22 December ‘06

Friday

We stayed close by on Wednesday and Thursday, did some carpet cleaning in the coach, shopped for a 5 gallon water jug and had a couple of great meals in town.  The Baja Cantina for lunch on Wednesday and one of our favorite taco stands for shrimp and fish tacos on Thursday.  Then on Thursday evening, we took one of the couples from the campground and headed out to see the sunset.  Unfortunately it was unimpressive…we were entertained by a young fellow that took his 4 wheel drive pickup too far into the sand.  At one time he even had the water coming up to the tires…so close to loosing it.  Finally with the help of the “authorities”, he got it out.  It just so happens that the beaches are out of bounds for all motor vehicles…turtle lying beds are all around…he got himself a big fine.  Louise has finished making her famous fudge.  All of this will be going to the campground “Christmas Dinner Party”.  I tried to talk my way into keeping a little for myself, but that didn’t work.  This morning (Friday) I had to get the heck out of bed by 5am.  I was invited to go fishing with Ricardo and Lee this morning.  5 years ago Louise, Leslee, Sid, and me met Ricardo (Richard) and his lovely wife Suzi at the Sand Bar restaurant and bar here on the beach.  If you spend a few minutes with this couple, you become immediate friends.  It just so happened that they have built their “Casita” here in this RV park and while walking around the first day we ran directly into them.  A day later Ricardo asked me to go fishing with him, so how could I refuse.  Ricardo brought his boat down from Oregon and this is going to be his first time fishing out of Baja.  Lee, another neighbor, has been many times, so he was going to be our “leader”.  We were fishing out by “El Faro Viejo” (The Old Lighthouse), which is about 5 miles up the Pacific coastline from San Lucas.  We were out there before the sun rose out of the Eastern Sea.  Ricardo was first to “hook-up”.  He caught a real nice Dorado, about 25 to 28 pounds.  Then it went dry for a couple of hours.  A couple of miles off to the South, we saw a number of other boats that were huddled around some sea birds.  This often means that there are fish in the area, so we headed over to see what was happening.  It wasn’t but a minute and I was hooked up, but this time it was with a Marlin.  I wasn’t too excited about it being a Marlin, as I knew I would just have to put it back, and besides the Dorado is sooo good, but that is what it was.  Now for the next 45 minutes it beat the hell out of me.  I must tell you, I am writing this with every bone and muscle in my body so tired that I’m not sure I will finish this journal tonight.  We hadn’t set up for Marlin, so the pole and the line that I was using was too small and light for this struggle so I had to finesse it the whole time.  When the struggle was over I couldn’t tell you who won, but this I know, I got it to the boat and was able to take the hook out of the bill.  I also got a picture of this giant.  Our guess for the weight was 120-130 pounds.  Was it worth it?  I’ll tell you tomorrow.  Tonight however, we did enjoy a wonderful dinner of fresh caught Dorado.

19 December ‘06

Tuesday

Put your walking shoes on baby, we’re off to do the town…  We left the car behind and headed off to get some good walking in.  To the center of Cabo San Lucas, I would say we are about 2 to 3 miles out, but that’s what we did, and then returned a little tired.  Its ok, we really needed to get out there and walk a little after riding so much since leaving Imperial Dam in Arizona.  The weather was great (75 degrees and sunny) and the town was alive with “tourists”.  There were 3 cruise ships sitting out in the bay, and I would guess that each of them disembarked 3-4000 people each.  A shopping holiday for each one of them.  For Lou and me, we had some walking to do.  There is this new “mega store” in town that we hadn’t been to yet…The City Club.  It is very similar to Costco but you don’t have to buy in the large quantities.  If you want “one”, you can buy “one”.  I love the concept.  Seeing as how we were not “members”, we could go into the store and look all we wanted.  “IF” we wanted to buy something, when we got to the checkout counter, they would charge us $1.  I think this is great !!!  Besides, they had the most perfect selection of perfectly grown and displayed lettuce I’ve ever seen.  We’ll be going back tomorrow, with a TRUCK.  Then it was a walk through the super mall, down and around the city moorage and onto the Baja Cantina for lunch.  We ate from the “Bar” menu and had a wonderful meal with drinks for less than $10.  Now, with a full tummy, and feet that are telling us “it’s hot down here”, we head back home.  Yep, it was a “walk”, but it was needed.  I think I heard a “sizzle” when I stepped into the pool here at the campground, but who cares??? 

