BajaNomad

BoLA, San Borja, Yubay trip

edm1 - 6-16-2013 at 09:49 AM

Synopsis

Neal Johns, Chris (CG) Glass and I are going in this trip to Bahia de los Angeles area. Neal and I would cross the border together while Chris would join us later at Erendira, the midpoint of our drive to BoLA. Neal is driving his 2003 Tacoma with the Northstar camper and I'm driving my 26-ft 4x4 motorhome. Chris would be driving his 1997 Ford F250 Powerstroke with the Texon/Northstar camper. 

Planned for the trip is:
Day 1 (wed. 5/29) cross the border, stop over Erendira, wait for Chris (from TJ)
Day 2 Thu - drive to BoLA.
Day 3 Fri - Relax at camp, drive around town and vicinity
Day 4 Sat - San Borja trip
Day 5 Sun - Tinaja de Yubay trip
Day 6 Mon - Relax at Arroyo Yubay
Day 7 Tue - Tinaja de Santa Maria
Day 8 Wed - head home, stop over at Santo Tomas camp
Day 9 Thu - cross at Tecate border, get home

Note: many of the photos courtesy of Chris Glass and Neal Johns.



Foreplay - Days 1 and 2

Neal and I meet at the Ross store parking lot, off Camino de la Plaza, the last  exit before the border crossing at San Ysidro. It's 7:30 am. After Neal comes back from buying pesos across the street, we proceed to the border crossing.

The Mexican facility is new and large. Because it is Neal's and my first time with the new facility, it takes us a few minutes to find where we can get an FMM, tourist permit. The parking lot is huge and roomy, we park our RVs away into the larger area and walk to the new building. First we are directed upstairs but it turns out that FMMs are issued downstairs. It takes less than 5 minutes to fill out the form and pay the $28 fee. 

Then we cross the border. The officer waves Neal through, I follow and the officer points me to secondary. It's not fair. Anyway, I quickly get my dog Aslan, a 100lb purebred male Rottweiler, off leash and off the motorhome leading him to the front of the vehicle where the leash is pre-attached for this kind of situation. The inspection is brief and off I go. Now Neal is nowhere to be seen. I pull over before I leave the crossing and grab the CB. Neal, do you copy? repeatedly. No response. Neal has left me to die.

Well in our prep discussions we had agreed to take the toll roads, along the shore. So I resign myself to just meet Neal at Erendira, and I take the road to the playa.  Well, a couple of miles ahead after a few climbs and turns, I see Neal's camper pulled over. You can trust Neal, he won't leave you to die! 

Along the way after the 3 toll roads (btw, P60 toll each for my motorhome) we stop a couple of times to stretch and give Aslan a break. At exactly 12:00 noon, as planned, we arrive at our Erendira campsite, overlooking the white tanks and the Pacific ocean. We have lunch and take a siesta in our respective RVs.

At 6:00 pm Chris arrives in his loaded Ford diesel truck/camper. He introduces Luis to us and we chat before setting up camp for the night. We rule out a campfire due to the rather cold wind at the time, and settle for a good night sleep before tackling a rather long drive to BoLA in the morning.

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Erendira camp photos:









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We leave for BoLA at 8:30.  We make several stops to stretch and in one of our stops Chris decides to fill his windshield washer tank with water, a simple task. Well, afterwards he couldn't close the hood, it's stuck ajar and the hood won't  budge. Since we're the type of guys who never give up, we're determined to get the hood to close, good as new. Using all the tools at our disposal and the over 200 years (Neal's alone is 82) combined mechanics experience, we disassemble the hood latch mechanism, from the outside of the grille, without breaking anything. After an hour, the hood latch is as good as new.

We stop at El Rosario to fill our fuel tanks, as well as our stomachs. We choose a non-brand-name loncheria along the highway to have lunch.

Along a good stretch of the highway we find a convoy of military trucks that was rather moving at the pace that I prefer driving my motorhome. But fast and furious Neal is very impatient with such drivers and forges ahead and gives us the clear CB message to pass each slow moving vehicle. So Neal leads, I follow, and Chris behind my slow motorhome. Well, I feel bad I may have pushed Neal and Chris to their patience breaking point but I can only drive my motorhome 50mph (80kph) in uneven pavement or it will rock like a boat, even though the adjustable Rancho Rs9000XL shocks are set to max stiffness. I've had the stiffer springs before but broke down for softer springs more fit for motorhome comfort. I think a double shock configuration will fix the rocking. Well, I am passing the military convoy!

