Monday 9/6/21
Our trip was delayed one week due to an intermittent AC issue in the cab, but hey, we don’t have any deadline so no fret. Besides, we had an extra holiday weekend to glamp out at my sister’s house and had a ‘funtastic’ time.
Our plan is to zigzag baja between the Pacific coast and the gulf side, wherever the road lead us, reach the tip of Baja – Cabo San Lucas, and then loop back to get home in time for a family member’s wedding.
Excerpt from the Lonelyplanet.com site:
“Baja, the earth’s second-longest peninsula, offers over 1200km of the mystical, ethereal, majestic and untamed. Those lucky enough to make the full Tijuana to Los Cabos trip will find that the Carretera Transpeninsular (Hwy 1) offers stunning vistas at every turn. The middle of nowhere is more beautiful than you ever imagined, and people are friendly, relaxed and helpful – even in the border towns. Side roads pass through tiny villages and wind drunkenly along the sides of mountains. Condors carve circles into an unblemished blue sky. Some people simply sip drinks, eat fish tacos and watch the sun disappear into the Pacific. Some choose to feel the rush of adrenaline as they surf that perfect wave. Others walk through sherbet-colored canyons or stare up at the night’s canopy of scattered-diamond stars. Whichever way you choose to take it, you’ll discover some of Baja’s many joys.”
Hopefully we can validate the Baja’s summary above upon completion of this trip.🙂👍
Easy ride today, 135 miles to the Potrero camp ground located ~7 miles from the Tecate border. Very nice and clean campsite.
An act of kindness
So I thought we’re going to have a lazy evening lounging around, but then 6pm-ish, Paul came in and exclaimed “we’re screwed!” since he’s been outside rummaging in the garage. I asked him what happened? He said he forgot the Gardena hose adapter for the water inlet at home (lots of expletives here…), which means we can’t resupply our water tank for the trip. He said we’re going to have to look for one before we crossed the border. We searched for the part online and found an Ace Hardware on Tavern in Alpine, about 46 miles from the campsite. I thought I’d better call first to see if they even carry the part. A store’s Associate was very helpful searching the part for us . He even looked up Hone Depot and Walmart inventory to no avail. Then, he said, “wait maybe the Aces brand adapter might work. Please hold while I go and track down the part for you.” Within a couple of minutes he came back and said this part looks identical to the item you’re looking for, here’s the item#, please ck online to see if it works work for you. Paul looked at the image online and concur that it might work. The only problem is the store closes at 7pm. We only have 30 minutes to get there. I asked the Associate for his name, “CJ”. My voice must have sounded desperate when I told CJ that we may not be able to get there in time. And with his mind soul, he said, this might be a bit unconventional, but I will leave the part outside by the due hydrant when I leave, and if you arrive late, you can just get the part from there. Don’t worry about the payment, if you happened to be in the area, you can pay me. If not, no big deal. Although the part is only about $5, CJ didn’t have to go out of his way to help us and front the money as well.
Paul and I packed up quickly to get on the road. We called CJ back and paid with a credit card over the phone. Through the dark and windy road. We finally arrived at the store about 7:30 pm and found the fire hydrant and can see a small bag tucked next to it. I got out of the truck to get the part and heard “Maggie?” I looked up and saw a young man in the Aces Hardware shirt, I asked: “CJ?” He said yes, your part is right here. OMG, I couldn’t believe he waited for us. Paul took out the mating part and it clicked right in. We both were ecstatic! CJ wanted a picture of the truck, and said this right here makes this weekend all worth it. I gave CJ a BAT sticker and a tip, and a huge grateful thanks. He humbly smiled and said “you’re welcome and have a safe trip.” Stories like this certainly warm the heart and ignite the human spirit. Love and kindness is all around us.
We’ll get an early start tomorrow for the border crossing. Fingers crossed.
Tuesday 9/7/21
Tecate is super hot today. We gassed up right at the border, exchanged some money, and headed for the border. There were 4 agents examining our documents and inside the truck. They wanted original docs, not copies of the title and other supporting docs. They took pictures of the truck labeled as RV because BAT does not look like a typical RV. They inspected inside the living unit, opened up drawers , fridge, freezer, etc . Since we’re only going to the tip of Baja, they finally let us through, but they said if we ever go to mainland Mexico, we’ll definitely need original docs for everything to get a TIP (temporary import permit), no copies. Thankfully a TIP is not required for travel in Baja.