19 December ‘06

Tuesday

Put your walking shoes on baby, we’re off to do the town…  We left the car behind and headed off to get some good walking in.  To the center of Cabo San Lucas, I would say we are about 2 to 3 miles out, but that’s what we did, and then returned a little tired.  Its ok, we really needed to get out there and walk a little after riding so much since leaving Imperial Dam in Arizona.  The weather was great (75 degrees and sunny) and the town was alive with “tourists”.  There were 3 cruise ships sitting out in the bay, and I would guess that each of them disembarked 3-4000 people each.  A shopping holiday for each one of them.  For Lou and me, we had some walking to do.  There is this new “mega store” in town that we hadn’t been to yet…The City Club.  It is very similar to Costco but you don’t have to buy in the large quantities.  If you want “one”, you can buy “one”.  I love the concept.  Seeing as how we were not “members”, we could go into the store and look all we wanted.  “IF” we wanted to buy something, when we got to the checkout counter, they would charge us $1.  I think this is great !!!  Besides, they had the most perfect selection of perfectly grown and displayed lettuce I’ve ever seen.  We’ll be going back tomorrow, with a TRUCK.  Then it was a walk through the super mall, down and around the city moorage and onto the Baja Cantina for lunch.  We ate from the “Bar” menu and had a wonderful meal with drinks for less than $10.  Now, with a full tummy, and feet that are telling us “it’s hot down here”, we head back home.  Yep, it was a “walk”, but it was needed.  I think I heard a “sizzle” when I stepped into the pool here at the campground, but who cares??? 

18 December ‘06

Monday

Sunday we headed off to do some shopping.  Our first stop, a little taco stand up the hill from here.  They were serving these wonderful marinated beef tacos.  They also had these large clay crocks that were filled with the sides.  One was onions, and three different peppers that had all been fried together to make this wonderful garnish.  Other was filled with beans, and the third with “salsas”…Let me tell you…I was in “Hog Heaven”…  Our second stop was Mega Stores (a huge grocery store) in San Jose.  We weren’t looking for much, but lettuce and other vegetables were high on our list.  We had a chance to visit this store when we met Bonnie and Doug last Friday, and thought this store would be high on our list to find what we wanted in both variety and quality.  Well, we thought it would anyway.  On closer inspection and shopping, we didn’t find anything on our list that we wanted to come home with.  Yes, we spent about $10 on something’s, but we were really disappointed.  Ok, let’s head back to San Lucas.  Now both of these towns here in “Los Cabos” have grown, more than you can imagine if you haven’t been here for a couple of years.  Not only the huge mega stores, but the individual homes, golf courses, hotels, condos (both timeshare and individual homes), and “traffic cops”.  Our next stop was Home Depot.  I needed to find some very long nails and an extension cord for the Christmas lights.  Found the cord but no nails…  Ok, onto Costco…you can never go to Costco without spending something, and this was the case this time around.  I can’t remember what we bought except a large container of mixed nuts…One more stop…Sorreanos.  This is another bigger than huge store that carries groceries, clothing and on and on…  Of course we spent a couple of Peso’s there as well.  I really don’t remember why, but the lines at all the tills were just huge.  They were running 28 tills and they were all packed with buyers wanting to check out.  5 years ago when we were there the store had just opened up and everything was well stocked and looking good.  Well today…we most likely won’t be getting back.  I know, it is the Christmas shopping time, but the disarray and the masses of people are just more than I want to punish myself with.  About 4 in the afternoon we shuffled ourselves back home, completely “shopped out”, but without anything either of us had had on our list, especially lettuce. 

