_
7 December 2011

December 7th of the year 1941 the Japanese flew a devastating raid on Pearl Harbor and it remains one of the great defining moments in world history.  Here we sit in total comfort, watching a video of Rod Stewart in concert and giving a lot of thought about “What If ?”.  It is sobering to say the least. 

Louise and I spent the afternoon having lunch with Bonnie and Doug at a restaurant that we kind of watched “grow up”.  Back in the good-ole days after we moved away from Cabo San Lucas (1992), we took a vacation back to visit the Rohrer’s and they introduced us to a new restaurant called La Picazon in San Jose.  Well today La Picazon is located just off of a dirt road about 5 miles north of Loreto.

_If and when you’re in the area you’ve got to make an effort to enjoy something as special as La Picazon,

_the ride out that road (?) is worth every bump once you’ve experienced Alex and Imelda and their restaurant.

_Tonight we were joined at our “home” by Jack and Kathy (one of our traveling companions down the Baja).  We spent a couple of hours playing and teaching Mexican Train and Chicken-foot.  We all experienced a win except Louise and I just want to mention that here so that I can rub it in just one more time...  The Mexican government has spent a lot of money to make Loreto a destination town and it looks like it.

_We all enjoyed some time wondering the town and seeing the sights.  This is a town that could draw us back very easily for much more time than 3 days.  It is also the home of the second largest National Park in all of Mexico and consists of miles of beach area and many islands of all sizes just off shore.  It is a beautiful park and one that we would love to come back and enjoy some kayaking.  December 8th and we’ve just arrived in La Paz.  Our drive down from Loreto seemed a little shorter than the last days on the road so that was all positive and the campground was easy to find and priced right as well.

_Another day ahead of us tomorrow and we’ll be pretty well set-up for the winter in San Lucas.     

_
3 December 2011

Our third travel day was to the beach area just south of Mulege called Sanispac.  What a difference a day can make when you don’t have road construction to contend with.  Sanispac is a long sandy beach

_backing up to the mountains where you can drive onto the beach and park right beside the sheltered waters of the Sea of Cortez.  This bay is a shelter that the sailboats look for when the winds start to get a little rough and on the Sea of Cortez it happens quite often.

_There are a number of islands that surround the bay and that is one of the reasons that all of us with RV’s like it too…it’s beautiful to see, calm warm waters, and just a great place to relax and have a meal and/or a drink at the beach restaurant (a VERY rustic restaurant at that).  On the second morning we all drove up to Mulege and enjoyed things like the internet café, coffee/bakery, taco stand,

_and the Ole Mission that sits high on the hill (constructed in the late 1600’s). 

_Mulege is a very nice and picturesque town that sits at the base of a shallow valley with a Palm tree lined river flowing right alongside.  Unfortunately this river has flooded and destroyed many beautiful homes and taken lots of lives over the last few years but they continue to build back.  I just don’t get it…build at the top and look down on the river you crazy “Gringo”.  Yep, it’s those Canadians and Americans at it again.  Well good-by Sanispac and Hello Loreto… 

_
29 November 2011

It’s been quite a long time since I’ve taken the time to write and I really want to get back to it and this journey down the Baja is going to be the catalyst.  While we were resting up in Yuma from our trip around the good-ole USA, I wrote a note in one of the many travel blogs that we would be crossing into the Baja by the first of December and if there was anyone that would want to join us in their RV we would love to have them along.  Well Jack and Kathy wrote back and told us that it would fit into their schedule just fine and they had another couple that would like to come as well…Bob and Evie.  We also got a call from Bonnie and Doug so we had a full sized caravan to travel the Baja with, how great was that.  On the 29th we crossed the border at Tecate and headed for San Quintin about 200 miles south.  Thinking that 200 miles in a day was just fine we didn’t opt for an early start and that was a bad decision.  After the first 125 miles we came upon road construction that would make a Mexican truck driver cringe !!!  For 6 to10 long miles through the mountains we bounced and twisted over the deep ruts and hung on while the edges came awfully close to allowing us to fall into the canyons below.  It was quite a ride and for Bob and Evie it turned out to be trouble.  They have a travel trailer that they pull and unfortunately they blew out one of the 4 tires and damaged the rim beyond repair.

_The fortunate side of this was that they had a spare and a pull out was close by so that the spare could be put on.  Another good thing happened too, we had no sooner pulled over when a small pickup slid between Bob’s trailer and our coach and stopped to help.  A middle aged Mexican man jumped out of his truck with a jack in hand even before the truck stopped.  He was there to give as much help as needed and fortunately he was a take charge kind of guy…in no time the old shred of a tire was off and the spare was on.