We finally got into Tecate and headed towards the vineyards in the Guadalupe Valley, famous wine region. Don’t know if today is a holiday of some sort, but the 95% of the vineyards are closed. Bummer! We were hoping to collect a few bottles for our trip… then we started looking for tacos stand but again, most places are closed. Did we hit this area at a bad time. Oh well, moving on to Ensanada where we know restaurants are plentiful, and we finally landed a tacos restaurant with an ocean view. Decent food, but really can’t brag about it. We struggled with our order since the waitress doesn’t speak English. I felt totally inadequate, regretting not learning Spanish while in school. Don’t laugh but I did learn a few keywords to get by, such as “banos!”
IOverlander recommended a camping spot near La Bufadora (blow hole). Upon arrival, the place was closed as in out of business. But we found an amazing spot, El Mirador, on a bluff overlooking the La Bufadora for just 100 Pesos (~$5) a night, and we had this whole place to ourselves. The ocean breezes were very much welcomed and appreciated after a long drive through Tecate and the wine valley. In fact, I had to put on a light jacket to roam outside for a few sunset photo ops. Beautiful sunset, indeed.
Wednesday 9/8/21
We drove the short distance down the hill to La Bufadora for sightseeing and lunch. Where is the crowd? I guess the tourists season is over and no cruiseship is docked in Ensenada, although I did see a cruise ship at the Ensenada cruise port yesterday on the way here. The parking lot is 95% empty, most vendors are closed. The vibrant atmosphere when I was here 2 years ago had turned into a ghost town.
We walked to the blow hole and fought our way through the 20 something tourists in the area. The blow hole didn’t even want to perform today with an occasional burst of light mist. One tacos stand and a couple other food stands were opened. We spotted a restaurant and had fish & chicken tacos with a grand view of the Pacific ocean. Then made our way back and supported some of the local merchants.
Back to our awesome campsite for a siesta. I made a ham quesadilla for dinner, not so bad…. but then, you can drown anything down with a glass of wine (lol).
So my “unlimited” unlimited verizon data plan only allows 500MB per day while roaming in Mexico, which usually runs out by 1pm, then it throttles back to a crawling speed only good enough for txt, not images — a royal pain. That’s why I have not been able to load anything onto our ETX website since our departure.
Thursday 9/9/21
We stopped by Walmart in Ensenada to pick up a few items. Every food item is labeled in Spanish, naturally. I could have used the Google translator, but thank goodness, most packages have pictures so we’re good to go.
Onto our next destination along the pacific coast. Paul found a couple of campsites via his Traveler’s Guide to Camping in Mexico’s Baja. Los Olivos sounded pretty interesting. After a four hours drive, we arrived at the campsite, after checking in and paying for 2 nights, we ended up in a parking lot of a campground, nice and clean, but nothing to look at. We were truly disappointed and decided to leave for another camp site. Thank goodness for Google Translate, we were able to show the attendant that we changed our mind. She kindly gave us our money back. Then we decided to try out the El Pabellon RV Park in San Quintin, Baja. Woohoo, a very pleasant surprise after a long drive, miles of sand dunes and beach front for 200 Pesos (~$10 per night)! The campsite was quite vacant so we could park anywhere we would like. Finally, the beauty of Baja as we’d hoped.
Of course, Paul immediately got his chairs out and enjoyed his beers watching the waves rushing in. I decided to go for a long walk as I’ve been strapped down in the truck all day long today. A refreshing change with mild temperature, dramatic sunset, sea gulls playing on the sands, and the sound of the authentic waves rocking my soul. Definitely heavenly moments for me.
An Iveco truck RV pulled up next to us and chatted with Paul while I was roaming the sands taking sunset pictures. These two Frenchmen have been on the road for over 2.5 years — what a life! Oh to be free from all the burdens and just roam the earth, lovely idea but I’m not sure that’s the lifestyle I would like since I’m too deep rooted with families at home.
We had a simple dinner, and finally a decent wifi signal to catch up on all the internet of things – a shackle of modern society. How did we ever survive before Al Gore invented the internet? (c’mon just a little joke here….)
Note: Wifi signal has been very limited here in Baja. When we do have a signal, it’s only good enough for text messaging or phone call, but insufficient for web browsing, much less editing.
Friday 9/10/21
Laying low today and enjoying the beach scenes. I slept in today. Last night, while laying in bed and listening to waves, I caught myself smiling. The waves were so loud that woke me up several times. At home, I had to use the wave machine that emulates the sound of the lapping shores, and here we are, camping about 10 yards from the water line, can’t ask for more than this. I am truly grateful for all that we have, even the simple pleasure of camping on the beach and being surrounded by nature, just pure joy!