16 December ‘06

Saturday

This morning we decided to take a walk along the resort beach and grab some breakfast at “The Sandbar” Restaurant.  It’s only been 3 years since we were last here and the changes along the beach are incredible.  Fact is, the changes in all of “Los Cabos” is startling…  It’s good to sit down for a great breakfast and be able to have your feet in the warm sand at the same time.  We also had a chance to see “Cheno” (the best waiter anywhere along the beach in Los Cabos).  We also had a treat just as we were finishing our breakfast…The whole Tolson family came in for their breakfast as well.  They all were looking great, and the kids, boy have they grown.  Max is now 13, Louisa is 15 and both are beautiful young adults.  Juancho and Doris are both looking great.  The every day stress of being in a number of very competitive businesses isn’t taking a toll on their lives.  It’s been a long time since I’ve sat at a longer breakfast…it was great to see them again.  For the past week or more, there has been either a strike or a shortage at the Pemex stations (gas/diesel) up and down the Baja.  When they are open the lines are staggering.  Finally this afternoon when I checked I found the lines to have disappeared, so after dropping Louise off at the coach, I ran up the hill to “filler up”.  When the tank was full and the pump had clicked off, I found that I had a problem…I forgot to pick up my wallet when I left the motor home…DAMN !!!  Now what???  This young man is very patient with me as I try to explain to him my dilemma.   “What if I leave my car here with you and I walk back and get my wallet???? Is that OK???”  I’m not sure even yet what he said but I was off on my walk back the 2 miles in 85 degree weather to get my wallet…  On the way back I got thinking…the coach needs gas too, so that will get me a ride back…the only thing is, the coach is all set up.  All 3 slides are out, the coach is up on the jacks, the canopy is out and locked, the “EasyBoy” chair is in place and the dishes and everything else isn’t packed for traveling.  Hell, I need a ride and the coach needs gas sometime…”PACK IT UP”.   Lou wasn’t a “Happy Camper”, but she did her best to help me out of this predicament.    

15 December ‘06

Friday

Our first full day in Cabo San Lucas.  We got an email from Bonnie and Douglas and they had said that they would be flying out of Cabo today, so we thought we would get up to say goodbye before they left.  Of course they weren’t home but we did get a hold of them by phone.  We arranged to meet them in San Jose for a quick lunch, saw their new condo, said our goodbyes and off they went.  They were heading to Mt Vernon for Christmas, but will be back here in a couple of weeks.  Then it was back to San Lucas.  We stopped by to see Ed Feinstein and Joanie to do some catching up, but Joanie couldn’t be found.  Eddie was working his tail off trying to keep everyone happy even if they had waited to the last minute to have him make up the jewelry for their Christmas gifts.  Oh yes, Eddie has himself a new dog. Then it was back to the coach and finish setting up.

14 December ‘06

Thursday

Yesterday morning we pulled out of LaPaz early and headed for Todos Santos.  There is this wonderful little “truck stop” that I have been going to for over 18 years.  It was first introduced to me by one of the other new salesmen from Club Cascadas, who being Mexican, he just knew that the food was going to be excellent. At that time, we were on our way to LaPaz to get our license to sell timeshare.  Since that time, I’ve been getting back to eat there any chance I get.  The first time there, they had dirt floors, chickens running in and out from under the tables, a couple of dogs laying around, and at least 4 cats rubbing your leg looking for a hand out.  Now, they still have that dirt floor but all the animals are either gone or hidden somewhere.  The food is still EXCELLENT and the service is great.  Louise started talking to a lady that seemed to be running the place and telling her how long we have been coming in.  She was very excited to hear that and insisted that there was to be no charge for our breakfast, even as I objected, she insisted even more… Pretty nice place and as always, great people…and as always, we will be back.  Another 10 miles down the highway we came to Todos Santos.  Frank and Lynn, from Coeur d’Alene Idaho, have a place here and about this time of year they are having their Gourmet Mexican Cooking classes.  We knew we would have a little trouble getting the motor home into their little neighborhood, so we found a place along side the main street in town and unhooked the “toad”.  Now we are ready for some 4 wheelin…  we found Frank and Lynn heavy into cleaning up their home after the summer storms, and with only a few more days to go before the people start to arrive for their classes, we didn’t stick around too long.  We told them we would try to help, but their answer to that was “believe me when I say we can do it faster by ourselves, but thanks anyway”…we’re gone…  Cabo San Lucas here we come. 