We arrive at BoLA at 5:30pm, stopping first at the overlook. Beautiful and relaxing, but what the hell, my motorhome engine won't shutoff with the key off. So we don't stay long and proceed to town, stopping at the two Pemex stations to check for diesel; No diesel at all.

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BoLA overlook photo



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Neal leads the way to Camp Gecko, where Herman Hill is supposed to reside. After a few mis-leads, making me turn around in my motorhome in tight spots and through a narrow rocky trail, while still driving with tires at 70psi, and it's now 6:30pm, and we're still not sure if we're gonna find the person we're looking for, I stop the convoy and insist we find a camping spot for the night and look tomorrow. We drive back to town and then proceed to the campground alley - we choose Daggett's, 60 pesos per night, great. To shutoff my motorhome engine, I open th engine cover, remove the air fiter and air tube and choke the turbo with my fmca plastic plate. It works.

Our first night at Daggett's is uneventful, as all we want to do is rest, relax. The water is just a couple hundred feet from our RVs. There are a few other campers on both sides of our RVs. The bathrooms and restrooms are a short walk from our RVs.  You can also fill your RV water tank off a faucet nearby. Chris and Luis were able to scavenge some wood for a short fireside chat before we retire into the night.

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Daggett's camp photos









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Day 3

Everyone's plan is to sleep through the morning. However my biological clock as well as Aslan's would not allow it. At 5:30 Aslan and I take our walk; Aslan enjoys chasing his ball along the shore. While waiting for everyone to get up, I find a solution to shutoff my motorhome's engine, better than opening the engine cover and choking the turbo - too much work. I attach a cord to the manual shutoff lever and slip the other end under the engine cover. Now I can yank the cord from the cabin. It works, at least for the moment.

After Chris, Luis, and Neal emerge from their quarters, we huddle and agree to drive around town and ask where we could find Herman Hill and /or Paulina. It's already past 8 and we attend to breakfast. For a  late breakfast, I grill a fresh-from-the shore squid. And as I already have the grill out, I decide to defrost a full slab of pork ribs and throw  it on the grill. Not for breakfast but for a warm up dish for lunch or dinner later.

Before we go to town, we drive north to check out La Gringa. This is supposed to be the location of the "in the Shadow of the Volcano" book by Mike Humfreville. We drive around the vast property and take a few pictures.

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La Gringa photos








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Then we go to town and after asking around at a few places, we finally find Herman. He lives in town, not in camp Gecko. And Paulina is not in the area as she only visits twice a year. Chtisv offers to get an 8-pack (beer) and Herman accepts. After a short walk to a store near Herman's house we settle in Herman's porch and begin to hear Herman's stories, over tortilla chips and beer.

Herman is 91 years old, much older than our own Neal who is 82. He's the town mayor, he's known for his book on gold prospecting, as well as the founder of the local museum. Chris, our self-proclaimed gold prospector, engages Herman in a lengthy conversation, not only about gold but also the Bahia's past. It is 1:30pm as we leave Herman. We want to visit the museum but it's already closed; it opens 10am to 1pm only.

Back at Daggett's we relax. Chris and Luis attempt to fish but without any luck. So no fish for the grill for dinner. Daggett's has wifi but unfortunately Internet is down, so Chris and Luis sets out to town to find a public telephone /internet so Chris may call/email his wife.

For dinner, we have hotdogs, hawaiian bread, and the ribs that I grilled in the morning, warmed up in the microwave oven. Again, Luis sets up the firepit around which we plan our next day. We decide on San Borja, and from there Chris and Luis would head home, unfortunately, since Luis need to go to work next Monday.

Day 4 - San Borja trip

We leave early for San Borja, around 6:30am; the sun is already up high. Before we leave we air down our tires a bit. San Borja can be reached via a dirt trail stemming south from the highway leading to the Bahia, not too far from town. That is the more difficult trail, Neal explains later. There is a better road to San Borja but Neal decides to put our rigs to the test. He says we don't even need 4wd. Yeah right, if you believe him. I shift my transfer case to 4HI anyway. The first half of the trail is indeed easy and we stop a few times to take pictures. Then the trail gets more rocky and twisty with several steep climbs. I notice my transmission temp gauge is climbing so steep as well. I stop the convoy inorder to cool it off and shift to 4LO. I have to get off my seat to be able to shift the 4x4 transfer case. A minute later we continue the drive and reach San Borja before noon.

