The Road to Baja Page 19

Once back in the states, we were like a horse headed to the barn (at least according to what I've been told (never spent any time around horses)). 

First stop, San Diego for the night and dinner at the Hopping Pig Gastropub.  Excellent. 

We munched up some asphalt the next day and landed in Sacramento that night.  Quite a surprise actually.  Neither of us had been to the California Capitol before and we were luckily enough to land in "Old Town".  

Neat place. Lots of restaurants and bars to choose from and all accessed off of the old board sidewalks complete with 1800's facade buildings and all. 

Up the road on Wednesday, we hole up in Eugene, Oregon.  Another nice place.  Walked a fair bit to a pub for a beer and dinner but a good call.  Stealhead Brewing is a great place.  A stop at Buck Horn Brewing on our way back to our room and we're good for tonight.  Tomorrow, home in Kenmore. 

Dreams.  The trip down south to the boarder now seems like a dream…somehow a long time ago even though it occurred on this trip.  Mexico, now that we are north of the boarder, seems like a memory from a time past.  I guess we are looking forward to being "home".  We will arrive exactly one month from our departure.

By spending some time in a few places in Baja, we were privileged to see past the tourist glamour and into the caring communities that bind these towns together.  We have made some friendships that will endure.  It has been a terrific trip and experience that we are looking toward building upon in the future.   

Viva Baja!

The Road to Baja Page 18

Although we were having a marvellous time in Mulege we felt it was time to continue north.  There isn't a whole lot of places on the Pacific side past Guerrero Negro, other than some small fishing and surfing camps until you put in a few miles.  We thought San Quintin would be a reasonable stop.  There was, however, one attraction en route that was a must see.  

Mama Espinoza's restaurant in El Rosario

( http://mamaespinoza.com/english/?page_id=7 ).  Famous for lobster burritos.  Nice little lunch stop although we didn't find out about her signature dish until after we had ordered… won't be able to tell you about those burritos until the next time we stop there. 

The sky became quite grey as we headed west and as we neared San Quintin the periodic sprinkles turned into a fairly heavy rain.  Whoever designed the highway system in Mexico ignored the need for drainage, because, of course this is an arid region.  When it rains, the dirt that makes up the fertile farm land finds itself crossing the paved road and puddling wherever possible.  If it happens to be part of an unpaved road, it suddenly becomes an 8" deep pit suitable for the state fair tractor pull. 

The signage in Mexico is almost as good as the drainage.  We missed the hotel we were searching for, the first time or two.  The sign that said we were in the town that we wanted to be in, was actually placed one town too early.  We discovered that the hard way.   We finally found San Quintin a couple of miles farther up the road.  The hotel was located several blocks into the tractor pull pit.  Great place, however. 

Wednesday, March 2, 2015

Our plan was to head to Ensenada and stay the night.  Lots of fun things and places to visit there. 

It had rained overnight and that hadn't helped the slow to non-existent drainage.  The 8" tractor pull was now approaching 10-12".  The paved roads had puddles and mud flows that could swallow the weak.  We pressed on.  The showers became periodic but when they fell, they meant business. 

We arrived in Ensenada and headed towards La Bufadora to visit the Blow Hole and sample our favourite barbecued clams.  

We snuck in a Piña Colada as well.  We felt somehow that it might be a sign as the clouds parted as we approached La Bufadora and we had sunny weather for the duration.  

Shortly after we left, some serious showers rolled through.  When we arrived in Ensenada town proper the showers were frequent and plentiful.  The thought of doing touristy stuff in torrents of rain was somehow unattractive.  We motored on to Rosarito Beach. 

It seems that Rosarito had not been spared from the generous rainfall that has greened the hillsides.  Every road that leaves the highway to give access to the beach and the bars that occupy them, looked yet again like the tractor pull pit.  No way to get there without muck boots!

After a short discussion, we decided to conclude our Mexican Baja adventure and head back to the States.  San Diego is a short distance away and we have a couple of favorite places for dinner there too. 