13 December ‘06

Wednesday

We decided to stay two days here at Bahia Concepción.  This bay is so beautiful, and we were able to put the coach into the most perfect spot, we decided we needed to stay an extra day. Unfortunately we weren’t able to put the kayak into the water because the wind was just too strong during the mid day.  That’s ok, we will be coming back here in late March and as much as we can remember the wind is almost non-existent.  The place that we stayed this time was Hotel Buena Venture.  It is a small single story “U” shaped building with a couple of individual bungalows on one side.  Out at the edge of the sand beach, are 8 locations that you can pull an RV in.  We chose the one that was right on the end and with the help of a rock projection into the bay we had the perfect spot to park.  The water completely surrounded us on three sides.  The Pelicans were well fed with little fish that schooled right in front of us.  We had quite a show for two solid days, but also felt sorry for those little fishes.  This morning after a quick cleaning of the Tracker battery terminal, we left at 10am and headed out for a long day on the road.  We covered about 280 miles in 6 ½ hours.  There were some very high mountain ranges to cross and of course the roadways continued to be very narrow.  Fortunately the traffic was pretty light.  I stopped twice to put $600 pesos worth of gas into the tank.  The prices we have paid for gas have been about the same as we paid in the states ($2.50- $295 a gallon).  The first couple of stops in Mexico we weren’t able to get regular, all they were pumping was the premium.  Who know why, but you get what you get…  Tonight we headed into LePaz to find a bank machine and have a light dinner.  I must say I still like LePaz, even though it is a large city.  The campground for the night is located 6 blocks off the main street and at the end of a dirt road.  There are no more than 12 RV sites here and they are very nice.  It is one of those little known locations and will stay that way unless they put some signage out there.  There wasn’t one sign, not even at the gate… We have also found it interesting that since we’ve been here in the Baja, we’ve met at least 6 or 7 campers that are from Europe.  Right here in this campground, there is one camping family from Germany and a couple with a VW campervan from Italy.  Of course, most of the campers that we have met since crossing the border are from BC Canada, even more than those from the states (they must like the narrow highway). 

11 December ‘06

Sunday and Monday

Sundays drive took us from Catavina, which is almost directly in the center of Baja Norta, along some of the straightest lengths of highway through the Baja and then with a slight angle we headed out to the Pacific coastline to our next over night destination “Guerrero Negro”.  Guerrero Negro is the place that Louise and I stopped twice, 5 years ago.  The first time, we took a tour into Laguna Ojo de Liebre, which is one of the locations here in the Baja where the female gray whales give birth to their young.  What an amazing place this is…we were in this little 24’ boat with our guide just watching those that were watching us.  These whales would come out of the water, roll over on their back, and then splash back with a title wave.  Then there was the whale that would come straight up out of the water until their eye could get a clear shot of all around them, and then just hold that position for the longest time.  Finally there was the “friendly whale”, this little (about 40 to 50’ long) gal would come over and want her back or tummy scratched.  Well, that was then and this is now…no whales here yet, but the food at the campground is way above average and the campground is in the right location for this leg of the trip. I think there were 9 different rigs here last night, 3 from BC, one from Germany, 2 from Seattle, and the rest…?  10am and we were all packed up and heading into town to top off the gas tank.  The problem was, we couldn’t get into the pump island, so we made one of our famous “U” turn and headed out onto the highway.  We knew or hoped that somewhere out there we would find some petrol.  Out of 75 gallons, we had just about half left (or at 7.5 miles to the gallon and 30 plus gallons…).  On top of that, we knew we had some heavy mountain roads to work with today so we had better find some before long.  A couple of hours later we found our gas station, one that we could fit into.  This isn’t normally a problem, but in some of these smaller towns it can be.  Our trip today took us back across the Baja once more.  We had the flat lands at the beginning, but as the day got past hour 4, we headed into mountains.  It was a slow climb in the beginning, but then it got real serious.  Just as we saw the Gulf of Mexico, we started our first major decent.  Now this is a decent…it was almost like riding one of those roller coasters were you can’t see anything but the top of the hill and then it goes into this void, or straight down…Not only does it go straight down, it goes down while at the same time spinning like a top.  Oh yes, remember those narrow roads with those big honking trucks…it’s all still here…  Just after coming out off the top of that bluff, we arrived in Santa Roselia, which is located right on the Gulf.  Finding a place large enough to pull off the road, we put together a well deserved turkey sandwich.  Then, out of nowhere, came this young man.  His English was better than my Spanish and I think most of all he was lonely and just wanted to be friendly, but then when Louise came out to tell me that my sandwich was ready, he asked “can I have a sandwich?”…Louise was quick with “Do you like turkey?”…the rest is history…  Lunch finished, we headed on down the coast to Mulegé and then onto Bahia Concepción and our next camping spot. 

It has really been evident that the Baja has had some heavy and late rain this year.  The entire desert is green and blooming.  The last time we were here, the palette has changed from the top of the mountains to the edge of the roadways, the colors of the small flowers, the many greens of the bush, cacti, and trees is amazing.  Now here in Mulege which is most always green we see a lot of damage from the last hurricane.  Fact is, there is still a lot of water coming out of the surrounding hills.  Even the little spit that we were going to make our campground is unobtainable to us because of the rough roadway.  We tried it first with the Tracker and soon found out that it just wouldn’t be the best idea to try it with the coach.  So here we are sitting at the waters edge in front of a small hotel.  The spit would have cost us about $6 and this is costing us $20…both with out hook ups.  Oh well, it is still absolutely beautiful. 