The mission site looks well maintained, not by the church but by the two families that live there. The courtyard is vast with a dozen shaded picnic tables lined up. One lady was very kind to take the time to show us every aspect of the mission - the new church, the old ruins, the vineyard, the streams, ponds, artifacts,  etc. We buy souvenir mugs from her. At the door there is an alcancia for donations but after learning the church doesn't provide any financial help for maintenance, I hand her my 500 pesos donation instead. Chris does the same. 

After the tour, we see Neal helping a man (Juan) who's building something for his trailer and they need a drill bit. Who are you gonna ask for a drill bit? OK, I have a box set inside the motorhome, parked in the courtyad. let me check . . . if I can get inside the motorhome. The motorhome door won't open. Aslan, who we left inside with the A/C blowing all this past hour, is to blame says Neal . . . Aslan locked you out. So I have to get in through the front window which I left open; Luis lifts me up and in I go, head first. But even from inside, I couldn't open the door. The door jamb has moved closer to the deadbolt hole plate, and it takes some muscle to pry it open from the inside. Removing the thin plate allows closing and opening of the door again.  I finally hand over the requested 3/8 bit to Juan;  he looks at it and at his own dull bit, then he gestures for a smaller bit. I hand him the 11/32 bit and he's happy.

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San Borja photos

























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Before we leave, we eat lunch under one of the palapas. It's 1:30 when we drive out of the mission. The plan is to take the easier road to Nuevo Rosarito, where at the junction we would inflate Chris' rig's tires with my onboard air compressor/tank. We do just that, then we drive to Punta Prieta to check for roadside diesel in cans. Chris finds 20 gallons and takes 10 while I take the other 10. From here and now, Saturday afternoon, we bid Chris and Luis goodbye - they're driving to El Rosario on their first leg to get home to TJ so Luis can get back to work on Monday.

Days 4 1/2, 5, 6 -Tinaja de Yubay trip

Since the day is still young, only 3pm, Neal decides to take me to an adventure, to cap the day so to speak. We continue on north and head to the trail that leads to a Tinaja, where water collects and used by whatever needs the water. I learn from Neal that it's 10 miles from the pavement. And only takes an hour to get there, yeah right, if you take the right little trails the first try.

The trailhead is not that bad, so I don't mind that we did not air down. But after a while I think we're getting lost, and the trail is getting more twisty, rocky,  and narrow. A couple of times Neal hits the wrong trail, needing a u-turn. With my motorhome. Fun for Neal, not my motorhome which has to backup on some bushes and trees. But Neal assures me, we're almost there. After driving half-hour more I ask Neal on the CB, how much farther? No response! Oh well, this is the adventure one really desires, me included. The only bad thing, and yes the only one, is the already narrow trail is becoming even narrower. What is this, a cowpath, I'm staring at dried cow patties as I drive. I believe in treading lightly but the only way to get through is by running over cactus and bushes  both sides of the trail. And after another half hour, I hear this violent on and off hissing under me and after 3 seconds,  my front tire has gone flat! And Neal is nowhere to be seen nor heard on the CB. It's well past 6pm.

Unable to wait for me, Neal backtracks to my disabled rig, exactly 0.2 miles he says, to the destination.  A small tree trunk stump found itself imbedded into my tire's tread. I can't believe it would go through 5 steel belts. We may have to sleep here, I uttered in disappointment. We can't do that, retorted Neal, we're blocking the road! Yeah right, would the cows mind? Although I have 2 fully mounted tires hanging in the back of the motorhome, at 6:30pm  I am not in a good mood to wrestle with two 150lb tire assemblies. So, I go for the easy way out - plug the hole. I jack up the front to let the tire go back to its original shape and pull out the piece of wood. I then stick 4 heavy duty truck plugs into the hole. That's 8 strands of fat plugs. I reinflate the tire and the bead easily seats and the tire is holding pressure. My goal now is to sprint 0.2 miles to the camping spot. Success!

Now, it's time to relax. But Neal reminds me we have an appointment in the morning with the roadside diesel guy at Punta Prieta so we could pick up some more fuel. That can wait, I declare, we're camping here tonight, explore /hike tomorrow and spend another night here. That is the take it easy way. Neal concurs, hesitantly.

