Couple of Months Traveling Through Baja
- Thread starter Every Miles A Memory
- Start date
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Thanks! I needed a reminder to finish posting the report....More to Come
Tim A
Adventurer
:Wow1:Are you kidding me? THAT is a great shot!:Wow1:
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Wednesday April 16th
After a casual start to the day - a light breakfast and a quick walk down the empty shoreline, I wandered into downtown Asunción to check some emails. Man I tell you, having to go to an internet cafe every time you need to send an email or upload anything really makes working on a computer a chore. What I'd give to have my mediocre Broadband connection on a regular basis like we do when traveling back in the states. But it's one of those luxuries you have to do without while in Baja, and I dont really mind all that much.
I sat down there uploading a few galleries, which took an hour or more because of their un-Godly slow upload speeds. It's weird how most of the connections will have lightening fast download speeds, but an upload speed that will allow me to go wander around the town while I upload a small gallery of only 37 low-res images.
Once I was finished, Cindy came by and picked me up in the truck and we drove up to Shari's so we could get some info on a piece of property we're looking at, Shari just acts as our translator since she speaks such fluent Spanish. I know, call us crazy, but if I was to tell you what the real estate prices are here in this little town, I'm afraid there would be a traffic jam of Americanos trying to snatch it all up.
I did joke with Cindy telling her that I could probably make 3 or 4 phone calls to a few people back in our home town, and you might as well call Asunción by my home town name of Milford, there would be that big of an influx of Michiganders. Heck, I think if we were to take the money from the sale of our house that is funding this trip of ours, and sink it into property in this little town, we could become the majority stock holders in real estate.
So the trip isn't over, no need to worry, it's just that the prices are soo inexpensive, it would be foolish not to buy while we still can. I know in a few years the prices will be 5 - 6 times what they are right now.
One of the things that intrigues me about this town so much is it reminds me of all the books I've read about the wild west during the 1800's. The stories where people would pack up their life savings and move West to reinvent themselves. Basically you could move here and start up anything you want, since they have almost nothing. Anything you would open would sure to be the only one in town.
To get to a bank, you have to make the 80 mile drive to Vizciano. If you need diesel, it's also an 80 mile drive. No car wash, no ATM, no laundromat, no realtors, no bank, no post office, no copy center, no photo store, no bar that sells liquor and nothing except for a few small grocery stores and a few restaurants that don't even have menus, they just sell what ever they have to cook that day. But that's what makes it so neat. It truly is the Wild West.
One of the reasons we want to get some property here is they are in the process of paving the road into town, which will make that grueling drive seem like a nice day out cruising once the road is finished. They are also in the process of building a new hotel for when the road is done. So something tells me that the $80,000 lot prices of every other town we've visited here in Baja is going to be jacking up the property values here in Asunción in the next few years.
After we got the scoop from Shari, which I think only made me more confused...It seems that an American owning property here in Baja is next to impossible. You basically lease it for a certain amount of years and then have first dibs on renewing the lease. So you never really own anything unless you're a Mexican citizen. You can put the property into a Bank Trust where the bank will hold the title, but it's not like in the states.
We were driving back through town when I spotted Diane and John Trotter. I had been swapping emails with Diane on both Baja Nomad and RVNet about various places to visit in Baja for the past month or so.
This nice couple has been traveling the Baja peninsula off and on for the past few years and even traveled the entire United States in an RV right after they retired. So when I saw them, I whipped the truck to the side of the road and walked over to finally introduce myself in person.
The four of us sat talking in the hot sun for a few minutes before they invited us over to their house they have just built here in Asunción. The funny part is, once they told me which house was theirs, Cindy and I smiled at each other because I had already pointed it out to Cindy saying "Man I love that house right there, we should see if who ever owns it would sell it!"
The rest of the afternoon we sat in their living room, over looking the Pacific Ocean swapping stories and learning a bunch of new stuff about Baja. They are very neat people, and have hearts of gold. They have organized dozens of events here in Asunción to help introduce the local kids to Mountain Biking and don't do it for any reason other than they enjoy the smiles on the locals faces when they see them riding their bikes.
They've gone as far as helping to start a local mountain bike club and even got uniforms for the riders who make the team. Diane told us "The kids just go crazy when they can wear one of the coveted uniforms to show they are part of the new mountain bike team." She told us of a race this coming weekend and how exciting it is for the kids.
We finally excused ourselves after a few hours of keeping them tied up and headed for home. I tell you the people are so nice here, it makes it harder and harder to think about leaving each day.
After a casual start to the day - a light breakfast and a quick walk down the empty shoreline, I wandered into downtown Asunción to check some emails. Man I tell you, having to go to an internet cafe every time you need to send an email or upload anything really makes working on a computer a chore. What I'd give to have my mediocre Broadband connection on a regular basis like we do when traveling back in the states. But it's one of those luxuries you have to do without while in Baja, and I dont really mind all that much.
I sat down there uploading a few galleries, which took an hour or more because of their un-Godly slow upload speeds. It's weird how most of the connections will have lightening fast download speeds, but an upload speed that will allow me to go wander around the town while I upload a small gallery of only 37 low-res images.
Once I was finished, Cindy came by and picked me up in the truck and we drove up to Shari's so we could get some info on a piece of property we're looking at, Shari just acts as our translator since she speaks such fluent Spanish. I know, call us crazy, but if I was to tell you what the real estate prices are here in this little town, I'm afraid there would be a traffic jam of Americanos trying to snatch it all up.
I did joke with Cindy telling her that I could probably make 3 or 4 phone calls to a few people back in our home town, and you might as well call Asunción by my home town name of Milford, there would be that big of an influx of Michiganders. Heck, I think if we were to take the money from the sale of our house that is funding this trip of ours, and sink it into property in this little town, we could become the majority stock holders in real estate.
So the trip isn't over, no need to worry, it's just that the prices are soo inexpensive, it would be foolish not to buy while we still can. I know in a few years the prices will be 5 - 6 times what they are right now.
One of the things that intrigues me about this town so much is it reminds me of all the books I've read about the wild west during the 1800's. The stories where people would pack up their life savings and move West to reinvent themselves. Basically you could move here and start up anything you want, since they have almost nothing. Anything you would open would sure to be the only one in town.
To get to a bank, you have to make the 80 mile drive to Vizciano. If you need diesel, it's also an 80 mile drive. No car wash, no ATM, no laundromat, no realtors, no bank, no post office, no copy center, no photo store, no bar that sells liquor and nothing except for a few small grocery stores and a few restaurants that don't even have menus, they just sell what ever they have to cook that day. But that's what makes it so neat. It truly is the Wild West.
One of the reasons we want to get some property here is they are in the process of paving the road into town, which will make that grueling drive seem like a nice day out cruising once the road is finished. They are also in the process of building a new hotel for when the road is done. So something tells me that the $80,000 lot prices of every other town we've visited here in Baja is going to be jacking up the property values here in Asunción in the next few years.
After we got the scoop from Shari, which I think only made me more confused...It seems that an American owning property here in Baja is next to impossible. You basically lease it for a certain amount of years and then have first dibs on renewing the lease. So you never really own anything unless you're a Mexican citizen. You can put the property into a Bank Trust where the bank will hold the title, but it's not like in the states.
We were driving back through town when I spotted Diane and John Trotter. I had been swapping emails with Diane on both Baja Nomad and RVNet about various places to visit in Baja for the past month or so.
This nice couple has been traveling the Baja peninsula off and on for the past few years and even traveled the entire United States in an RV right after they retired. So when I saw them, I whipped the truck to the side of the road and walked over to finally introduce myself in person.
The four of us sat talking in the hot sun for a few minutes before they invited us over to their house they have just built here in Asunción. The funny part is, once they told me which house was theirs, Cindy and I smiled at each other because I had already pointed it out to Cindy saying "Man I love that house right there, we should see if who ever owns it would sell it!"
The rest of the afternoon we sat in their living room, over looking the Pacific Ocean swapping stories and learning a bunch of new stuff about Baja. They are very neat people, and have hearts of gold. They have organized dozens of events here in Asunción to help introduce the local kids to Mountain Biking and don't do it for any reason other than they enjoy the smiles on the locals faces when they see them riding their bikes.
They've gone as far as helping to start a local mountain bike club and even got uniforms for the riders who make the team. Diane told us "The kids just go crazy when they can wear one of the coveted uniforms to show they are part of the new mountain bike team." She told us of a race this coming weekend and how exciting it is for the kids.
We finally excused ourselves after a few hours of keeping them tied up and headed for home. I tell you the people are so nice here, it makes it harder and harder to think about leaving each day.
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Thursday April 17th
Since Asunción has no bank, we had to drive into Vizcíano, 77 miles one way, to see if we could get some money wired to us so we could buy this piece of property. This is much easier to talk about than it is to accomplish.
We made the drive no problem, we actually followed the grader out of town, so the excruciatingly bumpy roads we had crawled in on were now as smooth as a freshly paved highway. We did see a huge snake just suning itself in the middle of the sandy road, and a giant red tailed hawk scanning the desert for some lunch, but other than that, the drive was uneventful.
Once into Vizcíano, we topped off our fuel since this is the nearest spot for diesel. Then Cindy used the phone to make some calls to our bank back in Michigan.
There was a crazy windstorm blowing through this barren area of the desert that had the town looking like a dusty devil was reeking havoc on the area. Getting out of the truck, you'd have to sit and wait for the wind to die down before making a run to the door of where ever you were headed into. If you got caught in the dust, plan on having your eyes pelted with a fine layer of sand that would sting like hell and make you duck for cover almost instantly.
While we were hurrying into the bank, we were approached by a couple of guys that asked if we were staying in Asunción? They said they'd seen our truck out there on the beach and were asking because they needed a ride back home.
One of them spoke pretty good English and we told him that we were going to be in town for a few hours to get some things settled, and if they hadn't found a ride by the time we finished all our errands, we would be happy to give them a lift back home. Cindy was a little nervous when I told them that, but I reminded her that all of the people here go out of their way to help us, and the least we could do was help a few of them out when they were in need.
Once in the bank, the fun started. We first asked about Western Union, but they pointed us towards the other end of town saying they could only cash the check, but couldn't write them. That short sentence took about a half hour to get translated into English.
So we cruised town about 3 times, it's only about a mile long, but I'd be damned if we couldn't find that Western Union office. Cindy decided that she'd just do a cash advance on our credit card, she just needed to know what to do first. So we found a phone (This part is too long of a story to tell in and of itself, but we used someone's phone basically and called the credit card company collect) and Cindy found out all we had to do was have the bank call the credit card company and they would take care of the rest.
So we drove back to the bank and tried to explain to them that if they called the credit card company, they'd explain how to get us some money. Well after an hour of hand gestures, grunts, and half the bank staff explaining to each other that none of us could understand one another, we found out that the bank would only give us money if we had it wired in to an existing account.
So we said "Great, we'll just open an account."
Well an American citizen cant open an account in Mexico without a Mexican mailing address, their passport and an FM3, which is a legal document that takes a few months to apply for. Basically we were screwed.
