Bugman
Nomad
Posts: 143
Registered: 9-20-2006
Location: Escondido
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Baja Nov. 2009- Awesome trip (long!)
Just got back from a great trip to Baja so here is a very long winded report (I was bored) of what happened. Perhaps some of you in colder climates
will enjoy? If I can figure out the picture thing I will try to post some later.
Day 1: Starting point is Escondido, CA. Up early and the wife and I load our 15 month and 5yr old sons into the truck. We make good time to San
Quintin for a nice lunch of almejas ahumadas. From here we make decent time to LA Bay and arrive at Raquel & Larry’s just before dinner. The
kids need some beach time so they go play for the last 30 minutes of daylight. Our friend Ruth who manages the place has made a big bowl of fresh
yellowtail ceviche. We all sit down and catch up while eating ourselves into food coma. By 8:00 everyone is tired and we decide to go to bed.
The wife and kids
Day 2: We get up fairly early and sit down for a quick breakfast before hitting the road. Our target today is Loreto. We leave LA Bay and stop in
Jesus Maria at the former tamale lady’s stand to buy some tamales from her son who now seems to be running the place. The tamales are OK but just
seem to be missing something and are not quite what we remembered. After a couple potty breaks we pull into Loreto around 4:00 and start the hunt for
a hotel. Our first attempt at Iguana Inn results in failure (they always seem to be full!). Next try is the Quinta San Francisco (?) and we get
lucky as they have a room left. The kids play on the patio for awhile and my 15 month old decides to make barking noises at all the dogs that pass
by. Of course, he also makes barking noises at the cats too (we are working on this but so far they are still all dogs to him). Then it is off to
dinner at the Giggling Dolphin around the corner. We have a good meal there but I still prefer a good taco stand. Food coma sets in again around
8:00 so it’s off to bed.
Day 3: Target today is Agua Verde. We get up and head over to the supermarket to top off on supplies for 5 days of camping at Agua Verde. As I am
loading the last of the groceries one of the screws that holds the glass in place on the hatchback of my truck snaps. Glad this happened here and not
further along! After asking around for a mechanic we find one quickly and he finds a replacement screw that has us up and running after only a 20
minute delay. Turns out the road to Agua Verde is in decent shape and we have no trouble getting in there. Even better is that on arrival our good
friend who we all know as Tio is still there living on the beach across from town along with his dog. After catching up a bit and turning the kids
loose on the beach it is time to look for a camp site. Our normal spot is occupied by some long term campers so I have to put in some extra work
clearing a spot on the east end of the beach under some mesquite trees. It turns out nice by the time I am done and the tent fits nicely into the
only flat spot but I only have about an hour of daylight left and we were hoping to have fish for dinner. I throw one of my poles together and head
over to cast my crocodile around shore. As luck would have it I land 4 nice little cabrilla in about 30 minutes so we are set. I will use the Baja
definition of “cabrilla” which I have come to understand as “any rock dwelling fish in whatever part of Baja you happen to find yourself”. In reality
I am pretty sure they were leopard grouper but boy were they tasty. I dip them in flour, egg and then cracker crumbs and fry in peanut oil and add
salt and pepper to taste…..yummm. My 5 yr old who is perhaps the pickiest eater on the planet is even tricked into trying some (we told him it was
salmon) and he gets hooked and declares that cabrilla is now his favorite fish (note to self – this trick could prove useful later in the trip).
After dinner we have a walk on the beach and talk to Tio who agrees to take us fishing in the morning. Time to get the fishing gear ready and go to
bed.
Our tent in Agua Verde
Our camp in the mesquite trees
Tonights dinner
Day 4: Our tent has a very see through screen top so we can see the stars at night. The other side effect is that our kids can now see everything
too. As a result, we are awakened at the crack of dawn to my 15 month old yelling “wow” every time a bird flies over the tent (and there are lots of
birds in Agua Verde). His vocabulary at this stage is rather limited but “wow” is one of his current favorite words. My wife and I now look at each
other and wonder why we even bothered to set our alarm? Anyway, we grab our stuff and meet Tio on the beach and then hop in his panga for some
fishing. It is a nice sunny calm day and as soon as we get to his favorite cabrilla spot we start catching some small ones. Most of these get tossed
back but Tio saves a couple for himself. After about an hour something big grabs my rapala and makes two circles around the panga before giving up.
