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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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2010 New Years: Clams, Friends and Four Wheel Drive!
Where have the past ten years gone...? In a flash, how much has happened!
One thing for sure, we can count on Baja for bringing us back to what's real!
At least for me and my Baja Angel, being with friends BajaRob and Connie over the New Years has become something we look forward to.
Last year, Rob's clam party was postponed so he and Connie could finaly attend BajaLou's famous turkey feast at El Dorado Ranch (they had always been
heald on the same day). Being Lou's final turkey party, Rob told the South Campos amigos that the clams were getting a break that year. See my 1-09
trip report part 1 for photos of the last Turkey Feast!
Friday morning (Jan. 1) we left our home at about 6 am, had breakfast at Sunrise Cafe (Vista) and got to El Centro about 9 am... turned south on 111
for Mexicali and had almost zero traffic for the easy drive to San Felipe.
There is about a total of 5 miles of smooth dirt detour along Hwy. 5 in the area of El Chinero/ Hwy. 3 jcn. on both sides of the checkpoint. They
check all cars southbound as well as northbound now. The highway is being rebuilt and they are working on a fancy bridge interchange with Hwy. 3 here.
San Felipe looked dead and void of tourists both going through on Friday and when we went into town yesterday (Monday) to do a little shopping. Very
sad for those that have lived on vacation dollars spent in Mexico. The fish taco plaza on the Malecon that once was home to a dozen stalls, now has
only two.
We arrived at Bahia Santa Maria (Km. 31) about 12:30, just ahead of the 1 pm clam event. Easily some 70 amigos from the region attended and brought
many side dishes and deserts to accompany Rob's 100 dozen steamed clams, served by the bowl with drawn butter and garlic. See BajaRob's post and
photos...
Saturday, I was anxious to test my new Tacoma on the infamous 'bottomless' sand beach found south of San Felipe. In order to improve traction and
'float' over the deep sand we always had to deflate the tires to about 15 psi... in the past. With open differentials in loose surfaces, one tire on
each axle spins and the other does nothing. However, with Toyota's new TRAC and A-TRAC limited slip systems, no tire works alone or is allowed to dig
you into oblivion!
I drove the truck around to the front side of the homes on the beach, and it just drove like it was no different than anything else. How fun and how
great... Rob was on his quad in front, and took my camera to get a couple shots of me in the dry, loose sand... tires at full pressure (32 psi)... and
not digging in... Oh, what a feeling!
Later, we drove over to the bay of Bahia Santa Maria and watched the wind surfers/ board sailors/ what-ever the term is now, playing on the bay.
I made several circles over the same place in the different drive modes of H4 and L4 (high range and low range 4WD) using TRAC, no TRAC, A-TRAC and no
A-TRAC, Locking Rear Differntial and un-locked. A-TRAC (Active Traction Control) works only in L4, as does the Locking RR Diff.. TRAC works in H4 (and
in 2WD). You can turn off the TRAC (limited Slip) if you need to spin the tires to work out from a stuck situation by rocking the vehicle if you
want... or to spin donuts if you feel such a need for open differentials.
The only way I could get the truck stuck was to turn off the TRAC... and with tires fully inflated, one in the front and one in the rear began to spin
and I soon stuck the truck so it could no longer move.
I put the truck in L4, pressed A-TRAC (Limited Slip), and pressed the rear locker... and applied the gas and the truck walked itself out from being
stuck! It was amazing...
Later Baja Angel and I drove west to the sulfur mine along the old Puertecitos road and exlored around there. I found a really steep hill to climb and
made great photo location.
(above: Bahia Santa Maria from the Sulfur Mine hilltop)
HAPPY NEW YEAR from Baja Angel and David K!
Saturday night we had a great follow up clam feast (there were a few left) with neighbors (Gary and Audrey) and watched the star filled sky before
retiring.
Sunday, we all had breakfast at Chelo's (Colonia Delicias, Km. 35) and it was great. Photos at Chelo's taken in 2006 at http://vivabaja.com/618 After breakfast, Rob wanted to know if we would like to see the 'fossil beds'... YOU BET!
Rob secured directions from two sources and was assured a right turn at the red rock would take us there... Well, it sure was fun looking for the 'red
rock' as we drove several miles on the Baja 1000 race course, towards Puertecitos. We then took a couple of possible roads west and one was newly
graded to a large gravel mine with dozers parked in a canyon. That road continued on through to the Llanos de San Fermin and met the San Felipe 250
race road, which we took back to the sulfur mine area.
While we neglected to find the fossil beds, we sure did put the Tacoma through its paces! With four adults in the cab and an ice chest in the bed, I
was NOT able to bottom out the rear suspension... This is a big improvement over my 2005 Tacoma, which I had to add air bags to in order to firm up
the rear end enough. Also, we sloshed through many miles of soft arroyo sand and loose gravel. The new TRAC traction control system worked great.
We got back to Bahia Santa Maria in time to watch the second half of the Chargers/ Redskins game... What a great game... Go BOLTS! Rob cooked us a
wonderful Corned Beef and cabbage dinner... the best I ever had!