Oh, and there are no addresses in Asunción, since they don't get mail because the village is so small. I should change that, they do get mail but Diane told us it was only like once a month and only if the mailman knows you. She said that if you needed to get mail, there was a certain word you wrote down in Spanish on the envelope, (I don't know what it is?) and it means that the mail man knows who you are and you'll get the mail even though you don't have an address. NO KIDDING, I'm not lying about this...LOL
So we left with our tail between our legs not knowing what to do. Cindy needed to call the bank again, and we had to find another phone. We found the guys that needed the ride back to Asunción, and they offered to give us a hand translating, so that we could all get back home faster.
He found a store that would let us use their phone to call the United States, and the girl just timed it with a stop watch so she'd know what to charge us. While Cindy was busy explaining our ordeal to our hometown bank manager, I sat talking with Horacio (I have no idea if that is spelled correctly?) and his brother.
Turns out he knows just about everyone we had spoken with today, and is either related to them, or has a tie to them somewhere down the line. He told us that he has seen our truck in Playa Santispac, in La Paz and in Asunción in the last few months. He was also one of the locals who stopped to see if we were OK when we were sitting in the road snapping pictures of the owl on our way into Asunción last week. We laughed thinking how small this whole place is that we keep seeing one another. I guess our big truck sort of stands out like a sore thumb down here and is hard to forget.
When we finally realized we weren't going to get anything accomplished today, we all piled into the truck and headed for home.
Horacio told us he was trying desperately to learn English, and asked if we could help teach him. Since we are trying just as hard to learn Spanish, the few hour ride home was a great language lesson for all of us.
He would point to something and tell us what the word was in Spanish, and we would tell him how to pronounce it in English. I know I wont remember anything we learned today, but if we could have conversations like we did today, everyday for a few weeks straight, then we'd probably be speaking the language in no time.
Horacio was so nice and offered us just about anything and everything he owned. When we apologized that they had to sit a little cramped because we had a laundry basket full of dirty laundry in the back seat, (another thing we were going to try and get accomplished today, but didn't) he exclaimed "Just bring it over to my house, you are more than welcome to use my laundry machine!"
When we told him about Cindy tipping over in her kayak because we wanted to go see the seals on the island, he said "I'll take you out there this weekend in my boat, Free of Charge!"
We mentioned that we were going to go check out Punta Prieta, another little fishing/surfing village about 30 miles south of here, and he told us he had a small house there that we were more than welcome to stay at for free.
He told us he was a fisherman and that if we came back during lobster season, he would drop off a lobster every night at our camper, for free. I mean, all we were doing was giving this guy a ride, here he was ready to give us the shirt off his back.
Horacio told us there was a Prong Horn Antelope Preserve about a Kilometer off the road on our way back home. He said "I'd like to show it to you since I know you like photography and animals."
So when we pulled off the road, he was just as excited as we were to see these cool creatures. We sat looking at them while he told us so much information about them, I was starting to think he worked here.
He said he just likes to come out here and watch them, and knows the caretaker very well, so he knows a lot of information about them. Kevin had told us about this place and how cool it was, especially since it was free, but if it wouldn't have been for Horacio showing us where to turn off, we would have missed it for sure.
It's just a little hand painted sign stuck in the side of the road, which leads you back a little two track trail to the Antelope. It's worth the stop if you're headed to Asunción, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone in an RV, the road is rough and narrow and filled with tire swallowing ruts.
When we got back into Asunción, we dropped Horacio off at his house, and while we helped him unload his bushels of oranges he had picked up in Vizcíano, he unloaded a dozen fresh oranges on us.
He said "Now you know where I live, so my house is your house, you are more than welcome to use it anytime you like and please don't be shy."
As we pulled away, Cindy looked at me and said "I apologize for ever thinking any bad thoughts about giving them a ride home! They were two of the nicest people we have ever met!"
We dropped off the bail of Alfalpha we had picked up for Shari and Juan, and Juan's new shocks for his truck we had also picked up for him in Vizcíano, then stopped by John and Diane's.
We shared our days experience with them, as they know exactly what we had went through. Since they recently bought their house here, they've told us some horror stories about getting simple things like this done across international borders.
We all joked that getting nothing accomplished is very exhausting as Cindy and I were dead tired, and we hadn't done much of anything today but sit in lines talking to people. That and driving a few hundred miles for nothing!
Well we did get the opportunity to meet two wonderful locals, learned a few Spanish phrases and got some of the best oranges I've ever eaten out of the deal, so the day wasn't a total bust.
Since Asunción has no bank, we had to drive into Vizcíano, 77 miles one way, to see if we could get some money wired to us so we could buy this piece of property. This is much easier to talk about than it is to accomplish.
We made the drive no problem, we actually followed the grader out of town, so the excruciatingly bumpy roads we had crawled in on were now as smooth as a freshly paved highway. We did see a huge snake just suning itself in the middle of the sandy road, and a giant red tailed hawk scanning the desert for some lunch, but other than that, the drive was uneventful.
Once into Vizcíano, we topped off our fuel since this is the nearest spot for diesel. Then Cindy used the phone to make some calls to our bank back in Michigan.
There was a crazy windstorm blowing through this barren area of the desert that had the town looking like a dusty devil was reeking havoc on the area. Getting out of the truck, you'd have to sit and wait for the wind to die down before making a run to the door of where ever you were headed into. If you got caught in the dust, plan on having your eyes pelted with a fine layer of sand that would sting like hell and make you duck for cover almost instantly.
While we were hurrying into the bank, we were approached by a couple of guys that asked if we were staying in Asunción? They said they'd seen our truck out there on the beach and were asking because they needed a ride back home.
One of them spoke pretty good English and we told him that we were going to be in town for a few hours to get some things settled, and if they hadn't found a ride by the time we finished all our errands, we would be happy to give them a lift back home. Cindy was a little nervous when I told them that, but I reminded her that all of the people here go out of their way to help us, and the least we could do was help a few of them out when they were in need.
Once in the bank, the fun started. We first asked about Western Union, but they pointed us towards the other end of town saying they could only cash the check, but couldn't write them. That short sentence took about a half hour to get translated into English.
So we cruised town about 3 times, it's only about a mile long, but I'd be damned if we couldn't find that Western Union office. Cindy decided that she'd just do a cash advance on our credit card, she just needed to know what to do first. So we found a phone (This part is too long of a story to tell in and of itself, but we used someone's phone basically and called the credit card company collect) and Cindy found out all we had to do was have the bank call the credit card company and they would take care of the rest.
So we drove back to the bank and tried to explain to them that if they called the credit card company, they'd explain how to get us some money. Well after an hour of hand gestures, grunts, and half the bank staff explaining to each other that none of us could understand one another, we found out that the bank would only give us money if we had it wired in to an existing account.
So we said "Great, we'll just open an account."
Well an American citizen cant open an account in Mexico without a Mexican mailing address, their passport and an FM3, which is a legal document that takes a few months to apply for. Basically we were screwed.
Oh, and there are no addresses in Asunción, since they don't get mail because the village is so small. I should change that, they do get mail but Diane told us it was only like once a month and only if the mailman knows you. She said that if you needed to get mail, there was a certain word you wrote down in Spanish on the envelope, (I don't know what it is?) and it means that the mail man knows who you are and you'll get the mail even though you don't have an address. NO KIDDING, I'm not lying about this...LOL
So we left with our tail between our legs not knowing what to do. Cindy needed to call the bank again, and we had to find another phone. We found the guys that needed the ride back to Asunción, and they offered to give us a hand translating, so that we could all get back home faster.
He found a store that would let us use their phone to call the United States, and the girl just timed it with a stop watch so she'd know what to charge us. While Cindy was busy explaining our ordeal to our hometown bank manager, I sat talking with Horacio (I have no idea if that is spelled correctly?) and his brother.
Turns out he knows just about everyone we had spoken with today, and is either related to them, or has a tie to them somewhere down the line. He told us that he has seen our truck in Playa Santispac, in La Paz and in Asunción in the last few months. He was also one of the locals who stopped to see if we were OK when we were sitting in the road snapping pictures of the owl on our way into Asunción last week. We laughed thinking how small this whole place is that we keep seeing one another. I guess our big truck sort of stands out like a sore thumb down here and is hard to forget.
When we finally realized we weren't going to get anything accomplished today, we all piled into the truck and headed for home.
Horacio told us he was trying desperately to learn English, and asked if we could help teach him. Since we are trying just as hard to learn Spanish, the few hour ride home was a great language lesson for all of us.
He would point to something and tell us what the word was in Spanish, and we would tell him how to pronounce it in English. I know I wont remember anything we learned today, but if we could have conversations like we did today, everyday for a few weeks straight, then we'd probably be speaking the language in no time.
Horacio was so nice and offered us just about anything and everything he owned. When we apologized that they had to sit a little cramped because we had a laundry basket full of dirty laundry in the back seat, (another thing we were going to try and get accomplished today, but didn't) he exclaimed "Just bring it over to my house, you are more than welcome to use my laundry machine!"
When we told him about Cindy tipping over in her kayak because we wanted to go see the seals on the island, he said "I'll take you out there this weekend in my boat, Free of Charge!"
We mentioned that we were going to go check out Punta Prieta, another little fishing/surfing village about 30 miles south of here, and he told us he had a small house there that we were more than welcome to stay at for free.
He told us he was a fisherman and that if we came back during lobster season, he would drop off a lobster every night at our camper, for free. I mean, all we were doing was giving this guy a ride, here he was ready to give us the shirt off his back.
Horacio told us there was a Prong Horn Antelope Preserve about a Kilometer off the road on our way back home. He said "I'd like to show it to you since I know you like photography and animals."
So when we pulled off the road, he was just as excited as we were to see these cool creatures. We sat looking at them while he told us so much information about them, I was starting to think he worked here.
He said he just likes to come out here and watch them, and knows the caretaker very well, so he knows a lot of information about them. Kevin had told us about this place and how cool it was, especially since it was free, but if it wouldn't have been for Horacio showing us where to turn off, we would have missed it for sure.
It's just a little hand painted sign stuck in the side of the road, which leads you back a little two track trail to the Antelope. It's worth the stop if you're headed to Asunción, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone in an RV, the road is rough and narrow and filled with tire swallowing ruts.
When we got back into Asunción, we dropped Horacio off at his house, and while we helped him unload his bushels of oranges he had picked up in Vizcíano, he unloaded a dozen fresh oranges on us.
He said "Now you know where I live, so my house is your house, you are more than welcome to use it anytime you like and please don't be shy."
As we pulled away, Cindy looked at me and said "I apologize for ever thinking any bad thoughts about giving them a ride home! They were two of the nicest people we have ever met!"
We dropped off the bail of Alfalpha we had picked up for Shari and Juan, and Juan's new shocks for his truck we had also picked up for him in Vizcíano, then stopped by John and Diane's.
We shared our days experience with them, as they know exactly what we had went through. Since they recently bought their house here, they've told us some horror stories about getting simple things like this done across international borders.