It turns out to be a very nice cabrilla (leopard grouper) of at least 10 lbs. After some pics the kids look like they have had enough so we decide to
start trolling back. In the process we catch a sierra and a couple more small cabrilla. We keep the big cabrilla and the sierra and Tio takes the
rest. It was a very good day. We head back and the wife whips up some fish tacos with our cabrilla. Tio is nice enough to get one of his friends in
town to make us a couple dozen fresh tortillas and they are perfect for the tacos. The kids spend the rest of the day on the beach playing and I do a
little casting from shore and have a blast catching tons of little to medium sized cabrilla, sabalo and a small roosterfish and releasing them. That
night it is more cabrilla for dinner and then my 5 yr old wants to go looking for hermit crabs. We grab our flashlights and off we go hunting along
the beach where we find several to put in his bucket. He plays with them for awhile and then it is time for bed again. My wife puts the kids down to
bed and I get the fishing gear ready again for another day on the water. Just before crawling in the tent I tip the bucket just enough so the crabs
can crawl out and escape. I have all night to come up with an excuse as to how they mysteriously escaped 
My big cabrilla (grouper)
Our friend Tio with his dog Cascabel and my son
Day 5: Once again at the crack of dawn we are awakened by my 15 month old yelling “wow” at all the birds. My wife and I both agree it’s a good thing
he is really cute! My 5 yr old also realizes his crabs are gone so I tell him the wind blew over the bucket in the night. He says “OK, we will find
more tonight”. We grab our stuff and head for Tio’s panga. Today we head north to fish in another area. It is a great day but fishing is a bit
slower here and after a couple hours we get a sierra and a few small cabrilla. We keep the sierra and Tio takes the cabrilla and we decide to head in
for an early lunch. My wife whips up some awesome tacos again and then my 5 yr old and I decide to try a little fishing from shore. He only wants to
go because his mother wants him to stay back and do homework (he is only in kindergarten and they give him homework, boy did I have it easier at his
age!). I decide to try a small blue sardine casting rapala and see how that works. We go along shore a bit south of camp and get a few small
cabrilla and lose a couple other small things. After about 45 minutes my son is losing his patience with fishing so we decide to start heading back.
Part way back I decide to try a couple more casts into the deeper part of the bay where a few yachts are anchored. On my second cast something big
grabs the lure and line starts screaming off my reel. A moment later a nice dorado takes to the air. A few more jumps and runs and I finally manage
to slide him up on shore. I don’t have a scale so guessing this guy is around 15 lbs. One of the other campers hears the commotion and comes over
just in time to see me beach the fish. I sure wish they kept their color longer as these guys have to be one of the most beautiful fish in the ocean.
While I am standing there totally stoked at my catch and recounting my epic battle to the other camper my son is tugging on my shirt asking if we can
go back to camp now. If he didn’t look so much like me I would really have to wonder It’s back to camp so we can show mom and get some pictures so my friends might actually believe me. This makes my son very happy so now
he can sneak off and play in the water while mom is ogling at the fish and taking pictures. After photos I fillet the fish and tell my son this is
what we are having for dinner. He declares he hates dorado and will not eat it. Come dinner time we tell him it is cabrilla and he wolfs down quite
a bit of it. I figure I will break it to him in the morning he ate the dreaded dorado. Just about the time we are thinking about hitting the sack we
get an unwelcome visitor in the form of a rattlesnake that wanders into camp. While I would normally not worry about these things I now have a baby
that has just started walking and puts everything in his mouth. My wife grabs the baby before he sees the snake (he would probably make barking
noises at it if he did see it) and distracts the 5 yr old while I figure out what to do. The stupid snake is headed right for the tent and I have no
place to even relocate the darn thing not near other people. At this point I make the snap decision to get a large rock and make the snake a bit
flatter than nature intended. Needless to say, he rattleth no more!
My wife holding my dorado (it looks bigger that way!)
