BajaNomad

Going through old books

Cliffy - 4-21-2014 at 09:35 AM

Just leafing through my 1982 copy of Ton Miller's "Angler's Guide to Baja California"
Interesting to reflect on the long past!

A great fishing guidebook!

David K - 4-21-2014 at 10:41 AM



sancho - 4-21-2014 at 10:49 AM

I still carry a '83 AAA Baja Guide Book, small compact, full of
info, no advertising, just nuts and bolts, solid info on roads,
pavement/dirt, campgrounds

vacaenbaja - 4-21-2014 at 03:15 PM

The Anglers Guide was a sparsly written book. However not many books were
wriiten back then with any kind of current information. I really enjoyed
Toms written works. Everything from his periodicals to books.
The Baja Books were my constant roadside companion when I first ventured out on the newly paved road back in the 70's.
Others have taken up from when Tom passed to do more Baja map books.
I really wish someone would do an update on Tom's eating yopur way through baja. The way so many places open and close though, it would be
better off as a Web based thing. I fondly remember the Clam man in San Felipe,
Ceasars in Loreto and of course Malarimo back when chef Achoy was there.

Cliffy - 4-22-2014 at 04:01 AM

Eating your way thru baja, I forgot about that one. I have it too buried some where.

chuckie - 4-22-2014 at 04:46 AM

Back Roads of Baja...Gullick and ???? Guide to Baja California....Baja Overland....Still have em all...somewhere...and Ray Cannon.....Fred Hoctors Baja Haha is sitting in.. my Bathroom

David K - 4-22-2014 at 08:01 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cliffy
Eating your way thru baja, I forgot about that one. I have it too buried some where.


Pompano - 4-22-2014 at 08:08 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Quote:
Originally posted by Cliffy
Eating your way thru baja, I forgot about that one. I have it too buried some where.




I have that Eating Your Way Through Baja' Miller book in my library, too. An autographed one I got from Tom Miller when we met him at the Lake Chapala lunch stop many years ago. He signed it, "May Montezuma's shadow never cross your path. Tom Miller." Never got the 'revenge', so maybe his blessing helped!!

David K - 4-22-2014 at 08:09 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by chuckie
Back Roads of Baja...Gullick and ???? Guide to Baja California....Baja Overland....Still have em all...somewhere...and Ray Cannon.....Fred Hoctors Baja Haha is sitting in.. my Bathroom


Some of these...







chuckie - 4-22-2014 at 08:10 AM

Yup...Them are....

Cliffy - 4-22-2014 at 10:18 AM

OK so what happened to all the promotion and travel to Baja? Where did it go?
What happened?

DENNIS - 4-22-2014 at 10:33 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cliffy
OK so what happened to all the promotion and travel to Baja? Where did it go?
What happened?


The border hassle and the economy, not to mention a little crime spree.

sancho - 4-22-2014 at 10:56 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cliffy
OK so what happened to all the promotion and travel to Baja?





From '90 or so, for about 10 issues, was a magazine called
the 'Baja Explorer,' camping, fishing, articles. Was cleaning out the garage, but can't get myself to get rid of them

David K - 4-22-2014 at 11:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by sancho
Quote:
Originally posted by Cliffy
OK so what happened to all the promotion and travel to Baja?





From '90 or so, for about 10 issues, was a magazine called
the 'Baja Explorer,' camping, fishing, articles. Was cleaning out the garage, but can't get myself to get rid of them


Before the Baja Explorer...

David K - 4-22-2014 at 12:06 PM

... was the Baja Traveler. Both magazines were the creation of Baja Topo Atlas and Baja California Almanac publisher Landon Crumpton:

David K - 4-22-2014 at 12:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chuckie
Yup...Them are....


Here are the other two you mentioned...



capt. mike - 4-22-2014 at 12:36 PM

Ate at Caesars several times 1st trip by plane to Loreto around I think 1981 or so. Fantastic steak and lobster. wonderful crew. Did magic tricks at our table. where we 1st learned about the after dinner drink called "Mexican coffee" with the full cart side presentation, carmelized sugar on the cup rim with a torch and all the liquor. Those were the days. Was so sorry when it and El Nido both closed.

tiotomasbcs - 4-22-2014 at 12:49 PM

Thanks for the pics, DK! Baja Explorer got me headin south all over again. Don't forget The Flying Gargoyle by Jimmy Smith. And our Nomad brother Greg Nieman's books. Go gettum David. Thanks for the post. :coolup: Tio

Cliffy - 4-22-2014 at 01:03 PM

I've traveled all over the world so a little border hassle ain't no big deal to me, maybe to those not used to it?
Economy? Even not so rico Americans used to go down there, me included, but I guess that could be an issue now.
Crime spree? Maybe the bad publicity at the border towns and wild stories has more to do with it than anything else. Frankly I've never had a problem either driving down (going 15-20 yrs past) or flying down all the way to the tip (more recently).

Anyone want to speculate?

sancho - 4-22-2014 at 03:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cliffy

Anyone want to speculate?





I believe we here, at BN, since we all like Baja, tend to
wonder why more Tourists don't drive SOB. I'm not sure
it holds the attraction to the masses as it does to us.
Unless I'm going for 5-7 days, I don't go because of the
line coming back. From what I read, the fly down resort
areas are doing well, which is the vast % of the Mex
Tourism, it is not the guy who goes to Baja, sleeps in a tent
on a free beach with his 2 cases of Pacifico, not that I
haven't done my share of that. A question I have is, what % of Tourist vehicles that cross into Baja go past Ensenada?
My guess would be 1 out of 20, 5% maybe less?

