Headed down last week on a leisurely trip from Southern California to the La Paz area.
First night: Potrero County Park about six miles from the Tecate crossing. This is a San Diego County Park that is very convenient to the border.
Water/Elec hookups with a central dump station. I think that the base fee was $24/night but we had a few add-ons for a second vehicle and some pets.
Crossed at Tecate the next morning at about 7:30am. Imported a bunch of stuff that is detailed under another post. The re-paved Mex 3 is in very
good condition. It looks like they are building another permanent military inspection post just north of the Guadalupe valley. Concrete dividers,
posts for a roof structure, etc., with the same layout as the yet-to-opened post near Santo Tomas.
Construction north of Santo Tomas has rough bypasses but no problem. The big excavation cut at the top of the grade is interesting. The existing
highway crosses the cut at the summit with an 80-100 ft deep excavation on each side. Looks like they plan on building the new roadbed on both sides
and then cutting through the existing highway at the last moment. Not sure how they can maintain traffic while the final cut is being made.
Second night: Los Olivos RV park near San Quintin and dinner at Jardines restaurant. Clean, quiet park with about six Water/Elec hookup spaces and
more dry camping spaces. $15 USD/night.
Construction zones both north and south of Catavina are just about finished. Pavement is placed and culvert work and striping going on. Not much to
say about the construction north of Jesus Maria that hasn’t already been said other than to re-emphasize that the bypass is OK if you GO SLOW!!
Third night: Malarrimo in Guerrero Negro. Full hookups, $16 USD/night.
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth night: Santispac beach. Dry camping, 80 pesos/night. Beautiful. Stayed for three days.
Seventh Day: Broke a trailer axle spring between Cuidades Insurgentes and Constitucion. As luck would have it, I was going about 15 mph and
immediately pulled off into a side entrance road. Turns out that it was the entrance to a concrete block manufacturing plant. The owner saw the
trouble, came out, and insisted that I drag the trailer into his yard. He sent two workers over to help and I was off the road and set up in his yard
in 10 minutes. I had the broken spring out in about 30 more minutes.
He gave me the name and directions to a spring shop in Constitucion, ” Muelle Carbajal”. They had about ten sets of new trailer springs on the shelf
but all were too long between the spring eyes. No problem, come back in two hours.
I left the broken spring with them and went looking for food and refreshments. They shortened the springs, re-rolled the eyes using a forge and
anvil, re-arced the replacements with a hydraulic press to match the original curvature of my spring, and I was on my way back to the propped up
trailer in about 2 ˝ hours with a matched set of replacement springs.
Re-installed one replacement and moved on into town. Installed the second one the following morning at the Palapa 206 RV park.
Seventh night: Palapa 206 in Cuidad Constitucion. Full hookups, 200 pesos/night. This place has more than meets the eye from the highway.
The grounds are about 5 acres with 10 RV spots near the highway and 10 or 12 more set back away from the highway. The owners/caretakers live on site.
The compound is walled. In the back portion there are about 10 motel rooms and a large fenced storage area within the walled compound. The motel
rooms have to be seen to be believed. Each one has its own garage, king beds, granite counters/vanities, decorative glass block showers, A/C, TV,
wi-fi, and very, very clean. And $35 USD/night. If you want secure parking, this is the place!
As far as Constitucion goes, the cops are still about. I made five trips end to end in one day with no problems. However, at one corner on the two
lane frontage road, there was a cop on the side street near the corner. I stopped and then went. The Mexican next to me slowed down, rolled through
the intersection, and was promptly pulled over. Maybe they are not "profiling", just enforcing the laws to the letter. Just stop at every
intersection and keep your speed under 40 kph.
Eighth day: Into the La Paz area and set up the trailer for an extended stay. Pretty uneventful trip, even with the broken trailer spring.
Aaahhh! It's good to be home again. Pompano - 11-15-2011 at 02:34 PM
Muchas gracias for an informative and concise report. I am especially interested in the RV park you reported on ..Palapa 206 in Cuidad Constitucion.
I am already planning on a test-stay there in a couple weeks. Heading for Mag Bay on a wahoo and snook trip for...quite some time. That park sounds
ideal and probably is the closest to Lopez Mateo that we are likely to find...with those emenities.
Do you know if the wi-fi extends to the RV sites? That would be ideal.
Thanks again, you have answered one of our fishing trip/travel questions.Bajahowodd - 11-15-2011 at 03:35 PM
Thanks for a great report.
"The big excavation cut at the top of the grade is interesting. The existing highway crosses the cut at the summit with an 80-100 ft deep excavation
on each side. Looks like they plan on building the new roadbed on both sides and then cutting through the existing highway at the last moment. Not
sure how they can maintain traffic while the final cut is being made."
Interesting, in that so much of the original Baja paved highway dates back to the late 60s, that in present day, they are seemingly working to make
the road straighter and flatter by making the cuts you described; which I noted going through a few weeks ago.
Maybe some of us might live long enough to enjoy a more enjoyable ride, where most of the hairpin turns and crazy grades have been eliminated.
As for this particular cut, my guess is that it is specifically for the trucks that not only emanate from the San Quintin area, but also for the
future when there will (supposedly) be a deep water container ship port at Colonet.David K - 11-15-2011 at 05:53 PM
Excellent report!tiotomasbcs - 11-15-2011 at 06:29 PM
Glad to hear the sections south of Cat are looking much better. Lopez will be next, ojala! I have watched as Palapa 206 has progressed. Sounds
great! Also, Las Missiones, Manfred's old place is good! Need options sometimes! This same area rescued me from an electrical short in fuel
injection 20 yrs ago! Glad to hear they are still helpful and resourceful! Of
course, this is Baja!! Good info, Amigo. TioRnR - 11-16-2011 at 06:59 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Pompano
Do you know if the wi-fi extends to the RV sites? That would be ideal.
Thanks again, you have answered one of our fishing trip/travel questions.
Didn't actually try the wi-fi as I didn't find out about it until the impromptu room tour just before we were leaving. That was from the caretakers
during the tour.
Manfred's, in town, may be quieter as the traffic on the highway is not traveling at highway speed as it passes the park.Pompano - 11-16-2011 at 07:27 AM
Thanks again, RnR...will check out Manfred's, too. Have not been there since 2000 or so. I understand he is gone now. He was quite a character..and
offered the place for sale every time we talked. I recall a dome-like structure for some reason?
Anyhoo...between those two choices, we should be good to go.
Great!
El Vergel - 11-16-2011 at 08:29 PM
Thanks for the report! Good stuff!absinvestor - 11-16-2011 at 08:49 PM
I second the Manfred recommendation. Stayed there on the way to and from Los Barriles in January 2011- great owner who cooked a couple of private
dinners for my wife and I. The kitchen is open and visable from the seating and the owner will insure you get exactly the seasonings you want etc.
Can't remember the price but think in the 120 peso range for great dinners.Quiet- reasonably clean pool and showers. Excellent wi-fi if you park in
one of the first 5 or 6 pull thru sites. This owner will insure you have a great stay!!
Good info, Amigo. Tio
Good stuff!