As I walked along the beach last night, I saw a sign that said “Fidel’s Tacos.” I told Paul about it so we decided to go check it out for lunch. The small building doubled as someone’s house and restaurant. As we approached the property, the dogs barked constantly, and we saw a man, shirtless, poking his head out the window. We greeted him with “hola.” He waved us in. We told him we were looking for the tacos restaurant. He opened the door and it actually looks quite nice inside with two big dining tables. He asked if we like lobsters. I said: “Oh Yes!” He opened the fridge in the kitchen and showed me the lobsters already prepped ready to cook. I told him I would like to have it for dinner, so we arranged a time to come back at 6pm. This looks like a great treat for dinner. Can’t wait.
We dined at Fidel’s restaurant, a spot I found while roaming the beach yesterday. Fidel is very friendly and a great host. Upon arrival for dinner, there are two Hispanic guests enjoying a drink. Felipe offered me a small sample of his wine. To my surprise, it was really good and refreshing. Even with the difficulty of our language barriers, we understood that this wine is made from his organic raspberry garden. I liked it so much I wanted to buy some. He said this is a sample that his son has made. He called his son up to converse with me, who speaks a little better English. So we arranged to pick up the wine at 9am the next morning. I love it when I can contribute to the local small businesses.
Fidel made us fried lobsters, fried fish, beans, and tortillas with a variation of hot sauces. Seeing that I’m Asian, he decided to make me some rice as well. It was a fun dinner trying to converse with Fidel and his friends in Spanish. We couldn’t understand each other 90% of the time, but somehow the conversations flow and we had a good laugh. Felipe even show me a picture of his wife and son, and his ranch with various produce and a pigs pin.
We can see the sun dipping on the horizon so we bid farewells to Fidel, Felipe & his son with warm handshakes . They even gave us a bag of organically grown raspberries and fresh chili peppers. We walked back to our campsite in the fresh evening air with light breezes along the beach and the remaining strokes of orange sky that’s quickly dissolving into darkness. So ends another wonderful day in Baja. This reminds me of a beautiful quote: “Like gentle waves returning to the sunlit shore, sweet memories return to the heart once more…” (not sure who the author is since I found this quote when I was in highschool).
I’m not jumping to any conclusions yet, but all the horror stories of the narco, crime and violence are definitely not here. All I have observed so far is everyone is just trying to make a living, people are friendly and hospitable . The living conditions are not great, but people seem generally happy and content.
Saturday 9/11/21
Looks like the drone is not working after several attempts. We will have to look for another one if they have them in more established cities. Stopped in El Rosario at Agua Purificada to resupply our water tank. We were greeted by 2 boys about 12 year old. They were talking to us nonstop in Spanish. Of course I didn’t understand a word they said. Google Translate came to the rescue. They wanted to know how much the truck cost, what’s inside the big box, can they see the inside, can they see the bike, etc…. natural curiosity just like typical kids in any country. We paid 1 peso per litter for the filtered water. Most campgrounds don’t have potable water so this is the safest way to refill.
Silly me I had this vision that Baja is a long coastal drive all the way to the tip and back. So far, we have only encountered 2 coastal towns; most of the drive southbound has been just crossing several desserts with bare land or saguaro cacti that reminds me of New Mexico or Arizona. And the weather is simply hot, hot, hot!
Camped at Rancho Santa Ynez in the middle of the desert, half way point to our next destination.
Sunday 9/12/21
One of Paul’s acquaintance from his previous roadtrip referred him to a camp site in a fishing village, Campo Puerto San Andres near Bahia Santa Rosalilita. We had no cell signal today from any of our electronic devices, so Paul used his Gaia map to figure out direction to get there. We ended up on a dirt road, which got narrower and tougher with low hanging trees and spiney bushes. Between the rough road, the heat and the old tire, the back tire got shredded so badly that the pieces were about to fall off the wheel.
We got out of the truck to assess the damage and determine an action plan. I suggested that Paul should take the ebike down the road and seek help as changing this 400+ pounds tire requires a two-man job. He was so stubborn and wanted to do it by himself. It was roughly about 2:30 pm so I said we should at least have a quick lunch before tackling this big job since we both had a light breakfast. The stubborn old mule wouldn’t listen!
We didn’t bicker at one another throughout this whole ordeal. The big job has to be done so we kinda kicked into survival mode to do what was necessary to get us back on the road. It was a stressful situation which demanded extra physical exertions. After Paul struggled for almost 3 hours to lower the spare tire, jacked the truck up, got the spare tire onto the truck, Paul was about to pass out literally from exhaustion.
Paul had to pause in between to catch his breath, sweating profusely, and getting lightheaded. The situation looks grim so I made him stop to eat a cup of noodles, apple, and lots of water. He finally regained his strength to finish the job.