10 December ‘06

After leaving Ensenada we continued heading south on Hwy 1.  Now we were in the hunt for our next campground, and hoping that we would find it before dark.  Louise was going through all the books, gathering the campground information for the next 50 miles ahead.  Finally we chose one that was off the highway about 8 miles and on the Pacific shoreline.  As we approached the area for our right turn towards Punta Banda and our next campground Villarino RV Park.  It was nice to get away from the heavy traffic of Hwy 1 for a while.  This little road that heads toward the coast is used little and the campground was left pretty much for just us and one other motor home.  We pulled up next to this wall of Plexiglas screening that allowed us an unobstructed view out to the sea.  There must have been room for another 50 or 60 RV’s, but we were to find the place to ourselves for the night.  All we heard throughout the night was the waves crashing on the beach…not too bad.  The next morning we pulled up stakes about 10 and headed back to that wonderful Mexican Highway 1.  Finally leaving the outskirts of Ensenada, we were on our way.  Now the road didn’t change much, but the view did.  I personally didn’t have much time to look, but when she felt it appropriate, she filled me in on what I was missing.  There is no doubt that there is a big difference driving a motor home on these roads vs. driving a Chrysler mini-van.  Prior to leaving, I had talked with a number of people about this drive and they all warned me about the truckers, the corners, and the narrow roads without shoulders.  Let me say this…you don’t want to get off on the shoulder.  Unfortunately, I did twice and it was a struggle to bring it back safely.  The day on the road wasn’t too terribly long, but it seemed like a century by the time we found our next campground.  About 4 we pulled into Catavina and our next place to stay.  This campground had no hook-ups, but that didn’t matter because “we have solar” now…

It was located about 2 miles into the hills and was nothing but a huge dirt field that had two large trees and a small ranch that the owners lived in.  It cost us $6 for the night.  We are in the Catavina Boulder Fields, and let me tell you, these huge boulders are everywhere.  It goes for miles on miles, even with large hills stacked 100’s of feet high with these boulders.  And the cacti seem to grow directly out of the solid granite rocks.  It is quite a beautiful site.  After kicking ourselves out of bed prior to 8, we headed out into the boulder fields for a short hike before breakfast.  Getting the “up and close” look at these “boulders” was incredible.  Now for the second “incredible”…we chose to go to the campground restaurant for breakfast.  Now you’ve got to understand, this is not the usual “restaurant”.  There is no electricity, no water, no fancy dishes and silverware, and “instant coffee” is the norm.  BUT, the huevos rancheros were to me, one of the best I’ve have ever had… what a teat. 