David K - 4-22-2014 at 03:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by tiotomasbcs
Thanks for the pics, DK! Baja Explorer got me headin south all over again. Don't forget The Flying Gargoyle by Jimmy Smith. And our Nomad brother Greg Nieman's books. Go gettum David. Thanks for the post. :coolup: Tio


The Grinning Gargoyle... It was sure fun to hear how Jimmy got that name from the person that gave it to him!

Choral Pepper, Desert Magazine editor, traveling with the Erle Stanley Gardner expedition, camping up on the mesa above San Ignacio (where the town airstrip was originally), was annoyed at how Jimmy Smith would crash their campfire get-togethers (Jimmy was living in San Ignacio in the 60's)...

Choral said he looked like a "grinning gargoyle"... and Jimmy adopted the handle! Jimmy confirmed this when I met him, and it was all good fun when I reconnected (via email) these two adversaries in their final years... and they had a good laugh.



The art work was by Dave (Big) Deal, a fun cartoonist who loved Baja, Off Road Racing, and Flying. Dave also did the logo for Baja Bush Pilots, the Armorall viking, many of the cartoon living car characters in the movie Cars, etc. Dave was very religious yet had some fun with it (note the roof of the mission).


Greg Niemann's Baja Books:



GregN - 4-23-2014 at 09:48 AM

Thanks David and Tio for the mentions. For those interested, I have a few new Baja articles in recent editions of the Baja Bound Bulletin. Check it out.

pappy - 4-23-2014 at 01:12 PM

DK- i swear you have raided my baja library of books!

David K - 4-23-2014 at 06:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by GregN
Thanks David and Tio for the mentions. For those interested, I have a few new Baja articles in recent editions of the Baja Bound Bulletin. Check it out.


I have been putting links to the Baja Bound newsletters in the Nomad Baja Travel Articles forum, here is April's: http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=73082

It is fun that Greg and I have articles in the same publications... Here is perhaps when Greg and I first met (?) at Viva Baja #1 (Oct. 2000):


BajaGeoff - 4-24-2014 at 05:12 PM

Classic photo!

Greg and David have put together a ton of great Baja articles for us. Here are their columns on our site...

Greg: http://www.bajabound.com/bajaadventures/bajafever/

David: http://www.bajabound.com/bajaadventures/bajatravel/

David K - 4-24-2014 at 06:24 PM

Thanks Geoff, I am sure Greg is as happy as I am to offer some stories from Baja's past and present for your readers!

:bounce::bounce::bounce:

wilderone - 4-25-2014 at 08:10 AM

"OK so what happened to all the promotion and travel to Baja? Where did it go?
What happened?"
Pre-Mex 1, the Baja peninsula was a grand adventure undertaken by a few. They returned and told their stories. There was little to go by except for the AAA maps. Now, many many books are out there - the story has been told. Mex. 1 is now paved, there are hotels, big cities - just like other tourist areas all over the world. Not as unique an adventure as it once was. I remember one of my first trips was around 1975 - just a short time after Mex. 1 was completed - smooth, with no potholes yet. We'd pass a car about every 20 minutes - drivers waving at each other every time! Just not the same, with Mex. 1 being a major trucking route now.
Still an appealing destination for me - and I'm glad it's not as popular as it was 10 years ago. I once waited 3 hours to get on a whale watching boat for only 1/2 hr trip for $10 - there were so many people waiting. We were told to bring food and drink for the pangueros because they weren't taking any breaks for lunch. Now, you can get on the first boat with no wait. But the peninsula is a big place - plenty of places to explore for a lifetime - I'm still at it - until I can't crawl out of a tent anymore.

sancho - 4-25-2014 at 11:19 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by wilderone
Pre-Mex 1, the Baja peninsula was a grand adventure undertaken by a few






Never did a pre Hwy 1, for me it was early '80's,
the first drive trip was the most memorable, wide eyed,
adventure around every corner, never knew what was ahead. Always characters
to meet, but there are definately good times still to be had. These
young whipper snappers, with google st view, pictures/
info abound, don't know how easy they have it. Mex Ins
was a big mystery, now you can print it out. I'm a die hard
tenter, just have a problem getting the wife to look
forward to tent trips. Worked with an old teamster from San Diego, had stories of charting the 1 st 1000, by motorcycle,
had cans
of gasoline strapped to his back

[Edited on 4-25-2014 by sancho]

David K - 4-25-2014 at 05:31 PM

Pre-pavement days were epic! I wished I turned 16 a year or two sooner so I could be behind the wheel on the old road. My first trip (without parents) was Spring Break, 1974 (5 months after Highway One was opened) and still had fun on side trips and the gulf route (Calamajué to Gonzaga to San Felipe, all dirt).

In 1974 or 75 (on a repeat trip) going into El Marmol in my VW Myers Manx (16 or 17 years old):




In 1966, going all the way to the tip in our Jeep when I was 8:



Baja dust in my blood since 1965... addicted for life with Baja Fever!

Cabo in 1974

wiltonh - 4-25-2014 at 06:21 PM

This is not the best picture but it shows what the beach was like in 1974. It has changed a lot since then. We walked down to the beach and rented a panga to take us out to lovers beach where we went diving.


post a picture

David K - 4-26-2014 at 12:07 AM

That's a great photo! Also an interesting photo resizing site! Thanks!

Photo Site

wiltonh - 4-26-2014 at 05:26 PM

That site is very easy to use. I just uploaded the picture to the site and then they listed a number of ways to use it. One was to put it into a forum. I copied the link and added the picture to my post.

No thinking necessary.