edm1
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Registered: 8-23-2006
Location: Oak Hills, Ca
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Baja Adventure trip July 2011 (Part5a - La Paz, Los Cabos and Vicinity)
Part 1. Shell Island Freak Weather (July 2-3)
Part 2. Gonzaga Bay to Norte-Sur border (July 4-5)
Part 3. Guerrero Negro to Asuncion (July 6-8)
Part 4. Southbound to La Paz (July 9-11)
Part 5a. La Paz, Los Cabos and Vicinity (July 12-19)
Part 5b. La Paz, Los Cabos and Vicinity (July 12-19) . . . continued
Part 6. Homeward Bound (July 20-22)
Part 5. La Paz, Los Cabos, and Vicinity
• Steve and Zully: “Mi Casa Es Su Casa”
• Day 1 - Day 1 (Tue)– La Paz Lunch, Tecolote area, Hotdog Dinner
• Day 2 and 3 (Wed, Thu) – Suspension work, downtown lunch/tour (Wed)
• Day 4 (Fri) – Switch shocks, Test drive, Playa Tecolote/Tesoro
• Day 5(Sat) – Rest, Chedraui shopping, Potluck dinner
• Day 6 (Sun) – Los Planes tour (La Ventana, Turquesa Beach, Punta Arena)
• Day 7 (Monday) – Rest / shocks received-install-test drive
• Day 9 (Tue) – Todos Santos, Los Cabos, Los Barriles
Steve and Zully: “Mi Casa Es Su Casa”
Zully and Nikki pick us up for a brief/late visit to their home. We leave the motorhome behind at the Walmart parking lot, with the dog inside. They
would bring us back after the visit.
Steve’s place is a very nice property, with a 4-bedroom main house. Nora immediately falls in love with the décor which consists of Mexican and
Philippine pieces. “You have more Philippine furnishings than I have at home” she admits. Steve spent quite some time in the Philippines while he was
in the US Navy and his X, Nikki’s mother, is a Filipina. At the front right corner of Steve’s property sits Zully’s brand-new Estetica which Steve
built. At the other corner sits Steve’s 20+ foot boat on a trailer. Steve offers parking for my motorhome in the driveway in front of the house just
behind the steel gate. Thank you but Walmart is good parking place, I decline.
The backyard is a resort-like hideaway. The back porch roof covering is natural - palm leaves like those used on palapas. The leaves are hand-tied to
the rafters, rather than nailed down. Lamps made from shellfish hang around the eaves. Romantic atmosphere is an understatement. You have to be here
to appreciate it. Farther back in the huge lot are two fruit-bearing mango trees, albeit messy because they seem to continually drop their fruits. A
few palm trees surround the pool. Along the backside block fence, there is a two-story apartment intended for a B&B; Steve declares “they’re not
ready for business” but he welcomes us to stay in the apartment if we wanted. He intends to build another room for a B&B. Steve’s gym is at the
very back wall of the property. The property is at walking distance shore, 4 blocks. Steve plans to rent out the property in the future as he and
Zully own other houses in La Paz.
Steve builds his own projects himself. That may be how he hurt his back. Along a fence you’d see a row of buckets filled with sand (i.e. very heavy).
It looks like he’s re- setting some tiles back there. Steve doesn’t look like he’s hurting, perhaps because he’s on medication; he says it hurts when
he’s lying down.
“Mi casa es su casa” Steve and Zully conclude the tour. We chat briefly then we ask Zully and Nikki to bring us back to our motorhome at the Walmart
parking lot. They would pick us up again tomorrow at 11AM for our first get-together lunch in the city.
Day 1 (Tue)– La Paz Lunch, Tecolote area, Hotdog Dinner
Although Steve hurt his back, he couldn’t wait to show the city’s main attractions – the malecon and up the Tecolote peninsula which culminates to a
breathtaking view of the Espritu Santo islands. We get into Steve’s Toyota 4Runner and head to lunch at the Bismarque restaurant, along Abasolo. After
lunch we drive up north along the peninsula toward Tecolote.