8 December ‘06

It wasn’t long after leaving El Centro, that we got a good idea of what it was going to be like driving on the other side of the border.  After leaving Interstate Highway 8 from El Centro, we turned south onto CA 94 which took us to the border crossing at Takate.  It was a beautiful drive, with narrow roads that kept us on our toes, trees that sometimes made us duck, and the curves…well it was exciting.  When we approached the border, we found that we were only one of many that were to cross this early Friday afternoon.  In front of us were 12 to 15 semi trucks that seemed to move very slowly, then there was the cars…they came out from around us like someone had pulled their chain, and rushed through without any “wait time”.  The problem was, they had to move into on-coming traffic to do this and I didn’t feel we could do the same quite as gracefully or get away with it.  Well after 10 minutes of waiting and 50 cars going by, I bit the bullet and said “we’re going”…Pulling out wasn’t a problem, it was having all the cars and trucks now coming at us in “their” lane.  This must happen all the time, as they all went off to the shoulder or slithered by us with out giving any kind of “jesters” to us.  Crossing through the gates was a test as well…they were a tight fit.  Not only were the gates tight, the streets in front of us as we continued through Tecate were just as tight.  We even had to pass cars and small delivery trucks that were double parked on these narrow streets.  There was a lot of knuckle biting going on, and oh yes, Louise had to shut her eyes a couple of times (damn glad she wasn’t driving).  Going across the border was no big deal as there was only this stop and go signal that stayed green all the time, so we just continued through without any questions or regulations.  Then it was onto Ensenada down highway MX 3.  This route took us through a number of mountain passes that were filled with hairpin turns and steep climbs and steeper drops into the valleys below that are filled with grape vines on the wires and the large wineries.  All that we have heard and read about the narrow roads without shoulders is absolutely TRUE…  You really notice it when you’ve got a large truck coming at you and he is hugging the shoulder, as you are trying to do, and you’ve just missed each other as he passes.  Coming over the last pass, we find the Pacific Ocean out there in front of us and Ensenada all along the coastline.  Now it is time to find the Immigration Office.  Fortunately, about 5 years ago, we had to find this same office, so I thought we just might be lucky enough to drive right to it.  Luck was with us two different ways…one, we drove directly to it, and two, there was a parking spot right at the front door that would handle both the coach and the toad…”Can You Believe This (that)?”…  We grabbed our passports and headed right in.  Once inside we found out that about 2 years or so ago, they changed the procedures of getting the immigration papers.  Now you must get them at the border crossings…”Although”…you can get them if you pay a fine…hell, the fine was $5 and I sure as heck wasn’t going to go all the way back to the border….here’s my $5.  Well the whole bill came out to $10 dollar fine (Lou’s and mine) and $50 for the pass.  Now let’s get on the road and get to a campground.   The immigration office is located just a block off the wharf, the road is a wide two lane with a raised center divider.  We had to find a place to turn around, so a little way up the road, I found my place and made the big swing….”woops, we aren’t going to make it!!!”  Sure as heck, I had gotten myself into a position that I was now blocking just about all the lanes and can’t back up (you can’t back up with the toad attached to the back).  I jumped out of the coach with Louise hot on my tail, the keys to the Tracker in hand and heading out to do the quickest un-hitch you’ve ever seen.  Now if this would have happened in the States, I would have seen more “signals” and heard more horns a blowing…not here, they take this kind of stupid deal as possibly common place…no big deal.  I still didn’t hesitate, we were un-hitched and pulled away before the dust hit the ground from us getting out or the coach.  We can laugh about it now, but it wasn’t too funny then. 

5 December ‘06

I know that we are in Southern Arizona, but the evenings and early mornings are very cool.  When I went to the bathroom sink this morning, the water came out as if it was semi blocked.  My guess was that at some point in our water line it must have been like slush.  Ok, washed, brushed, clothed, and fed, let’s get ready and head out….  We were not only early for our solar appointment this morning, we beat all those that work there by 30 minutes.  Well, the gate is locked and nobody around, “let’s go get some breakfast”…  After splitting a Denver Omelet between us, we headed back to the shop and found everyone expecting us.  A quick walk-through our coach with the installer and we were off to explore Quartzsite once more.  One thing we wanted to do the last time we were in town was to visit the “Hi Jolly” monument.  Haiji Ali was his real name, but the soldiers of 1884 couldn’t pronounce it so they just called him Hi Jolly…  His job was to train the soldiers in how to handle the 71 camels which were brought here to work for the Army.  Ok, now it’s time to see the town…  It is amazing how many “entrepreneurs” have arrived in this very unusual village over the last couple of weeks.  3 weeks ago when we were here there was not one RV dealer that had any stock, but now there must be a least 6 dealers that have huge inventories.  Then we have the “tent city” strip malls that go on and on and on.  You can find ANYTHING here, from just plain junk to “I’ve been dreaming about finding this” …  I guess we did find something…a vinyl table cloth for $3.  Heck, it could have been a new motor home…we went through at least 50 and had to constantly explain to the sales agents that “we’re just looking”…  About 3, we headed back to get the instructions on how to operate and maintain our new solar system. It’s pretty much automatic, but after the introduction we relieved to receive all the “instruction” booklets for…“just in case”.   

2 December ‘06

After an hour and a half drive from Yuma, we arrived back in Ehrenberg.  We have our appointment for the solar panels on Tuesday morning so we decided to head up here for the weekend.  Quartzsite (where we are having the work done) is but 15 miles away, and this campground is part of our $4 per night campground group, so here we are…  Oh yes, I forgot to finish the report on the “warrantee work”.  Well it seems that the whole thing was a complete “BUST”.  I must admit, I’m not pleased…  On the other side, the rep at Four Winds (the manufacture of the coach) suggested that sometime this Spring we might find it better to find a warrantee dealer somewhere in the north, who most likely would have a better idea as to how to fix the leak.  This is because that dealer is more inclined to have a much higher rainy season and be more aware of how to fix this leak.  Well let’s hope so.  OK, another subject…the weather.  Night before last we had to start up our second electric heater…two heaters to keep us warm through the night…  Last night I had wished we had used both of them as well.  It is cool, very cool.  I can’t complain too much as I know just how cold it is back in the Northwest.  We’ve been in the high 60’s during the day and in the low 40’s at night but it’s the low humidity that really has made it feel that cold.

