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aburruss
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San Juanico Trip - June 2019
Yes, I'm 3 months late.. Sorry! I've got lots going on on the home-front... This is part 1 of a 2 part report. Hopefully the second part doesn't take
me another 3 months to post. 
My wife used to go to Scorpion Bay with her family when she was a kid. She hasn’t been in years, but about October of 2018, she began planning a
trip for June 2019 with a lot of family and friends. I had never been. Based on her planning, by about March or April, we had about 30 people that
committed to going. The plan was to go to San Juanico, some of us would stay in the palapas at 2nd point, and some would stay in the Scorpion Bay
hotel.
Most people were going to go for a week, but we decided to turn the 1 week trip into a two ADDITIONAL weeks for our family. We didn’t want to have
any time frames (other than a fixed return date), no reservations, no plans, no commitments.
The departure was planned for a few different days, but the first wave of us decided to leave on Thursday, June 20. Our plan was to drive to San
Ignacio on Day 1, then use day 2 to get to San Juanico.
Thursday - Day 1 :
The wife, kids (Julianna-9, Jolene-7, and Brinley-9 months), and I — along with our two dogs — met a couple others in Imperial beach at 515AM, and
got on the road. We had our dodge 2500 diesel truck (towing a trailer with a couple razors), and the other vehicle was a 4wd chevy truck with a camper
on it.
We stopped at the border for the other members of the caravan to get their FMMs. We already had ours; super smooth stop. Once in the inspection line,
we got the obligatory check of registrations for trailer and toys… All was in order, so they waved us through quickly. Our other caravan vehicle
wasn’t so lucky. They got sent to the vehicle x-ray and had a fairly quick search of their camper. About 20 minutes after leaving the FMM desk, we
were on the road. No tolls the entire way down Highway 1D.
We made good time for most of the morning. Only about a 30 minute delay at the road construction at Santo Tomas, then 15 minutes to get through the
construction. We stopped in San Quintin for fuel and tacos. Sometimes the tiniest, most inconspicuous places are the best food. Just a simple
roadside cart with "Birria de res" hand-painted across the plywood siding, and we got some AMAZING tacos. A great way to refill our tanks for the
rest of the drive.
Back on the road, and another fuel stop (for people and vehicles) in Villa Jesus Maria. We finally pulled into San Ignacio about 9PM. This was a
little later than we wanted, but we were about at the longest days of the year, so we had light for most of the drive. The worst part was that they
were redoing the roads around the town square in front of the mission, so we got routed around some back roads to get to La Huerta. A little tight
with our long trailer, but not anything TOO crazy. The night at La Huerta was great, always a fantastic place to stay (and they allow pets). Someone
clogged the toilet.
I met a guy at the hotel named Thomas. He and his wife were on a trip from San Clemente to Cabo on their dirt bikes. We exchanged stories and
explored maps together.
Friday - Day 2:
We had breakfast the next morning at Rancho Grande Restaurant, before we hit the road. My experience at this restaurant is always pretty fair. The
service is quite slow (as most places I've been in San Ignacio), but the food is fine, and a good start to the day.
Before we left on our trip, our girls (7 and 9) decided to go shopping for toys to hand out in some of the smaller villages that we visited in Baja.
On the way to San Juanico, we ended up going down to Ejido Luis Echevarría. The girls pointed out some local children running around, and they handed
out a few goodies. Lots of smiles ensued.
Somehow though, despite my research, DavidK’s posts, my baja almanac, and whatever else I had tried to plan for, we ended up on what was NOT the
high road, NOT the low road, but the MIDDLE road, which was part of the NORRA race course in April, and was basically some pretty deep sand. This
wouldn’t have been much of an issue, except we were towing a trailer loaded with stuff. Before I got buried, I stopped, and unloaded the Razor…
in hopes to alleviate some weight being towed, and also to give the truck a little extra “tug” should it be needed.
