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. 

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.