_A quick Gracias, a well deserved tip, and we were back on the road again.  Now we were going to have to drive in the dark, which is something we really didn’t want to do but there are times when you do what you have to do.  We pulled into our campground well after dark and it wasn’t one of those things I want to do on a regular basis or ever again so keep your fingers crossed for us.   Our second day started much earlier and it would turn out better but still not great.  First we all stopped alongside of a tire shop so that Bob could see if he could find another tire and wheel.

_A well used tire was found and a wheel that could "possibily" be used if a little filing around the center of the hub would work.  Well this is Mexico and if filing could work, they could do it...it worked just fine.  Bob and Evie had a spare to continue the trip with.  Our destination today was Bahia de los Angeles another beach village that we had visited 5 years ago, which was again about 200+ miles away.  To our surprise we encountered another 6+ miles of road construction but in this case it was not near as bad with the ruts, but dust…I’m still spitting clods of brown stuff.  It was bad, fine, dust that would get into the tiniest of cracks and stick to everything.  We were far less than half way down to Cabo San Lucas and I was about fit to be tied…not fun at all.  Fortunately Bahia de los Angeles was a special spot and it did make up for some of the discomfort we had been put through the last two days.

_Then on the other side of the coin, the weather, the BAJA weather, had turned COLD and WINDY and the prediction was that it was going to be with us for some time to come.  We opted to stay two days in Bahia as it was a place we could just kick back, rest, and do a little beach walking.

_We did drive into the “village” (consisting of one small grocery store, 2 gas stations, a very nice museum,

_and a dock for the fishing boats to come and go from…not much else except for a garbage receptacle.

_After a few walks along the beach collecting sea shells we decided to search out a local "resort" that we had visited last time.  Unfortunately we didn't find the one that we were looking for but we did find another.  On the way in we came upon one of their signs pointing out what to do before arriving...

_after doing ALL of that we were back on the road for another destination further south. 

31 March ‘07

Saturday

We all knew that the day was coming and today was it…the day we pass back into the states and leave the Baja behind.  The campground director in San Felipe told us that it would be best to leave early in the morning on Saturday or stay for another whole week.  Well ready or not, we didn’t want to stay for another whole week because of the week long HUGE 24/7 celebration that was about ready to start.  It was a holy celebration that the Mexicans really get into, and it does run day and night.  They expected the beaches to be covered entirely with tents and the campground would be sold out as well.  That was enough for us, we were out of there.  Our drive to Mexicali would take us along the top of the Sea of Cortez and skirt the mountains on our left.  The road was really pretty good, and the views all along the drive were wonderful.  They even had one of the many cross country road races going on and the course took them pretty close the highway we were on.  We only saw one car that was going full-out, but that was exciting as it was.  Our directions that we received from those that had experienced crossing the border at Mexicali were pretty straight forward.  Fact is, we were to follow the same highway (which as we arrived in Mexicali turned into a major street) all the way to the “border fence” and then turn left and follow that fence to the border crossing.  This is too much of a good dream.  The road took us directly to the “border fence” and as I turned right toward the border crossing, I found myself facing head-on with a car that was “in my lane”.  The look on his face was something to behold…Us in a very large motor home, and another behind me, looking down onto the hood of this little car.  Something had to change!  We had turned onto a four lane road that had two yellow lines dividing those 4 lanes, and there were NO arrows indicating that we were going onto an ONEWAY street, but behold the truths of MEXICO…  Quickly a few words through the windshield of our motor home to the little car below, “OK, I NOW “SEE” THAT WE ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY, BUT YOU HAD BETTER BACK-UP SO THAT I CAN GET US BOTH OUT OF HERE !!!”   As I crept forward, he backed up and finally I was able to swing into a parking lot on the corner and swing wide enough to make a full “U-Turn” and back onto the road going the right way.  The only problem was, Phil and Kathy, being directly behind us, tried doing the same “U-Turn” DIDN’T MAKE IT !!!  Oh my God, it happened again.  I quickly found a spot that I could pull into and ran back to see if I could help.  I was wearing my “flip flops”, which I soon found out are not the right kind of shoe to wear while running, when I heard that sound that I know nobody wanted to hear…a siren.  Sure as heck, there he was, a motorcycle cop with his lights blinking and standing there with this big smile on his face.  Kathy and Phil were as fast as Louise and I were when we were handed the same “U-Turn” fate, in getting their car unhooked and backed out.  The cop was great, because not only did he have a sense of humor, he even directed traffic around Phil’s motor home until it and the car were free and parked in front of were we were parked.  Of course the cop followed him over and with his lights still flashing he listened to our explanation in regards to “NO ONE WAY SIGN, AND THOSE DOUBLE “YELLOW LINES”…   His reply was “No Problema” and he gave us in Spanish and sign language, to follow him…WE WERE TO GET A POLICE ESCORT to the border…”WE LOVE MEXICO !!!!”   