We all joked that getting nothing accomplished is very exhausting as Cindy and I were dead tired, and we hadn't done much of anything today but sit in lines talking to people. That and driving a few hundred miles for nothing!
Well we did get the opportunity to meet two wonderful locals, learned a few Spanish phrases and got some of the best oranges I've ever eaten out of the deal, so the day wasn't a total bust.
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
For What?? Just sharing a great trip with fellow Gypsies!!:costumed-smiley-007
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Friday April 18th
After yesterdays ordeal, we decided to not head all the way back into Vizciano today, and instead would try and get the Western Union office here in Asunción to wire the money in.
(I was walking home from the Internet Cafe this morning and this girl stopped me. She pointed to my camera and pointed to herself. I asked if she wanted her picture taken? She smiled and ran up onto her front porch and struck this pose.I showed her the photo and she got all giddy and ran away smiling and laughing and yelling something to her friends in Spanish that I couldnt understand...LOL)
That didn't go very far since they said the machine was down and didn't see getting it fixed anytime today. Since today is Friday, that meant it probably wouldn't be fixed till Monday.
We ran into John and Diane and sat talking with them in the internet cafe. We made plans to meet up for lunch at a little restaurant they had told us about.
I finished up contacting the Mexican Lawyer we had been put in contact with who said he was going to get the paper work started for the property purchase and we headed off to lunch.
I'm not sure if this restaurant even has a name, as they just refer to it as Gloria's, which is the owners name. This was another one of those places where you don't look at a menu, they just tell you what they have to cook that day, and she pointed to a table beside us where she had just set down a heaping plate of great looking food.
3 of the 4 of us said "I'll take that!" The next few hours were spent listening to fantastic stories of their amazing travels all over North America and into South America where they used to do some teaching in the little villages along the way. It's so exciting to hear other stories of far away places and always makes me want to pack up and shove off for that next memory making experience.
Diane and John are both into photography, so it's also nice to talk to people who love something as much as Cindy and I do. They can relate to the goofy things we do to go out of our way to get those good pictures we are always after.
After lunch, with a belly so full I thought Cindy was going to have to carry me home, we went and grabbed the dogs and went for an hour long walk just trying to walk off some of the food.
Then we headed up to Shari's so we could meet the Mexican couple we are buying the property from and have Shari translate for us. It's funny because the woman in the Mexican couple can speak about as much English as we can speak Spanish, so talking with them is very comical and we usually all end up laughing at the absurdity of it all. This is why we keep going back to Shari's so she can translate for us.
With Shari as our translator, we were able to let them know that we couldn't get any money till Monday. What we needed was a cell phone so for all these calls we need to be making, we don't have to be standing at a payphone using the confusing calling cards. We saw a cell phone in Vizciano that only cost $40 and I was going to buy it, but the woman didn't speak any English and filling out paperwork that was in Spanish was impossible for me.
So when Shari told this couple that we didn't have a phone because of that reason, they told her to tell us they would take care of it. I didn't know what that meant, but I'd soon find out. He had showed us 3 pieces of property and when he asked which piece we wanted, I think we shocked him when we said "All 3 of them." I think the highest price was $3000 for about a 1/4 acre of property. But none of them were waterfront pieces.
He then told Shari that he had one more piece but he didn't think to show it to us because of how big it was. All 3 of the other lots were off the ocean and basically just little small village lots. He told us he had another parcel that was over 2 acres on the Pacific Ocean if we were interested? Now our ears perked up!
This piece would be big enough to split 10 times if we wanted to do something like that! Now were talking serious development...maybe a RV Park, a Hotel, a restaurant on the beach with a pool and a tiki bar! Man was my adrenaline flowing. But this changed everything!
Since we werent going to be able to get any money till Monday, we said we'd go look at the lot and would let them know on Monday. After looking at it, we both said "Yep, this is the piece!" The other lots were just something to sit on and hope the property value goes up some day and we might make a little money, but this piece was a serious piece of real estate.
We got back to the camper and both just sat looking at the waves with endless possibilities running through our heads. Just then the Mexican couple pulled up and Lizbeth, (That's the woman's name) handed me a cell phone with an envelope with the paperwork in it and the charger. They had just went into town and bought us a cell phone and filled out all the paperwork for us. She just told me that I owed her the $40 and we'd be even. How nice is that!?!
We should have done this right from the start, since we've probably spent $50 in calling cards since we've been in Baja. Now, instead of using payphones, all we have to do is purchase minutes at any Telcel office, and we can add more minutes to our Mexican phone. Verizon had told me we would have service all throughout Baja, but I've yet to be able to get a signal anywhere we've been, even in Cabo and La Paz, which are two huge cities down here.
With the full moon rising out of the Pacific, tugging at the tides and making the waves crash on the shore like a thunderstorm this evening, we watched the sun set over our future piece of property and both kept thinking about the endless possibilities this held in store for our future.
I don't know how Cindy went to sleep tonight? I just laid there with my mind racing listening to the thundering waves. We've always wanted a bar on the beach, would this be the next piece in the puzzle? Only time will tell.
After yesterdays ordeal, we decided to not head all the way back into Vizciano today, and instead would try and get the Western Union office here in Asunción to wire the money in.
(I was walking home from the Internet Cafe this morning and this girl stopped me. She pointed to my camera and pointed to herself. I asked if she wanted her picture taken? She smiled and ran up onto her front porch and struck this pose.I showed her the photo and she got all giddy and ran away smiling and laughing and yelling something to her friends in Spanish that I couldnt understand...LOL)
That didn't go very far since they said the machine was down and didn't see getting it fixed anytime today. Since today is Friday, that meant it probably wouldn't be fixed till Monday.
We ran into John and Diane and sat talking with them in the internet cafe. We made plans to meet up for lunch at a little restaurant they had told us about.
I finished up contacting the Mexican Lawyer we had been put in contact with who said he was going to get the paper work started for the property purchase and we headed off to lunch.
I'm not sure if this restaurant even has a name, as they just refer to it as Gloria's, which is the owners name. This was another one of those places where you don't look at a menu, they just tell you what they have to cook that day, and she pointed to a table beside us where she had just set down a heaping plate of great looking food.
3 of the 4 of us said "I'll take that!" The next few hours were spent listening to fantastic stories of their amazing travels all over North America and into South America where they used to do some teaching in the little villages along the way. It's so exciting to hear other stories of far away places and always makes me want to pack up and shove off for that next memory making experience.
Diane and John are both into photography, so it's also nice to talk to people who love something as much as Cindy and I do. They can relate to the goofy things we do to go out of our way to get those good pictures we are always after.
After lunch, with a belly so full I thought Cindy was going to have to carry me home, we went and grabbed the dogs and went for an hour long walk just trying to walk off some of the food.
Then we headed up to Shari's so we could meet the Mexican couple we are buying the property from and have Shari translate for us. It's funny because the woman in the Mexican couple can speak about as much English as we can speak Spanish, so talking with them is very comical and we usually all end up laughing at the absurdity of it all. This is why we keep going back to Shari's so she can translate for us.
With Shari as our translator, we were able to let them know that we couldn't get any money till Monday. What we needed was a cell phone so for all these calls we need to be making, we don't have to be standing at a payphone using the confusing calling cards. We saw a cell phone in Vizciano that only cost $40 and I was going to buy it, but the woman didn't speak any English and filling out paperwork that was in Spanish was impossible for me.
So when Shari told this couple that we didn't have a phone because of that reason, they told her to tell us they would take care of it. I didn't know what that meant, but I'd soon find out. He had showed us 3 pieces of property and when he asked which piece we wanted, I think we shocked him when we said "All 3 of them." I think the highest price was $3000 for about a 1/4 acre of property. But none of them were waterfront pieces.
He then told Shari that he had one more piece but he didn't think to show it to us because of how big it was. All 3 of the other lots were off the ocean and basically just little small village lots. He told us he had another parcel that was over 2 acres on the Pacific Ocean if we were interested? Now our ears perked up!
This piece would be big enough to split 10 times if we wanted to do something like that! Now were talking serious development...maybe a RV Park, a Hotel, a restaurant on the beach with a pool and a tiki bar! Man was my adrenaline flowing. But this changed everything!
Since we werent going to be able to get any money till Monday, we said we'd go look at the lot and would let them know on Monday. After looking at it, we both said "Yep, this is the piece!" The other lots were just something to sit on and hope the property value goes up some day and we might make a little money, but this piece was a serious piece of real estate.
We got back to the camper and both just sat looking at the waves with endless possibilities running through our heads. Just then the Mexican couple pulled up and Lizbeth, (That's the woman's name) handed me a cell phone with an envelope with the paperwork in it and the charger. They had just went into town and bought us a cell phone and filled out all the paperwork for us. She just told me that I owed her the $40 and we'd be even. How nice is that!?!
We should have done this right from the start, since we've probably spent $50 in calling cards since we've been in Baja. Now, instead of using payphones, all we have to do is purchase minutes at any Telcel office, and we can add more minutes to our Mexican phone. Verizon had told me we would have service all throughout Baja, but I've yet to be able to get a signal anywhere we've been, even in Cabo and La Paz, which are two huge cities down here.
With the full moon rising out of the Pacific, tugging at the tides and making the waves crash on the shore like a thunderstorm this evening, we watched the sun set over our future piece of property and both kept thinking about the endless possibilities this held in store for our future.
I don't know how Cindy went to sleep tonight? I just laid there with my mind racing listening to the thundering waves. We've always wanted a bar on the beach, would this be the next piece in the puzzle? Only time will tell.
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Saturday April 19th
We've owned Luca for over three years now since we rescued him from the Pitbull Adoption Center, and he's always just been a playful dog. Just one of those happy-go-lucky dogs that always is happy to see you with a big sloppy kiss and a wagging tail.
So I was amazed this morning when we were walking along the beach and we watched him take down a seagull. Once we get away from town and don't have to worry about seeing anyone else walking, we let the dogs off their leashes and allow them to run up and down the beach.
This is the highlight of their day and they absolutely live for it. Normally Luca runs after the large flocks of seagulls that congregate along the shore. He's not one to go into the water, so the chances of him actually catching one of them is very slim.
I think more or less it's just the fun of making all these birds fly away screeching at him as they take flight.
So neither Cindy nor I thought anything when we watched him go running after another big flock this morning. That was till I saw one hopping with what looked like a broken wing. I think Luca saw it at the same time I did and his casual run went into a full on death sprint towards the churning ocean.
I stopped Cindy in mid sentence and yelled "Look, I think he's actually going to get this one!" The wildest part was the seagull was hopping towards the surf with it's gimp wing dragging behind it and just as a big wave was cresting, the bird rode the wave up and Luca lunged head first into the wave at the same time!
We both were just flabbergasted because here is a dog you couldn't drag into the water, and he's diving head first into a 3 foot wave going after a wounded seagull.
When the whitewater settled, there he was with a seagull in his mouth not really knowing what the hell to do with it. I think he was just as shocked as Cindy and I were that he had actually caught the screeching bird.