So the next morning we get up early and hike to the tinajas. There are two tinajas, the bigger one being at the foot of the rock hills. You can see the other one upon climbing the rock ledges over the bigger tinaja. Beyond the tinajas is a vast arroyo flanked both sides by huge rocks of different shapes. On one side there is a "fence" about 10 ft long and 4ft high, made of stacked rocks. Across the fence is a strata of rocks featuring "the eye" cave containing some rock art. You have to climb about 20ft high to get to "the eye".

In the afternoon, after siesta, I inspect the motorhome in preparation for our drive out of the trail. I find a few probems. The front passenger shock absorber is off its mount, which had broken off the frame bracket. The shock is heavily dented that it isn't holding pressure anymore. The driver side anti-sway bar mount bracket had sheared. Of course my beautiful stainless steel wheel covers are trashed - I forgot to remove them for the trail ride, just the same as I forgot to adjust the shocks to minimum stiffness for the trail ride. All of these damages could have been avoided. With all of these problems, Neal calmly confesses "I decided to cancel our planned Tinaja de Santa Maria trip". I concur, I've seen this (greater) tinajas, I don't need to see another one. Maybe next time. So we decide to head to El Rosario in the morning. 

With my onboard Tig welder, I attempt to weld the broken mounts but before I could finish the job the welder breaks down. My luck. No big deal. Not a showstopper. Notwithstanding, we will drive out of this nowhere early in the morning.

The 10-mile morning drive back to the pavement seems easier, void of anxiety. We meet a pickup truck coming from the other direction and we are forced to pull over a sandy area to allow the truck to go through. Unexpectedly, my tires dig in when I try to drive off, prompting the occupants in the truck to ask me if I need help. I reply "no thanks", I turn on both front and rear differential lockers, and I'm out of the hole.

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Tinaja de Yubay photos













































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Before we get back on pavement, we air our tires up. Then we head south to see the gas can guy at Punta Prieta, even though it's a day later than what we told him we'd be back for more diesel. He's probably sold the diesel to someone else by now, but we go check anyway. Better late than never. As we had suspected, he's ran out diesel. However, I think I still have enough fuel to reach El Rosario.

On the way north, I spot a Llantera shop and pull over. so I can get my front tire patched inside, replacing the plugs.  For 120 pesos the man repairs my tire. Now it's lunch time and we eat lunch at the roadside.

We continue our drive north after emphasizing to Neal that without a front shock and inoperational rear swaybar I can drive 45-50 mph only, to be safe. I go first, Neal behind me. Not long after, I reach for the CB and announce to Neal: 

". . . My engine is dying, unresponsive to the pedal . . . ".  You are smoking . . . Neals replies. 

We pull over to a dirt trail and investigate what's going on. The engine won't rev beyond 1100 rpm and smokes if I push the pedal farther. I test drive it on the dirt road and sometimes it can go up to 1400 rpm. I try to climb a berm at idle - it can crawl as long as I don't choke it by pushing the pedal more. Neal warns me - you can't just leave your motorhome here at the roadside, it will be stripped in a couple of days.

So we decide to go back to Daggett's at BoLA, 45 miles from where we are,   including a couple of grades to climb. I implore Neal to pull me, using a long strap I have, if the motorhome is unable to climb the grades. I am confident we can make it, the motorhome is still producing power, it just needs a little help. Being the standup guy he is, he's more than happy to do it, besides he says, I pulled his same truck/camper over the Widowmaker at Sta Maria de los Angeles 3 years ago. We limp to BoLA, Neal behind me with his emergency lights blinking. The drive is not too bad, I could go 50mph over the flats but crawl to 10 mph over the grades. No need for a pull. We get back at Daggett's safely. It is only 2:30pm.

After a short rest Neal drives me to Diaz' taller and we have the broken swaybar mount welded for 100 pesos.

Back at Daggett's, Neal and I rest, setting aside the problems at hand. We meet a couple of guys from Arizona: Garrett (with his lifted Jeep Cherokee) and Scott (with his Sportsmobile towing a trailer). Scott is with a disarmingly charming lady, I'm tongue- tied to even ask her name. 

For dinner, Neal and I drive in the Tacoma camper to town. We eat at Hamacas. After dinner we go to the the public telephone place and call my son and send a few emails. I advise my son and wife of my predicament and ask them to standby for future instructions. Neal also leaves his message for Marian. 12 pesos per minute for calls; 12 pesos per half-hour for internet.



