english well enough to understand me and said help will be at my location in about 20 - 30 minutes.

approximately 30 minutes or so later, a federal police car pulled up, turned around and parked behind me with their flashers on. after checking things out, they called for a tire company to send a truck and they stayed with me until the tire company truck arrived. about 45 minutes later, a beat up stake type truck pulled up and removed my flat tire, emptied my trailer getting to an unmounted spare, removed the flat tire and manually mounted the spare onto the rim.

cost me 1,000 pesos but i was very grateful for the service and i was back on my way.

i recommend travelers to buy a mexican cell as it would have cost me $ 1.00 a minute to use my american cell and i have heard some american cell providers have problems in various parts of baja.

i did not have any problems buying gas along the way and there were people selling gas from barrels in catavina.

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

DENNIS - 10-19-2010 at 12:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BAJA.DESERT.RAT
30 kilometers from ciudad constitucion, i unfortunately got to test the 066 emergency number on my mexican cell as i had a flat tire on the two lane road with no shoulder and was blocking the northbound lane of mex1. had two operators that did not speak english and my spanish was not adequate to describe my situation. the third operator did speak english well enough to understand me and said help will be at my location in about 20 - 30 minutes.

approximately 30 minutes or so later, a federal police car pulled up, turned around and parked behind me with their flashers on. after checking things out, they called for a tire company to send a truck and they stayed with me until the tire company truck arrived. about 45 minutes later, a beat up stake type truck pulled up and removed my flat tire, emptied my trailer getting to an unmounted spare, removed the flat tire and manually mounted the spare onto the rim.

cost me 1,000 pesos but i was very grateful for the service and i was back on my way.




Great story at any cost. Thanks.