He carried it up onto the beach and just dropped it. He had this expression on his big floppy face like "Ok, now what do I do with it?"
I was laughing hysterically by this point, and Cindy was screaming for him to leave it alone. Lucy was even up to her stomach in salt water trying to show him what to do with it next, which was even more of a shock than Luca being in the ocean. Lucy hates water more than anything, so to see her with her feet in the water, let alone deep enough that it was touching her stomach was making Cindy and I question who these two dogs were walking along the beach with us?
Once we got him away from the seagull, he thought he was suddenly the fastest thing on four legs. When ever he would see more birds, he would go after them with a new found passion. It didn't take long for his newly formed bubble to be burst as he couldn't find any others that were wounded and would give in to his lumbering chases.
Although on our walk back, Cindy started yelling when we watched him lunge head first into another wave going after a low flying bird at about 20 mph. He just came swimming back up onto shore, shook it off and kept running along the beach with his slobber getting strung all over his face as happy as could be.
I do think us humans could learn something from the actions of dogs! If you cant eat it or hump it, leave it alone and go look for something new. [/COLOR]
Asunción Mountain Bike Qualifying
John and Diane had invited us to go watch an event that they billed as "Fun for everyone involved" They both help sponsor the mountain bike team here in Asunción and today was try outs for new team members.
I wasn't sure what to expect, but they werent lying when they said everyone involved would have fun. When we walked up to the main street that was blocked off from traffic, we saw kids lined up on bikes ranging from toddlers with training wheels to teenagers on some fancy mountain bikes.
The next few hours were spent with local kids of all ages racing up and down main street for honors of becoming team members. The one thing that amazed me was how excited these kids were to just be out having fun.
I think back to my youth and of my young nieces and nephews. They usually don't do anything unless they have everything you'd need to accomplish the sport. I know my sister has five kids (God Bless her and my Brother-in-Law) and to see their garage is like walking into a well stocked bike shop. Even though some of the kids don't even ride their bikes, they all have helmets, gloves, knee pads, and usually get new bikes every few years when they grow out of their smaller models.
Here in this little town, you have kids racing on their sisters bike, or girls on bikes that are way too big for them. Most were sharing helmets between the races as there is a shortage of helmets and some of the bikes looked like something you'd see set out on the curb come garbage day in the states.
But did these kids care about a helmet or what they were riding? Hell no, the fact that there were on a bike was good enough for them. Some kids that looked like they wouldn't be all that coordinated would blow away their fellow racer who might be a few pounds lighter.
There wasn't a kid out there that wasn't giving it their hardest effort no matter how old they were. It was a great eye opener and true to their word, we all had a great time.
After all the kids were done racing, they even talked the mothers of some of the youth into strapping on some helmets to race up and down the main street for bragging rights.
If there is one thing we've learned about Mexican people, they like to have fun no matter what the occasion is and it doesn't matter what your age is either. They're just genuinely nice people who will go out of their way to help anyone around them in need.
After the race, we went out for dinner at Gloria's restaurant again. This time having some of the best food we've had to date in Baja.
We've owned Luca for over three years now since we rescued him from the Pitbull Adoption Center, and he's always just been a playful dog. Just one of those happy-go-lucky dogs that always is happy to see you with a big sloppy kiss and a wagging tail.
So I was amazed this morning when we were walking along the beach and we watched him take down a seagull. Once we get away from town and don't have to worry about seeing anyone else walking, we let the dogs off their leashes and allow them to run up and down the beach.
This is the highlight of their day and they absolutely live for it. Normally Luca runs after the large flocks of seagulls that congregate along the shore. He's not one to go into the water, so the chances of him actually catching one of them is very slim.
I think more or less it's just the fun of making all these birds fly away screeching at him as they take flight.
So neither Cindy nor I thought anything when we watched him go running after another big flock this morning. That was till I saw one hopping with what looked like a broken wing. I think Luca saw it at the same time I did and his casual run went into a full on death sprint towards the churning ocean.
I stopped Cindy in mid sentence and yelled "Look, I think he's actually going to get this one!" The wildest part was the seagull was hopping towards the surf with it's gimp wing dragging behind it and just as a big wave was cresting, the bird rode the wave up and Luca lunged head first into the wave at the same time!
We both were just flabbergasted because here is a dog you couldn't drag into the water, and he's diving head first into a 3 foot wave going after a wounded seagull.
When the whitewater settled, there he was with a seagull in his mouth not really knowing what the hell to do with it. I think he was just as shocked as Cindy and I were that he had actually caught the screeching bird.
He carried it up onto the beach and just dropped it. He had this expression on his big floppy face like "Ok, now what do I do with it?"
I was laughing hysterically by this point, and Cindy was screaming for him to leave it alone. Lucy was even up to her stomach in salt water trying to show him what to do with it next, which was even more of a shock than Luca being in the ocean. Lucy hates water more than anything, so to see her with her feet in the water, let alone deep enough that it was touching her stomach was making Cindy and I question who these two dogs were walking along the beach with us?
Once we got him away from the seagull, he thought he was suddenly the fastest thing on four legs. When ever he would see more birds, he would go after them with a new found passion. It didn't take long for his newly formed bubble to be burst as he couldn't find any others that were wounded and would give in to his lumbering chases.
Although on our walk back, Cindy started yelling when we watched him lunge head first into another wave going after a low flying bird at about 20 mph. He just came swimming back up onto shore, shook it off and kept running along the beach with his slobber getting strung all over his face as happy as could be.
I do think us humans could learn something from the actions of dogs! If you cant eat it or hump it, leave it alone and go look for something new. [/COLOR]
Asunción Mountain Bike Qualifying
John and Diane had invited us to go watch an event that they billed as "Fun for everyone involved" They both help sponsor the mountain bike team here in Asunción and today was try outs for new team members.
I wasn't sure what to expect, but they werent lying when they said everyone involved would have fun. When we walked up to the main street that was blocked off from traffic, we saw kids lined up on bikes ranging from toddlers with training wheels to teenagers on some fancy mountain bikes.
The next few hours were spent with local kids of all ages racing up and down main street for honors of becoming team members. The one thing that amazed me was how excited these kids were to just be out having fun.
I think back to my youth and of my young nieces and nephews. They usually don't do anything unless they have everything you'd need to accomplish the sport. I know my sister has five kids (God Bless her and my Brother-in-Law) and to see their garage is like walking into a well stocked bike shop. Even though some of the kids don't even ride their bikes, they all have helmets, gloves, knee pads, and usually get new bikes every few years when they grow out of their smaller models.
Here in this little town, you have kids racing on their sisters bike, or girls on bikes that are way too big for them. Most were sharing helmets between the races as there is a shortage of helmets and some of the bikes looked like something you'd see set out on the curb come garbage day in the states.
But did these kids care about a helmet or what they were riding? Hell no, the fact that there were on a bike was good enough for them. Some kids that looked like they wouldn't be all that coordinated would blow away their fellow racer who might be a few pounds lighter.
There wasn't a kid out there that wasn't giving it their hardest effort no matter how old they were. It was a great eye opener and true to their word, we all had a great time.
After all the kids were done racing, they even talked the mothers of some of the youth into strapping on some helmets to race up and down the main street for bragging rights.
If there is one thing we've learned about Mexican people, they like to have fun no matter what the occasion is and it doesn't matter what your age is either. They're just genuinely nice people who will go out of their way to help anyone around them in need.
After the race, we went out for dinner at Gloria's restaurant again. This time having some of the best food we've had to date in Baja.
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Sunday April 20th
We've been in Asunción for a week now, and except for our little day trip into Vizciano, we've yet to go explore any of the surrounding area, which there is tons of to go out exploring. This is another reason we would really like to have some property here to come back down to.
We've been talking about putting up a little campground to use as a basecamp, then offer some sort of guided runs for off-road tours of the rugged Baja Coastline. It would be a riot!
John and Diane had told us of a few little fishing towns that have some great character and the back roads to get there can be a whole lotta fun themselves. Backroads around here are basically two-track that is anything but a minimum of high clearance and 4x4 needed for much of it.
Cindy packed up a lunch and I loaded the camera gear in the truck, and we headed off for a Sunday drive in Baja. Only difference was here in Mexico, we'd be in 4-wheel drive most of the day.
John had showed us a two-track trail that he said follows the beach and was the route most of the locals took. After a few miles of driving along the dirt road, Cindy was already looking at me like she was ready to go home.
Washboard is putting it lightly when you talk about their dirt roads. So we jumped onto the two-track trail to see what that would be like. I knew it would be much slower, but I'd rather drive slow on a smooth track than have to drive fast to make the stutter bumps not so bone jarring.
Once onto the smaller trail, we both agreed we liked it much better. The views were great as it followed right along the beach most of the way, and once you leave Asunción, the beaches become completely deserted and you have them all to yourself. Not that the beaches of Asunción are busy by any means, but for the whole days drive, we passed two other vehicles that were both on the dirt road section that we could see a few hundred yards off the beach.
Most of the time we were up on a big dune, so the views stretched out for miles in each direction. The winds were kicking something fierce today, so even though it was nice and warm out, if you got out of the truck, you needed a jacket or wind breaker on to keep the sand from pelting you. I probably should have had on a pair of goggles to keep the sand out of my eyes too.
At one point we dropped down off the big dune and had to cross a section of beach that was probably 5 feet thick of sea shells. This 1/4 mile section of trail was very strange looking and the tires made a sound like we were driving on broken glass.
To get out of the truck without sunglasses on was blinding on the eyes. The bone white shells reflected the sun light so strong that it was like looking at a welding torch. I've never seen this many shells in one location in my life!
The first town we got to was Punta Prieta. This little fishing town makes Asunción look like a giant metropolis. Much smaller in size and no paved roads. Just fishing boats and crab pots lined the shore.
The next town was San Hipolito. This fishing village was a little bit bigger than Punta Prieta, but still just dirt roads and a few shacks thrown together from what looked like debris that had washed up on the shoreline. They did have a little church that was very cool looking. John and Diane had told us that once we left this town, stay to the right so we could jump down into the mud flats which would be much smoother this time of year since they are completely dry.
This area looks like it gets flooded out during the rainy season and would become a shallow lagoon. Right now it was a dried lake bed that stretched out for miles and was as flat and smooth as a freshly paved road.
There was a section that was hard packed to drive on, but if for some reason your tires were to go off the hard pack, plan on getting sucked into the soft dirt. We could see a few spots that looked like trucks had gotten very stuck when this had happened.
The flatness of the dried lake bed would play tricks with you eyes. In every direction you looked, the heat would dance off the surface creating mirages which made it look like there was water all around us. If it wasn't for the mountains off in the distance, I could imagine someone could get disoriented very easy and becoming lost.
I told Cindy that we'll have to come back to this location to do a late evening photoshoot. It would be something straight out of a Sci-Fy flick of a forgotten world.
We passed through a few more small villages before we got to Abreojos. By this point the winds had picked up so much that it was hard to get out of the truck. Every time you would open the door the dashboard would get covered with a layer of fine sand.