Neal and I discuss my options, including riding with him to California, leaving the motorhome here at Daggett's. I ask Neal to stay with me for one more day after which I will make a decision which option to take. And I say to Neal: if I don't get it fixed by tomorrow, go ahead and head home to California in the morning; I will stay with the motorhome. I have kept him too long. Neal disagrees and insists he would stay with me.  What a guy! I know he's "over-camped". Neal is an explorer, not a camper; so he's not a happy camper but definitely a good samaritan. 

Day 7 (Tue) - Unplanned downtime, marooned at camp

At 5:00am I start diagnosing the engine problem. I print out the diagnostic procedures from the Cummins Service manual loaded in my laptop. Then I mark the likely causes of the problem and rank each. Then I give the printout to Neal for his input. I spend a couple of hours troubleshooting, isolating /eliminating each possible cause one at a time, replacing several components with new parts from my boonies box. No luck. I tell Neal there are only two possible causes left:  contaminated fuel and faulty fuel injection pump component. I am very reluctant to address the latter; it takes hours to take the injection pump apart.

The next (to address) possible cause of my motorhome engine trouble is contaminated fuel. It is suspect because I put in my tank 10 gallons of diesel bought from a roadside fuel guy. And there is no source of veritable diesel in town - the 2 Pemex stations here at BoLA don't have any. At Neal's first indication he's willing to drive to Jesus Maria to fill our 2 empty 5-gal cans, I seize the opportunity. It's only 9am.

It takes us a good part of the day to get diesel from Jesus Maria, 100 miles from here. On top of that we go toward Guerrero Negro where there is cellphone signal. Before we reach the eagle monument we take the road leading to the airport. There is a strong Telcel signal not far from the highway. Using my AT&T cellphone, I talk with my son; Neal leaves a message for Marian as well. 

Back at Daggett's after driving 250 miles with Neal, I coudn't wait to use the fresh diesel from the cans. I disconnect the fuel hose to the motorhome's tank and connect it a hose from Neal's toolbox then stick the hose inside the fresh fuel can. I start the engine and let it idle for 10 minutes, to use up any possibly contaminated fuel left inside the engine pump. I hold my breath at the moment of truth, as I rev the engine. My heart sinks as the engine sputters and smokes above 1100 rpm. Strike out contaminated fuel - there is only one possible cause left: it's time to take the injection pump apart, tomorrow.

At the end of the afternoon, pangas start to arrive. One panga is loaded with a good catch - big yellowtails and a pile of cabrillas. I approach the men unloading the catch and ask the if they would sell a few pieces of seabass for grilling tonight. No problem, they give me 6 pieces: I give them 20 pesos and 2 bottles of cold Coronas. Everyone's happy.

Upon learning of my catch/purchase, Garrett,  who also went fishing with Scott but had no luck, asks what I intended for the fish. Sprinkle garlic salt and throw them on the grill, I reply, that's the only way I know how. Garrett shares that Scott is a good cook and he'd be happy to prepare a special dish of the fish for dinner. I agree, it's a dinner date - Scott, his lady, Garrett, Neal and I.

At 7:30 pm we have dinner: Enchilada de Cabrilla prepared by Scott, and microwave jasmine rice prepared by yours truly. And Coronas, of course, except for Neal excused with his Mountain Dew. The enchilada is delicious. It's a light conversation over dinner, about offroading, equipment, and places we've 4-wheeled. Then Neal and Scott start to talk about Baja and Mexico,  its past, its people and notable characters and personalities. Being just Baja newbies, Garret, Scott's lady, and I listen in awe about Scott's and Neal's stories. Scott knows his Baja, and his Mexico, just as much as Neal does, I would think. 

Day 8 - Still marooned at Daggett's

It's 5:30am and I'm already at work on the injection pump, taking it apart. Since the engine wouldn't shutoff with the key off, the fuel shutoff solenoid is suspect; It takes me more than an hour to get to it. To remove the solenoid I have to grind one side of a socket so it is thin enough to fit around the solenoid. With Neal's help, we find out that the solenoid coil is open/dead. I also notice that there is a substantial nick (missing piece) on the tip of the rubber plunger. That explains the engine not shutting off; fuel continues to pass through that nick when its not supposed to. Believe it or not, I have a new shutoff solenoid in my boonies box. It takes another hour to put things back together, and another half-hour to recalibrate things.

We're all smiles when I rev the engine to 3000rpm without any hiccup!

