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scouse
Junior Nomad
Posts: 95
Registered: 8-17-2012
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I've lived in four countries and four US states. Travelled on all the continents (except the frozen ones) From up in the Himalaya to down in Death
Valley. Never got to Mexico except the airport at Mexico City on my way to our mosquito days in Costa Rica before it became the gringo tax haven.
Then one day while sitting in our office up north of Seattle watching 'lumps' of rain going horizontally by the window, my wife got on line and found
2 weeks of timeshare in Cabo for 10 years, cost 2K.
Love at first sight. The condo was just the bedroom the rental car was our way to visit BCS and I'm 'almost' ashamed to say we beat it up unmercifully
with the travelling of the beaten track.
Next time we drove down 8,000 miles from North WA and back. Lots of side roads to distract you from the highway. Can't drive this year but I will next
year.
Now I'm looking out of the window and it's raining again but in less than four week we'll be winging south again. I'm just wondering why?
Why I had to wait until I was an old fart before I discovered this place. And feeling envious of you guys.
Life happens while you're making plans!!!!!
You are who you pretend to be.
Kurt Vonnegut jnr
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pappy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 679
Registered: 12-10-2003
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1968 camp trip with parents . i was 11 . everything consumed me- the air, the sea, the people, the food, the frontier atmosphere...hooked ever
since...
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5914
Registered: 7-18-2011
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1984......Estero Beach with my parents. Took the Zodiac out to Todos Santos. Ate food. Boogie boarded. Even saw my first real set of bare breasts
that trip. I was just a young kid..............
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65244
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Very cool story Frank!
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DanO
Super Nomad
Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
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I think it's a combination of things, but food always seems to factor into every experience that I want to remember and re-live. During Christmas of
1969, when I was 9, I rode down the peninsula in the cabover bunk of my dad's camper. Along the way I, among other things:
-- Sat huddled in a blanket by an ancient wood stove in a shack we camped next to at La Bufadora, while the cold wind howled like a banshee outside
and an impossibly wrinkled old woman cooked spicy chorizo tacos on top of the stove.
-- Had my first steaming hot churro the next morning, with a cup of hot chocolate in the brilliant morning sun.
-- Froze my butt off on the beach at San Quintin the next night and had my first shot of tequila, from a gallon jug ("here, try this kid, it'll warm
you up").
-- Dug up butter clams with my toes at El Requeson and ate steamers until I couldn't move.
-- Dug up pismo/chocolate clams with a pitchfork somewhere north of there (and found out that pismos make great squirt guns when you purge them in
fresh water).
-- Had my first oyster, off the rocks at Playa Coyote where we camped.
-- Bought fruit and vegetables for pennies from a burro-drawn wagon, including an avocado the size of a canteloupe that I ate for lunch with a
sprinkle of salt and a squeeze of lime juice.
-- Helped my dad make grouper-head soup and laughed myself silly when one of the women in our group found an eyeball in her bowl (which my dad had
intentionally placed there), threw the bowl in the air and ran screaming from the camp.
-- Watched my dad motor out to a trawler in Bahia Coyote with a jug of tequila and a couple of Playboy magazines and motor back half an hour later
with about ten pounds of live shrimp (saying, "is this a great country, or what?").
We went back in a bigger RV in 1972 and went down to La Paz, and then over to Mazatlan on the ferry. On that trip I caught my first yellowtail, had
my first taste of fresh coconut juice, and had my first (and only) bowl of turtle soup.
I didn't go back again until 1986, when a long weekend at La Fonda brought back memories of my two earlier voyages and for my wife, her memories of
family vacations in San Felipe in the 60s and 70s. (This was back when La Fonda had a burro and a funk factor of 11 on a scale of 10, which we loved,
except for the time my wife's black bean soup came with a hunk of pork that still had the skin and hair attached to it, yikes!) We decided to spend
as much time as we could south of the border and the rest, as they say, is history.
[Edited on 10-22-2012 by DanO]
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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BajaGuera
Junior Nomad
Posts: 65
Registered: 11-19-2002
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My first overnighter at La Bufadora - when there was no light pollution. Looked up and asked my husband about that hazy cloud in the middle of the
sky. He said "Honey, that's the Milky Way"...
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vgabndo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3461
Registered: 12-8-2003
Location: Mt. Shasta, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Checking-off my bucket list.