Just then, a couple of pickup trucks came down the trail and offered help, but we were pretty much done at that point. The real problem was we were blocking the road that they couldn’t get through. The men came out and help us move our bikes and tools off the road, while Paul maneuver the truck to one side of the road to clear the path. After all was done and things put back in their proper places in the garage, we were finally able to get back inside to clean ourselves up as you can imagine the sweat and dirt from the repair efforts. It is now after 8pm. We had a light snack and sat back on the couch to rest a bit. It is now completely dark outside, Paul is down and out and too dangerous to drive on this road in this condition.
What a day! It was supposed to be paradise on the beach but turned into a bit of a nightmare. The good news is Paul was able to replace the big-ass 400+pounds tire all by himself. The bad news is we don’t have any spare tire! We’ll have to search for a truck tire stores in one of the major towns in Baja.
Monday 9/13/21
It was a restless night for me being on a desert trail in the middle of nowhere. We were not in a proper campsite, but literally parked on a dirt trail for the night since Paul was too exhausted to drive. Our plan today is for Paul to take the bike down the road to scout where there’s supposedly a fishing village, a ranch and camping spot a few miles away while I stay put and watch BAT.
Surprisingly he wasn’t gone too long. He came and reported there’s a bay area where we can camp about 2 miles down the road. It’s not great, just OK, so we can either camp there or move on. I didn’t hesitate and said “let’s move on!” Of course we had to back our way out of this narrow trail to get out. While Paul maneuvered to turn BAT around, I’m holding my breath on the passenger’s side and stepping on the imaginary brakes like it really matters. We were finally able to trace our route back out with a few stops for Paul to saw off quite a few branches to clear the path for BAT to prevent further damages to the truck and tires. I’m sitting there bracing myself and prayed in silence that the tires will make it out of this desert, otherwise we’re screwed with no spare tires and can be stuck here for days.
Hooray we made it! As soon as we hit the black top, Paul pulled over to inspect the tires and the bikes in the back. Luckily, the tires are OK, but the cover for the bikes had a big rip. We taped up the cover and hoped that it will hold up for the remainder of the trip .
We arrived in Guerrero Negro in the afternoon and checked into a decent RV/ hotel, Malarrimo Hotel Restaurante, which had great reviews for their restaurant. We found a laundromat nearby to launder Paul’s heavily soiled clothes from the tire replacement effort yesterday. $1 per load, and the lady there was extremely helpful.
We did find a tires store in town. Several mechanics came out to check the tires size, but BAT was an ex-military vehicle so they didn’t have any tires of his size. They did mention that maybe the tires store in La Paz might have it. I guess we’ll be heading that way so we’ll check it out, Otherwise, we’d have to order one from the US and have it shipped to La Paz while we’re there. It’s a must have for our roadtrip.
The tempt has cooled down nicely for the evening. We walked over to the restaurant for dinner. We were the only one there as this is the low tourist session. The restaurant has a beautiful ambience with indoor and outdoor dining. We opted for the outdoor since there are more breezes outside, but quite a bit of bugs swarming around. I had fish and shrimp, and Paul had steak and shrimp. Dinner was excellent just as described by other reviewers; definitely made up for the unfortunate event yesterday.
Tuesday 9/14/21
Just a chores day today, cleaning up inside the truck, refill water, dumping, etc.
Wednesday 9/15/21
We toured the Salt Farm with Mario’s Tour, guided by Arturo. We had a small tour group with only 3 people, including the two of us as this is the low tourist season. We met Denise from Ecuador in our tour group, who’s backpacking throughout Mexico for 3 months. She’s young and has lots of energy — kudos to her for exploring the world while she can.
The salt farm was quite interesting as to how the salt was harvested.
Excerpts from Geo-Mexico.com website: “The fifth largest salt-making facility on the planet is near Guerrero Negro on the west coast of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. It produces about 9 million metric tons of salt each year. The salt here is not mined, but extracted from ocean water by evaporation. The salt fields cover 33,000 acres, including 28,000 acres of collection ponds and 3,000 acres of crystallization ponds.”
The farm is massive and one can easily get lost out in the field if not being guided. The salt pond is about 1 meter deep and takes about 6 to 8 months to dry via evaporation into a salt bed.
We got to watch several caterpillar truck scrape up the salt just like plowing snow, and then transported by a ginormous gondola that can carry tons of salt at a time back to the plant for cleansing.