It's 11:00am, we go to Hamacas, again, for lunch. After lunch we go to the internet cafe to send the word to our loved ones: we're coming home. Also, before getting back to Daggett's I ask around town where to buy fish, entero not fillet. I find this fish packing place where I buy two pieces of seabass for the grill tonight.

For dinner, it's grilled fish of course. Since Neal doesn't care much for the fish, I share the other fish to Matthew - who with his dad pulled into camp earlier in the day. Matthew loves dogs and says he owns a pittbull. Matthew plays rough with Aslan and I hear all the growling and raucous after dinner.

Days 9 &10 - homeward bound

We're one day overdue, eventhough we skipped one leg of the planned trip. We  leave camp at 6:30am. I go first, Neal follows. My motorhome would limp home, missing a front shock.

We drive through fog during the first hour, visibility is 50ft. Good excuse for me to drive slow. Then it clears up. We stop at Catavina for a brunch in our RVs and to give Aslan a break. 

Our next stop is El Rosario for refueling. Then we visit La Lobera. The lady at the facility collects 30 pesos per visitor.





At San Quintin, Neal decides to get a carwash. We had noticed we picked up some  gooey black stuff strewn on our rocker panels. The carwash delays us more than an hour. I take a nap while Neal gets a car wash, and having decided to clean mine myself at Santo Tomas.  It's already late afternoon when we get to the Santo Tomas campground.

Friday morning Neal and I decide to cross Tecate, in order to avoid the long lines at TJ, according to Neal. We take blvd 2000 into Tecate. This highway is not smooth; it is very dangerous because small cars stop at the fast lane to, illegally what else, turn around into the other side. At one point I resign to having an accident on the fast lane, missing a stopped car by a split second. I couldn't stop the motorhome sooner.

For us the line at the border is an hour long. Both of us get sent to secondary - an extra 45 minute delay. Then we're on our way home. It's 11:30am. 

The End


[Edited on 6-18-2013 by edm1]

[Edited on 6-20-2013 by edm1]

[Edited on 6-24-2013 by edm1]

TMW - 6-16-2013 at 10:25 AM

Excellent, love the pictures. Thanks

BornFisher - 6-16-2013 at 12:03 PM

Great report, thanks.

Neal Johns - 6-16-2013 at 04:14 PM

You forgot your love affair with the cute, young gas attendant that insisted taking care of you first.....

Anonymous

edm1 - 6-16-2013 at 06:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Neal Johns
You forgot your love affair with the cute, young gas attendant that insisted taking care of you first.....

Anonymous


Indeed I forgot - we had to visit Pemex everyday to check if they had diesel delivery.

[Edited on 6-17-2013 by edm1]

watizname - 6-16-2013 at 08:00 PM

I noticed that you have a plastic folding step for entering your camper. I have a pop up too, and when I bought it the dealer gave us a folding step like yours. I thought it was great, light, folds down to nothing, until out of the blue, it exploded on me when I stepped out of the camper. I'm not a big guy, and this was totally unexpected. It happened in my driveway while prepping for a trip. Just a heads up. It was about a year old. :coolup:

David K - 6-16-2013 at 10:54 PM

Sweet report Art... This sounds almost like a trip almost as much fun as when we all went to Mission Santa Maria, 3 years ago. Neal looks right at home walking the same path as the padres did 250 years ago!

edm1 - 6-17-2013 at 05:59 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Sweet report Art... This sounds almost like a trip almost as much fun as when we all went to Mission Santa Maria, 3 years ago. Neal looks right at home walking the same path as the padres did 250 years ago!


I frgot to post this photo:





[Edited on 6-17-2013 by edm1]

edm1 - 6-17-2013 at 06:34 AM

Lots of the photos courtesy of Chris Glass and Neal Johns.

rhintransit - 6-17-2013 at 06:38 AM

now that's a trip report! fun to read/see photos. thanks.

DianaT - 6-17-2013 at 06:43 AM

Nice --- sounds like a good time.

bajajudy - 6-17-2013 at 07:21 AM

Boy you guys sure know how to throw an adventure.
Excellent report

BajaBlanca - 6-17-2013 at 08:08 AM

Fun reading and nice shots.

desertcpl - 6-17-2013 at 08:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Neal Johns
You forgot your love affair with the cute, young gas attendant that insisted taking care of you first.....