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TJ was the obligatory liberty town for under-aged Jarheads from Pendleton. Starting in '62. Between then and '68 my Mexico was a mix of TJ and San
Luis, Sonora. After the Marines a a few years of college I was back in SoCal. and started being a motorcycle mechanic. Through the guys at a bunch of
shops, especially Lucky Yamaha in El Cajon, I got hooked up with dirt biking in the Sierra Juarez. Being a NorCal guy, I fell in love with the Mexican
pine forests, and the Mexicans I met never failed to interest me.
It wasn't until the '90s that I got married and we drove to Belize for our honeymoon. The runs across the mainland for a two dozen days, very short on
Spanish, and long on insecurity, will never be forgotten. In '93 we started building our casita in the arroyo at San Nicolas. Spending just a month
each year there for 15 years, among neighbors who welcomed us WARMLY each year, grew something in me that was perfectly natural. En mi corazon soy un
parte Mexicano. I now know this is true. I love how it puts a smile on my new friend's faces when I say it. I'm proud to say it. I have a lot to learn
from my Mexican neighbors. Becoming conversant in a second language after age 50 is one of my proudest achievements. It has also been one of the most
life-expanding.
I've only been to 10 countries other than the one I was born in. If I only get to go to Mexico from here on out, esta bein.
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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Iflyfish
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3747
Registered: 10-17-2006
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by vgabndo
TJ was the obligatory liberty town for under-aged Jarheads from Pendleton. Starting in '62. Between then and '68 my Mexico was a mix of TJ and San
Luis, Sonora. After the Marines a a few years of college I was back in SoCal. and started being a motorcycle mechanic. Through the guys at a bunch of
shops, especially Lucky Yamaha in El Cajon, I got hooked up with dirt biking in the Sierra Juarez. Being a NorCal guy, I fell in love with the Mexican
pine forests, and the Mexicans I met never failed to interest me.
It wasn't until the '90s that I got married and we drove to Belize for our honeymoon. The runs across the mainland for a two dozen days, very short on
Spanish, and long on insecurity, will never be forgotten. In '93 we started building our casita in the arroyo at San Nicolas. Spending just a month
each year there for 15 years, among neighbors who welcomed us WARMLY each year, grew something in me that was perfectly natural. En mi corazon soy un
parte Mexicano. I now know this is true. I love how it puts a smile on my new friend's faces when I say it. I'm proud to say it. I have a lot to learn
from my Mexican neighbors. Becoming conversant in a second language after age 50 is one of my proudest achievements. It has also been one of the most
life-expanding.
I've only been to 10 countries other than the one I was born in. If I only get to go to Mexico from here on out, esta bein. |
Equalamente amigo! Equalamente!
En mi corazon soy un parte Mexicano
One of my favorite Baja memories is you and I playing air guitar with our fishing rods to Credence Clearwater!! Priceless!!
Love these stories.
Iflyfish
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Iflyfish
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3747
Registered: 10-17-2006
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Waxing nostalgic I recall a trip to San Felipe in the late 60's. 112 in the daytime so drove the VW bus at night, firewall blazing against my bare
legs. Had a Latvian girlfriend at the time, wanted to go down to Ensenada but turned back at the border...."donde es Latvia?" Well, impossible to
explain the Buffer States of Europe pre WWII so we decided to blow down to San Felipe. I recall the dirt streets and the pool hall with out any
windows. I recall helping a family unload their turtle boat in the 90 degree water. Went to get a beer at the pool hall and my blood pressure dropped
off the chart and I passed out back to the adobe wall. Went fishing there for Totuava and landed a 25 pounder.
I thought I was in heaven, the boat was one of those African Queen wooden hull models with 6cyl auto motor cooled with sea water, radiator hose with a
hole that blew a continuous geyser as we motored out to the fishing grounds, bilge awash with sloshing sea water, perfect!
There was the usual banter and wager on first, biggest, most etc. and having sampled some outrageous herbs with my tacos and when it came to weigh in
time I got locked into a time warp and couldn't concede to the other guy who landed the twin to my fish. The captain of course did not have a scale
big enough to weigh the fish so we had the deck hand cut them in two and weigh both halves. I won, I think and laugh each time I recall this
adventure. The fish was excellent eating and enjoyed by myself and the turtle fishing family.
