BajaNomad

Roadhouse between Mexicali & San Felipe?

neilm81301 - 1-20-2013 at 11:37 AM

Is there any good place to stop for a cold one, maybe halfway?

Thanks,

Neil

daveB - 1-20-2013 at 12:34 PM

We did the drive last Tuesday, going south. Our impression was there is nothing like a roadhouse south of Mexicali, at least near the road. This is a very scenic drive (for us northerers) as the views come in many varieties. Weather here is warming up, and wind has dropped the past couple of days.

bajaguy - 1-20-2013 at 12:58 PM

Stock up on and ice down some Pacifico, buy chips, crackers, cheese.......have a tailgate party somewhere on the roadside :lol:

DENNIS - 1-20-2013 at 01:26 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajaguy
Stock up on and ice down some Pacifico, buy chips, crackers, cheese.......have a tailgate party somewhere on the roadside :lol:


No need to stop. Just party at 60, and remember...you can't litter aluminum.

neilm81301 - 1-20-2013 at 02:06 PM

Thanks for the advice.

We last went down (in May '12), stopped at what looked like an abandoned campground, west side hwy. There were some old palapas, and what looked like an adobe outhouse.

Popped a couple Tecates, stretched, & took off.
good to get into that Baja state of mind<G>.

Neil

[Edited on 1-20-2013 by neilm81301]

wornout - 1-20-2013 at 02:08 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by neilm81301
Is there any good place to stop for a cold one, maybe halfway?

Thanks,

Neil


No, there are no places to buy a cold one from 2 or 3 miles past where the 4 lane goes to 2 lane (Last place is on the right called Mi Ranchito_ until you hit San Felipe. There are however many places to stop and have a beverage that you bought south of Mexicali that will still be cold.

desertcpl - 1-20-2013 at 02:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by neilm81301
Thanks for the advice.

We last went down (in May '12), stopped at what looked like an abandoned campground, west side hwy. There were some old palapas, and what looked like an adobe outhouse.

Popped a couple Tecates, stretched, & took off.
good to get into that Baja state of mind<G>.

Neil



we used to stop at this place also, Pee stop and a beer

there is another stop, restrooms and a little store on the west side of the road, I am sure some one will remember,, wheres DK
[Edited on 1-20-2013 by neilm81301]

nbacc - 1-20-2013 at 02:20 PM

If you cannot buy one( you cannot) then bring one. Start celebrating early and find a nice place to pull off and take a siesta. Nancy

jadams - 1-20-2013 at 02:27 PM

Yoiu can get cold beer at LaVentana and
they have restrooms for a price, little more than half way down

David K - 1-20-2013 at 02:29 PM

Ice cold Tecates at La Ventana market, on the west side, just over halfway to San Felipe... It used to be a Pemex, but long ago closed. Pic-nic area there, too.

David K - 1-20-2013 at 02:30 PM

LOL, jadams and I were on the same wavelength!

mrfatboy - 1-20-2013 at 05:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Ice cold Tecates at La Ventana market, on the west side, just over halfway to San Felipe... It used to be a Pemex, but long ago closed. Pic-nic area there, too.


+1

We used to stop at la ventana for our jungle juice on our way to San Felipe at 9am to start off vacay. :)

liknbaja127 - 1-20-2013 at 07:10 PM

La Ventana, lot's of room to park, nice people, and don't for get to feed the
dog's.

mcfez - 1-20-2013 at 09:44 PM

La Ventana.....

Clean restrooms located in a trailer building....left of the lot.

Ask for the home made tamales when you get that beer!

AND....................use extreme caution leaving their parking lot ....MANY wrecks have happened there.

nbacc - 1-21-2013 at 08:57 AM

Thanks........did not even know that was available. Nancy

La Ventana

neilm81301 - 1-21-2013 at 10:48 AM

Google Earth shows a parking lot, blue roof bldg, west side Mex 5, at about 31°44' N - about 50 mi N/O San Felipe... Would that be L.V.?

Neil

David K - 1-21-2013 at 11:11 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by neilm81301
Google Earth shows a parking lot, blue roof bldg, west side Mex 5, at about 31°44' N - about 50 mi N/O San Felipe... Would that be L.V.?

Neil


Yes...







Just south of La Ventana is a graded road west, through the Las Pintas mountain range to the well that feeds the gold mine, south of La Ventana. This is also the east access to the famous Pole Line Road 4WD run. The road was built by the U.S. in 1942 to install and service a telephone line to communicate with the U.S. radar installation near San Felipe. Some sections of the cobblestone roadbed are still visible, as well as some telephone poles. See posts by Ken Cooke and Neal Johns.

On the following map, the blue highlight line is the Pole Line Road... it vanishes where you see it become a dashed line over to Hwy. 5, which is an old road not on modern maps. La Ventana is in the upper right corner of this map:















[Edited on 1-21-2013 by David K]

neilm81301 - 1-21-2013 at 02:15 PM

Thanks, Dave.

That's a good map, that you 'bluelined'. I have the Mexican INEGI(?) topos, but they are much harder to read than yours.

Neil

redhilltown - 1-21-2013 at 04:38 PM

It's not halfway but I really enjoy stopping at El Mayor...you are far enough out of the city and the it's nice to look out over the water.

David K - 1-21-2013 at 05:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by neilm81301
Thanks, Dave.

That's a good map, that you 'bluelined'. I have the Mexican INEGI(?) topos, but they are much harder to read than yours.

Neil


That's from the Baja California Almanac. Available at http://discoverbaja.com