Anonymous




pics :lol::lol::lol:

Ateo - 6-17-2013 at 08:55 AM

Very fun and interesting trip. Thanks for sharing.

bigjohn - 6-17-2013 at 09:39 AM

Nice looking Rott!

edm1 - 6-17-2013 at 10:07 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bigjohn
Nice looking Rott!


Thanks. Aslan's my daughter's dog; he was cute when he was a puppy. Now he's rowdy (but heeds when on command); So he's now my dog :-) He knows he's on command when he's wearing his Sportdog collar.

Maybe Neal can tell you what Aslan did at Daggett's campground to a sweet young Australian surfer girl whom Neal was trying to seduce. She insisted to pet Aslan.



[Edited on 6-18-2013 by edm1]

bajajudy - 6-17-2013 at 01:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by edm1




Maybe Neal can tell you what Aslan did at Daggett's campground to a sweet young Australian surfer girl whom Neal was trying to seduce. She insisted to pet Aslan.

[Edited on 6-17-2013 by edm1]


While I am not among the favored ones, I am sure that there are some WIWs who may be sorry to hear this news

David K - 6-17-2013 at 03:39 PM

There's no stopping Neal Johns, the Aridologist and 'wife in waiting' collector!

edm1 - 6-17-2013 at 09:15 PM

Trip report updated/edited up to day 8. Days 9 & 10 coming up.

bigjohn - 6-17-2013 at 10:27 PM

Have had both Rotts and Dobies. I don't think I would ever "insist" on petting one, if it wasn't mine. :o

edm1 - 6-17-2013 at 10:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by edm1
Quote:
Originally posted by bigjohn
Nice looking Rott!


Thanks. Aslan's my daughter's dog; he was cute when he was a puppy. Now he's rowdy (but heeds when on command); So he's now my dog :-) He knows he's on command when he's wearing his Sportdog collar.

Maybe Neal can tell you what Aslan did at Daggett's campground to a sweet young Australian surfer girl whom Neal was trying to seduce. She insisted to pet Aslan.

[Edited on 6-17-2013 by edm1]


Ok since the guilty is non responsive, I will state the facts.

By the time we got to Daggett's, Aslan had already bonded with Neal. So seeing that the surfer girl was all over Neal, Aslan felt obliged to defend the lucky Neal. May I pet him? The girl asks Neal. Of course you may dear, replies Neal. With a big growl Aslan charges at the poor girl, pushing her to fall on her back on the sand. I'm ok I'm ok says the girl, unfazed by the incident. Apparently, the girls owns a Rott back home. But one thing is for sure, she will keep her hands off a dog-toting old man from now on.

On Aslan's behalf, I apologized to Neal for the loss of a new WIW.

[Edited on 6-18-2013 by edm1]

Neal Johns - 6-18-2013 at 06:13 AM

OK, you guys, quit picking on a harmless, shy, old man! (ME!)

You write a great trip report, Art!

David K - 6-18-2013 at 07:41 AM

Wow, that is some amount of work to make the engine work right. I hope the motorhome comforts are worth all the trouble Art! You are awesome fixing it, however! Bravo!

edm1 - 6-18-2013 at 08:24 AM

Trip report updated / edited. Report complete!

edm1 - 6-18-2013 at 08:47 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Wow, that is some amount of work to make the engine work right. I hope the motorhome comforts are worth all the trouble Art! You are awesome fixing it, however! Bravo!


Thank you David. It's all part of the adventure. This was a great one, I wouldn't change it a bit, well, maybe a better 'presence of mind' to pause when to air up, air down, remove wheel covers, adjust shocks stiffness :-), but that may require brain surgery.

Again, thanks to Neal Johns and Chris Glass for their friendship, and BajaNomad for bringing us all together.




[Edited on 6-18-2013 by edm1]

bigjohn - 6-18-2013 at 09:38 AM

With some adversity, what would there be to talk about.........
;D

edm1 - 6-18-2013 at 10:29 AM

Bigjohn, just noticed you're in Mission Viejo. Maybe we could hook up and share stories, neighbor.

David K - 6-18-2013 at 04:58 PM

Art, thank you for completing this trip report... you did leave us hanging on the 2011 La Paz/ return home part of the report (I think?)...

When did you leave Arizona...? We are in Oceanside, just 30 min. from Mission Viejo... However, we are moving in a couple of weeks, but not far.

Glad you had the energy to do all that you did and to allow Neal to use his Toyota to pull you up a hill, for a change! :light:

Neal's differential blew up soon after leaving Mission Santa Maria (May, 2010)... and Art's original 4WD motorhome and CG's Dodge Dakota both helped pull Neal's 4WD turned 2WD camper up the long steep mountain and a couple more miles on the Cataviña side...

