The Trip of Blood - Mulege to Tecate - Dec 2010

I'll be motorhoming north in an hour or so..going up the Baja Road from Coyote Bay/Mulege to Ensenada to Tecate..along the construction of Rute de Vino.

Get out there on the highway if you need a ride....got lots of room.


Then to San Diego for a few days of R&R.... before boarding time at Lindburgh Field for De Vinci.

Will endeavor to post road conditions as they happen ...where they happen.


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And to all of you, An early FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Hasta la vista, Pompano.



[Edited on 1-6-2011 by Pompano]

To avoid the road construction....

Day 1....Update to Road Trip north from Coyote Bay/Mulege.

First of all, my proposed early start of around 5 AM was greatly postponed until about 11 AM...due to many screw-ups on my part.

The dentist/butcher/stone mason I had chosen a few days ago to pull 2 back molars left me with a pretty good infection and a jaw that looked like Popeye. I feel fortunate in thinking back on that dentist chair nightmare...he only jabbed the ice pick into my tongue once.

The Px for pain and infection he smilingly prescribed as I was crawling out the door. Holding the bloody towel he gave me close to my mouth, I dutifully went to my Mulege druggist, Ruben, whose pharmacy is at the square. I told him who the dentist/hide skinner was...and his eyebrows went to the ceiling.



Then... I went to usually very good Mulege cafe near the Y and ordered a burrito plate to go. Bad choice..after eating one of the three burpitos..I knew something was wrong. I realized this as I was throwing up in the john. I'm not naming the place where I got this severe case of food poisoning, because I know it can happen in Baja..or?.. in any restaruant...It was just my time and maybe a roaming bacteria. You play your best hand.

Back to Ruben's for some stomach meds to kill the bug in my stomach. They can join the pain killers and infection pills already there.

Back home to bed and toilet. Bad night..bad next day..nuther bad night..nuther bad day...lost at poker, too, damn....underside of jaw black and blue now due to that last hammer blow at dentists. First time I ever heard of pulverising a molar.

Now I realize my regular daily meds for thyroid, cholestrol, blood pressure, etc. are almost gone...so back to Ruben's farmacia! Ruben is thinking by now that I am just a junkie after whatever pharmacueticals I can lay my hands on. I get a 3 months supply, just in case they won't supply me across the pond.

Ruben calculates my bill is now in 5 figures...and asks me if now if a good time for him to buy gold.

Now home again and the clock is ticking too fast for a planned Christmas trip where I can get home-Italian cooking. To hell with all this bad health stuff..I am heading out, come hell or ulcerated stomach.

This brings us back to the late start ..when..yesterday? Yes, yesterday. (Ruben mentioned some short term memory loss might occur..but not to worry..I'd forget all about it anyway.)

Thanks to good people at Cuesta Real RV in Mulege I got the trusty Southwind pointed north at the crack of noon..and made it all the way to San Bruno before pulling over to let the drugs in my system fight their fight. I pulled into the marina area there and had a wonderful nap with the cool breeze coming off the Cortez. Pescador picked a good spot to live and love in Baja...and I know the fishing ain't that bad either.


Rested enough to drive safely again, I made it to Guerrerrrroooo Negritaro (1-2-3-4..) and inquired at my old haunt, Malarrimo's, about being certain of wi-fi in thier RV lot. The signal was far too weak, so I went back a block to the
Hotel Caracol where I was nicely welcomed and assured that the signal would reach to thier private lot next to the restuarant...a good secure place for my motorhome. Great, I said, How much? I would have paid a room price. No charge the manager said, we are glad to provide you a spot with wi-fi for the night. Too nice, I said..and gave her 100 pesos...'for coffee in the morning'

Next morning via wi-fi I confirm clinic appt in San Diego to correct whatever is left of my jaw...and to contact TJ lawyer capable of sueing the pants off the dentist in Baja.

Then on the Baja Road norte at 5 AM..feeling a little rested and restored now. Went thru GN check point with just a wave..as I have for the last few trips. No paper check, no nada.

Military checks were usual, except the inspectors wanted to see more photos of Co-Pilot. Hmmm...I'm in those photos on the wall, too, guys.

Weather and road conditions so far have been perfect. Only about 50 bicycles so far...plus 2 roll-overs...1 semi...1 pickup hitting another on a curve..1 with injuries or fatality requiring ambulance north of Catavina. Both accidents were involving nationals, no gringos.