It is definitely an extensive process, yet each ton of salt is only worth about 25$. I have gained a much deeper appreciation for the salt we use in our everyday lives. Arturo explained to us the town Guerrero Negro is named after a ship, the Black Warrior back in the days, and on the back of the 500 peso bill is a scene of the whales with the backdrop of the mountain range behind the salt farm. Now when I look at the bill, I can say “I was there!” Yeah!👍
After the 2.5 hour tour, we were back at Mario’s restaurant, had lunch, then headed out to Bahia Asuncion. This is a beautiful small coastal town with very friendly people who offered us to park anywhere we’d like to camp. Paul elected to drive down the sands to have the ocean front view.
The waves are quite high here; they literally roar, not a lapping wave. We have all the windows opened and can feel, smell, and taste the sea air, soooo calming , relaxing, and therapeutic. My brother in law Phil woul definitely say: “worth it!” with his thumb up.
Thursday 9/15/21
San Ignacio- oasis of the desert. We encountered another military checkpoint on the way here. This time they were more aggressive and thorough with checking BAT out, pulling things out of bags inside the cab and contents in the cabinets inside the living unit. They did this with other vehicles ahead of us so we weren’t the only one.
Google map direction to our campsite took us into a small neighborhood with low electric cables and into a very narrow alley. BAT was definitively in a pickle! Two women came outside to watch the commotion and probably watching out for their properties. After several maneuvers through this tight squeeze, I told Paul it’s not worth it to continue or BAT is going to tear down this little neighborhood.
We got back out on the main road and surprisingly Google map rerouted us onto another path on the proper road . Phew! We arrived at the Camping Petates, a beautiful campsite in a lagoon full of palm trees, palapas, nice and quiet, truly an oasis for 220 pesos/ night.
We would have loved to stay here longer but it was soooo hot here, tempt was 97 degree. Thank goodness our AC works so well that we were able to retreat inside and stay cool.
Friday 9/17/21
Arrived at La Rosalia, a coastal town on the gulf side. Hot hot hot here. I always think of coastal areas as being breezy and cool, but not here, it was in the 90s. We walked around town, visited the Iglesia Santa Barbara church. Tidbit (per Wikipedia): “The Iglesia Santa Barbara Church is a prefabricated iron church in Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur, Mexico. It is said to be designed by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel in 1884, and built in 1887. First shown at the 1889 Exposition Universelle of Paris, France, it was moved to Brussels, where it was acquired by the Boleo Mining Company who installed it in Santa Rosalia in late 1897.”
As we strolled in the burning heat, Paul saw a hair salon along the strip so I encouraged him to get a hair cut. It worked out great since the salon is nice and cool inside. The hair dresser did an excellent job on Paul’s hair for only $4. Looks like Paul will be getting his hair cut along the way in Baja at this rate.
After touring the strip, soaked in rolling sweat, we looked for a tacos stand for a late lunch, but it was too darn hot to be eating outside. We almost gave up but I spotted a restaurant near BAT, and thank goodness it was in a full AC environment. Hallelujah! I had a grilled ~2 lbs lobster for $17 and I ate the whole thang!!! So good for the taste bud but really bad for the cholesterol level. Paul had fish, looks great, but I think the lobster stole the show.
Just as we left town and got back on Mexico1 hwy, Paul decided to stop at a mini mart to pick up some beer, but he noticed a police vehicle followed him in. Uh oh! Three policemen and one police woman was trying to tell him that he didn’t come to a full stop at a stop sign. The policewoman used the Google Translate to tell him that he has to come to a full stop for 3 seconds. Guilty as charged! One policeman stated to generate a ticket, while the other one explained to Paul that he can pay now, 400 pesos ($20), or go to court at 6pm and pay in front of the judge. Apparently Paul has done some research and knew this was a scam. He politely said he’ll pay at the police station. The policewoman again used Google Translate to tell Paul you’ll pay a lot more at the police station or in court. Oh and by the way, it’s late Friday afternoon, you may have to wait until Monday morning to see the judge, so you’d be better off paying now. Again, Paul told them he will pay at the station. They took his driver license and told him to follow their car to the station. We got back on the road and saw the police car pulled over on the side of the road. Paul got out to talk to the officer in charge. He said something in Spanish and gave Paul back his driver license and signaled him to go. Paul thanked the officer, got back into the truck and we took off. Wow, so the rumors are true about police scamming tourists. I guess with the size of BAT, it attracts the wrong attention! We’ll be more vigilant driving through Baja to not give them a reason to pull us over.
We finally got to Mulege. Maneuvering BAT through very narrow streets in town was quite challenging, but we finally made it to our campsite, the Huerta Don Chano RV Park. Nice clean campsite along the river for $15/ night.
