BajaNomad - Asuncion to Vizcaino - Those $#@% POTHOLES!

Asuncion to Vizcaino - Those $#@% POTHOLES!

Pompano - 4-19-2013 at 07:24 AM

To make a honest & helpful trip report I am obligated to include information about that nasty piece of pavement on the turnoff to Asuncion and Bahia Tortuga.

Definetely not a high speed road in certain stretches. There is about a 12 mile stretch of very bad potholes on the paved road from Vizcaino to the Y-turnoff for Asuncion and Bahia Tortuga.

This stretch of very potholed road is about midway from Vizcaino to that turnoff. NOT a good road for fast travel and NOT for motorhomes at any speed over 2 mph. Also be on the lookout for a certain skittish cow with the imprint of a Dodge bighorn embelm on his butt.

If you do take your big coach at a faster clip, your Co-Pilot will have a few words with you about broken dishes, fridge door flying open, bra malfunction, etc.

Baja Road Rule #1 = Keep your Co-Pilot smiling.

Armed with that information, I elected to take my 3/4 truck with heavy-duty suspension...solo and leave the boat behind.

Fathers tell their sons about the lost VW bugs that have disappeared into some of the bigger potholes. Doesn't work though, as the sons still drive too fast!

I wondered what might have caused all this shattered glass left in a small area on the cratered road?

Well, that's the road such as it is. Remember that old Mama adage...'Bad Roads Make Good People'. Just take your time and things will go smoothly as possible. Relax...and put a nipple on your Pacifico. :rolleyes:

"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey." - Fitzhugh Mullan

Hey shari, a good idea might be to issue special award T-shirts & bumper stickers that say, "I survived the Asuncion Assassin"

[Edited on 4-21-2013 by Pompano]

BajaBlanca - 4-19-2013 at 07:46 AM

Even our road into la bocana is getting some pretty "amazing" potholes. Not a lot just yet, but they are all the nastier because they just pop up unexpectedly.

When you get to Asuncion, you'll soon relax and realize the potholes are just part of this adventure.

chuckie - 4-19-2013 at 08:15 AM

That is not a "road with potholes" Its "Potholes with some road" I noticed the same glass when we came out, I think it was a headlight glass that jarred out....The end (Ascuncion) makes the drive worthwhile...

durrelllrobert - 4-19-2013 at 08:16 AM

bra malfunction? :lol:

Udo - 4-19-2013 at 08:19 AM

Some of those pot hole should be labeled as crevasses.

I think they are still installing them

durrelllrobert - 4-19-2013 at 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBlanca
Even our road into la bocana is getting some pretty "amazing" potholes. Not a lot just yet, but they are all the nastier because they just pop up unexpectedly.

When you get to Asuncion, you'll soon relax and realize the potholes are just part of this adventure.

[Edited on 4-19-2013 by BajaNomad]

absinvestor - 4-19-2013 at 08:35 AM

Hopefully they will do something about the road. We went there in 2011 in a motorhome towing a car. We vowed to not go back until the road is improved. To us it is not worth the unpleasant drive and beating up a motorhome.

Some Pothole Humor

Pompano - 4-19-2013 at 08:38 AM

OPEN SEASON IN ASUNION!

(translated from Spanish to English...honest)

A truck driver from out of town goes into the local grill and sits down for lunch. In walks this guy carrying a briefcase and wearing a polyester suit and a bow tie. The cook comes out from the kitchen, pulls out a gun and shoots the guy without a word.

The trucker jumps back and screams, "Whatcha do that for!?" The cook replied, "You must not be from around here. It's open season on lawyers." The trucker smiles and eats his lunch.

After he finishes his lunch, the trucker gets in his rig. As he's driving away, he sees a huge pothole in the middle of the street and gets an idea. The tractor hits the pothole, turns on its side and slides into a telephone pole.

All of the sudden, the truck is surrounded by men in cheap polyester suits and bow ties sticking business cards through the broken windshield. The trucker pulls his gun out of the glove box and starts shooting lawyers as fast as he can.

As the trucker pauses to reload, a police officer slaps the cuffs on him and says, "That will be enough of that."

"But officer," the trucker pleads, "I thought it was open season on lawyers."

"Well, sure it is boy, but you can't bait them!"

Scenes NOT from the Asuncion Assassin

Pompano - 4-19-2013 at 08:59 AM

Changing climate on the Asuncion Road? NOT!

"Snow getting deeper, bison drawing closer, fear Navigator drinks."

DianaT - 4-19-2013 at 09:00 AM

Thanks Roger for the road report --- we had been hoping that work had resumed--- it has been going to be repaired soon for a very long time now. :biggrin:

Your pictures are great! Not pulling a trailer or driving a motorhome was very wise.

Just a marker --- driving out from Vizcaino the new road is great. Watch for where the last farm field is and then start being very careful. And after some really bad stretches, the road is good and one is apt to think the worst is over and it is not over until you are a few miles from the turn off to Bahia Asuncion.

Used with permission of the local artist --- or actually the permission of his father.

The locals swear a lot about the road!

[Edited on 4-19-2013 by DianaT]

Hook - 4-19-2013 at 09:09 AM

Nothing worse than a formerly paved road in Mexico. Give me dirt every time.