Saw our man, Gotta Peso, in Catavina, too. too...but had to toss my 10P coin as I was moving along. He caught it expertly, though..after all, he once told me he was a shortstop for the Yankees.

Road is rough and pot-holed between Catavina and El Rosario..where I am now. Sitting in the coach using BajaCactus wi-fi to write this part of my Road Trip report northbound.

A nice thing happened just a bit ago. A knock came on the door..and there was a young fellow holding a baby. Hello? Hi..you left your lights on. Hey, thanks a lot. I've been doing that for couple days now....but it's a long story.

We yakked a bit about road conditons, etc. he was southbound. He introduced himself as Zack..and when I asked his destination, he said Asuncion. I asked if he knew shari...yup. Did he read Nomads? Yes..I am bajaboy.

Now that was a real nice meeting of another Nomad. My battery would have went dead after a while...and I forget what else...

Have a great trip home, Zack..and that's an awfully cute baby.

Now it's north, right? See you down the road. Nice and sunny in El Rosario at 2:30.

Oh yeah, got lots of photos..just forgot to size them for posting here, but I'll do that from whatever wi-fi camp I end up at tonight.

Hasta pronto...Poopano

Roger,

I'm sorry you are having all that pain. If it is any consolation, dentists have the highest suicide rate of any profession. Nobody likes them.

Oh...and can you delay your return to Mulege so that I can have a shot at catching any remaining fish that you didn't take, and also a fair chance at making a move on any Italian women that unwittingly pass through? Also, it will give Ruben a chance to restock.

Vie Bien, Amigo!

That's very small of you, Woody!

Sorry to hear of your misfortune with dental demolition

The world may be coming to an end as a result of moving on from your Baja heaven....but let's hope not.

May Italy treat you and your wife royally

That Bloody Baja Road

THE BLOOD TRIP


Okay, I am back. Been kind of 'out of it' for a few days, and was only able to sign in and lurk for the last couple. Now feeling up to writing, but now it's about time to update my Road Trip from Coyote Bay to Tecate to San Diego from about 10 days ago.

It was not one of my usual 'runs'... as you shall soon find out.

What follows is what exactly happened...in brutal reality. Good thing it's not in color..

Warning: The following could be offensive... ....interesting...perplexing... informative....or just plain gross to some readers. Personally, I would read on ..but with a barf bag at hand.

We should begin by going back to the beginning:

Mulege, December 17, 2010
I had an interesting last couple days in Mulege. My bowel stools were pure black and runny. I smelled like a mule deer in rut. Stomach was hurting like hell and felt like it had an ice pick working it over. I was setting a world record on total BM's with 1 hour.

(See...I TOLD you it was going to be different.)

I decided to make it to the border ASAP, but it didn't work out that way. I could only drive my behemoth motorhome a few miles before getting so dizzy I could barely make out the Pacifico trucks, so I would stop every thousand yards and lay in bed between trips to the john. I grunted and barely stood the pain in the gut and got so dizzy and disorientated it was damn lucky I didn't hit one of those bicycles or a semi head on.







I spent the first night at San Bruno..a whole 25 miles north of Mulege.
That spot I got to by the marina was heaven sent...I needed a good reststop. It built my strength back up enough to continue.



Next day I leapfrogged up the highway...making it thru Sta. Rosalia and up the Devil's Grade....


to San Ignacio..then finally to Guerrero Negro where I crashed and made more black poop.

By now, I knew I was in deep trouble, but also knew that I had to reach the States and a good hospital. A hospital without blood on the walls like the last one I used in La Paz Naval Hospital..but that's another story from back in the day.

I weaved on up the Road thru my old familiar haunts...sad sweet photo of Carmelita's. Just not the same anymore without her.

Did manage to snap a photo in Catavina of "Gotta Peso" as he was crossing in front of me. I hailed him.

Next day I made it to El Rosario and used the BajaCactus Motel wi-fi to contact my Coyote Bay neighbor, Dr. Vince Flynn...who lives on Coronado Island, SD. He confirmed that I was a basket case and said to get to USA as quickly as I could. I did just that...driving by pure instinct and blind luck the last 285 miles to Tecate and then the 45 miles to Chula Vista. Many, many stops, bathroom visits, and bed crashes. Crawling. Overpowering nasuea and weak limbs..absolutely zero energy. How the hell I ever made that last leg I'll never know. I have no recollection of any of it. Nada.