It is hot here, in the 90s and high humidity. We turned the AC on, but even after an hour, the living unit still hasn’t cool down yet. I decided to go for a walk to burn off the calories from the 2lbs lobster. It’s a beautiful walk along the river at sunset, just wish it wasn’t so crazy hot. I had to take a cold shower to cool down faster because nothing else helps. If the rest of the trip is going to be this hot, I’m not sure if I can last another month in Baja… Sorry for constantly whining about the heat, but my body temperature regulator just can’t handle extreme temperatures.
Saturday 9/18/21
Manuel, the RV park owner offered Paul a ride into town this morning to check out the tire shop to find a replacement for the spare tire. Luckily, they found one from mainland Mexico that they can ship here, but it will take about 12 – 14 days. It only costs $900 for a tire, so Paul ordered one. Ouch, right?! Well, BAT is a big boy so he needs big tires to carry his weight. They wanted 50% down payment in cash. We got on our ebikes and rode into town to access the ATM machine for the cash withdrawals. Talk about the blind leading the blind! We tried to withdraw about 9,000 pesos (~ $450) but the ATM machine kept spitting the ATM card out without any error prompt. Hmmmm! It finally registered to me that there’s a limit to the amount you can withdraw in one day, so I tried 8,000 pesos, and voila, it worked.
We rode to the tire shop, made the deposit, then searched for a purified water store to top up BAT in the morning. However, their water spigot can’t mate with our water hose, so then we asked the locals to find a hardware store to look for an adaptor. Paul found a connector that might work, so we headed back to the water store again and checked with the attendant to see if the new fitting would work and he agreed to try it the next day.
All the running back and forth in the 90s with 60% humidity got me drenched in sweat. We were too hot and tired to be hungry so we headed back to camp. As we rode back, we decided to follow along the river to see where the path lead us. We were rewarded with a beautiful beach, a few straw huts offering shades, and more importantly, gentle breezes that helped cool us off after the runaround in town. This spot would have been more ideal to camp, except there’s no hookups for AC, so it’s a trade off in terms of view vs AC. This time, the AC wins, no contest.
The day is still young so we rode back into town for a drink. Found a quaint restaurant to relax. Paul drowned himself in beers (about $1.50 / bottle) and I had a margarita. We both had fish tacos 👍. We met two American ladies sitting by the bar, so we started chatting with them. They actually live here and were telling us about the water shortage situation because the county didn’t pay the electric bill so they got their water source shut off. Can you imagine if this happens in the USA?
After a heavy meal and partially drunk, following the local customs, we rode back to camp for a siesta🙂.
Sunday 9/19/21
Moving on to Loreta to find a purified water store as the one in Mulege has a water shortage and might limit our intake. We finally found one in Loreta and met the two young brothers, Daniel (17) and Salvador (15) running the store quite efficiently. Of course we once again had a problem with the water spigot vs BAT water hose mating issue, but the boys quickly figured out alternatives to provide the water.
It was a slow painful process with the flow rate because of our connectors issue. After ~ 1.5 hr, we finally put in 400 liters (~100 gallons), which cost only $15 that would last us about a week. The boys were very polite and attentive. I stood there and watched how they serviced their customers. As soon as a car arrives in front of the store, Salvador will run out and fetch the 20 L bottle, bring it into the store, Daniel would fill it up, clean the bottle, collect the payment, and then Salvador will quickly take out the filled bottle and put it inside the car for the customer. I’m quite impressed by these two young boys, while thinking most kids at their age in the USA are more likely busy playing computer games, not knowing how other parts of the world survive on a daily basis. If you’re reading this and thinking I’m stereotyping the children of the USA, not quite. I know there are goods and bads everywhere in the world, this is just a simple contrast of the two worlds we live in, that’s all. I gave each of the boys a very big tip for all their efforts, hopefully, that will make their day!
We arrived at our campsite, the Loreto Shores RV Park, which is right by a beach and has a swimming pool. OMG, the water looks so refreshing after standing outside the water store for 1.5 hour, soaked in sweat again. We quickly parked the truck and changed into our swimsuit and dived in the pool. Though the water is quite warm, it was still very nice to just soak in the water for a change. I swam several laps as though a fish seeing water after 2 weeks being on land. It felt GREAT! This campsite is nice and clean, and the pool made a huge difference.