Unfortunately, one of the ramps twisted as I was unloading, and it got “hooked” under the razor. This caused about an hour of delay while I did a
bunch of MacGuyver techniques to get things un-screwed-up. Finally, we were able to move again. After about another quarter mile, we found a bypass
from our “sand highway” back down to the low road.
It was fairly smooth sailing from there. We arrived in San Juanico at about 530PM and got checked into our palapa at 2nd point. Then on to dinner
at the cantina. Dinner at the cantina was very good.
Saturday - Day 3:
We woke up to a cold and overcast morning. We had breakfast outside the palapa and the kids were excited to get down to the beach.
The girls had surfboards and snorkel gear, and had a great time. The dogs had a blast running around. The water was pretty chilly, but the kids
didn’t seem to mind. Our 9 month old has never been to the beach, but she had a BLAST playing in the surf. She’s going to be a water-loving
kiddo. We couldn’t keep her out of the waves!
Apparently we arrived in town on “San Juanico Days” weekend… so we got to partake in the local events in town. There was rooster fights, street
food booths, trampolines, foosball, and cotton candy for the kids, and lots of other neat stuff going on. Great food from Taqueria Ely.
Sunday - Day 4:
Jolene wanted to go in the water as SOON as she was awake - about 630 AM. I took the kids to second point. Julianna made a tide pool, Jolene surfed.
We then met the rest of our group who had arrived at the hotel. At this point, we had a total of 31 people in our group.
We all went to first point, and found a spot on the beach. The girls had their surf boards on top of their Polaris 170 mini razor. They got thumbs
up from everyone they drove past. It was so cool.
One of our party had arranged a group meal at the Scorpion Bay hotel that night. They prepared some locally caught fish. It was fantastic. We then
went back to camp to enjoy a bonfire and some s’mores.
Monday - Day 5
The girls went surfing again. A lot of hanging out, and a little exploring the town. We heard a rumor that a whale had washed up on shore the night
before, so we took the razors out to explore. Sure enough, there was a 65’ whale, dead on the beach. We also saw a LOT of dead sea turtles too.
Over the course of the week, we saw 18 over all the sandy beach sections in the San Juanico area.
For dinner, one of the people in our group cooked a carnitas meal for the entire group. Delicious.
Tuesday - Day 6
Everyone hung out all day at second point surfing. I brought a small grill, and cooked hot dogs for everyone. We had more than enough, so we gave a
lot away to others who were there at the beach.
Later in the day, we went north east from town along the beach to let the kids do some beach combing. Lots of sand dollars and cool shells were
found.
After that, we went on a razor ride and blew a belt. Changed in under 15 minutes, and back on the road. I felt like a pit crew champ with that
speed.
Back at camp, someone made a chili dinner. Some of the kids brought some legos to share with the rest of the group, and all the kids had a “lego
party”. Lots of fun for them.
Wednesday - Day 7
We all left at 930 to head to Cadaje river mouth. About 8 miles of trails to get there. Once there, the adults went to surf, kids played in sand.
After a while Julianna and Jolene saw the dunes in distance and took boogie boards to slide down. At the bottom of the dune was a pool of water. Soon
everyone in group was there. The kids (and some adults) had a great time sliding down the dunes. Lots of fun, only minor injuries.
One of the highlights of the trip for me happened on the way back to town. The girls had followed us out to the beach in their 170 RZR. It's got a
radio and intercom, so we can be in contact with them while they are driving. Jolene is a FANTASTIC driver, at 7, and Julianna at 9 is an amazing
navigator. I give her the iPad with GaiaGPS on it, and she can keep Jolene on track. After everyone decided to leave the beach, we hung out for a few
minutes later. I told the girls that I was going to let THEM lead the way back to town. I'd be there if they needed help, but I wanted them to
figure out how to get back. They took off and started heading the right way, more-or-less. There were lots of forks in the trail, but they did a
good job picking good lines. Once we got about 70% of the way back, they stopped. The called on the radio and said that they weren't exactly sure
what to do next. There was a fork in the road. Julianna said that her thought was that she saw the San Juanico wind farm towards the east, and that
her best estimate was to head towards that. She did, and got us back to the EXACT street in town that we needed to be at. It was a super proud
parent moment, knowing that the girls have the skills to be not completely screwed if they get lost in the desert. I only had to help them through one
small silt section.