Day 6: At the crack of dawn our little “wow” machine is at it again. Does this kid ever sleep in? It is a bit windy today so we decide to go for a
hike instead of fishing from the panga. In the morning we hike down the road a bit and go maybe a mile from camp as this is about all the kids can
handle. My son finds all kinds of things to keep him interested including walking sticks, beetles and some big caterpillars on the jatropha bushes.
From our vantage point up on the road we can see some schools of big fish in the bay below so I make a note to myself to try casting there later. On
the walk back I break it to him that I made a mistake and he actually ate dorado last night. After a short pause to think he now declares dorado his
2nd favorite fish. We head back to camp for lunch and are kind of tired so today is peanut butter and jelly. After lunch and forcing my son to do
some of his homework (which was much harder than landing a dorado from shore!) my wife agrees to keep an eye on the baby while my son and I go cast at
the fish we saw earlier. After an hour we pick up some nice cabrilla but no sign of the fish we saw earlier. We head back to camp and the family
decides to go walking to one of the rocky points near our camp. I bring my pole and my little blue sardine rapala which has done so well and we head
for the point with me catching lots of little cabrilla along the way. I fish from the point and do pretty well for awhile. Then I hook a nice
cabrilla of around 5 pounds or more. As I bring him up to take him off the hook he flips hard and the back hook of the rapala comes free and flips
over burying itself into the pad of my left thumb. The fish then squirms some more insuring that I am in intense pain and driving the hook in just
past the barb. My wife (after hearing me scream in pain) then helps me immobilize the fish so we can head back to camp. She seems to take great
pleasure in bashing the fishes’ head in with a rock (another note to self – don’t make wife angry!). At camp it is decision time, do I thread the
imbedded hook through or rip it out? Since it does not seem to be too deep I opt for the rip. I bite on a towel and grab the hook with pliers and
push down and yank. It tears out but hurts like hell and bleeds a small river. Good thing my moan is muffled by the towel. We put some antiseptic
on it and wrap it up. After the throbbing subsides I head for shore and fillet the offending cabrilla. Never have I ever enjoyed eating a fish so
much! Even my wife had seconds on that one. After dinner and cleanup we re-wrap the thumb and I take some ibuprofen and try to relax for awhile. A
few minutes later my son wants to go find more hermit crabs. I tell him to start looking and I will be right there as soon as I can find my
flashlight. About the time I find my flashlight I hear my son crying at the top of his lungs so I run down to find out what happened. Apparently one
of his hermit crabs managed to pinch him on the webbing between his fingers. In the mind of a 5 yr old this is apparently on par with limb
amputation. We now have to bring him back to camp, put a bandage on the area he was P-nched, give him some medicine, wrap his hand and put it in a
makeshift bandage sling. After 30 minutes in the trauma tent he is feeling better and wants to go look for crabs again but this time I have to grab
them and put them in the bucket. We head back to the beach with our lights and I grab a few crabs and then it is back to camp and to bed. Just
before heading in I put a stick in the crab bucket so they can crawl out during the night. Gee, how do those crabs keep getting so lucky?
Day 7: It’s the crack of dawn and the chorus of “wow” has commenced right on schedule. Hey, at least the kid is consistent! This is our last full
day so we decide to go fishing with Tio one last time. My thumb is still really sore but appears to be healing as there is no swelling. We head for
his favorite cabrilla spot but it is a bit slow today so we go a bit further south to try some new territory. I get a couple little cabrilla that Tio
wants to keep and then my wife hooks a nice sierra that we end up losing as I go to pull it into the boat. A few minutes later she hooks a nice
little roosterfish of about 3 or 4 pounds that puts up a good fight. We want to release it but Tio says it is one of his favorites so in the cooler
it goes. After another half hour of no action the kids have had enough so we decide to head back. Just for the heck of it I put on a feather to
troll back at high speed. Just as we enter the harbor at Agua Verde my reel starts to scream and a nice dorado takes to the air way behind the boat.