Monday 9/20/21
Tough day today. The AC has been working overtime inside the living unit and the power consumption far exceeded BAT’s power system. Additionally, while on the road, we noticed the AC in the cab is also having intermittent issues again, cutting in and out. And the water pump cuts out the other night, even though the gray water tank is way under the threshold. Well darn, when it rains, it pours. Early in the morning, the battery sensor alarm went off and Paul had to turn off the AC to conserve energy. I woke up about 8:30ish since the bedroom was getting hot and suffocating. Paul was already out in the pool to cool down. I tried to do a few things inside the cab, my normal morning routine, but the temperature kept rising, and I started to get heat exhaustion. I called Paul back from the pool the turn the AC back on, but there was insufficient power to have the AC, so he told me to go to the pool to cool down, while he tries to address the issue. Me, 9:30 a.m. , packed and headed out to the pool before I pass out (I’m not being dramatic, really!)
The onsite manager, Miguel, was so very helpful. He ran to a hardware store to buy the necessary electrical components to help convert the amperage from the campsite to our electrical cable to help boost the capacity. However, the technician wasn’t available until 3pm to help with this process. Meanwhile, Paul also asked for assistance with the AC unit in the cab. The manager once again called his AC specialist in town, who made himself available within an hour. They were able to diagnose a few problems with the AC system in the cab. Long story short, as stated before, everyone in Baja is sooo helpful and very willing to go he extra miles to help us. We are so very grateful for all their help.
It wasn’t until about 6:30 p.m. that the Paul was able to restore the AC in the living unit. And poor little Maggie was stuck out in the pool from 9:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. jumping in and out of the pool, and showering down by the pool every 10 minutes to keep cool.
We walked to a local restaurant for dinner. Lovely ambience and very friendly host, Jose, who recognized us from the Agua Purificada store in town. He recommended a few dishes for Paul to try, I had a very refreshing pina colada and grilled fish. Delicious meals with nice breezes throughout the evening, what a pleasant change from this morning.
Tuesday 9/21/21
This morning was dedicated to doing chores, house cleaning, laundry, etc. We’re going with the local trend, stay indoor during the day and going out in the evening to avoid the harsh sun. We took a taxi to the malecon (boardwalk) for only $3.50. We strolled along the boardwalk, enjoying slight breezes, a nice break from the heat in the day time. The town came to life in the early evening as people are out walking, swimming in the beach, dining.
Across the street is the beautiful La Mission Hotel with the grand view of the malecon, a perfect locale for future visits to Loreto. Our perception of Loreto completely changed as we walked into the historic town square where tourists and locals are enjoying drinks and meals on the sidewalk restaurants, and best of all, a flamenco guitarist performing in the venues. We sat down for a margaritas while enjoying the live performance. I requested the performer to play La Llarona; he didn’t hesitate and started playing my favorite song — music for my soul. I have a passion for the guitar, but never invested the time to learn how to play this instrument because life got in the way.
We also discovered the Historic Loreto Mission in the square glowing majestically in the spotlights. It’s a shame we were not able to tour the inside at night.
We spotted a restaurant near the guitarist, the Mita Gourmet, which turned out to be a gem. The dishes were truly gourmet. Paul said this was the best meal he has had in Baja, grilled fish stuffed with seafood, recommended by a family member of the restaurant.
So the evening ended in delight as we left Loreto downtown, happy with our new discovery. There are much more to see in Loreto, perhaps next time when the weather is more enjoyable.
Wednesday 9/22/21
We arrived at Puerto San Carlos in the afternoon, camped at the Mar Y Arena Hotel. They gave us a perfect spot for BAT, with our own palapas, dining table and chairs, beach front for $15/ night. Finally a breezy beach that we can open up completely to enjoy the view and the fresh sea air. Admittedly it is about 86 degree F here, but the sea breezes make it very comfortable inside.
We went for a walk to catch the sunset but the beach has high tide so the walkable stretch was very short. We decided to walk into town but there wasn’t much of anything to see. We got back to our campsite, met a young lady, Ellen, from the US, spending time here as a diving instructor. She told us we can take a pontoon tour to the island for fishing and play in the sand dunes. It’s amazing that these young people are so mobile and can live anywhere doing what they love. I remember being young and had no fear….
Thursday 9/23/21
Slo-mo today. This town is known for whale watching and fishing excursions, Otherwise it’s quite a sleepy town without tourists.
Another camper arrived today and reported there’s not much to see in town so we discarded the plan to tour the town with our ebikes. We stayed in and kicked back today. Paul did a few tasks for the truck, I elected to do some watercolor painting.
We had dinner at the hotel restaurant to support their business because it was so dead yesterday. Today, however, they had a big group in there celebrating a birthday. The place became alive, which I’m glad to see.
Friday 9/24/21
Long Commute day to La Paz. Back to the blazing gulf side again. We stopped by Walmart to restock. It felt so good to be inside a big Walmart store that has everything we need, especially with full AC. And it felt like home…. All the towns that we have been traveling through only has mini mart, which are about 25% the size of Circle K or Seven Eleven with very limited supplies.