Here are all the photos of the pull, from BajaTripper's camera and mine... most NEVER before posted!









The next two are of the Widowmaker, followed my the next 3 miles climbing to the peninsular divide, well after darkness:


















[Edited on 6-19-2013 by David K]

motoged - 6-18-2013 at 05:05 PM

Good detailed trip report. Congrats on fixing the gremlins....with not only the know-how, but some of the parts and bits to do the job !:light:


And having the ability to crawl in through the window.....:biggrin:

[Edited on 6-19-2013 by motoged]

edm1 - 6-18-2013 at 05:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K

. . . to allow Neal to use his Toyota to pull you up a hill, for a change! :light:


He didn't have to pull me. It would have been a shame, shame, shame, a Toyota pulling a Cummins :-)

David K - 6-18-2013 at 05:26 PM

I just added all the pull photos to my reply Art... I am sure it was nice for you to let Neal help you back to Daggett's...

edm1 - 6-18-2013 at 06:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
I just added all the pull photos to my reply Art... I am sure it was nice for you to let Neal help you back to Daggett's...


I'm indebted to Neal for sticking with me to the end, but I reserve further comments until I receive the bill :-) the old man wouldn't take my left over dollars; I'm afraid he wants to adopt me.

Udo - 6-18-2013 at 06:29 PM

You guys have me totally enthralled with your report.

Dream...baby...Dream...

It doesn't get better than your trip!

bigjohn - 6-18-2013 at 07:02 PM

Looking at the photos of towing that pickup/camper up that track with the tow strap scares the b-jesus out of me! :o

David K - 6-18-2013 at 09:34 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bigjohn
Looking at the photos of towing that pickup/camper up that track with the tow strap scares the b-jesus out of me! :o


Scared the heck out of us too! Art didn't hear us on the walkie talkie to stop until Neal was almost pulled into the canyon!

Hook - 6-19-2013 at 08:09 AM

edm1, you are certainly prepared for nearly every malady your vehicle can have (welders, compressors, parts galore, tools galore, all that liquid capacity, etc) but it HAS crossed my mind that the very nature of carrying all that weight may be contributing to the maladies.

edm1 - 6-19-2013 at 10:12 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hook
edm1, you are certainly prepared for nearly every malady your vehicle can have (welders, compressors, parts galore, tools galore, all that liquid capacity, etc) but it HAS crossed my mind that the very nature of carrying all that weight may be contributing to the maladies.


Thanks for the concern.

These "maladies" are caused by operator error, me:-) or abuse, and could have been easily avoided, if I had a better presence of mind. The rig is 12k lbs but not overloaded. The onboard equipment is necessary for a self-contained/reliant expedition vehicle going in the middle of nowhere.

I totally agree that every pound of gear contributes to a higher likelihood of greater damage in case of error, malfunction, or abuse.

David K - 6-19-2013 at 04:56 PM

I still liked your first 4WD motorhome the best... smaller but proven to get into and out of Mission Santa Maria and Shell Island!

Adios edm1's old #1:


edm1 - 6-24-2013 at 06:43 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
I still liked your first 4WD motorhome the best... smaller but proven to get into and out of Mission Santa Maria and Shell Island!

Adios edm1's old #1:



Hello, new one!


BIG BAD 4X4 MOTORHOME

David K - 6-24-2013 at 04:57 PM



:wow:



[Edited on 6-25-2013 by David K]

TMW - 6-25-2013 at 02:19 PM

two lovers in a love mobile in Baja. Doesn't get any better than that.

Bob H - 6-26-2013 at 09:05 AM

I finally sat down and went through your trip report. Wow! It is amazing what you guys saw in 9 days! Absolutely loved this trip report and photos!!

edm1 - 6-26-2013 at 10:25 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bob H
I finally sat down and went through your trip report. Wow! It is amazing what you guys saw in 9 days! Absolutely loved this trip report and photos!!


Thank you Bob. Thanks to Neal for another opportunity to wheel with him.

David K - 1-4-2015 at 08:06 AM

One of the awesome Nomad group trip reports, deserves a bump up for the new Nomads or others who missed it.

güéribo - 1-4-2015 at 11:56 AM

Great. Keep them coming. Thanks for the meaty narrative and the great photos!