We instructed our trusty electronic guidance system to take us to Otay Mesa, about 18 miles east of Tijuana.  I crossed at Tijuana once and thought I would die trying.  Not because of any dangers or anything like that, it was because I couldn't find the boarder crossing.  

Tijuana is absolutely chaotic and teaming with billions of people, cars, vendors, circus acts and everything else.  Otay is much smaller, more easily accessed and not too far out of the way.  

The GPS did manage to get revenge for us having taken her across all of those strange dirt excursions however.  We have NEXUS which is an equivalent to the Mexican boarder "Ready" system.  There are lanes that are defined for each function as you approach the crossing.  

The Ready or NEXUS capability allows us to cross without the invasive scrutinisation that the caballero's on burrows normally experience. 

Concrete barriers separate the Ready Lane lanes from the Everybody Else lanes.  What we, weren't aware of is that those certain lanes are only accessible from some roads and not others.  We took the "not others road". 

We had plenty of time to watch the Ready lanes buzz through from Mexico to the United States during our one and one half hours that we waited for our opportunity to state that we had "nothing to declare". 

Finally!  On to San Diego. The land where pesos are not valid currency. 

The Road to Baja Page 17

Our first mistake was talking to a group of several 4-wheeling couples who are heading all the way down and back through Baja off road.  They happened to be staying in the same hotel in Puerto San Carlos. 

We began talking about the adventure they have been having.  Since they were still heading south and we, of course, are northward bound, I was very keen to hear about it.  

We had planned on heading toward Mulege (pronounced "moo-la-hay"). It's about 200 miles over conventional roads.  But thanks to our new friends, we had discovered another route.…  

What is known as Highway 53 on some maps, ends up close to Mulege too.  We were told how it  is a beautiful but pretty rough off road section.  But, hey, it's only about 36 miles of dirt… they assured me too, that my truck could make it.  Janet reluctantly agreed, so a little before 8:00 AM, we were on our way. 

We drove back out to Ciudad Constitucion and up to Ciudad Insurgentes. Highway 1 heads East from there and 53 continues north.  53 passes through several towns before becoming dirt in La Purisma (a pretty town that we didn't take the time to explore).  

Before tackling the dirt, we turned off in the direction of San Juanico and followed that road up to Scorpion Bay.  Pretty little fishing village.  

The road was still paved up to the town but signs of the damage from the hurricane was very evident all of the way from highway 1.  Almost every bridge has washed away and water has undercut the roadway in hundreds of places.  Sometimes the undercut was bad enough from both sides of the road that the single path through was a little questionable.  Pressed on, we did!

Back at the turn off in La Purisma, we headed for the dirt crossing to La Mar de Cortez.  We were warned that it was rough and their description may have been a little understated.  

After climbing the single lane path, up an incline of approximately 45 degrees, navigating our way over boulders and ruts of enormous size, we arrived at the river bed. 

Apparently, before the last torrential rain, an attempt was made to grade the pathway.  No evidence of their hard work remained.  

The rest of our drive over this "road" was unrelenting. Up, down, around and over some of the biggest obstacles we have faced so far. 

Look closely at the fence way up in the air. That used to be the surface. 

We met a few travellers as we crossed. Our first encounter was several Baja Buggies, our first clue of what we were yet to face. At about the halfway point, we stopped and chatted a bit with a couple coming from Mulege, on their way to the Pacific for a few days.  Their road reports were just as glum as what we had already negotiated and there description was spot on. 

By far the funniest couple we saw, were in a very small Hyundai rental car, beating the absolute crap out of it crossing over rocks and ruts that I was worried could take out my oil pan.  (If you ever buy a used rental car, make sure it's not from Mexico!)

It took from 7:50 AM to about 4:30 PM, but we made it to highway 1.  

Pointed North toward Mulege, we pulled into the first Cantina we found, still about 17 miles out.  Naturally, we met some great people there who got to telling us about the 50's Rock and Roll night at another close by bar, the following night.  Hymmm…?

Finally to town, a room and dinner where, yep, more great people to talk to.  Gotta love it!