That night, we had an amazing spaghetti dinner back at the palapa.
Thursday - Day 8
Some of our group left San Juanico, in the morning, and headed for Loreto. My family cruised around most of the streets of the town of San Juanico,
just exploring and checking everything out. Later in the day, we met everyone at second point for beach time. The kids were surfing and boogie
boarding really well.
Before dinner, the kids all gathered at the Scorpion Bay hotel and one of the parents put on an “art party”, where all the kids got to paint
rocks, and do lots of creative stuff. We then went to get dinner at El Burro. Dinner for a party of 20 people was possibly a BIT more than they could
handle, as it took well over 2 hours. But the food was delicious. Julianna is a bit of a book worm. El Burro has a book shelf of books, and Julianna
found one that she thought would be interesting. It was 530 pages long. As all of the kids were out in front at El Burro in the playground, Julianna
sat by herself and started reading. More on this to follow…
Friday - Day 9
Everyone in our group left... except us. We were sad.  We walked up to town and
found a little cart that had sopes for breakfast. They were phenomenal. Brinley (the 10 month old) was center of attention. The older girls handed
out toys to some of the local kids. One of the local “gringos” came up and started talking to us. Very shortly after that, a lot of OTHER locals
came up and told us that he’s pretty crazy, and we should basically ignore EVERYTHING he told us about the community. It was a bit of a lazy day.
Later in the evening, the local high school had a science fair, art fair, and dance performance at the Scorpion Bay Hotel. We went back to check that
out. Very cool to experience. Julianna read a lot more.
Saturday - Day 10
Met with a long time nomad-type resident. He took us on tour of ALL of San Juanico, telling us about the good parts of town, the bad, who had houses
for sale, his experiences in San Juanico, etc. It was a great experience and we learned a lot. He even let us do a load of laundry at his house. I
think he's trying to get us to be new neighbors of his.
We had lunch at cantina, and then went back to the beach at first point. Cameron Steele and 50 of his closest friends showed up coming in along the
beach in their Raptors (and a helicopter). We decided to start packing up, as we were leaving the following day. Julianna read a lot more.
Sunday - Day 11
Breakfast at El Burro. Julianna returned her 530 page book. COMPLETED. In 2 and a half days. So insane! The girls made some friends and played
foosball up stairs while we had food. We got on the road to leave town about noon. We wanted to stay longer, but a LOT more of Baja was calling us.
More to come... Stay tuned!
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Wowsers!!!
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StuckSucks
Super Nomad
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So cool -- your kids have seen the light: camping and driving on the beach, playing in the water, sliding down sand dunes. You have Baja travelers for
life! And a great shot of the youngest, "surfing" on the Morey boogie board.
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JZ
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Living the dream.
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Mulege Canuck
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Great post!
I surfed though some of that sand on the way to San Juanico. I was lucky I did not meet anyone because I had to keep the momentum up to avoid getting
stuck. Low road worked the best for me. I have never been on the “ high road”.
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Tioloco
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Best post I have seen in a while. Looks like a great time!
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AKgringo
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Alright...you and your wife wanted to go to San Juanico, but must you force your children to endure that trip? I mean think about what you exposed
them to;
Eating unregulated food from un-inspected vendors.
Hours of driving through a desert on unimproved roads.
Living in primitive structures exposed to sea breezes.
Forced to read books because there is no TV.
Your oldest daughter was forced to drive her sister to the beach, and had to haul their own boards.
Surfing on a remote beach with no life guards
Just be aware that your girls will never forget you did that to them, and will probably wind up forcing the same ordeal on any children they may have
in the future!