The town of Abreojos is loaded with Osprey and their giant nests. Every other telephone pole had a nest on top of it with a few baby birds that were the size of a large crow. Everywhere we looked we would spot a giant osprey flying overhead with a fish in its talons to feed their young.
We sat watching a few of the nests before we had to start heading home. By this point it was mid-afternoon and Cindy was worried about getting home before dark. Even though I had begged to stay out till the moon came up, since we knew tonight would be a full moon. I thought it would be soo cool to drive back down the two track trial under the bright moon light. But Cindy wasn't having it.
If we were to head out to the paved road, we probably would be late in getting back to Asunción, so we decided to just turn around a head back along the two-track trail. Since we knew the route already, we were able to make up on lost time and didn't have to get out to scout out the deep sandy sections. We knew to just leave it in 4-High and keep our momentum through those softer parts of the trail.
While crossing the mud flats, I was clipping along at about 50mph pretending I was in the Baja 1000 when we hit a big dip in the road which launched the truck up into the air. As I looked in the rear view mirror to see if kayaks were going to be bouncing behind me, I noticed the our ARE truck cap came up off the bed rails!! What the hell was it doing that for?
I told Cindy what I had just witnessed and told her to watch her side in her mirror over the next bump. Yep, as we hit another big hole in the road, she yelled "Crap, my side just came up in the air too!"
Remember when I said if you want to test anything on your rig, bring it to Baja. These roads are that brutal. I thought the cap had been bolted down with Grade 8 Bolts when we had it installed, but the constant bouncing of the washboard and thousands of miles we've put on the truck over the past few years has obviously wore the bolts out.
Other than finding out our truck cap wasn't bolted down any longer, the ride home was spectacular. We had the sun setting in front of us and tried to take the narrow trail the entire way. If I was to recommend this trip to anyone, I say the trail is 10x's better than the road. You go a bit slower, but you're right along the ocean the whole time and the views are outstanding. Remember 4 wheel drive is a must.
When we pulled into town, Cindy got to making dinner and I got out the drill and some heavy duty bolts we carry as back-up.
I drilled out a hole on each side, and dropped in a Grade 8, 1/2" bolt with a Nylock Nut attached to it into the newly drilled holes. This is probably what I should have done in the first place (They hadnt used the Grade 8 bolts like I had thought once i saw the broken bolts), and once we get back to the United States, I'll end up removing all their inferior bolts and putting two more Grade 8 Bolts on the front of the cap.
The problem was I normally keep a stock of these bolts in my tool box of various sizes, but since we've been down here, I've loaned them out to a few others who have had trouble with failing roof racks and broken parts on their trucks, so I only had two bolts left that were the right length.
While I was working on the truck, I had a few local residents who would stop when they saw my tool box on the ground and offer some help, but when I would point out that I was just drilling two holes, they would smile and I would thank them for stopping. I guess an open tool bo is the universal sign you're in need of another set of hands in both Mexico and the United States, although I'm sure its the universal sign all over the globe
That was till we had one of the little kids on his mountain bike stop to watch me work. He sat talking to me for ever even though I kept telling him "No Comprende?"
I finally got Cindy to come out to try and understand what he was saying to me, which I think he was asking me if he could wash our truck for us? Our poor truck is so filthy that I'm sure the locals are even embarrassed to have it in their town.
The thought has crossed our mind to wash it, but what's the use? We have another 50 miles of dirt roads to get out of Asunción, and then the dust storms on the way out will just turn it back into a dust monger, so its a lost cause.
After awhile of us all blabbering to one another, with no one actually getting anything across, Cindy brought him in the camper to show him pictures from yesterdays bike race. He sat laughing at a few of them, and then got up and left with a big huff of frustration over something he was trying to tell us.
Cindy looked at me and exclaimed "Now how would come to a foreign country and not be able to speak the language? How stupid can we be!?!"
A few minutes later, we heard a knock at our door and Ricardo, (That was his name) had brought back his brother and another friend who were both in the race. He pointed towards the computer and to both of them, trying to say "Look you stupid Americans, these two were the ones I was saying should see those pictures! Now do you understand me?"
So the 3 young kids crowded around our small kitchen table and all got a good laugh at the pictures we had taken. I finally explained that I was going to burn a CD and give it to John and Diane so they could make copies for all the families involved.
The kids thanked us and left for the night. Probably laughing the whole way home at how ignorant we were for coming to their country and not knowing the language.
A day later when we talked with Diane and John about this, they told us they had heard from Ricardo who said he had come by and wanted to buy some of the photos so he could give them to his brother. When I had been confused with him wanting to wash our truck, they told me that he had no money, so he was asking me if he could wash and clean my truck in exchange for one of the images of his brother. Of course I never understood any of this, so I made a disc of my images and gave them to Diane and asked her to make sure all the local kids got copies of themselves in the race.
We've been in Asunción for a week now, and except for our little day trip into Vizciano, we've yet to go explore any of the surrounding area, which there is tons of to go out exploring. This is another reason we would really like to have some property here to come back down to.
We've been talking about putting up a little campground to use as a basecamp, then offer some sort of guided runs for off-road tours of the rugged Baja Coastline. It would be a riot!
John and Diane had told us of a few little fishing towns that have some great character and the back roads to get there can be a whole lotta fun themselves. Backroads around here are basically two-track that is anything but a minimum of high clearance and 4x4 needed for much of it.
Cindy packed up a lunch and I loaded the camera gear in the truck, and we headed off for a Sunday drive in Baja. Only difference was here in Mexico, we'd be in 4-wheel drive most of the day.
John had showed us a two-track trail that he said follows the beach and was the route most of the locals took. After a few miles of driving along the dirt road, Cindy was already looking at me like she was ready to go home.
Washboard is putting it lightly when you talk about their dirt roads. So we jumped onto the two-track trail to see what that would be like. I knew it would be much slower, but I'd rather drive slow on a smooth track than have to drive fast to make the stutter bumps not so bone jarring.
Once onto the smaller trail, we both agreed we liked it much better. The views were great as it followed right along the beach most of the way, and once you leave Asunción, the beaches become completely deserted and you have them all to yourself. Not that the beaches of Asunción are busy by any means, but for the whole days drive, we passed two other vehicles that were both on the dirt road section that we could see a few hundred yards off the beach.
Most of the time we were up on a big dune, so the views stretched out for miles in each direction. The winds were kicking something fierce today, so even though it was nice and warm out, if you got out of the truck, you needed a jacket or wind breaker on to keep the sand from pelting you. I probably should have had on a pair of goggles to keep the sand out of my eyes too.
At one point we dropped down off the big dune and had to cross a section of beach that was probably 5 feet thick of sea shells. This 1/4 mile section of trail was very strange looking and the tires made a sound like we were driving on broken glass.
To get out of the truck without sunglasses on was blinding on the eyes. The bone white shells reflected the sun light so strong that it was like looking at a welding torch. I've never seen this many shells in one location in my life!
The first town we got to was Punta Prieta. This little fishing town makes Asunción look like a giant metropolis. Much smaller in size and no paved roads. Just fishing boats and crab pots lined the shore.
The next town was San Hipolito. This fishing village was a little bit bigger than Punta Prieta, but still just dirt roads and a few shacks thrown together from what looked like debris that had washed up on the shoreline. They did have a little church that was very cool looking. John and Diane had told us that once we left this town, stay to the right so we could jump down into the mud flats which would be much smoother this time of year since they are completely dry.
This area looks like it gets flooded out during the rainy season and would become a shallow lagoon. Right now it was a dried lake bed that stretched out for miles and was as flat and smooth as a freshly paved road.
There was a section that was hard packed to drive on, but if for some reason your tires were to go off the hard pack, plan on getting sucked into the soft dirt. We could see a few spots that looked like trucks had gotten very stuck when this had happened.
The flatness of the dried lake bed would play tricks with you eyes. In every direction you looked, the heat would dance off the surface creating mirages which made it look like there was water all around us. If it wasn't for the mountains off in the distance, I could imagine someone could get disoriented very easy and becoming lost.
I told Cindy that we'll have to come back to this location to do a late evening photoshoot. It would be something straight out of a Sci-Fy flick of a forgotten world.
We passed through a few more small villages before we got to Abreojos. By this point the winds had picked up so much that it was hard to get out of the truck. Every time you would open the door the dashboard would get covered with a layer of fine sand.
The town of Abreojos is loaded with Osprey and their giant nests. Every other telephone pole had a nest on top of it with a few baby birds that were the size of a large crow. Everywhere we looked we would spot a giant osprey flying overhead with a fish in its talons to feed their young.
We sat watching a few of the nests before we had to start heading home. By this point it was mid-afternoon and Cindy was worried about getting home before dark. Even though I had begged to stay out till the moon came up, since we knew tonight would be a full moon. I thought it would be soo cool to drive back down the two track trial under the bright moon light. But Cindy wasn't having it.
If we were to head out to the paved road, we probably would be late in getting back to Asunción, so we decided to just turn around a head back along the two-track trail. Since we knew the route already, we were able to make up on lost time and didn't have to get out to scout out the deep sandy sections. We knew to just leave it in 4-High and keep our momentum through those softer parts of the trail.
While crossing the mud flats, I was clipping along at about 50mph pretending I was in the Baja 1000 when we hit a big dip in the road which launched the truck up into the air. As I looked in the rear view mirror to see if kayaks were going to be bouncing behind me, I noticed the our ARE truck cap came up off the bed rails!! What the hell was it doing that for?
I told Cindy what I had just witnessed and told her to watch her side in her mirror over the next bump. Yep, as we hit another big hole in the road, she yelled "Crap, my side just came up in the air too!"
Remember when I said if you want to test anything on your rig, bring it to Baja. These roads are that brutal. I thought the cap had been bolted down with Grade 8 Bolts when we had it installed, but the constant bouncing of the washboard and thousands of miles we've put on the truck over the past few years has obviously wore the bolts out.
Other than finding out our truck cap wasn't bolted down any longer, the ride home was spectacular. We had the sun setting in front of us and tried to take the narrow trail the entire way. If I was to recommend this trip to anyone, I say the trail is 10x's better than the road. You go a bit slower, but you're right along the ocean the whole time and the views are outstanding. Remember 4 wheel drive is a must.
When we pulled into town, Cindy got to making dinner and I got out the drill and some heavy duty bolts we carry as back-up.
I drilled out a hole on each side, and dropped in a Grade 8, 1/2" bolt with a Nylock Nut attached to it into the newly drilled holes. This is probably what I should have done in the first place (They hadnt used the Grade 8 bolts like I had thought once i saw the broken bolts), and once we get back to the United States, I'll end up removing all their inferior bolts and putting two more Grade 8 Bolts on the front of the cap.
The problem was I normally keep a stock of these bolts in my tool box of various sizes, but since we've been down here, I've loaned them out to a few others who have had trouble with failing roof racks and broken parts on their trucks, so I only had two bolts left that were the right length.