I snapped a photo of the many seafood stands outside of San Quentin. Next time I am stopping and spending a quiet time there..sampling the wares.





All I know about that part of the trip are the photos that were on my digital camera..and the right side mirror exploded when I went to far right to avoid a truck coming over the centerline.

I must have thought that Erindera..spelling?..would be a good spot to spend a night, because that is where I woke up in the wee hours one morning. A nice policeman came by to ask if I was okay. I said Yes, Gracias, and thanks again for asking. Si, senor..perhaps now you would care to move a little bit off the road, it is bad for the traffic that is sure to come.





I don't recall that the road work was so bad from Ensenada to Tecate..not a bit. Tecate was easy and I waited for only about 15 minutes max. The US Border people took one hard look at me and asked..
What's that smell? Are you ill?
Yup.
Are you requesting a medic?
Nope
Get outta here. You smell like a mule deer in rut.


I wheeled on down the Dulzura Road thru Jamul..and into Spring Valley, El Cajon, etc..then onto the 94 which is very easy..just turn left and go with the flow.


After that, things got blurry again...

I got lost and dizzy somewhere on the 805-S in San Diego and could not find where the hell I was, so I crashed in a Von's parking lot somewhere around Chula Vista, but could not say exactly where. Bonita something or something Bonita. I didn't have the strength to get out and walk into a store to ask my location. It was all I could do to figure out how to use my cell phone to call Vince the next day.

The simplest things seemed impossible to me. I recall thinking that this is what happens to pink Zinfandel drinkers, NOT ME.

I crawled from the bathroom..literally..and collapsed into my bed...exhausted..and smelling like a musk ox in rut.

I called 'vince' the next morning and tried to explain where I was. He was a trooper and figured out from my ramblings where I was and gps'ed a route to me from Coronado Island. Between my chitting blood every 10 minutes and then falling in bed, it was a miracle that he found me with a little info I gave him about the stores I could see out the windows. He arrived and found me 'trying' to clean up a pool of blood and got me to the emergency room at Scripps Hospital in Chula Vista. Good man..he saved my life.

I must have looked like a flock of vampires had worked me over, because the the ER staff got cracking, in a wheelchair, into a room and a bed.. and got me on a blood & glucose transfusion promptly..and then it was 3 1/2 days of intensive care...tubes everywhere and coming/going out of every hole in my body.

The docs were a tad worried...as they said, I had lost almost all my blood..down a few quarts...did not show on the dispstick...no damn wonder I was so weak and dizzy. The resident doctor said I should have been dead. He said I set a record at the hospital for the least amount of blood left in a living person. Lots of soon-to-be-doctors would be brought to my room to review my case and charts. Lots of talk about human limits, liters of blood, etc. I just wanted some peace and quiet. Shut off the light, guys...and leave.

I was on blood transfusions constantly 24/7..never could sleep in that damn hospital..nurses everywhere with needles and taking EKG's, blood pressure readings, temp readings, damn machines beeping next to me all day and night. Every time I moved I pulled some damn needle of me and a machine would start BEEPING loudly. I grew to hate the machines and someday will go back to sledgehammer the lot.

The nurses and blood ghouls soon found out that my viens are thick walled and not the best subject to puncture with the needles. They had a hard time drawing blood..every 30 minutes. So they jabbed merrily away into my arms, back of hands, wrists,....one took a good look at my right kneecap. One medic wanted me to shuck my bottoms..screw that...now if it had been a nurse asking....different story.

One morning they decided I had enough strength back to do a Colonoscopy (what fun,eh?) up the old pooper. Then the next day another Endo-whatever-scopy down the throat through the gut. That was brutal. Did not like that at all. They found 3 polyps that were removed with a roto-router and also a hole in my gut where the blood was going out. Got that seared up and back on more bags of blood and glucose. One thing I found out during these operations and inspections...I love Demerol.

Long story short...I should have died on that motorhome trip north to SD..but made it for some wild reason. Thank God for the Scripps Hospital ER...The docs kept me rolling along, saw so many specialists I forget them all now. Good news is...I lost 35 pounds. And now I have 8 different med bottles to take pills from every damn day.