About 7 or 8 jumps later the dorado tosses the hook and so ends that battle. One more loop around the harbor but no action so it is back to camp. We
sit down for another great meal of my wife’s fish tacos and lament the fact we have to leave in the morning. I do a little more shore fishing in the
afternoon and release some more fish. By now my little rapala has had it. The poor thing is chewed up and has two broken hooks and the others are
bent badly. Time to put it away and force my son to do some more of his homework. After another epic battle he completes a few pages and we let him
off the hook to go play again. He opts to go hunt for ground beetles and then observe them in his bucket. At dinner we decide to eat the two sierra
fillets we still have. Once again, we tell my son it is cabrilla and he says how good it tastes tonight. After dinner we break it to him that he ate
sierra. Once again he pauses and then declares sierra his third favorite fish! After dinner the wife tries to get the kids in bed a bit early so we
can begin the process of packing so it is not such a chore in the morning. Luckily, the rugrats are tired and go to sleep early so we get as much of
the packing done as we can. Around 9:00 we have hit our limit and we continue lamenting that we have to go and hit the sack.
My wife with her roosterfish
The 'Wow" kid
Day 8: “Wow” it’s morning again. Does this kid have Alzheimer’s or are birds really that fascinating? We leisurely get moving and have some
breakfast before packing the car the rest of the way. With kids this process takes a bit longer so it is close to 10:00 by the time we are done and
ready to go. We stop to say goodbye to Tio on the way out and give him some extra food and other items we don’t think we will need for the rest of
the trip. Then I pop the truck in 4WD and cruise up the hill from the beach. After a quick look back at the bay it is off to Loreto. In Loreto we
had planned to stop at McLulus fish taco stand to say hi to Mama Lulu but she is visiting family in La Paz and her son is running the stand with his
wife. He son is a very nice guy but his wife has none of the customer oriented personality of Mama Lulu. The tacos are still good but also appear to
be missing something this time. From here we make our way to San Ignacio and stay at the Ignacio Springs B&B. It really is amazing how quickly
they have been able to get the place back up and running after all the flooding there. We have a wonderful dinner there and hear all the stories of
what happened during and after the hurricane. During dinner (and well before too) my 15 month old has spotted the resident dogs and cats and begins
making his barking noises. Toward the end of dinner he breaks away from the table and spends the rest of the evening following the dogs around. We
know where he is just from the barking noises. We spend the night in a yurt-like room and have a good sleep.
Our yurt in San Ignacio
Day 9: It is nice an shady here under the palm trees so we get to sleep in just a bit since there are no birds flying where the baby can see them.
We have a very nice breakfast at the B&B along with another nice couple and their 3 kids who are heading south. Target today is Bahia Asuncion
and the couple running the B&B inform us that it should only be about 2.5 hours to get there. I had previously put down a deposit on the San
Roque beach home that Shari Bondy offers for rent so we were hoping to get there to have a look around and check out the town since we have never been
there before. As predicted, we make good time and the directions off the web get us to Asuncion with little trouble. The only trouble comes when we
first arrive in town. We need to find Shari’s home in order to get directions to San Roque and get keys and other assorted info. Problem is that
there is a giant motor home parked out on the point blocking all incoming light and reducing visibility in the town to nothing  OK, so I am kidding a bit here as I found out later that the big house on
wheels was Pompano. Had I known it was him I would have introduced myself since I have read so many of his posts on the nomad forum. Kidding aside,
we did find Shari’s place but she was not home. Backup plan is to explore town and look for a place to get lunch. After some hunting we find an open
restaurant across from the police station and have a nice meal. After that it is back to the point to see if Shari is back. Turns out she is home
and we introduce ourselves and have a nice chat about the place and the kids play with her cats (actually the 15 month old just barks at them). After
getting directions to the house we head back to town and then take the road to San Roque where we easily find the beach house. It is very rustic but
after 5 days of camping in Agua Verde it is still quite an upgrade in conditions for us and the isolation is much preferred. We unpack the car and
the kids immediately head for the beach. I decide to put my fishing gear together and go for a walk and do some shore casting. After an hour I am
not having much luck until I finally catch a small barracuda from the point just a bit north of the house. I walk back to see my son has caught a
fish too that beached itself trying to feed on crabs. It appears to be some kind of perch but really never figure out what it was. I just find it
amusing that once again I am out there with my pole and my kid playing on the beach manages to outfish me. That night we eat some leftover cabrilla
from Agua Verde and try the fish my son got on the beach. Compared to the cabrilla the perch like fish is boring and lacking in flavor. Before bed I
get the fishing gear together for the following morning when we are scheduled to go out with on of Shari’s boats.