29/30 March ‘07

Thursday & Friday

I was thrilled to finally get to San Felipe after traveling that “road” (Hwy 3) from Ensenada.  It was one of the worst roads I have traveled here in the Baja and damned happy it was over.  The directions to the campground were right on, no trouble there.  It was located right on the beach and within 2 short blocks from town.  Today’s San Felipe is a far cry from that of 1746 when it received it’s name from the Jesuit Padre Consag, although it’s tidal range is still in one of the largest in the world.  The whole town follows a boardwalk for 4 blocks and contains as many bars and restaurants as those that sell all the Mexican souvenirs.  Other than that, I think we saw 2 grocery stores mixed in with them.  The “Spring Break” crowd was here and the town was ready.  As you walk the streets in town it was like walking inside of the largest speaker systems you have ever seen.  The problem was that each bar was BLASTING a different song.  Phil, Kathy, Louise, and I walked by one of the bars with the doors open and found that the only thing happening inside was the music…nobody had shown up yet.  Then as we passed by about an hour later, they were just posting a note on the door that demanded a $5 cover charge and the Spring Break gang was standing in line to get in.  From that time on it was party, party, party.  The campground we chose was ok, but the location that we were given to park was right in front of a large covered patio in which the next night was going to be the location for a large party that would last for a week, day and night. We both stayed the one night and then moved to a campsite next door.  It was much tighter to get into and set up, but other than that, it was still on the beach.  I did find out that the site that I was parked in didn’t have a good electrical hook-up so we decided to use our solar system instead of moving again.  The Spring Breakers have been up and down the beach and the streets, but overall, they just haven’t been an item to us.  Yes, they do party hardy and the music is load, but we haven’t lost any sleep during our time there.  We’ve all been eating together each night since we started and we have been eating well.  There is no doubt, there will come the day when we will have to get back onto the Atkins program once again.  We enjoyed our time in San Felipe and we thought the town was OK, but as we drove out of town and started to look at what was coming, it was almost too bad to see the huge developments that are on their way.  Well after 3 days, we were going to be on our way and heading back to the states after 3 1/2 months.

Wednesday March 28, 2007 Hello, my name is Phil Lublin. Joel has asked me to be a guest author and write a journal for today.

We arose to a wonderfull sunny day, like so many in the Baja. I think after having spent a week in much cooler weather with lots of wind we were all ready to move on to San Felipe.

All seemed normal until I checked my tire pressure. Wow! down to 35 pounds. What a shock. That seemed to hit us all. Now what. Parked on a beach with no way of getting air. Joel and I walked down the beach and asked the fellow from another motorhome if he could help us out. Sure enough he had an air line and was able to fill the tire. We decided that another tire shop visit was in order. On to Costco in Ensenada. Lots of room to park. Joel and I then began the search for a tire shop. We got the coach there and it was another Mexican experience.We left to grab lunch and returned to find them spashing soapy water on the tire. But it was still on the coach. After some discussion, the tire was removed and taken of the rim. No problem on the inside or out. A new valve was in order. Some pesos changed hands and we were back to hook up and get on the delayed trip to San Felipe.

After we got out if the city the road seemed better than most. We wound our way through a mountainous section. Then into a beautiful valley. It wasn't long before we had to play " dodge the potholes". The road was terrible. The coaches were all over the road. Thank goodness for very little traffic. After three hours we pulled of the road for a brake. Joel said it felt like we had driven six hours, he was beat. My lower back was sore and I wasn't sure if I had any fillings left in my teeth. After a quick break we moved on. It was soon going to be dark. The balance of the ride was better.

In town there is a series of traffic circles. Joel was a bit ahead and we missed which way he went. Once around the circle and we found him. Lucky for us. Louise did a wonderfull job of directing us to a campground.