What happened.............did Asuncion vote PAN in the last prez election? :lol:

Bajame - 4-19-2013 at 10:56 AM

Last time I was on that road it ruin my tire but was able to get to the tire store before it went completely flat. The road to Santa Martha has loosed my bumper, broke the mirror from bouncing and it looks like things are missing from underneath. My memory goes back to my sons remark, (Mom take care of the car) Uh Yeah, It now has bandages all over it. Oh Well, That how things are in Paradise!

acadist - 4-19-2013 at 06:59 PM

My F150 had a permanent 'knock' from that road, finally admitted to the wife what it was from :biggrin:

and I haven't had the truck for a year :biggrin:

woody with a view - 4-19-2013 at 08:20 PM

we hit a hole so hard last december that i thought i blew a tire. i actually stopped and got out to look.

happy to report that TOYOTA came thru with flying colors and nothing worse than a sore ego......

vgabndo - 4-19-2013 at 10:18 PM

In March, the bus driver christened that road Avenida de las Albercas.

Iflyfish - 4-20-2013 at 10:43 PM

I had a Chinese Coolie come out of on of those holes and offer me a Pacifico. I insisted on unfiltered Sake. He would have none of it and vanished in a swirl of sand which mounded over half the road. When I awoke I found my jaw was broken and a molar or two were jarred loose from clenching my teeth. Must have hit a pot hole. That is a very nasty road. Good thing the destination is worth it.

Iflyfish

I've been under a false impression most of my life

durrelllrobert - 4-21-2013 at 08:32 AM

I was always told that the term pot hole originated with the westward bound wagon trains that were always accompanied by a chuck wagon. The cook used to always hang his pots and pans in the wagon and when it hit a hole in the trail one or more usually fell off to which he would exclaim "well, that was a one pot hole (or a 3 pot hole, etc.)

Well That's not correct:
Word Origin & History

pothole also pot-hole, 1826, originally a geological feature in glaciers and gravel beds, from M.E. pot in sense of "a deep hole for a mine, or from peat-digging" (late 14c., sense now generally obsolete, but preserved in Scotland and northern England dialect); perhaps ultimately related to
pot (1) on notion of "deep, cylindrical shape." Applied to holes in a road from 1909.

Pot Holes

J.P. - 4-21-2013 at 09:01 AM

We call holes like that "VOLKSWAGEN TRAPS"

Udo - 4-21-2013 at 11:07 AM

The new suspension on the FJ handles the pot holes OK at 60 MPH. Nothing has broken yet.

LancairDriver - 4-21-2013 at 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Udo
The new suspension on the FJ handles the pot holes OK at 60 MPH. Nothing has broken yet.

Next trip down hang a video camera underneath showing the FJ suspension working in real and slow motion.I bet Toyota would love to have that in their commercials. :lol:

:lol

Be sure to fasten it very securely)

Pompano - 4-21-2013 at 12:17 PM

My favorite 'Pothole'..

...courtesy of the Tundra..

vgabndo - 4-21-2013 at 01:26 PM

I can't imagine that once the holes get irritatingly deep that the people drive through them at high speed. I saw 10 wheel dump trucks driving through the worst of them at speed, and I'm sure that is what really exacerbates the situation. If no one is slamming into them, there is little to make them bigger/deeper.

I'm tempted to be peeved about that, but once the holes are bad enough that I have to be hyper alert, a 2 is no more problem than a 10 if I have to drive around it anyway.

Iflyfish, I've got to bust you buddy. When we passed Rick on that road, we were both expecting to see each-other, but Rick was so intent on his pot hole avoidance that he and ZForbes, drove right by our camper while we were parked and waving our four arms!

It is a challenging bit of "pavement". :lol:

DianaT - 4-21-2013 at 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vgabndo

Iflyfish, I've got to bust you buddy. When we passed Rick on that road, we were both expecting to see each-other, but Rick was so intent on his pot hole avoidance that he and ZForbes, drove right by our camper while we were parked and waving our four arms!

It is a challenging bit of "pavement". :lol:

Not surprising, however. No matter which one of us is driving, not only are our four eyes glued to the pavement, I think the dogs' four eyes are also glued. I don't think a full scale fiesta would attract our attention! Bit of pavement is exactly what it is --- a bit here and a bit there. :biggrin:

Several vendor trucks move through there at warp speed. :yes:

[Edited on 4-21-2013 by DianaT]

woody with a view - 4-21-2013 at 02:23 PM

when we headed home from BA last Dec we came upon this van loaded with baseball players on their way to a game. they hit a pretty bad hole and all of my best efforts couldn't break the lugnuts on that rim. moral of the story: you don't need an impact wrench on your lugnutz. tighten them and then a quick "cinch" is all that you need. they had extra long studs and even my deep well sockets couldn't budge them. oh, and they needed my jack!

one for the karma ledger.....

[Edited on 4-21-2013 by woody with a view]

Other Baja Potholes...

Pompano - 4-23-2013 at 11:50 AM

This is a bad one, too....the badly rutted entry road iinto Rcho Sta. Inez(s) just south of Catavina.

A great place to RV overnight, though.

David K - 4-24-2013 at 07:38 AM

Roger, have you learned of who the new owners are at Rancho Santa Ynez (Ines) or what their plans are? I had heard that Don Briggs (of Vista CA nursery fame) was involved, as he also has a Punta Final (Gonzaga Bay) property, that was once owned by Santa Ynez's Doña Josefina.

Pompano - 4-24-2013 at 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Roger, have you learned of who the new owners are at Rancho Santa Ynez (Ines) or what their plans are? I had heard that Don Briggs (of Vista CA nursery fame) was involved, as he also has a Punta Final (Gonzaga Bay) property, that was once owned by Santa Ynez's Doña Josefina.

Nope, David, not a clue. I only drove a short distance on the Santa Ynez rough road...just for a photo...then U-turned to bug-out north. Perhaps some other visitor will have current info? Looking forward to checking the new ownership out next November.