While I was working on the truck, I had a few local residents who would stop when they saw my tool box on the ground and offer some help, but when I would point out that I was just drilling two holes, they would smile and I would thank them for stopping. I guess an open tool bo is the universal sign you're in need of another set of hands in both Mexico and the United States, although I'm sure its the universal sign all over the globe
That was till we had one of the little kids on his mountain bike stop to watch me work. He sat talking to me for ever even though I kept telling him "No Comprende?"
I finally got Cindy to come out to try and understand what he was saying to me, which I think he was asking me if he could wash our truck for us? Our poor truck is so filthy that I'm sure the locals are even embarrassed to have it in their town.
The thought has crossed our mind to wash it, but what's the use? We have another 50 miles of dirt roads to get out of Asunción, and then the dust storms on the way out will just turn it back into a dust monger, so its a lost cause.
After awhile of us all blabbering to one another, with no one actually getting anything across, Cindy brought him in the camper to show him pictures from yesterdays bike race. He sat laughing at a few of them, and then got up and left with a big huff of frustration over something he was trying to tell us.
Cindy looked at me and exclaimed "Now how would come to a foreign country and not be able to speak the language? How stupid can we be!?!"
A few minutes later, we heard a knock at our door and Ricardo, (That was his name) had brought back his brother and another friend who were both in the race. He pointed towards the computer and to both of them, trying to say "Look you stupid Americans, these two were the ones I was saying should see those pictures! Now do you understand me?"
So the 3 young kids crowded around our small kitchen table and all got a good laugh at the pictures we had taken. I finally explained that I was going to burn a CD and give it to John and Diane so they could make copies for all the families involved.
The kids thanked us and left for the night. Probably laughing the whole way home at how ignorant we were for coming to their country and not knowing the language.
A day later when we talked with Diane and John about this, they told us they had heard from Ricardo who said he had come by and wanted to buy some of the photos so he could give them to his brother. When I had been confused with him wanting to wash our truck, they told me that he had no money, so he was asking me if he could wash and clean my truck in exchange for one of the images of his brother. Of course I never understood any of this, so I made a disc of my images and gave them to Diane and asked her to make sure all the local kids got copies of themselves in the race.
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Some Images from around this area that I thought I'd share
The Crazy Looking Elephant Trees that are unique to this area
Pair of Male Prong Horn playing on the reserve. I guess the reserve is trying to get a big population of these which they frequently release out in the wild. They used to be all around this area, but were hunted to near extinction.
Great Horned Owl Looking like it's sorry it landed atop the Cactus
This was a post at a Intersection in the road at Punta Abreojos that the locals told us to look for to mark the smaller road we were to take...LOL
Looking at our 2 acres on the Pacific Ocean in this little town. Hopefully in a few years we'll have a campground here and be providing tours for fellow travelers making their way down the Peninsula
We came out of a locals house one day to find her horse eyeing itself in my trucks mirror. It sat like this for about an hour just watching the good looking stallion in the reflection...LOL
Crossing the Dried lake Bed while out exploring
Cool looking shell on a section of rocky shoreline along the Pacific Ocean
The Crazy Looking Elephant Trees that are unique to this area
Pair of Male Prong Horn playing on the reserve. I guess the reserve is trying to get a big population of these which they frequently release out in the wild. They used to be all around this area, but were hunted to near extinction.
Great Horned Owl Looking like it's sorry it landed atop the Cactus
This was a post at a Intersection in the road at Punta Abreojos that the locals told us to look for to mark the smaller road we were to take...LOL
Looking at our 2 acres on the Pacific Ocean in this little town. Hopefully in a few years we'll have a campground here and be providing tours for fellow travelers making their way down the Peninsula
We came out of a locals house one day to find her horse eyeing itself in my trucks mirror. It sat like this for about an hour just watching the good looking stallion in the reflection...LOL
Crossing the Dried lake Bed while out exploring
Cool looking shell on a section of rocky shoreline along the Pacific Ocean
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Monday April 21st - Leaving Asunción
Even though neither of us wanted to, we spent the morning packing things up and getting ready to make the long drive home. We both had so many things running through our minds and both of us had to keep talking one another into leaving.
We wanted to start working on the property, planting some local trees, shrubs and vegetation so when we return next winter, or when ever we might make the return to Baja, the plants would be rooted and adding atmosphere to the property.
We drove up to the Trotters so we could say goodbye, and swapped our addresses and phone numbers for the States. We promised to keep in touch and knew we would probably be talking way more than we planned on.
Shari stopped by to say Goodbye, and we also paid a visit to Kevin so we could wish him well before we started down the long bumpy road North. The last time we had went into Vizciano, we had followed the grader and hoped the road would still be nice and smooth. NO WAY!
Oh my God was the road horrendous! I think it was even worse than on the way in. Our top speed was about 10mph, and that might be pushing it. At one point I thought I noticed a strap dangling off the back, so I told Cindy to grab the wheel of the truck. I just opened the door, stepped out onto the dirt road and let the camper pass by me.
Once I could see the back of the camper, I noticed a strap that I normally had tied to itself had bounced loose. The truck was idling slow enough that I was able to walk behind it and re-tie the strap. Once it was secure, I walked back up and crawled back into the truck while it was moving. Cindy was casually holding the wheel the whole time.
She said "I have to go to the bathroom, no need to stop, I'll just go get in the camper while you're moving at this speed. Want anything while I'm back there?"
When she came back, I asked how it was inside the camper while we were moving, but she said "At this speed, the camper doesn't even feel like it is moving when you're inside."
We had wanted to make good time today, but at this rate something was telling me we should have left at sun up, rather than 12 noon.
We had hoped to make it all the way to Catavina, because once we left Guerrero Negro, which was only an hour north of Vizciano, we had a long way to go with not much in-between.
Most of the day was spent with Cindy quizzing me with our Spanish flash cards and talks of different ideas for what we might do with the property. Since we never make long term plans, we were just throwing ideas around and goofing around with all sorts of off the wall ideas.
As we headed far inland after El Rosarito, we hoped we could make it the last stretch before the sun set. There are no big towns between this little one store town, and Catavina, which is even smaller, but had a campground at least.
We had counted six dead cows on the side of the road that had all become road kill statistics, and hitting one after dark when they wander onto the road wasn't something I really wanted to be thinking about.
As we rolled along watching the big red ball drop behind one of the soaring mountain tops in the distance, we were both getting a bit nervous. Cindy let me know that we had about 60 more miles to go, and we both knew we only had maybe 45 minutes of twilight left. Doesn't seem bad if we were on an American highway, but here in Baja, our average speed was only about 35 to 40 mph. Even though I was pushing the envelope at about 55mph, I knew we might be caught out in the dark.
What was worse, driving in the dark, or risking being parked on the side of the road in the middle of no-mans-land? We'd make that decision in 45 minutes I guess.
When the last bit of twilight faded and we were driving in the dark, we were relieved to know we only had a few miles left to travel. We pulled into Rancho Santa Ynez campground in the dark and were both relieved we had made it unscathed. We also made a note that next time we would know to allow for more time when traveling on a dirt road in Baja.
Even though neither of us wanted to, we spent the morning packing things up and getting ready to make the long drive home. We both had so many things running through our minds and both of us had to keep talking one another into leaving.
We wanted to start working on the property, planting some local trees, shrubs and vegetation so when we return next winter, or when ever we might make the return to Baja, the plants would be rooted and adding atmosphere to the property.
We drove up to the Trotters so we could say goodbye, and swapped our addresses and phone numbers for the States. We promised to keep in touch and knew we would probably be talking way more than we planned on.
Shari stopped by to say Goodbye, and we also paid a visit to Kevin so we could wish him well before we started down the long bumpy road North. The last time we had went into Vizciano, we had followed the grader and hoped the road would still be nice and smooth. NO WAY!
Oh my God was the road horrendous! I think it was even worse than on the way in. Our top speed was about 10mph, and that might be pushing it. At one point I thought I noticed a strap dangling off the back, so I told Cindy to grab the wheel of the truck. I just opened the door, stepped out onto the dirt road and let the camper pass by me.
Once I could see the back of the camper, I noticed a strap that I normally had tied to itself had bounced loose. The truck was idling slow enough that I was able to walk behind it and re-tie the strap. Once it was secure, I walked back up and crawled back into the truck while it was moving. Cindy was casually holding the wheel the whole time.
She said "I have to go to the bathroom, no need to stop, I'll just go get in the camper while you're moving at this speed. Want anything while I'm back there?"
When she came back, I asked how it was inside the camper while we were moving, but she said "At this speed, the camper doesn't even feel like it is moving when you're inside."
We had wanted to make good time today, but at this rate something was telling me we should have left at sun up, rather than 12 noon.
We had hoped to make it all the way to Catavina, because once we left Guerrero Negro, which was only an hour north of Vizciano, we had a long way to go with not much in-between.
Most of the day was spent with Cindy quizzing me with our Spanish flash cards and talks of different ideas for what we might do with the property. Since we never make long term plans, we were just throwing ideas around and goofing around with all sorts of off the wall ideas.
As we headed far inland after El Rosarito, we hoped we could make it the last stretch before the sun set. There are no big towns between this little one store town, and Catavina, which is even smaller, but had a campground at least.
We had counted six dead cows on the side of the road that had all become road kill statistics, and hitting one after dark when they wander onto the road wasn't something I really wanted to be thinking about.
As we rolled along watching the big red ball drop behind one of the soaring mountain tops in the distance, we were both getting a bit nervous. Cindy let me know that we had about 60 more miles to go, and we both knew we only had maybe 45 minutes of twilight left. Doesn't seem bad if we were on an American highway, but here in Baja, our average speed was only about 35 to 40 mph. Even though I was pushing the envelope at about 55mph, I knew we might be caught out in the dark.
What was worse, driving in the dark, or risking being parked on the side of the road in the middle of no-mans-land? We'd make that decision in 45 minutes I guess.
When the last bit of twilight faded and we were driving in the dark, we were relieved to know we only had a few miles left to travel. We pulled into Rancho Santa Ynez campground in the dark and were both relieved we had made it unscathed. We also made a note that next time we would know to allow for more time when traveling on a dirt road in Baja.
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Tuesday April 22nd
On our trip into Baja, we had stayed in Catavina, but didn't get a chance to explore the boulder fields that make this area so unique. During one of our many talks over Tequila and cerveza's, I had argued with someone on this adventure that the Mars landing could have been filmed in Catavina, and no one would have argued that it wasn't another planet.
Between the house size, sandstone boulders that look like a child's building blocks scattered on the floor, or the Dr. Seuss looking Boojum trees that sprout up between the rocks, I cant even think of anything to compare this landscape to?
So with that in mind, I woke up before the sun this morning and looked outside to see what the campground had in store for us. When I opened the door of the camper, my jaw hit the metal steps. Luckily we were the only campers in the RV Park, since there I stood in my birthday suit just staring up at the sky.