29 November ‘06

Welllll, sometimes things just don’t work out too well, and this is one of those times.  We arrived promptly for our warrantee appointment, talked out the problems and what we thought might be the fix, and then left to let them do their work.  This is the day that we set aside to go back to Algadones Mexico and have our teeth cleaned.  We have talked with just about everyone we could find that has had some dental work done there so that gave us enough confidence to go on our own.  We left the motor home at noon, drove to Algadones and walked across the border, found a dentist that was recommended to us and got an immediate appointment.  Now try that at home…  I chose to go in first just in case, but as it was, it turned out to be a good experience for both of us.  Now it was time for the bill….$35 total…not too bad…  Now we have to wait 30 minutes before we can have one of those fabulous lunches we have been hunkering for.  After some “window shopping” for 30 minutes (and not a minute longer), we found our way back to the restaurant that we had enjoyed last time.  Now it’s time to head back and see how the work finished out on the coach. 

27 November ‘06

This has been the longest period of camping without any hook-ups since we started our journey.  So far we have really done well.  Making this a little easier was the purchase of a battery operated lantern that gave us enough light inside the coach when we needed it.  Next, we watched our water usage…water used is also water to one of the waste tanks as well, which means that we have to make a run to the “dump” site a mile away.  We also fired up the generator twice.  Once was to bring the batteries back up to full charge and the other was to watch one of our favorite TV programs (we didn’t want to rough it too much…).  We’ve pretty much made up our mind to have a complete solar system installed prior to going into the Baja.  First we’ve got to get our warrantee work completed, which is set for Tuesday. 

24 November ‘06

Yesterday was a full day of activities…  The hills around us have been calling to us every since we arrived.  So this morning we slipped our hiking shoes on, grabbed the camera and a couple of bottles of water and headed out.  The hills are surrounded by the water that we had been kayaking through for the last 3 days so this is going to give us another prospective.  We both feel really good about hiking, it’s just getting out the door and doing it.  Today the weather couldn’t be more perfect for hiking (or anything else).  Unfortunately we didn’t see any wildlife but the view over the waterways we had paddled through made up for it.  It was like looking down into a giant maze.  Well yesterday also happened to be Thanksgiving Day and we had made reservations for dinner at a private campground across the river.  Louise thought an early dinner would be best, so by 3pm we were sitting down to a nice dinner of turkey, ham, and beef with all the trimmings including pumpkin pie. 

22 November ‘06

Tuesday morning we took the coach into the shop for some warrantee work, but about 2 in the afternoon we found that they couldn’t really do anything until they got “authorization” from Four Winds.  Now we are back out looking for a new campsite that will take us until Tuesday of next week.  After paying the $32 a night at the last campground, I was looking to save some money, so having been told about the Imperial Dam BLM camping we were on our way to see just what this was all about.  BLM (Bureau of Land Management) has quite a number of good campsites all around the country and we have heard nothing but good things about all of them.  This one is located beside the Colorado River and the Imperial Dam.  There are RV’s parked all over this desert area, some in pre-marked camping locations and others are just scattered throughout the desert.  They all have one thing in common…no hook-ups, just “dry camping”.  We can run our generator if necessary and we have enough fresh water to last at least 7 to 10 days.  One of the biggest draws to this site is the water.  We have the most beautiful little bay just outside of our window.  It comes off of the river about a ½ mile away and from that, it flows all around the hills in the area, making up these little lakes.  All of these lakes are tied together by a beautiful waterway through the high grass and reeds.  There isn’t just one waterway, there a many and each one is something special.  We watch the many water birds scurry away as we row close and we watch the larger egret’s fish from the shores.  We’ve also had sightings of 2 large mountain goats, a coyote, and fish in the crystal clear water. Our first afternoon of kayaking, took us to some incredible photo opportunities.  I’m sure we will be on the water more over the next week.  