Drink in hand, Joel and I wondered off to check out the beach. All of a sudden, we see this pick-up truck drive down the beach. It was dark already. It seemed like he was driving right into the wter. There must have been a sand bar there. He drove right to a boat that was sitting there.  We heard a roar from the truck engine and he was coming up the beach. The tires were spinning and we could not believe our eyes. He was dragging the boat through the sand. The boat appeared to be at least 30 feet long. Crazy Mexican.

The next stop was a nearly empty campground right next door. We saw a very expensive four seat, Corvettte powered off road machine. Being guys we had to go look at it up close. We met three interesting Mexican people from San Diego, California. They had a small campfire going and great tunes playing. After joking with them for a while. We decided to go back. Our drinks were gone and the ladies had no idea where we were.

Soon supper was on the table and we enjoyed another wonderfull meal prepared by our brides.

Great food, laughter and good friends. Soon we were all tired and ready for bed. We said our goodnites and went off to bed thinking of the next days experiences.

Well, as you all can see, I can be long winded. This writing was at Joel's insistance. After seeing this he may never ask me to do it again. It has been fun writing this.

To all that read this. May someday you have the oppourtunity to follow your dreams and enjoy what the world has waiting for you.

Good health and safe travel.

Phil Lublin    

27 March ‘07

Tuesday

Suzie came up to the coach for a cup of coffee while Ricardo got the Suburban and his boat ready to head to the border.  We all said our goodbyes and they were off.  I wanted to go to the same tire shop that Phil had used yesterday so that I could add air to my tires, so it wasn’t but a couple of minutes and we were on our way as well.  As soon as we pulled out of town, the hills were in front of us again.  As yesterday, the ride along the ridge of the hills, the winding and twisting were tough on trying to get better gas mileage. We had about a 3 ½ hour drive ahead of us today and we were going to end up at La Bufadora, which is about 45 minutes south of Ensenada.  Unfortunately for the gas mileage, we encountered heavy side winds that blew sand and dirt horizontally across the roads.  All I could think of was “just how much dust can the air cleaner on the engine take?”  The coach and the toad became a mess in just a few minutes and unfortunately is still that way now.  A coach and car wash is going to have to wait until we get to Yuma, and I sure hope that I can do it then.  After finding our campground just out side of Bufadora, we all jumped into Phil and Kathy’s car and drove out to see the “Blow Hole” in Bufadora.  This Blow Hole is like the one that you see in Hawaii, with certain wave action, it pushes this large mass of water into this crevice and with that it blows a heavy spray up into the air…they say it will blow up to 75 feet, but today…maybe 15.  Enough of the blow hole, we are off to Wal-Mart in Ensenada to do a little shopping.  

26 March ‘07

Monday

Good morning…this morning we woke to a beautiful windless sunny day, the water was absolutely flat, and dolphins playing right out in front of our coach.  The unfortunate thing about this morning was that it was a travel day.  We had to see if we could either catch up with Ricardo and Suzie or stop somewhere out there and have them catch up to us.  This morning’s start was to take us back to Hwy 1, which is about 40 miles, and then onto San Quintin, which give us a total of just under 250 miles…a hell of a long day.  Just like before, when we were coming into Bahia de los Angles, the view back towards the bay was breath taking but the rest of the 40 miles was through some of the same desert mountainous areas we have traveled for many a mile.  Just before Catavina, and the Desierto Central, we came into the “Catavina Boulder Fields”.  This vast area of car-sized boulders that run as far as you can see and top the hills so that it will make you strain to see the top, are accented with the Cardon Cacti, elephant trees, and so many other plant species that it would take a year to count.  Then no sooner are you in with the boulders and you are out again.  Now we are climbing to the top of these hills.  The road will follow the very top of the ridge for well over an hour.  With a cliff on each side of the road making it a white knuckle drive by itself, we are also given the challenge of switch back corning.  First going up, and then coming down, one time you meet a truck coming at you and the next nothing…I can’t say that I am getting used to the narrow, no shoulder roads, but I can relax a little more than when we went down.  We pulled into El Rosario for gas and lunch and while Phil was getting his tank filled, he noticed that his left front tire was really low on pressure.  He was lucky that he found it when he did, because after lunch we were headed right back into the same type of roads.  Luckily coming into El Rosario, we had noticed this large tire shop, so we thought it would be just the right break we needed to have lunch at this famous restaurant here in town, and have the tire fixed at the same time.  Just having pulled Phil and Kathy’s motor home up the tire shop, I picked up my Mexican cell phone to see if I could reach Ricardo and Suzie.  Wouldn’t you know it, they were just pulling into El Rosario and were but a quarter of a mile away.  All 6 of us now could have lunch together and as it turned out, we all stayed over night as well.  It was a needed stop for all of us and it was also a great time to see each other once more before we start to spread out across the country again. 

