I just arrived at my today’s destination, the Hotel Santa Maria off Hwy. 1.
Left La Paz at 7:00 in the morning, 713 miles, 13 hrs driving time.
I was really surprised, hardly any potholes, lots of new asphalt, only a bit rough road condition around Catavina. The traditional arroyo crossings,
both sides of Catavina, still not repaired......probably waiting of the next flood water.....
One of the best drives north, I had in a long time.. My Adventurewagen, 14 years young, 208000miles on the clock, performed like a dream......always
-
But the best things of all......a brand new market by the Rodriguez Family, across the Catavina Hotel, fully stocked with all the items a wary
traveler would need, clean well lit, only the fancy coffee could be a bit hotter......otherwise just perfect. Next to the market is the new gas
station in full construction mode.
I shall ask my buddy David K to post my pictures here....me bad iPad David K - 5-13-2018 at 08:09 PM
Here is what Karl sent me:
[Edited on 5-14-2018 by David K]
fandango - 5-13-2018 at 08:43 PM
That’s a great market and has good cold water in the fridge. Then step outside and sit in their cool furniture on the patio for a bit.
What does the Market Offer ?
MrBillM - 5-13-2018 at 08:44 PM
Security /
For the wary traveler ?David K - 5-14-2018 at 08:20 AM
I just added Karl's photos from Cataviña.
The new store is inside the 1974 Parador cafeteria and rest lounge building (across from the hotel and next to the original gas station from 1974. The
final two photos seem to be work at the old gas station.motoged - 5-14-2018 at 08:23 AM
My oh my.....that is an infrastructure improvement that many of us will appreciate...will miss the 5 gallon jugs David K - 5-14-2018 at 08:26 AM
Here is a photo I took in 1974 inside the parador's rest area/ cafeteria:
[Edited on 3-21-2022 by David K]Fernweh - 5-14-2018 at 08:42 AM
Thanks David,
It is all new gas station tanks and plumbing, wiring and so on.
Bano’s are somewhere, I did not look......had to go quickDavid K - 5-14-2018 at 08:52 AM
De nada Karl... I figured it would have to be all new... but it is going in at the old Pemex location, yes?BajaMama - 5-14-2018 at 01:45 PM
Glad to hear the pot holes are "repaired." Heading down next week, yippee!Howard - 5-14-2018 at 02:36 PM
Nice looking and stocked store and plan on shopping there to show support but I will still get gas at Antonio's in El Rosario to support him as well.
Definitely a welcome addition to the long drive.TMW - 5-14-2018 at 02:42 PM
Excellent, thanks Karl and David.wilderone - 5-14-2018 at 08:14 PM
"Glad to hear the pot holes are "repaired." Heading down next week, yippee"
Please report on your opinion of Hwy 1 road conditions. Some drivers with big trucks, big tires think nothing of potholes that other drivers/vehicles
would need to be wary of. BajaMama - 5-16-2018 at 07:51 AM
Please report..... (I can't figure how to include a quote). Will do - I drive an old lady SUV so if the potholes are rough on cars it will be rough
on me!David K - 5-16-2018 at 08:12 AM
Please report..... (I can't figure how to include a quote). Will do - I drive an old lady SUV so if the potholes are rough on cars it will be rough
on me!
Just above the area where you are reading this, over on the right side, is a button called 'Quote' (as well as 'Report'). You click the Quote button
(as I did to reply to you with your post here. [The Report button is to notify the web host 'BajaNomad' of inappropriate content or spam].
Below are other buttons. They surround the box with the post or reply you are reading.BajaUtah - 5-16-2018 at 09:31 AM
So does this mean there is CFE power in Catavina? It's hard to imagine those fancy fridges are run from a generator for only part of a day.David K - 5-16-2018 at 09:44 AM
So does this mean there is CFE power in Catavina? It's hard to imagine those fancy fridges are run from a generator for only part of a day.
Los Pinos has the money to run their generator all the time, thanks to the tomatoes we buy at our markets here. The power grid (and cell phone towers)
ends at El Rosario on the west and San Felipe (Punta Estrella) on the east.chavycha - 5-16-2018 at 10:59 PM
Well, there has always been gas at Cataviña, when the Pemex pumps were no longer open, independent dealers sold it out of gas cans there. It was
about a dollar a gallon more for their service (and hauling the gas from El Rosario, 76 miles away).