In the early morning twilight, the full moon was just above the horizon heading home for the day. It looked too big to be real because of its closeness to the Earth, and with the cactus and Boojum trees silhouetted against the sky, I was already having a great day having only been awake for a few minutes. I yelled for Cindy to get up and look out the window!
I was dressed and out the door before she could even get the blinds pulled up. With camera and tripod in hand, I wandered through the desert looking for a cool location to set my tripod, but everywhere I looked, my only thought was "This is just too beautiful."
Cindy came out with the dogs, and we hiked the trail leading out of the camping area into the middle of the boulder fields. The desert here in Catavina is much different than the barren, dry desert further south. This area is very much alive and blooming with fresh growth.
Everywhere we looked we saw bright flowers on cactus that normally looked dull and lifeless. The early morning sun was making the colors pop with a vibrance that made me think someone had spiked my morning drink with LSD.
We wandered around for a few hours till the sun got too high in the sky and we lost that beautiful morning light made for making pictures look right. By this point we had hiked for over an hour, so we headed back to the camper so we could get on the road early today. We had to make it to Ensenada by tonight, and I didn't want to have to worry about driving in the dark again.
For anyone planning a Baja Excursion, be sure to plan your route so you have a day to hike the Catavina Boulder Fields. The Rancho Santa Ynez campground isnt much more than a dirt parking lot, but it's what surrounds the campground that makes it so rewarding.
From Catavina to El Rosario, we had over 100 miles and my fuel tank was registering a 1/4 full. I emptied the 3 6-gallon fuel cans we keep in the bed of the truck, and knew that would get us there with no worries.
The rest of the day was more flash cards and NPR radio to keep the monotony from driving us nuts. In-between our Spanish language studies, Cindy kept talking about wanting a juicy steak. It had been so long since we had eaten meat, that I think she was going through some sort of meat withdrawal. A vegetarian she is not. This woman loves her red meat and potatoes.
She kept describing how she wanted a big juicy steak wrapped in thick Canadian bacon with a side of plump chicken with some ham stuffed inside, maybe a thinly sliced turkey breast for desert. A full rack of smoky BBQ Ribs and spicy Chicken Wings for an appetizer. With my mouth watering I yelled for her to "Shut Up already!" Now she had me dreaming of these tasty dishes we had gone so long without.
Food to me is just something to keep me alive, I don't dream about it or even think about it too much unless my stomach starts growling to let me know it's been too long since I've put something in it. Now Scotch, Whiskeys or Beers are a whole nother story
But Cindy on the other hand thinks about food in her sleep. She's woken me up in the middle of the night to tell me about a dream she was having about making a new dish. I guess you cant tease someone for what they dream about, it's one thing you cant control in life.
When we finally pulled into Ensenada, we were both ready for a nice long walk to stretch the legs. We found the Estero Beach RV Park and Hotel, and checked in for the night. A bunch of fellow travelers had recommended this place as the best campground in Ensenada.
This place is a little too expensive for our taste, but everything else in the area was within a few dollars, and this spot has great security to go along with its high price tag and beautiful scenery of a secluded estuary. Ensenada is not Asunción or any of the other small places we've been so used to. This is big city, and you can tell by the traffic, the noise and the street beggars.
This was the Baja I really didn't care to see.
After the long day of driving with the constant talk of meat, Cindy told me "I saw a Applebee's in town when we were passing through. Let's go out to eat and get some real meat!"
We didn't have any food in the fridge, as we'd been trying to get rid of everything so we wouldn't be bothered coming across the border, so it was PB&J's or Applebee's. I normally hate anything corporate or having to do with a chain, but tonight I wasn't being too picky. It had been quite some time since we had eaten American food.
When we pulled into Applebee's, we both commented on the parking lot, and lack of empty places. "This place must be popular" Cindy said.
Then we noticed the news crews reporting in front of the entrance and realized tonight was their Grand Opening or some sort of big promotion.
The waitresses and hostesses were dressed like they were headed to a Prom dance. They were in black evening dresses, and the waiters were in black dress shirts and slacks. Nothing like the typical goofy outfits worn back in the states. But aside from the fancy outfits, the place looked like any typical Applebee's you'd find on any random exit along the expressway.
I guess you can always count on a chain establishment to look like the cookie cutter it was supposed to be molded after. Except for the menu being in Spanish, it was page for page the same as the last time I was in an Applebee's a few years ago. Luckily there was alot of pictures, so I could do like I always do when a menu has pictures, just point to what I want.
After a big meal of greasy American food, I was looking at Cindy with one hand holding my fat gut saying "What have you done to me? We've gone for the last 45 days with only good, real food, and in one night you ruin it all with greasy chicken wings, deep fried cheese sticks and everything else I try and avoid!"
We both went home and crawled into bed in a food coma and slept like a couple of young kids.
On our trip into Baja, we had stayed in Catavina, but didn't get a chance to explore the boulder fields that make this area so unique. During one of our many talks over Tequila and cerveza's, I had argued with someone on this adventure that the Mars landing could have been filmed in Catavina, and no one would have argued that it wasn't another planet.
Between the house size, sandstone boulders that look like a child's building blocks scattered on the floor, or the Dr. Seuss looking Boojum trees that sprout up between the rocks, I cant even think of anything to compare this landscape to?
So with that in mind, I woke up before the sun this morning and looked outside to see what the campground had in store for us. When I opened the door of the camper, my jaw hit the metal steps. Luckily we were the only campers in the RV Park, since there I stood in my birthday suit just staring up at the sky.
In the early morning twilight, the full moon was just above the horizon heading home for the day. It looked too big to be real because of its closeness to the Earth, and with the cactus and Boojum trees silhouetted against the sky, I was already having a great day having only been awake for a few minutes. I yelled for Cindy to get up and look out the window!
I was dressed and out the door before she could even get the blinds pulled up. With camera and tripod in hand, I wandered through the desert looking for a cool location to set my tripod, but everywhere I looked, my only thought was "This is just too beautiful."
Cindy came out with the dogs, and we hiked the trail leading out of the camping area into the middle of the boulder fields. The desert here in Catavina is much different than the barren, dry desert further south. This area is very much alive and blooming with fresh growth.
Everywhere we looked we saw bright flowers on cactus that normally looked dull and lifeless. The early morning sun was making the colors pop with a vibrance that made me think someone had spiked my morning drink with LSD.
We wandered around for a few hours till the sun got too high in the sky and we lost that beautiful morning light made for making pictures look right. By this point we had hiked for over an hour, so we headed back to the camper so we could get on the road early today. We had to make it to Ensenada by tonight, and I didn't want to have to worry about driving in the dark again.
For anyone planning a Baja Excursion, be sure to plan your route so you have a day to hike the Catavina Boulder Fields. The Rancho Santa Ynez campground isnt much more than a dirt parking lot, but it's what surrounds the campground that makes it so rewarding.
From Catavina to El Rosario, we had over 100 miles and my fuel tank was registering a 1/4 full. I emptied the 3 6-gallon fuel cans we keep in the bed of the truck, and knew that would get us there with no worries.
The rest of the day was more flash cards and NPR radio to keep the monotony from driving us nuts. In-between our Spanish language studies, Cindy kept talking about wanting a juicy steak. It had been so long since we had eaten meat, that I think she was going through some sort of meat withdrawal. A vegetarian she is not. This woman loves her red meat and potatoes.
She kept describing how she wanted a big juicy steak wrapped in thick Canadian bacon with a side of plump chicken with some ham stuffed inside, maybe a thinly sliced turkey breast for desert. A full rack of smoky BBQ Ribs and spicy Chicken Wings for an appetizer. With my mouth watering I yelled for her to "Shut Up already!" Now she had me dreaming of these tasty dishes we had gone so long without.
Food to me is just something to keep me alive, I don't dream about it or even think about it too much unless my stomach starts growling to let me know it's been too long since I've put something in it. Now Scotch, Whiskeys or Beers are a whole nother story
But Cindy on the other hand thinks about food in her sleep. She's woken me up in the middle of the night to tell me about a dream she was having about making a new dish. I guess you cant tease someone for what they dream about, it's one thing you cant control in life.When we finally pulled into Ensenada, we were both ready for a nice long walk to stretch the legs. We found the Estero Beach RV Park and Hotel, and checked in for the night. A bunch of fellow travelers had recommended this place as the best campground in Ensenada.
This place is a little too expensive for our taste, but everything else in the area was within a few dollars, and this spot has great security to go along with its high price tag and beautiful scenery of a secluded estuary. Ensenada is not Asunción or any of the other small places we've been so used to. This is big city, and you can tell by the traffic, the noise and the street beggars.
This was the Baja I really didn't care to see.
After the long day of driving with the constant talk of meat, Cindy told me "I saw a Applebee's in town when we were passing through. Let's go out to eat and get some real meat!"
We didn't have any food in the fridge, as we'd been trying to get rid of everything so we wouldn't be bothered coming across the border, so it was PB&J's or Applebee's. I normally hate anything corporate or having to do with a chain, but tonight I wasn't being too picky. It had been quite some time since we had eaten American food.
When we pulled into Applebee's, we both commented on the parking lot, and lack of empty places. "This place must be popular" Cindy said.
Then we noticed the news crews reporting in front of the entrance and realized tonight was their Grand Opening or some sort of big promotion.
The waitresses and hostesses were dressed like they were headed to a Prom dance. They were in black evening dresses, and the waiters were in black dress shirts and slacks. Nothing like the typical goofy outfits worn back in the states. But aside from the fancy outfits, the place looked like any typical Applebee's you'd find on any random exit along the expressway.
I guess you can always count on a chain establishment to look like the cookie cutter it was supposed to be molded after. Except for the menu being in Spanish, it was page for page the same as the last time I was in an Applebee's a few years ago. Luckily there was alot of pictures, so I could do like I always do when a menu has pictures, just point to what I want.
After a big meal of greasy American food, I was looking at Cindy with one hand holding my fat gut saying "What have you done to me? We've gone for the last 45 days with only good, real food, and in one night you ruin it all with greasy chicken wings, deep fried cheese sticks and everything else I try and avoid!"
We both went home and crawled into bed in a food coma and slept like a couple of young kids.
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Wednesday April 23rd
We had a meeting with a Real Estate Translator who would set up our property deal, and make sure everything went smoothly. Most of the day today was spent in an office building talking with a Notary who would handle our deal.
Notario's here in Mexico are nothing like the ones we have in the United States. They are very high up, and there are only a few per area, sort of like our judges in the states.
They have to approve the corporations being established and since there are so few Notario's per capita, they are very busy. The office we sat in most of the day had people coming and going non-stop like a beehive.
When we did leave for a few to go have some money wired to different accounts, we were busy fighting traffic and finding our way around this busy city. We got lost at one point and Cindy rolled down the window to ask a security guard for directions. She asked him in English and he motioned for her to hold on, picked up a hand held radio and said into it "Loco Blondie needing directianio" So for the rest of the day Cindy's new name was Crazy Blondie.
How did this man know her so well when all she did was ask for directions?
To think that a few days ago, we were in a little fishing village with only a few hundred people in it, and here we are a few days later sitting in bumper to bumper traffic with the streets looking like downtown New York.