Our home for 3 days in San Roque
Day 10: At first light we now awaken to my baby yelling “agua, agua” because he can see the ocean from the window of the room. Please note that my
wife and I are determined to raise our kids bilingual so the little ones tend to get more Spanish to start off. We figure at least it is not “wow”
again. We grab our stuff and walk down to where the boats are launching. We are greeted there by Miguel Angel who will be our guide for the day. We
hop in the boat and decide to head north looking for tuna. After some extensive searching we are not having much luck. Then Miguel Angel hears on
the radio that they are catching tuna more to the south. At this point we decide that it might be better to go for yellowtail since they are a bit
closer to where we are rather than make a 40 minute run to the south. After a bit of jigging we manage to hook 3 of them and get two into the boat.
They are averaging 10-15 lbs here and these are easily the biggest yellowtail I have ever caught and I am surprised by how hard they fight. The bite
seems to die after awhile so we decide to head toward shore and try for a few calico bass (cabrilla if you are a local). After casting around in our
guide’s favorite spot we are not having any luck. By now the sea is taking its toll on our stomachs and my wife and I are both getting a bit seasick
with me suffering the worst of it. We decide to call it a day and I vow to take a motion sickness pill the next morning. Miguel Angel says to drink
a coke as that is what the locals swear by. On the way back we can tell our guide is rather disturbed at our lack of success but I have nothing but
the highest praise for him. He was exceptionally conscientious and I could tell he was trying hard to put some fish in the boat. We are very happy
with our yellowtail though and he helps us fillet them upon our return. When we get back we are hoping that we get him again for our last day of
fishing. Later that day I try a bit more fishing from shore but only manage to land 3 more small barracuda and a small bonito. As I am walking back
to the house one of the locals hands me a bag with some still warm cooked lobster. After thanking him for such a nice gift I head back and show the
wife. She then proceeds to make a wonderful ceviche like dish from it while I go back to offer the nice guy a cold soda. The wife and I gobble up
her lobster ceviche for dinner and are thankful we got to try some while we were there. My 5 year old declares a fish strike so we end up giving him
a hot dog for dinner (gotta pick your battles sometimes). After dinner we go for a walk on the beach and then it’s off to bed.
Our catch of two nice yellowtail today
Day 11: We wake once again to the baby yelling “agua” at the window. This morning the little guy is very active and nearly throws himself off the
bed. Luckily, I saw it coming and dove over the bed to catch him just before his head hit the floor. I resist the urge to spike the baby after my
great catch and we get ready to go fishing. This morning I not only drink a coke but take a motion sickness pill too. At the boat launch we are once
again greeted by Miguel Angel. As it turns out Shari’s husband needed to attend to some clients who did not speak as much Spanish but we are very
happy with Miguel Angel so this is fine with us. My 5 yr old is equally comfortable in both English and Spanish and my wife is Mexican so my broken
Spanish is the worst of our clan but still good enough to communicate. We make a bee line for where the tuna were happening the day before and as
soon as we arrive one of our poles goes off and I pull in a nice tuna of around 15 lbs. About this time though the sea lions move in and shut things
down. We see more birds in the distance so we head further south to check it out. When we get there we are greeted by a good yellowtail bite and
proceed to boat 4 nice ones over the next hour. I am still amazed at how hard these guys fight. They are a lot of fun to catch. About now the wind
kicks up a little and Miguel Angel suggests we head a bit closer to shore in case things get worse. I agree so we decide to troll around the island
just off shore from our beach house. We pick up a few nice calicos on the troll and a small yellowtail. About the time we round the north end of the
island one of our poles really starts to scream off some line. After a fun battle we end up pulling in a very nice tuna of around 25-30 lbs. That
was a nice surprise as we were expecting it to be a big yellowtail. The thing went for a deep diving blue mackerel rapala. Surprisingly, we got
nothing on the purple rapalas today. Everything hit a sardine imitation and the deep diving mackerel. After a bit more trolling the kids are getting
antsy so we opt to cast for calico bass a little and then call it a day. When we get near the rocks I start getting hit on almost every cast and have
a lot of fun catching big calicos (they are averaging well over 3 lbs here) on both a scampi-like lure and a silver crocodile. Even with all the fish
in the boat now my 5 yr old is more impressed by the seaweed I keep dragging in so Miguel Angel gives him a lesson on the various kinds we are
catching. With plenty of fish on board we head back to shore to fillet them for the trip back home. While Miguel Angel helps us fillet the fish the
kids play on the beach and in the little boat used to go out to the pangas anchored just off the beach. It has been a great day on the water and
nobody got seasick this time. We say our thanks to Miguel Angel and head back to pack our cooler with all the great fish. Turns out our primary
cooler is now full so we make a quick run into town to get ice and treat the kids to some ice cream for being so good on the boat today. After that
we head back and put all the things that would not fit in the primary cooler in the backup on ice. At dinner time the wife now declares a fish strike
so I eat the last of the lobster ceviche and fix some spaghetti for everyone else. We take a quick walk after dinner and then head back to start
packing for departure the next day. It has been fun here and the fishing was just great for us today.