20 November ‘06

Una Cameron, Dos Pescado Tacos, Una Aqua Frio, Una Coka Diet por favor… Yep, we went into Mexico this afternoon, spent $4.30, and we had the most wonderful tacos… It has been sooo long since we’ve had that perfect taste of the Mexican Taco.  Algodones, Baja California is located just a few miles west, so we decided to go see what we have heard so much about.  It is a charming “South of the Border” village that got it’s recognition for being the “Dental Mecca” for those of us in the U.S. on a budget.  As we approached the border we were directed into a large fenced parking lot.  It is run by the Indian Reservation on this side of the border and makes it easy for those of us that want to walk into Algodones.  It is but a short walk to the center of town.  As soon as you cross the border you are met by young men trying to coax you to their dentist or druggist.  No matter which direction you took into town, you were right at the door of one or the other and this was to continue until there were no more blocks to walk.  Of course the colorful handicrafts of jewelry, pottery, glassware, clothing and more were available from the Mexican artists.  We also found the taco stand which was high on our priority list and after a long day of “shopping”, we found a second place to settle down for a Margarita and a great Mariachi Band.  Our quick visit to Algodones was just about finished, all that was left was a quick walk to the border, cross through the gates, find our car, and head back to the campground.  It was all too short a visit, but on the good side it we will be doing a second and possibly a third before too long.

19 November ‘06

The Imperial Sand Dunes and Felicity, the center of the World, are located just west of Yuma.  Having some time this Sunday, we headed out to see what they are all about.  As we arrived in Felicity, we were taken back as to how sparse this area was, but also fascinating.  It is the “Official center of the World”.  There is this attractive pyramid that you step into and stand on a bronze plaque that marks the precise Center of the World.  Also available at the “Official” location, are the granite walls of the World commemorative Center.  Included among other commemorative, the “Histoire de I’Aeronautique Francaise” (History of French Aviation) which we found very interesting. 

Now we head to the dunes.  As the dunes came into view at Buttercup Valley, so did the motor homes, travel trailers, cars, trucks, and flatbed trailers carrying all modes of 4 wheel off-road vehicles.  The dunes were like looking onto a ski hill, those little specks on the hill running (skiing) from one side to the other and eventually making it to the bottom.  After finding a parking spot in the soft sand (tough to do with everyone roping off these large camping areas for their clubs), we joined the crowd of about 100,000 in the big sandbox.  As we walked the base of the dunes, we were awestruck with the variety of sand machines and those that drove them.  We watched little girls and boys from 3 to teen throwing sand high into the air as they hit the throttle, and then it was the adult that took the big engine sand buggy screaming up the dunes at unbelievable speeds, throwing sand high into the air.  It was like the big unlimited hydros leaving the rooster tail in their wake.  From what I’ve heard, “Duners” are a really big thing for Yuma’s economy spending about $30 million annually in the area…not too bad for the economy here in the desert.

19 November ‘06

The Imperial Sand Dunes and Felicity, the center of the World, are located just west of Yuma.  Having some time this Sunday, we headed out to see what they are all about.  As we arrived in Felicity, we were taken back as to how sparse this area was, but also fascinating.  It is the “Official center of the World”.  There is this attractive pyramid that you step into and stand on a bronze plaque that marks the precise Center of the World.  Also available at the “Official” location, are the granite walls of the World commemorative Center.  Included among other commemorative, the “Histoire de I’Aeronautique Francaise” (History of French Aviation) which we found very interesting. 

Now we head to the dunes.  As the dunes came into view at Buttercup Valley, so did the motor homes, travel trailers, cars, trucks, and flatbed trailers carrying all modes of 4 wheel off-road vehicles.  The dunes were like looking onto a ski hill, those little specks on the hill running (skiing) from one side to the other and eventually making it to the bottom.  After finding a parking spot in the soft sand (tough to do with everyone roping off these large camping areas for their clubs), we joined the crowd of about 100,000 in the big sandbox.  As we walked the base of the dunes, we were awestruck with the variety of sand machines and those that drove them.  We watched little girls and boys from 3 to teen throwing sand high into the air as they hit the throttle, and then it was the adult that took the big engine sand buggy screaming up the dunes at unbelievable speeds, throwing sand high into the air.  It was like the big unlimited hydros leaving the rooster tail in their wake.  From what I’ve heard, “Duners” are a really big thing for Yuma’s economy spending about $30 million annually in the area…not too bad for the economy here in the desert.