I also was very excited as there was a 50 gallon drum onboard to throw the empties in. I thought this was Amazing and that ecological consciousness
had finally hit Mexico. We fished and drank beer the entire trip and when we hit anchored the deck hand unceremoniously dumped the drum of empties
overboard!! One can get ahead of things in ones mind eh?
Iflyfishnostalgicly
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MMc
Super Nomad
Posts: 1679
Registered: 6-29-2011
Member Is Offline
Mood: Current
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In 1960 we camped at Estro Beach, I was fishing and hooked a perch and a sand shark on the same cast, never did that with trout.
-- Spent a lot of weekends in La Bufadora doing things we couldn't do at home.
-- San Felipe and dirt toys.
-- Got my license, We would drive to TJ for the night and did all the other things couldn't do at home.
-- Patrolling surf spots all over Baja.
-- Getting stuck and getting helped by great people.
-- Driving To Santa Roslia by myself to deliver a sewing machine to a family friend. First long solo trip in high school.
-- Surfing my first BIG WAVE
-- Taking a girl friend on her first camping trip. Driving same girl to Cabo for our honey moon.
-- Watching the slab being poured for the bar at Scorpion Bay, wondering why they wanted pave paradise?
-- My vacation in hell.
-- Turning 50 beach Party in front my my house with a bunch of friends.
-- Meeting and knowing a bunch of legends in the off road and surf worlds.
--Countless Waves and Fish
Baja has and will fill my life great memories and learning experiences.
It is a cherished part of my life. 
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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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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IFF's post reminds me of a story my dad used to tell about the time he spent sailing around the SOC during the early 80s (and calling me periodically
to tell me that I was an idiot for staying stateside and working for a living, which was true). At one point he had been out for a couple of weeks
and needed to stock up on supplies, so he sailed into La Paz. During the time at sea he had dutifully bagged up all of his trash, and took it with
him when he went to check in with the Capitano del Puerto. The guy at the CDP's office said he'd be happy to take care of the trash, and then picked
up the bags and heaved them into the water.
[Edited on 10-22-2012 by DanO]
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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windgrrl
Super Nomad
Posts: 1336
Registered: 9-2-2006
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Me gusta el viento.
When the way comes to an end, then change. Having changed, you pass through.
~ I-Ching
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Skeet/Loreto
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4709
Registered: 9-2-2003
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Fantastic "Why's"
Keep it up!
There i was living at San Nicholas going out to Isla del Infonsa, diving, snorkling and fishing.
I watched and learned much about the Survival of the Fitist from watching the various levels of Fish around the isla.
Would go to filet the yellowtail and have the pelicans helping me get rid of the Skins. What an experience in Life!!
Landing at the small airstrip called Pulpito living with Enrique and his family, shoting dove and having Rosvella bringing them back ready for the
Skillet for a great meal. Great People!!
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
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Well, I hated Baja the first time I visited---I could not wait to get out of there. I was five years old and my parents took us to Tijuana and the
bullfights. It was awful and why they decided it would be OK for us to be there, I don't know.
I remember it so well. There was one bull who did not want to fight and they kept sticking him with whatever those things are and I just cried and
cried as he just kept bleeding more and more. I just hated seeing those bulls killed --- I was hoping at least on bull would win!
Obviously, my feelings about Baja have changed and for me, it is all about the people. I will admit that while I love Baja, a big part of my heart
is and always will be on the mainland--- The Colonial Highland cities, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Vera Cruz, Chihuahua and more. They are all very different
and all quite wonderful. But, Baja is closer and also very different.
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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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| Quote: | Originally posted by DianaT
I remember it so well. There was one bull who did not want to fight and they kept sticking him with whatever those things are and I just cried and
cried as he just kept bleeding more and more. I just hated seeing those bulls killed --- I was hoping at least on bull would win!
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I've seen a bull fight that the bull won, and it wasn't pretty. It was in Madrid, Spain, at the Las Ventas corrida, and the matador was the
headliner, some fairly famous guy. The crowd was unhappy because the two opening acts had made messes of their bulls while basically running away
from them, so they were roaring for this guy to stand his ground. He did, and on one pass the bull hooked him by the groin, slammed him down and
plowed the ground with him for a few seconds until the toreadors were able to separate them. I never found out if the guy lived, but if he did, he'd
better have already had children. Anyway, bullfights are brutal and I don't think I need to see another one, but I did appreciate the sheer spectacle
of the whole thing.
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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