BajaNomad

A visit with Shari and more

pappy - 7-18-2023 at 01:06 PM

Just returned from a week of bouncing around (part of ) Baja...first destination was Asuncion. Left my hometown in so cal at 3am and arrived at a beach south of Asuncion by 7:30pm. Throw out the cots, fire up some bean an cheese burritos and hit the hay. Next morning we paid Shari a visit. She graciously let us interrupt her breakfast. (Thank you Shari!) We spent the next day and night a little north of town, then headed south. On way through we again stopped in and chatted with Shari. While doing so we sotted a couple of orcas cruising by. Wow! After hitting up the local mercadito for needed supplies-ice and beer mostly- we took the road south to Prieta and Hipolito.

The road was in good shape all the way to, and slightly past, Hipolito. Salt flats south of there made for some smooth operating for a few miles, then it was back on the sort of graded road. (typical washboard) We hit the worst of it about 4-5 miles before La Bocana. We agreed that it was probably the roughest 4-5 miles we have ever travelled in Baja. was kind of thankful to finish the route on pavement on to Abreojos.

We spent several days camped south of town a couple of miles. Good times!
The wind finally destroyed our "shelter" so we had to end the trip sooner than planned.

On the way home, we spent the afternoon/night at Pete's Camp. It was nice and quiet actually. Crossed the border Sunday at 9am. 30 minute wait. made it home by 3pm that afternoon.

Hwy. 5 in good shape . Hwy. 1 some potholes here and there. Main issue was road widening construction between GN and Viscaino. Detour on to the side of the road- really dusty and narrow. No big deal, just had to take it slow in those sections. No issues with checkpoints....

BooJumMan - 7-18-2023 at 04:46 PM

Thanks Pappy for the report. Are you still driving your white 1st gen 4runner?

AKgringo - 7-18-2023 at 05:00 PM

Thanks for posting the current conditions. I have driven that road between Asuncion and La Bocana three times. The first time it was a series of wash outs on the north half, and pretty good road on the south. On the second pass it was good road on the north, and washboard from hell for many miles on the south.

The last time I drove it was during a baseball tournament in Bahia Asuncion, and both ends had been freshly graded!

When I know I am going to be in that area I bring along some good dill pickles. Shari likes them and they are in short supply in Baja California!

pappy - 7-19-2023 at 06:05 AM

Boojumman never had a Toyota.had a white 2001 Silverado that was stolen in September...

BajaBlanca - 7-19-2023 at 08:59 PM

Sorry about the hard part at the end of the road heading into La Bocana. It can indeed be brutal.

Did you see the huge supermarket as you were keaving town? Well wirth a quick stop to see it.

Very nice report!

David K - 7-20-2023 at 10:19 AM

Thanks Pappy!

pappy - 7-23-2023 at 06:27 AM

Oh, gas was available at Gonzaga.

David K - 7-23-2023 at 09:47 AM

Quote: Originally posted by pappy  
Oh, gas was available at Gonzaga.


Was there a brand name for the station?

It began as a Pemex.
Had indications of becoming a 76 station in 2019.
Attendant mentioned it bec0ming an ARCO in 2022.
:?::?::?:

BeachSeeker - 7-23-2023 at 09:12 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  


Was there a brand name for the station?

It began as a Pemex.
Had indications of becoming a 76 station in 2019.
Attendant mentioned it bec0ming an ARCO in 2022.
:?::?::?:


Passed by yesterday. Still had Pemex colors and said Pemex as far as I remember. Didn’t look like it was open. Didn’t see anyone there, but I had plenty of gas so I didn’t look too closely.

pappy - 7-24-2023 at 06:35 AM

DK still Pemex..

shari - 7-24-2023 at 04:10 PM

It was lovely visiting with you guys....thanks for stopping in. It has been windier than usual...all year so far! I will take the coast road this weekend to La Bocana....washboard be damned!
But there is light at the end of the washboard as the first phase of paving the coast road is to Punta Prieta...next year to San Hipolito then the 3rd year to La Bocana...we area all sooooo stoked to be able to go visit friends or go for lunch over there once it's paved.

boe4fun - 7-24-2023 at 04:40 PM

Quote: Originally posted by shari  
It was lovely visiting with you guys....thanks for stopping in. It has been windier than usual...all year so far! I will take the coast road this weekend to La Bocana....washboard be damned!
But there is light at the end of the washboard as the first phase of paving the coast road is to Punta Prieta...next year to San Hipolito then the 3rd year to La Bocana...we area all sooooo stoked to be able to go visit friends or go for lunch over there once it's paved.


Whoa, what good news! Glad the Governor kept his promise. Miss y’all, P&S.

David K - 7-24-2023 at 10:22 PM

Quote: Originally posted by shari  
It was lovely visiting with you guys....thanks for stopping in. It has been windier than usual...all year so far! I will take the coast road this weekend to La Bocana....washboard be damned!
But there is light at the end of the washboard as the first phase of paving the coast road is to Punta Prieta...next year to San Hipolito then the 3rd year to La Bocana...we area all sooooo stoked to be able to go visit friends or go for lunch over there once it's paved.


So they are paving south from Asunción instead of north from La Bocana, eh?
Maybe I can ad that detail into my road guide before it is off to the printers??

Mexitron - 7-26-2023 at 02:58 PM

It was a fun trip pappy! Was nice watching the Orcas from Shari's patio. I wish they'd repave the road from Bocana north first though. Gravel washboard, yuck, flashbacks of the old Chapala/Gonzaga road.