Paulina
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Quick road trip - our new mobile baja casita
We left San Luis Obispo at o'dark thirty last Thursday, headed for Tucson Arizona to pick up our used (new to us) Four Wheel Grandby pop up camper. We
drove down through San Diego and took the 8 East. We've never been that way before so it was new territory for us. The Arizona desert was quite
different from the Baja desert that we're used to.
We didn't stop at the Space Age Hotel in Gila Bend because we were making such good time. I was disappointed.
We also didn't stop at the Ostrich Farm near Marana. Dern is going to hear about that one for a while.
We pulled into the hotel parking lot in Tucson at 6pm, a good 12 hr. drive. The folks with the camper were there, we swapped out the camper and called
it a night.
We left Tucson at first light, heading back on the 8. We passed the Ostrich farm again. This time Dern was off the hook as it wasn't open at 6am.
Being the fact that the 8 runs right along the border fence for miles, and because we were ahead of schedule, and because I called home to find the
kids and dogs still alive, we decided to turn left on the 94 instead of heading back north. We drove through Campo and crossed in through Tecate. We
always exit Tecate so it was fun to enter that way instead. What a low key crossing that was. We fueled up and headed for Ensenada.
It was Friday so the road crews were out. All in all the road wasn't bad. The military checkpoint in Testerazo was vacant.
Who can tell us anything about Ejido Ignacio Zaragoza?
First stop before going home was to Recreo in Maneadero to gorge on tacos. Second stop was at Indio for road sodas to cheer the maiden voyage of our
Grandby. We pulled into our driveway in Punta Banda at 3pm. Opened up the house and relaxed, kind of spun from another 10 hrs. behind the wheel.
Saturday found us at Recreo again for lunch, Dern scored on a cool Recreo gorra, a regalo from Juan, then we hit the swap meet at the Y. Dern scored
again, this time on a sweet tire rim bbq.
I had my eye on a beautiful accordion, Mexican flag/pearl with rhinestones...I'm going to have to wait on that one.
Back home we lit the fireplace, played some wild games of Solitaire, too tired to go to Gordo's hat party (Feliz Cumpleanos Abel).
Sunday we were up again before dawn and on the road in time to hear the Mexican National Anthem on the radio (a tradition for us). We hit the Tecate
border at 8am, six cars in front of us. We crossed without a hitch, taking all of 5 minutes.
7 hours later we were back in our drive way in San Luis Obispo. We couldn't have asked for better weather, road conditions, tacos, lack of traffic,
etc. We put in over 1500 miles in four days. Our Grandby's next trip is coming up in two more weeks.
Can't wait.
P>*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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elgatoloco
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Good times! Bet you miss the old snugtop, NOT! 
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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Bob H
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VERY NICE!!
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
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Roberto
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Really nice, Paulina. Those are great campers.
From the pics it looks like the camper might be close to rubbing on the roof? Did this come from a non-ford truck? On a ford campers need to be a
couple inches taller than other trucks because of the extra cab height. I had that problem with a Lance I bought recently. Raised the camper the
required amount with plywood in the bed, underneath the camper.
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Paulina
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Hi Roberto,
It sits only about 1/4" above the cab. Too close for comfort. We plan to put the bed liner back in, bumping it up.
P>*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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Roberto
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To close indeed. At that height even highway travel will cause rubbing. Never bind Baja!
Not sure the liner will do the truck. I had to get it about 2"+ off the roof in order to eliminate all rubbing, but I'm also sure mine is heavier.
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oladulce
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Looks good P & D !
BigWooo has always put plywood under our campers. I don't recall if our Four Wheel on the '76 Ford required 1 or 2 sheets but we had quite a bit more
clearance too.
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woody with a view
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looks good. one day i'm gonna have to trade in the snugtop......
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Sunman
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Nice looking setup, we love our FWC "casita" too.
One thing, I recommend using some thin 3/4" plywood strips screwed to the bottom vs. the bedliner. Good idea to add a rubber mat to minimize slippage
too.
Congrats on your highly capable go anywhere rig!
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Cypress
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Nice rig!
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DENNIS
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Nice camper....for sure. Does it have an inside shower. I guess some do...some don't.
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Udo
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The BBQ looks like something I gattahave. How do the ashes dump out, Paulina?
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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Skipjack Joe
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Paulina,
The folks at FWC try to discourage their customers from using the bedliners. I think it's because they don't want any give when tightening down the
camper to the bed.
I, too, took a fancy to your bbq. And it could be used as a bar stool as well, don't you think?
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mcfez
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Paulina,
I, too, took a fancy to your bbq. And it could be used as a bar stool as well, don't you think? |
With or with out the coals? 
Old people are like the old cars, made of some tough stuff. May show a little rust, but good as gold on the inside.
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Bajaboy
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sweet! Looks like a fun road trip.
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