25 March ‘07

Sunday

Coming into Bahia de los Angles yesterday was like coming into any small town in Alaska, except for the surrounding desert and sea.  This town is made up of older small buildings that sit on the side of dirt roads (except the main road through the town which is under construction for repaving).  One thing that is definitely missing is the raised board sidewalks that are recognizable in a lot of Alaskan paintings.  The first thing we did was to drive though the main street looking for a place that we could pull into for the night.  Rounding the corner at the end of the town, we came to the end of the road.  Now when you are pulling a car (Toad) behind a motor home, you will find it impossible to back up, and like in this situation, the street wasn’t wide enough for us to make a “U” turn either.  Boy did we look like amateurs, two motor homes with toads behind and now finding themselves at the end of the road… I think I saw someone from the local newspaper out there taking pictures.  Well we got the cars unhooked from the coach and got all of them turned around.  Back down the hill we found a place to park both motor homes and Phil’s car.  We decided that it was best if we took one of the cars out and did a through search of the area for a campsite.  It didn’t take too long before we found the right campground so back to the parked motor homes.  15 minutes later we were both all set-up and enjoying a beautiful view out to the Sea of Cortez.  There was anywhere from 8 to a dozen islands out in front of us as well.  The water was so flat that it looked like you could just walk across it to the islands, that was until about 5, then the wind started to blow.  Like so many of the places that we have been at lately, the late afternoon winds start to come up and then as they increase in strength it drives you inside.  We did have a great morning going when we got up.  Again the sea was absolutely flat, and because of the distance from the roads and the town, it was supper quiet.  As I stood by the motor home I heard this “sweesh” sound.  It turned out to be a whale.  As I stood there waiting for the next blow I was treated by 3 others in 3 different locations.  At one time we had as many as 6 spouting, and then just about as fast as they came, they disappeared. 

24 March ‘07

Saturday

After an early breakfast in the coach, we were on our way towards Bahia de los Angles.  About 2 miles outside of Guerrero Negro we were stopped by the people manning the “Immigracion Office”.  As far as I know, this is the only place all throughout the Baja that the government will stop you to check your immigration papers.  On the way down this last December, we were stopped at this same place but it was for a check on any produce that we may have.  At that time the young lady came on board and confiscated quite a lot of fruit and vegetables that we had in the refrigerator.  On this drive up, we thought we would be confronted with the same, so we put all of the produce into a separate container and hid it.  Much to our surprise, they didn’t even ask us about produce, they just wanted to check our papers…  Earlier in our drive up from Cabo, we had been stopped at 2 different locations along the road by the military.  They are looking for drugs and guns.  On both occasions we were just waved through without an inspection, although later today we were stopped about halfway to our turnoff to Bahia de los Angles.  This time they decided to board our coach and Phil and Kathy’s coach as well.  It is interesting to go through their “search”.  Two young men in uniform ask if we would allow them to board.  Of coarse it was the thing to do (I didn’t want to find out what they would do if I said “No”).  One young man went right back to the bedroom area and tried to open a couple of drawers and a closet door.  Because the slides were in, they were completely blocked and couldn’t be opened.  That was OK, as he decided to shine his flashlight around and leave anyway.  The second found my computer/phone headphone set.  Apparently he had never seen anything like that before so he had a lot of questions about it…”what is it?, how much did it cost?, will you SELL it to me?...  Obviously I say no, and that was OK too.  They both thanked us and wished us a good journey.  Up Highway 1 another 20 miles, we came to our corner to head to Bahia de los Angles.  This turn and the rest of the drive is new territory to Louise and me and also for Phil and Kathy.  The road is fairly new in getting paved, as it hasn’t been too long ago, that it was paved for the first time.  This route takes us 45 miles southeast in just about the same direction that we had been coming from.  Most of the time it seemed like we were going slightly downhill, though a mountain desert area just as we had been traveling in for the last 9 days.  About 3 miles outside of town we were coming over the last hill and let me tell you, what we saw was one of the most beautiful sea and island areas I have ever seen…it was Beautiful, with a capital “B”.