February 28, 2015, Sabàdo

We have met so many great people and had such a great time in Mulege, we have decided to stay for another night.  

The couple we were speaking to at dinner last night (from Shuswap Lake, BC, Canada) were telling us about a couple of Mexican people in town who are trying to learn English and hold an informal "class" or get togethers with people who are trying to learn Spanish. The idea is to sit have conversations.  We just had to join them!  

What a blast!  Absolutely lovely people, naturally, and about 3 hours later we have new friends and can add a few new words of Espanol to our arsenal.  Hopefully they have learned a little from our American group too. 

Since we're here, we'll be heading to 50's night in a few minutes. 

The Road to Baja Page 16

For the first time in about three weeks, we pointed the Taco(ma) north and began our voyage up the Pacific side of Baja. 

First stop was in Todo Santos, the location of the famous "Hotel California" from the song by The Eagles.  This is located only about 50 miles north of Cabo San Lucas so we arrived early in the day.  

The hotel still stands proudly in the Center of town but much of the rest of the town looks as though it took a sizeable hit from the oft mentioned hurricane of last fall.  There just happens to be an Art Festival taking place in town and several tour busses were busy offloading tourists who were rapidly filling the town. 

We stayed long enough to take a look at the hotel and a fair number of shops and galleries before deciding to continue on. 

The next town up the road is La Paz, where we had left just a couple of days ago.  Instead of returning for another evening, we consulted the map.   Ciudad Constitucion was the next city on the highway, but not too far from there is a small town on the Pacific coast, Puerto San Carlos.  It can even be accessed from a paved road!

We booked a room at the Hotel Alcatraz, a very cute little place on the edge of town that has received great online reviews.  

After settling in, we took a walk around town.  That revealed a fishing village with a mix of clams and shrimp seeming to be the main stays. 

A little dinner back at the hotel and we'll be good 'till morning.  Not sure yet where we'll end up tomorrow. 

The Road to Baja Page 15

An interesting tidbit… if you park illegally, at least in Cabo, they will not only ticket your car but they will take your license plates.  That is their means of being assured you will pay your fines.  How do I know this?  I was told by the lady that runs our hotel.  I made sure to park legally. 

Today, we goofed around Cabo. 

Nice teats!

Absolutely excellent dinner!

The Road to Baja Page 14

We have arrived in Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico.  Over 3000 miles from our home in Seattle and at the very south end of Baja.  So far an excellent trip full of beautiful scenery, places and people.  Second to none. 

We officially crossed the Tropic of Cancer and entered the Zona Tropical.

 From there, our trip took us back out to the coast for the last remaining miles of The Sea of Cortez.  We watched beline whales jumping, finning and spouting much of the way down the sea and on into the Pacific.  Several nice towns and communities along the way and virtually every spot of beach had a camper or bungalow.  The tranquility of the surroundings is awesome. 

The road we had started out on was pockmarked asphalt with pot holes that you could hide a small child in.  It turned to dirt a few miles later.  That left us 50 miles or so to navigate on sand, rocks, washboard sand and almost washed out areas, that appears to have remains of the storm.  We finally found pavement after what felt like a much further trip than the odometer could confirm, only to find a road closed sign because of reconstruction follow damage by last year's hurricane.

 The GPS was coaxed into giving us an alternative route which led us to a fenced off "Private Property" sign.  We turned around and decided to ask directions at a cute cantina on the outskirts of a small community that we had passed a few miles back. 

Not only does Zac's Bar & Grill serve a great Margarita and cold cerveza, but we stumbled upon "Taco Tuesday" as well!  Oh yes, and our reason for our stop was to ask if any remaining roads existed to Los Cabos.  One road in fact did bypass the area of reconstruction.  We took that road. 

So far, our first impression has us thinking that Cabo has recovered quite well.  There is lots of construction taking place but the tourist area is in full swing.  Few signs remain of the impact the hurricane had taken, just a few months earlier. Restaurants a-buzz and people strolling, even on a Tuesday night.