Our guide with us in Asuncion
My tuna with my son for sizing
The days catch today!
The kids playing in the little launch
Day 12: Apparently, the baby thinks we have forgotten the water is still there and proceeds to remind us again at first light. Hey, at 15 months a
keen grasp of the obvious is about all you can ask! In a strange way I am going to miss this when we get back. We get going at a pretty leisurely
pace today as there is no rush to get to our next destination. Once the car is packed we make the short drive into Asuncion and find Shari to settle
our bill. I let her know we had a great time and return the key and we are off to our next stop on the journey. On the way to LA Bay we stop at
Jesus Maria for gas and decide to get a bite to eat. The tamale lady’s stand is closed so we eat at the place next door and end up having a wonderful
lunch. Everyone enjoys their food and the kids get a chance to stretch their legs a bit. A short time later we arrive in LA Bay to my 15 month old
yelling “agua” at the approaching ocean. As always, we remain thankful we have been warned of such a potential water hazard ahead! Upon arrival back
at Raquel & Larry’s we are greeted by Ruth who tells us it has been very windy the past 4 days and nobody has been able to go out and fish so she
has none. I tell her “no problem, we have tons” and give her two big fillets of yellowtail. Our reward is a big bowl of fresh ceviche for dinner.
Since today happens to be Thanksgiving I cannot think of a better way to spend it other than pigging out on ceviche. After dinner some of our friends
decide that since the winds have died down they will project a movie onto the outside wall of the hotel. We all grab chairs and sit down for a movie
under the stars. What a great way to spend Thanksgiving! During the movie the wind has completely died so I ask Ruth if she can find a fishing guide
for one more shot on the water before going home. She agrees to look but no luck that night so she will try again in the morning. It’s off to bed
then.
Day 13: Luckily, I set my alarm the night before as the baby is restless much of the night and even manages to fall out of bed once. As a result he
does not wake up at the crack of dawn. Ruth informs me she got in touch with one of the local guides (Rafa) and he has no clients so he will be right
over. The baby is not quite as perky as he usually is so my wife takes his temperature and notices he has a slight fever. We dose him with a little
medicine and take note to keep a close eye on him. After gathering our things and jumping in the boat it is looking to be a beautiful calm day. We
try to make bait but no luck. Then we decide to use some of our remaining squid and try the bottom. We catch just enough bay bass (cabrilla by local
name....again) and whitefish for a taco dinner and then decide to try for a few yellowtail. After an hour of jigging we lose two of them right at the
boat. A few minutes later Rafa says there were whale sharks at the south end of the bay the day before and wants to know if we would like to see
them. Since the fishing is slow we all agree that would be great and motor over there at high speed. On the way we are joined by some big dolphins
swimming along the boat and my 5 yr old really gets a kick out of this. At the south end of the bay we find our first whale shark quickly and get
some nice pictures. My 5 yr old also thinks this is very cool. It is still very calm and we can see the sharks very clearly. For another hour or so
we find and photograph 5 more and then decide to call it a day as the baby’s fever seems to be coming back. We thank Rafa back at the beach in front
of our hotel and then head back to the room. My wife wants to drive part way back today so we can get across the border in time to take the baby to
the doctor if he is not better. I agree so we pack up, say goodbye to Ruth and hit the road. We go as far as San Quintin and find out hotel Jardines
is full so we go a bit further and stop at the Maria Celeste. It is no Jardines but the rooms are fine and will do for the night. We walk up the
street to Tacos Jalisco for dinner and have a wonderful meal of adobada quesatacos. I would definitely stop here again for tacos! We head back to go
to bed but the baby is not doing so well and my poor wife is up most of the night with him.