My ticket to Rome had been for Dec. 22 with excellent, cozy seating, complimentary champagne...cost more than my first boat. Well..at least I've got a good doctor's excuse to get a refund or reschedule later if I can manage the flight without falling off the gangway.

Wondering why I never showed in Rome...and upon hearing of my little emergency from mi amigo, Randy, Co-pilot quickly worked up a flight from Rome to Paris to San Diego... a long, long flight. Departing Rome, she made it to Paris deGaulle..and was promptly snowbound/stranded at the airport with hundreds of other travelers. You probably heard about it on the news. Poor gal, she had to sleep 2days/nights on a cot in the airport waiting ..and then all flights were permanently cancelled to USA..so she went back to Rome exhausted. And now she has a fever from that event...damn.


Today I'm still weak as a kitten, but am finally out of the hospital and in a KOA RV park in Chula Vista. The staff here is treating me very nice and doing all my errands for me. I managed to take a cab to a market and buy them Xmas treats. A swell bunch of people at that KOA.


This is where I spent Chrismas Eve..an RV park in San Diego. Nowhere near Rome..sigh.


I can still barely get the energy up to take a shower and get dressed, but this is infinetely better than that hospital. Don't get me wrong..the hospital and staff saved my life, but it is not a place I want to linger for long. You know what I mean.

So that's my story about how I made the trip from Mulege to San Diego. When I get back down to Baja I am going first to a certain city where I will pickaxe to death the burro dentist who started all this with his bad technique and worse medications that ulcerated my stomach...then I will wring a certain cook's neck in Mulege for feeding me a bad burrito and giving me food poisoning and resultant harsh PX ..on top of the bad dentist PX. chite will fly..and it won't be mine this time.

Collateral damage...I had to buy another laptop as mine crashed when I was incoherent and tried to use it on the drive north. The crashed one was only 45 days old..groan..now in shop for 4-6 weeks. Hence the new one. Up and online again via Verizon air card.
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Funny how life goes crazy sometimes.....but we play the cards we're dealt and it's no use complaining. Looking forward to some sun and fun in Baja again ..Go fishing..drink fewer Pacific...lay in sun to get rid of this pasty look........and thank the Lord I am alive to do it...and appreciate everything around me a whole lot more....

...but first I am going to go far, far east and find a nice Italian nurse ... sip just a little red wine...it's good for the blood.

Best regards, a belated Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year....your amigo, Pompano



[Edited on 1-5-2011 by BajaNomad]

OMG Roger

HOLY SHEEP Pomp!!!! Stay put & regain your strength[/size] [size=.5](& good judgment to drive safely) before you attempt to go anywhere under your own power!!

wowwwwwwwwwwww

we drove past Mulege today and I wondered where you were since we hadnt heard from you in so long. I just assumed you had gone to Italy.

Roger - next time go to our dentist in TJ. Samuel Gomez, right across from the wax museum - walk towards thea arch. Les had 2 mollars pulled a week and was eating that evening

Happy New Year - if you can make it to LA BOCANA, I promise we will take you under our wing along with Mike and Don Kay and Solo, who should be here any minute !!!!!

Holy frijoles de las enchiladas! WOW im glad your ALIVE! Roger! what a

Scarrrry experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On a walkabout...

Roger

Glad we get to count you among those of us still looking down at the grass and not up. Take car my friend....

Wow! I'm sure glad you're still with us, Pompano.
Hoping that real soon you'll be good-'nuff for that trip across the pond. I know you'll enjoy being nursed back to complete good health.

nena

Roger,
You seem to be a pretty bright guy (anyone shooting prairie chickens in Theodore, Saskatchewan is a bright guy.... ).....BUT....why in hell would you pursue more Mexican dentists??? I know there must be some good Mexican ones, but I imagine you can afford a more reputable dentist recommended by friends north of the border.

I wish you the best of dentist-luck , and a strong recovery...

Bueno suerte, amigo

SHEEEEEEEEESH!!!!

What a story. Glad you are still with us,k

do you know what is strange as well ? Les and I took a trip xmas this year to el norte. we ate at the same places and the exact same food. i got sick - food poisoning (just a slight case compared to yours, Roger) and Les did not get sick at all .... and I can't even guess as to what it was that made me feel so bad