TMW - 11-24-2010 at 09:25 AM
My son Andy came out for the Baja 1000 with grandson Patrick (8) and granddaughter Nicole (16) from Colorado Springs, CO. Andy hadn't been to Baja in
over 20 years.
I picked them up at his friend Eddy's home in La Mesa on Tuesday the 16th. We took the scenic toll road to Ensenada. Stayed at Americas Best Value Inn
(the old Travelodge). Wed. morning we went to La Bufadora and stopped at La Jolla camp. We went over the hill to Kennedy's, we use to scuba dive
there. The Kennedy's are Mexican lobster fishermen. They now have a concrete boat ramp at Kennedy's on the side where they keep their boats. We got
back to town and went to contingency. Met up with Paul aka Tunaeater (272x) and his people at their hotel and went over race plans. Not a lot for us
to do except follow the bike in case something happens. They were using Baja Pits.
Paul started about 7:10am Thursday morning and we went to Ojos Negros and waited for Paul. We were to give him goggles if he needed them. He didn't so
we headed to highway KM77 and waited for Paul to come in and hand the bike over to Ricky. Paul and Ricky couldn't get time off work to go further
south so they split the riding from the start. Everything went smooth. Paul started 22nd in class and at KM77 was 8th. Ricky took the bike south of
San Felipe at KM52 and handed it off to the next rider. He had the bike in 5th place in class there. We all met in town and had lunch at Georges
restaurant then back to the course to watch the Trophy Trucks and cars come by. Running order was 21, 8 and 97 near RM223. Sometime after dark we go
to Paul's dad's house. Rudy (Paul's dad) fixed dinner and we set around a fire pit talking till about 11pm then went to bed. Rudy setup one of the
trailers for us to sleep in. The next morning Paul found out the bike (272x) broke just outside LA Bay, engine problems. Bummer.
Rudy and his friends Roy and Fred went to town early to go fishing in a boat. We stayed and after breakfast Andy and the kids swam in the water. I
threw a line out but didn't catch anything. Patrick and Nickie had fun trying to fish. We then headed down to Gonzaga Bay and had lunch at Alfonsinas.
Then on down to Cocos. The kids got to meet Coco. I lost the drivers side front shock and Coco had a guy pull it off.
Before dark we left and went out to highway one. We then went out on a dirt road to the Pacific to Bahia Blanco. I came in from the Pacific on this
road in 2003 prerunning the 1000 with Stuart Chase. We camped near the beach. The next morning I threw a line in and caught a good size surf perch
right off. Andy got pictures of Patrick waking up with it over his head. Never got another bite. The kids played in the water and looked for shells
etc. Saw a Seal and several Porpoises in the water pretty close to the beach. Later we drove out thru San Antonio back to hwy 1. Lots of silt coming
in and going out until reaching the mountains. Stayed at the Baja Cactus hotel in El Rosario. Great room with 2 king beds and 2 single beds upstairs
for less than $40. Ate at Momma Espanoza for dinner and breakfast the next morning. Sunday we drove back thru Tecate. About a 15 minute wait at the
border (3:30pm) and another 10 minutes in Secondary, they said I was randomly selected by the computer. Lots of new road construction north of Santo
Tomas and hwy 3 south of Tecate. A little rain from Ensenada to Tecate.
We had a great time. Andy and Eddie went to the Charger game Monday night. I came home on Monday.
TW
bajalou - 11-24-2010 at 09:39 AM
Great story Tom, glad you had a good time without a LOT of work. Too bad about Paul's bike.