Photos:
 
Along the way, we stop over and hike up a hill (yes at noon) in order to get a bird’s eye view of the ocean. From there we take pictures, among which
is a distant look at the real (albeit reconstructed) “mushroom rock”. Then we continue up north, passing beaches to the left until we reach Playa
Tecolote. We sit under the umbrellas for drinks. We chat for an hour or two and then head back to La Paz, making another stop over for “Cocos Frios”.
Photos:
    
Steve and I spend the rest of the afternoon visiting junkyards to look for leaf springs that I can use to stiffen the motorhome’s front suspension. We
don’t find any so we go to Plan B – custom leaf spring pack – so we survey Muelles shops in La Paz where we would bring the motorhome in the morning.
For dinner, we have authentic La Paz style - hotdogs at a favorite street corner stand.
Photos:
Day 2 and 3 (Wed, Thu) – Suspension work, downtown lunch/tour (Wed)
Due to the predominantly uneven Baja highways and the problems I encountered driving south (as reported in my earlier trip reports), I decide to have
suspension work done in La Paz – stiffening the front leaf springs and installing new shock absorbers (when I receive the package from the US). So,
early in the morning, Nora and I pick up Steve and we drive the motorhome to Pacific Suspensions, located around Ramirez and Allende streets. This
shop looks the most equipped for the job.
Steve explains the problem to the foreman. We all agree on lowering the front 2.5 inches by reducing/flattening the arch of the springs AND having two
leaves added to each of the spring packs to stiffen them. There is a lot of clearance between the engine and the front axle to allow for this. To
match the front, I would then deflate the rear air bags, lowering the frame about 1.5 inches. The net effect would lower the center of gravity (CG)
stabilizing the vehicle and I hope it would significantly reduce the left/right rocking of the motorhome when going over uneven highways.
The job would cost $3500 pesos. I asked Steve to make it clear: flatten the arch such that it will have only an inch of positive arch and net lowering
the front 2.5 inches. Then I approve the order; the job would be completed at the end of the day. So we leave the motorhome in the workers capable
hands!
Steve, Nora and I walk back to Steve’s house (6-8 blocks). It’s early in the morning, so the heat is bearable, and it’s a good exercise.
Downtown Lunch and Tour
We couldn’t just sit around in Steve’s house and miss an opportunity to see more of La Paz. Steve offers to drive us around the city, and we accept.
First, we make a stop at the immigration office to take care of Steve’s residency renewal. Although he was told weeks ago it’d be ready by now, it’s
not ready yet. Next we stop at the Post Office to check on my shocks package from Las Vegas sent to me by my son. We give the lady the tracking
number; she checks it in the computer and tells us the package is in Mexico City awaiting customs inspection. She tells us to check back with her on
Friday.
We walk around town and visit and take pictures at the:
1. Cultural center
2. Theatre (performing arts)
3. Movie theatre
4. City plaza
5. Church
Then it’s time for lunch. We go to the Terraza which is along the malecon on Abasolo. I have my favorite cocteles of camarones, pulpo y ostiones.
Yummy!
Photos:
 [IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l549/ason ico/LaPaz2.jpg[/IMG]   
After lunch we go shopping. First we go along the malecon and spot a few T-shirts we want to buy. Then Steve comes to us and quietly tells us this is
not the place to buy them. There are better places to buy them, at more barato prices. Who wouldn’t want great deals? So we walk a couple of blocks
away from the malecon and we find a few clothing stores that sell the same shirts for a third of the “malecon” prices. We’ve got some deals on a dozen
shirts! We visit other stores and buy a few knickknacks. Then it’s time to go home.
The big disappointment!
It’s 4 pm and it’s time to leave to pick up the motorhome at the suspension shop. Zully and Nora come with Steve and me. I couldn’t wait to see the
much improved handling motorhome. But what I see is nothing like I expected - they flattened the springs to a negative arch, i.e. they are sagging
like anyone wouldn’t believe. So now of course the engine is just an inch away from the front axle, and so is the bump stop; the front driveshaft is ¼
inch away from the transmission pan. The front has been lowered more than 5 inches!