Seriously, good job folks, they will remember that trip (except for Brinley)
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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Paulina
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This is a great trip report. Thank you for taking the time and effort to post. My favorite part was how involved the children were in your planning
and partying, with the topper being the independent off road navigation you trusted them with. Way to go, parenting style, giving your children baja
memories and experience that will sustain them as they grow.
Cheers to more baja, family style.
P>*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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Bubba
Senior Nomad
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Wow, quite the report, thank you!
Making America Great Again
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Lee
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Every day a holiday every meal a banquet. Sweet memories!
US Marines: providing enemies of America an opportunity to die for their country since 1775.
What I say before any important decision.
F*ck it.
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Pacifico
Super Nomad
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Best trip report I've seen in ages! Thanks for taking the time, aburruss!
"Plan your life as if you are going to live forever. Live your life as if you are going to die tomorrow." - Carlos Fiesta
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advrider
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WOW! Where to start? So many good things in this report I'm not sure where to start! Love your parenting style and your kids are some of the luckiest
around... Raising girls to be self reliant and have the ability to show the boys around Baja! Out having fun in such a dangerous country... Well
done...
Most trips I have ridden from SI to Scorpion bay, after the sand road the dirt was pretty bad and not something you would want to pull a trailer
over, how was it for you?
Best picture: The girls, a 170 and surf boards... Just saying...
[Edited on 9-27-2019 by advrider]
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BajaParrothead
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OUTSTANDING!!!
Thanks for taking the time and allowing us to vicariously ride along!!
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jwheel1970
Junior Nomad
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Location: San Diego
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Thank you for the great write up - fun stuff for sure.
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aburruss
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Quote: Originally posted by advrider  | WOW! Where to start? So many good things in this report I'm not sure where to start! Love your parenting style and your kids are some of the luckiest
around... Raising girls to be self reliant and have the ability to show the boys around Baja! Out having fun in such a dangerous country... Well
done...
Most trips I have ridden from SI to Scorpion bay, after the sand road the dirt was pretty bad and not something you would want to pull a trailer
over, how was it for you?
Best picture: The girls, a 170 and surf boards... Just saying...
[Edited on 9-27-2019 by advrider] |
Thanks everyone for the kind words. This was definitely a trip that everyone is going to remember for a long time. We are trying our best to let our
girls "live life" and not spend their entire life "plugged in".
We also want them to feel comfortable and confident in new environments, so doing things like this is very important for us, for more than just
"vacation" reasons.
The road we started out on was definitely NOT the right choice for towing a trailer... I SHOULD have aired down a bit more, but it really caught me
off-guard. Our "exploring" before hand in the whale camp got me turned around and not on the right road. I'm confident that if I had gone onto the
high road OR the low road, we'd have been fine the entire way in. Granted, throughout the voyage into San Juanico, there were plenty of sections
where we were driving SLOW because of all the junk on the trailer...
We got thumbs up and great looks all week from people seeing the kids driving around in the razor.. I agree. Super cool picture!
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aburruss
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I forgot our group picture!! Taken out on the beach near the Cadaje River mouth.
Also, the dogs had fun! I think I've introduced them on bajanomad already, but if not, this is Rosa and Rito. They are brother and sister, rescue
pups from... Rosarito.
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aburruss
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So.. we tried to take some video of our whole trip, and Jolene couldn't pronounce the name of San Juanico... this was an outtake of our trip video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk9NK4HBSuM
Swaaan Hawnico. HAHAHAH
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David K
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I like "Swaaan Hawnico" just fine!  
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Pacifico
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Very cute! 
By the way, did you happen to see any big fish near the Cadaje River mouth?
"Plan your life as if you are going to live forever. Live your life as if you are going to die tomorrow." - Carlos Fiesta
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advrider
Super Nomad
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Did you go back the same way to SI, or go out and around on the highway?
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