Monday morning we made ready to leave, even though we would have loved to stay longer... We had such great fun and a great time... The corned beef
hash and eggs was awesome that morning too! Thanks BajaRob and Connie for your hospitality.
Photos of Casa Rob Y Connie (taken 1-2-09):
View south:
View north:
Great place!
We got on the road about 11 am, spent a half hour in San Felipe shopping, saw no traffic and decided to cross at Mexicali downtown instead of Tecate
(thinking it would be real short), and wound up waiting almost 2 hours in line (2:50-4:40pm)... Home at 8 pm (after dinner at the Golden Acorn
Casino).
Happy New Year!
[Edited on 1-5-2010 by David K]
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ELINVESTIG8R
Select Nomad
Posts: 15882
Registered: 11-20-2007
Location: Southern California
Member Is Offline
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Hi David thanks you for sharing your La Baja trip report. That truck of yours sounds amazing. I bet it can do anything but cook. Hey wait a minute, I
bet if you put a baked potato in tinfoil on the manifold it would even do that for you.
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Gaucho
Nomad
Posts: 405
Registered: 11-7-2008
Location: Laguna Beach/East Cape
Member Is Offline
Mood: Bohemia por favor...
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Great pics! Thanks David.
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chernefitter
Junior Nomad
Posts: 39
Registered: 10-23-2009
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Man i can't wait to get back down there. Glad you two had a good New Years...your new truck seems to work well for you......
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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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Thanks amigos... Yes, the truck was better than expected (and I expect a lot from Toyota)!
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BajaRob
Senior Nomad
Posts: 722
Registered: 9-15-2003
Location: Bahia Santa Maria y Newport Or
Member Is Offline
Mood: Life is good
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Great truck and trip report. A good time was had by all. Only 360 days till the next Clam Fiesta.
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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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Thanks... you guys made it possible!
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
Member Is Offline
Mood: Mellow
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Nice report David! Happy New Year!
carpe diem!
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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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Thank you Ken... Same to you, amigo!
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Bob H
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5867
Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
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Great trip report and photos David! Looks like you had pretty decent weather, although maybe a little windy. Your truck 4x4 details were great!
Happy New Year from Bob and Audrey H  
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Mexray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1016
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: California Delta
Member Is Offline
Mood: Baja Time
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Looks like you guys are having way too much fun...
...with your new 'Toy'...great stuff, as always!
Both our daughter and son have Ford Explorers with their Trac-lok system and found it worked great, similar to your experience, on the sand at Pismo
when we all spend Thanksgiving week there...
I put my big 325R65/18 Pro Comp Xterrains (aired down to 15) on our V-10 Excursion and blasted all over the dunes like a wild man! I even pulled our
28ft airstream up into the soft stuff without getting stuck!
![11.09 Pismo dunes [640x480].JPG - 50kB](https://forums.bajanomad.com/files.php?pid=481714&aid=25285 "11.09 Pismo dunes [640x480].JPG - 50kB")
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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pal57
Junior Nomad
Posts: 65
Registered: 4-10-2009
Location: San Marino
Member Is Offline
Mood: Valentino Rossi the Best!
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Hi David,
I see you've had a warm New 2010 Year, the fotos are great and Baja is still in our hearts.
We had a cold and snowy New Year, but things happen hear in Italy. We had a Christmas week sking in the Dolomites' Mountains, beautiful time.
If you want to see some fotos I have them on my facebook site.
Goodluck for your new truck it is wonderful and I think you be using it for a great time on Baja beaches.
Agian, bye.
Pal57
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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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Bob... yes it was 'breezy', but the blue skys helped keep it nice during the day (low 70's). It was cold at night... maybe down in the low 50's!
Ray, always great to hear from you... That's some big rig you got there!
Pal, I will go have a new look at you Republic of San Marino web page/ http://sanmarinoguide.altervista.org/index.php blog. Thanks and Happy New Year!!
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Cyanide41
Nomad
Posts: 303
Registered: 1-7-2009
Location: Tijuana
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looks like a fun trip. Thanks for sharing David.
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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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El gusto es mio!
Come on and have some fun... Mision Santa Maria is next month!!
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sling time!
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nice homes.
what's the rent??
any recent transactions??
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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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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The airstrip is ditched at BSM, Mike... El Vergel is 2.4 miles south, however.
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
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Mood: Sling time!
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thx but didn't answer my Q
| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
The airstrip is ditched at BSM, Mike... El Vergel is 2.4 miles south, however. |
i know all about El Vergel.
i didn't ask about the/any strip at BSM - i wanted to know about the properties.
anyone else?
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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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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Well, amigo... maybe u2u the Nomads who have homes there (one replied in this thread, and the other in Rob's clam party thread). I posted about the
airstrip because I thought THAT was an important feature for you to have, that's all.
[Edited on 1-7-2010 by David K]
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sling time!
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no worries thx DK.
very nice area, i love that adobe mexican brick work.
there are some similar casotas just 3-5 miles norte de Portocitos....i know....i cant spel that place ever....
yeah....airstrips are nice but with this economy and Obama's policies taking us down the toobes....who'll be flying small planes? not me
probably....bummer....time to trade for a hummer....right Ken??
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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