I tell them: this is not right, this negative arch is really really bad (hoping they’d understand what a negative arch means). I’m so disappointed I
could cry . . . and, seeing my disappointment, my wife’s already trying to hide her tears. Thanks to Zully for coming with us – she noticed the Nalgas
posters on the wall – that’s why they didn’t do a good job. It offered us humor that we needed at the time.
“Make my own luck”
After some haggling, the shop foreman agrees to re-work the springs, but just once – ie. re-arch them in the morning and reinstall them just once
more.
We then go back to Steve’s house, down-hearted. This would be the only night in our 3-week adventure trip that we wouldn’t sleep in the motorhome. In
the evening, I try to shrug it off with positive thoughts that the workers will make my motorhome front suspension right. Steve and Zully are very
sympathetic and are so kind to make our room for the night – the apartment at the back of their main house. Before we go to bed, we have a brief swim
in the pool, that is so refreshing after a hectic and stressful day; however, in the middle of the night I couldn’t help but wake up and think how
“to make my own luck” in this situation. I conclude that I couldn’t rely on those mechanics to make it right on their own; I have a plan.
Bright and early (7:30 AM Mex time) I get up to execute my plan. First step is to sneak out of Steve’s house and walk to the suspension shop. I know
the way, it’s about 8 blocks or so. If Steve learns of my plan, he would insist he goes with me, and in his situation (aching back) it’s not
acceptable to me. So as I walk by the cot where Steve and Zully sleep, I find that Steve is not there with her. Steve couldn’t be up at this time, I
said, thinking that I’m already busted. But I wake Zully when the dogs won’t cooperate. Steve is in the comfortable bed in the bedroom. I very quietly
explain my plan to Zully, she offers to drive me over to the shop. I decline saying I need the exercise. So off I go.
My plan is to “guide” the mechanics to “what is right” every step of the way so that the springs are completely re-installed (i.e. “finished”) only
once as they stipulated. When the mechanics were ready to start the job, the foreman asks me to show them how I want the springs done. A great start,
I say. Besides it seems everyone’s cheerful (lots of small talk such as Manny Pacquiao and Saul Canelo being not up to him; it is surprising they love
Pacqiao over other Mexican boxers, etc.) So I coach them every step of the way, and as long as they are not “finished” (i.e. everything bolted and
tightened) they were very agreeable to make adjustments. (the fact is they had to re-arch the left spring 2 times and the right-side spring 3 times).
In the end, they made it exactly how I wanted in the first place.
Side story: I knew they were preparing to work on the motorhome when I felt (I was inside) it was being lifted. After a minute I decided to go out and
supervise. It was too late – they had lifted the front so high already by the front bumper, using a chain hoist. Bad idea. One side of the bumper had
bent about 5 inches higher on one side. That exacerbated my lack of confidence in those mechanics and grew really frustrated to the extent that I
wanted to leave – to “not see” whatever other damages they will inflict to the motorhome. “I couldn’t bear to see any more stupidity”. But my better
judgment prevailed – I had to “make my own luck”! So, I totally ignored the damage (wasn’t easy to do) until they finished the suspension work. They
spent 2 full hours straightening the front horn/frame and were very apologetic about it. Actually the bumper looked better than before.
Anyway it’s payment time and am anxious how much they’d charge for the two days of work. The estimate was $3500, for one day of work. The invoice is
$2900 pesos. I pay the bill and hand the foreman a $20 dollar tip. My nightmare over, I drive the motorhome to Steve’s house.
To be continued . . . Part5b
[Edited on 11-1-2011 by edm1]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64855
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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WOW... what a story and knowing you got home helps!
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
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Mood: undecided
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edm1, Thanks!
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Neal Johns
Super Nomad
Posts: 1687
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Lytle Creek, CA
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Mood: In love!
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Great writing, Art, you are one of my Baja heroes.
Neal
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13197
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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my heart is still pounding and I wanted to cry when you saw what had or hadn't been done .... smart of you, IMO to stay and supervise...only way to do
it and have it done RIGHT.
can't wait for more of the story to come.
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5901
Registered: 7-18-2011
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That food picture is making me jealous.
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