A whale shark on our last day in LA Bay
Day 14: We all wake up really tired as the baby has cried several times during the night. The medicine is keeping the fever in check but he is
obviously not happy and displaying symptoms of what appears to be an ear infection. We agree to head for the border and stop at urgent care once
closer to home. About the time we get in the car the weather has turned and it looks like rain. All the way home it rains on and off. We are
detoured on the road to Tecate a few times which turns my car into a muddy mess but the bigger chunks get washed off by a good rain just as we get
close to town. We end up waiting almost an hour in line at Tecate which is about as long as I have ever waited there. Murphy’s law dictates that the
more quickly you need to cross the more likely there will be a problem. It turns out there is only one of the two stations in operation at Tecate so
even though there are few cars the wait is longer than normal. At least we are waived through with no issues and head for home. We grab some lunch
on the way and head for the urgent care near our home. I drop off my wife and the baby while my 5 yr old and I head home to unpack and wait to hear
from the wife. As soon as we get into our driveway I have about 10 minutes to unload some things from the car before the sky unloads on us. For the
next 2 hours it rains and even hails on us making it difficult to unpack the car (why did we leave the nice weather further south?). I get most of it
out before the wife calls to say it was indeed an ear infection and I can come get them now. We head back to urgent care and grab a little dinner
(wife needs an In-N-Out burger) and the baby’s prescription on the way home. Upon arrival my 5 yr old asks “what are we doing tomorrow daddy?” What
a trip!
[Edited on 12-3-2009 by Bugman]
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fishbuck
Banned
Posts: 5318
Registered: 8-31-2006
Member Is Offline
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Wow!
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." J. A. Shedd.
A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. – Albert Einstein
"Life's a Beach... and then you Fly!" Fishbuck
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64829
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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This is a fantastic trip report! Baja is for families, for sure! Thanks Bugman!
Welcome addition to Nomad, for sure!
(PS, I went to high school in Escondido)
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DanO
Super Nomad
Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
Member Is Offline
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Great report. Those are lucky kids.
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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Pacifico
Super Nomad
Posts: 1299
Registered: 5-26-2008
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Great report!!! Looking forward to some photos......
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Oggie
Nomad
Posts: 312
Registered: 6-16-2009
Location: Carlsbad, CA/BOLA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Missing Baja
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Enjoyed the report! Waiting for pictures.
A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.
Knights of Pythagoras
Funny how falling feels like flying
for a little while - Bad Blake
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bajaandy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 769
Registered: 2-7-2004
Location: North County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Adventurous
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Sweet TR. Sounds like you and the family had a great time. Well written and fun to read.
subvert the dominant paradigm
"If you travel with a man, you must either fall out with him or make him your good friend."
JBL Noel
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Bugman
Nomad
Posts: 143
Registered: 9-20-2006
Location: Escondido
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I think I got the photo thing figured out so hopefully they are not just showing on my computer! They should now be mingled in with my original
report.......I hope!
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Bajaboy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4375
Registered: 10-9-2003
Location: Bahia Asuncion, BCS, Mexico
Member Is Offline
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Really cool! Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure with us.
zac
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DavidT
Nomad
Posts: 494
Registered: 4-9-2005
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Thank you.
David
Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
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geomike
Junior Nomad
Posts: 64
Registered: 10-3-2009
Location: Very near to the middle of nowhere.
Member Is Offline
Mood: feeling an irresistable pull towards Baja...
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Wow that is a great report I cant believe the fishing! Looks like serious fun.
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
Member Is Offline
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Enjoyed every word describing your trip---really great, really fun and what great kids. The wow, agua and the 5 year old's injury drama are
priceless.
Thank you for writing this.
Diane
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