One thing for sure, you got a full 5 gallons for the price of 5 gallons (19 liters) when it is poured out of a 5-gallon can!hermosok123 - 5-17-2018 at 11:53 AM
Anyone recall when the generator finally took its last dump at the station? They were using a 5 horse pump that didn't have an on/off switch. The
attendant would just yank the spark plug wire off. Spilled gas on the ground and the open in ground tank with a hose to it. Cheap thrills back in
the day.
David- you never paid attention?
thebajarunner - 5-17-2018 at 02:43 PM
Well, there has always been gas at Cataviña, when the Pemex pumps were no longer open, independent dealers sold it out of gas cans there. It was
about a dollar a gallon more for their service (and hauling the gas from El Rosario, 76 miles away).
One thing for sure, you got a full 5 gallons for the price of 5 gallons (19 liters) when it is poured out of a 5-gallon can![/rquote]
Sorry to disagree, my friend, but I never bought gas there, or elsewhere out of 5 gallon cans that had not been kicked in on the sides and bottom.
I always figured that if those mis-shapen cans delivered up 4 gallons then we were still ahead of the game.David K - 5-17-2018 at 03:34 PM
I got gas many times from metal jerry cans or from plastic containers and never saw any damage or corruption of container shape. Lucky perhaps... But,
as one in business, if you cheat people, they won't come back and word spreads... you won't be in business long.
Last year, I got gas at Santa Rosalillita, San Miguel Comondú, and Punta Prieta sold from containers.Paco Facullo - 5-17-2018 at 03:39 PM
Heck, when you are desperate in need of petrol, be it from a dented coke can or an old bleach bottle, I'm just as happy as a hot tamale wrapped in a
corn husk steaming in a big pot, that the guy is there selling it.
[Edited on 5-17-2018 by Paco Facullo]shari - 5-18-2018 at 09:32 AM
We just got back from a mini trip to BOLA and I was so happy that all the potholes between Guerrero Negro & Jesus Maria have been filled!!!!
smooth sailing all the way although many cars were dodging the ghost potholes anyway scared that one maybe wasnt filled I guess.BajaMama - 5-18-2018 at 11:48 AM
Glad to hear that Shari, am driving that road Thursday.David K - 5-18-2018 at 11:53 AM
Shari: How 'HOLEY' was the highway between Villa Jesus María and the L.A. Bay junction?
Any signs of the new Pemex station construction start? The sign from Los Pinos for it was on the east side of Hwy. 1, south of the junction. shari - 5-19-2018 at 08:58 AM
the road was great from Vizcaino to the junction...just some holes on the road to BOLA. I didnt see any sign of the new Pemex but wasnt looking on
that side.BooJumMan - 5-19-2018 at 09:22 AM
Drove to La Paz and back a few weeks back.
Took 5 though and bypassed El Rosario to Chapala, but the from Chapala south was in its usual shape. Pot holes but not that bad.
However the 5 from San Felipe to Puertocitos was horrible. Even on 35" tires I was driving slow. Unpaved section had tons of Y's and turns. I wasn't
sure I was even on the good or bad route most the time. It was pretty rough in general as expected. yumawill - 5-21-2018 at 07:32 AM
Ah, the "Magic" of Mexico. When my 20 gallon gas tank suddenly becomes a 26 gallon tank. It's definitely worth the price of admission.yumawill - 5-21-2018 at 07:34 AM
Ah, the "Magic" of Mexico. When my 20 gallon gas tank suddenly becomes a 26 gallon tank. It's definitely worth the price of admission.StuckSucks - 5-21-2018 at 01:33 PM
a brand new market by the Rodriguez Family, across the Catavina Hotel, fully stocked with all the items a wary traveler would need, clean well lit,
only the fancy coffee could be a bit hotter......otherwise just perfect. Next to the market is the new gas station in full construction mode.
Is this tienda on the same side of the highway but farther north?
BajaMama - 6-13-2018 at 07:26 AM
Just got back from BCS, road looked pretty good, the usual potholes near Catavina. Workers were patching but patch was coming up as fast as they were
putting it down. On another note, it you use the Baja Bound directions to get to the Otay Mesa Sentri lane note that the first right turn after the
Belle Artes sign is closed, you have to go to the second sign, turn right, keep left then turn left onto Belle Artes and keep right until the lane.
Was super crowded, traffic police made us get into the right lane which was terrible because everyone thought we were "cheating" the lane and would
not let us back into the single lane.