Hopefully we'd be out of here tomorrow, and on our way back to the United States.
After our long day was finally through, we stopped at Wal-Mart to get some food since our cupboards were bare. I was going to try and buy Cindy a birthday card since tomorrow is her birthday, but since I couldn't read any of them, I just explained to her why she wasn't going to get even a card, and we both had a good laugh.
While at Wal-Mart, we did see this cool rig, but never got to see the folks who owned it.
As we drove home exhausted from the days events, I asked Cindy if 2.5 acres on the Pacific Ocean was a good enough birthday present for her, which she snapped back, "Oh come on, that's going to be my birthday present now?"
I joked and said "Ok, that wont be your present, but as soon as we get back into the United States, I'll stop at the first camera store and buy you a new camera, since we're back to sharing yours." [/COLOR]
She just looked at me and laughed saying "What I want is a real American steak, some juicy red meat that I don't have to worry that its some old burro. I want Some good red wine and a waiter that speaks fluent English so we know what we're ordering and going to get. That's what I want for my birthday!"
[/IMG]
Ok, I said, I'll try and get us to California by tomorrow night, and see if I cant get you that present. That should be easy enough. But then again, I think everything is pretty easy.
We had a meeting with a Real Estate Translator who would set up our property deal, and make sure everything went smoothly. Most of the day today was spent in an office building talking with a Notary who would handle our deal.
Notario's here in Mexico are nothing like the ones we have in the United States. They are very high up, and there are only a few per area, sort of like our judges in the states.
They have to approve the corporations being established and since there are so few Notario's per capita, they are very busy. The office we sat in most of the day had people coming and going non-stop like a beehive.
When we did leave for a few to go have some money wired to different accounts, we were busy fighting traffic and finding our way around this busy city. We got lost at one point and Cindy rolled down the window to ask a security guard for directions. She asked him in English and he motioned for her to hold on, picked up a hand held radio and said into it "Loco Blondie needing directianio" So for the rest of the day Cindy's new name was Crazy Blondie.
How did this man know her so well when all she did was ask for directions?
To think that a few days ago, we were in a little fishing village with only a few hundred people in it, and here we are a few days later sitting in bumper to bumper traffic with the streets looking like downtown New York.
Hopefully we'd be out of here tomorrow, and on our way back to the United States.
After our long day was finally through, we stopped at Wal-Mart to get some food since our cupboards were bare. I was going to try and buy Cindy a birthday card since tomorrow is her birthday, but since I couldn't read any of them, I just explained to her why she wasn't going to get even a card, and we both had a good laugh.
While at Wal-Mart, we did see this cool rig, but never got to see the folks who owned it.
As we drove home exhausted from the days events, I asked Cindy if 2.5 acres on the Pacific Ocean was a good enough birthday present for her, which she snapped back, "Oh come on, that's going to be my birthday present now?"
I joked and said "Ok, that wont be your present, but as soon as we get back into the United States, I'll stop at the first camera store and buy you a new camera, since we're back to sharing yours." [/COLOR]
She just looked at me and laughed saying "What I want is a real American steak, some juicy red meat that I don't have to worry that its some old burro. I want Some good red wine and a waiter that speaks fluent English so we know what we're ordering and going to get. That's what I want for my birthday!"
Ok, I said, I'll try and get us to California by tomorrow night, and see if I cant get you that present. That should be easy enough. But then again, I think everything is pretty easy.
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Thursday April 24th - Happy Birthday Cindy
Ensenada is only 68 miles from the Tecate border, but those 60 something miles took us a few hours to tackle. John and Diane had suggested we try this border crossing rather than the hassle of the Tijuana nightmare that most Baja travelers dread.
We hadn't heard one good thing about crossing at Tijuana. Most told us to plan on waiting in line anywhere from a few hours to over four!!
Tecate is supposed to be much faster, and just seeing what the town of Tijuana looked like made me want to steer clear of it.
The drive up and out of Ensenada towards Tecate is very beautiful and reminded me of driving through the mountains of Kentucky. Big boulders lined the peaks with small farms dotting the rolling hills as far as you could see.
We passed through one last military check point where the young guard asked me flat out, "Do you have any drugs?" I laughed thinking to myself "Does anyone every answer 'Yes' to this question?"
I let him know that we werent carrying any illegal drugs and he waved us on our way.
We pulled into Tecate and got into line for the border crossing. 40 minutes later and we were into the secondary check point where a very nice Customs Agent asked us a few simple questions. We got almost everyone of them wrong.
"Do you have any fruits or vegetables?" Yes we have one apple and one orange.
"Do you have any pork or poultry?" Yes we have some chicken breast we had just bought yesterday.
"Do you have any Eggs?" Yes a fresh carton we had just bought yesterday.
"Do you have any liquor?" Yes, a few bottles of tequila
So all three of us went into the camper where he took the chicken and the eggs, and I was allowed to eat the apple while Cindy ate the orange while we sat talking.
He was very nice and explained why we couldn't bring these items in to the United States. No big deal, we gave up the goods and he wished us well. I did ask if I could take a picture of all of us, but he said "If you even get your camera out in this section, they'll confiscate it." So I have no pictures to show of our crossing.
One thing that pissed me off was while he was confiscating all our produce and poultry, I commented on the couple of bottles of Tequila and asked if he wanted to see them?
He said "Man, I could care less how much Tequila you're smuggling across the border! We're worried about drugs, illegals and produce"
Cindy and I are huge Tequila lovers and a liter of good tequila in Mexico costs $9. Same bottle here in the States goes for over $19. If I'd known there would have been no concern about this, I'd have bought a few cases!
As soon as we were into the USA, my phone chimed up saying I had 45 missed calls. That I didn't miss. As one reader said in his email welcoming us back "Welcome to the Jungle!"
The next few hours were spent calling family members and catching up on long overdue conversations. The kind where you don't start out by saying "I have 4 minutes to talk, is everything ok at home and how are you? Got to go!"
By the time we pulled up to the Santa Fe Campground in San Diego, I think I had the start of a cellular Brain Tumor. I know that my ear was on fire already.
Cindy started on the long overdue process of laundry, and I did a few little things like emptying out the back of the truck from all our recyclables. We had a few full bags of plastic recyclable products we had used while in Baja, and this campground has a big bin for those type of products.
Cindy was jonesing to go out to eat, but when she pulled one of her afternoon "I think I'm going to lie down for a quick nap" sessions, I knew her birthday festivities werent going to be too crazy.
I did try and wake her up a few times, but I think the noon time margaritas had knocked her out. Around 9pm she finally rose from her birthday nap and said "How about Pizza?"
I had called our good friend Jeff who had recommended a place up in Solana Beach that was a big surf hangout and was known for their pizza and micro brewed beers. But Cindy wasn't having any of that.
This campground had cable TV, so she said "It's my birthday, I'd rather lie in bed and veg out in front of good ol' American television." Something we hadn't seen in a few months.
I would have much rather had good pizza and wash it down with some home brewed beers, but it was the queens birthday, and she always gets what she wants.
From border to border, we had been in Mexico for 52 days, traveled over 3200 miles and have had one heck of an adventure. We came home proud property owners and learned that everything we ever thought we knew about Mexico was wrong. And that's a good thing!
Ensenada is only 68 miles from the Tecate border, but those 60 something miles took us a few hours to tackle. John and Diane had suggested we try this border crossing rather than the hassle of the Tijuana nightmare that most Baja travelers dread.
We hadn't heard one good thing about crossing at Tijuana. Most told us to plan on waiting in line anywhere from a few hours to over four!!
Tecate is supposed to be much faster, and just seeing what the town of Tijuana looked like made me want to steer clear of it.
The drive up and out of Ensenada towards Tecate is very beautiful and reminded me of driving through the mountains of Kentucky. Big boulders lined the peaks with small farms dotting the rolling hills as far as you could see.
We passed through one last military check point where the young guard asked me flat out, "Do you have any drugs?" I laughed thinking to myself "Does anyone every answer 'Yes' to this question?"
I let him know that we werent carrying any illegal drugs and he waved us on our way.
We pulled into Tecate and got into line for the border crossing. 40 minutes later and we were into the secondary check point where a very nice Customs Agent asked us a few simple questions. We got almost everyone of them wrong.
"Do you have any fruits or vegetables?" Yes we have one apple and one orange.
"Do you have any pork or poultry?" Yes we have some chicken breast we had just bought yesterday.
"Do you have any Eggs?" Yes a fresh carton we had just bought yesterday.
"Do you have any liquor?" Yes, a few bottles of tequila
So all three of us went into the camper where he took the chicken and the eggs, and I was allowed to eat the apple while Cindy ate the orange while we sat talking.
He was very nice and explained why we couldn't bring these items in to the United States. No big deal, we gave up the goods and he wished us well. I did ask if I could take a picture of all of us, but he said "If you even get your camera out in this section, they'll confiscate it." So I have no pictures to show of our crossing.
One thing that pissed me off was while he was confiscating all our produce and poultry, I commented on the couple of bottles of Tequila and asked if he wanted to see them?
He said "Man, I could care less how much Tequila you're smuggling across the border! We're worried about drugs, illegals and produce"
Cindy and I are huge Tequila lovers and a liter of good tequila in Mexico costs $9. Same bottle here in the States goes for over $19. If I'd known there would have been no concern about this, I'd have bought a few cases!
As soon as we were into the USA, my phone chimed up saying I had 45 missed calls. That I didn't miss. As one reader said in his email welcoming us back "Welcome to the Jungle!"
The next few hours were spent calling family members and catching up on long overdue conversations. The kind where you don't start out by saying "I have 4 minutes to talk, is everything ok at home and how are you? Got to go!"
By the time we pulled up to the Santa Fe Campground in San Diego, I think I had the start of a cellular Brain Tumor. I know that my ear was on fire already.
Cindy started on the long overdue process of laundry, and I did a few little things like emptying out the back of the truck from all our recyclables. We had a few full bags of plastic recyclable products we had used while in Baja, and this campground has a big bin for those type of products.
Cindy was jonesing to go out to eat, but when she pulled one of her afternoon "I think I'm going to lie down for a quick nap" sessions, I knew her birthday festivities werent going to be too crazy.
I did try and wake her up a few times, but I think the noon time margaritas had knocked her out. Around 9pm she finally rose from her birthday nap and said "How about Pizza?"
I had called our good friend Jeff who had recommended a place up in Solana Beach that was a big surf hangout and was known for their pizza and micro brewed beers. But Cindy wasn't having any of that.
This campground had cable TV, so she said "It's my birthday, I'd rather lie in bed and veg out in front of good ol' American television." Something we hadn't seen in a few months.
I would have much rather had good pizza and wash it down with some home brewed beers, but it was the queens birthday, and she always gets what she wants.
From border to border, we had been in Mexico for 52 days, traveled over 3200 miles and have had one heck of an adventure. We came home proud property owners and learned that everything we ever thought we knew about Mexico was wrong. And that's a good thing!