We camped at the CAMPESTRE MARANATHA RV Park just outside of LaPaz to avoid the hustle bustle of the big city, and a place to rest after the long drive.
Saturday 9/25/21
We went into town to get the AC in the cab fixed. The part was not available until Tuesday so we’ll have to make a trip back to La Paz. Stopped by Playa Balandra Beach as it is a very popular beach for both tourists and locals. It’s a beautiful cove but quite crowded, as expected.
We arrived at our campsite, Playa El Telecote Beach, more open and better air flow than Balandra. We put the awnings up and got the beach chairs out to chill. It was rather comfortable with the open air than being inside. We sat and sat and sat watching families enjoying a day at the beach and the pelicans flying and diving for fishes. It always amaze me how they can hunt fishes from such high altitude. More people are coming out in the late afternoon and enjoying the swim. A Mexican Marine helicopter pilot stopped by our campsite to take a picture of BAT and had a good chat with Paul. It turns out he was trained in the US. He even offered for us to tour the Marine base if we were interested.
It finally cools down to a comfortable temperature as the sun comes down. We walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It’s just a small venue with outdoor seating. The sunset here is quite stunning with silhouettes of people on the beach and little boats out on the horizon.
We had a simple dinner and got back to our camp site as a herd of cars leaving the beach, yet there was still about 30% of the people stayed for overnight camping.
In case you’re wondering why I took pictures mostly of sunsets on this trip, plain and simple — it’s just a lot cooler in the evening without the sun beating on you, and even if you wear two pairs of sunglasses, it’s still tooooo bright in the daytime.
Sunday 9/26/21
We spent another day at the Playa El Telecote Beach, camping out awaiting for the AC replacement part. We thought since it’s Sunday, the beach would be less crowded because people are at home resting before going back to work on Monday. Oh boy, were we wrong. More and more people came to the beach by the hour, and pretty soon, BAT was completely blocked in on both sides, front and back. It was so crowded, noisy, and loud music playing everywhere, you’d think there’s a festival going on here. We almost packed up and move to another camp site, but we were seriously blocked in, unless we can find the owners of these vehicles and ask them to move, it works be an impossible task. As they say, if you can’t win then, join them, so we hung out on the beach beneath the canopy and people watch to pass the time. That was it, a very unproductive day but a very nice down day.
Monday 9/27/21
We continue on our southward journey to La Ventana, known for their kiting arena because of the high winds. Pretty posh little town, but to our surprise, most of the RV campgrounds are closed for the season. Apparently the season kicks off on October 15th. We literally drove to 5 different sites but they were all closed. The only RV Park in town, although it is open, has no hookups, and we were in desperate need of the electrical hookups to run the AC as the solar power on BAT can’t generate enough power to run the AC for 24 hours continuously.
We stopped by a restaurant in town, Tony’s La Ventana for lunch while deciding which town to go next. This spot was a gold mine. The food was incredibly delicious. Paul had pasta and I had the house pizza. The last time I had pizza this great was in Napoli, Italy. No exaggeration! Tony, the restaurant owner, was very friendly and helpful trying to find us a camping spot for the night. Although it didn’t work out, it was very kind of him to make several phone calls on our behalf.
We left La Ventana and headed for Los Barriles. Mex1 hwy to Los Barriles was a completely different landscape than what we have seen throughout this entire roadtrip. It was windy with lush green on the high mountains and on the grounds. At one section, we thought it resembles the road t o Hana in Maui, minus the water falls.
We arrived at Los Barriles in the early evening. It was so darn hot, we turned the AC inside the unit on and rushed to the bar on site at the Martin Verdugo’s RV Beach Resort for a cool drink. We met several Americans who are on a fishing trip. They are quite friendly and a fun group. We had a good chat and great laughs. It’s nice to converse without having to use Google Translate or hand gestures for a change.
Afterward, We went for a walk to check out the town. It was a bit dusty every time a car goes by as the streets are not paved. We came back to the camp via the beach route, a bit more pleasant, but not a single breeze in the air. We both were drenched in sweat from just a short walk. My blouse was so wet as though you just removed it from the washer. We couldn’t shower fast enough to cool down.
Somewhat a disappointing day as the two towns we visited today wasn’t as picturesque and fun as Paul has seen on YouTube while doing his Baja research.
Tuesday 9/28/21
I researched things to do in Los Barriles. We had a choice of ATV, fishing, horse back riding, kiting lessons, that’s pretty much it. I opted for the sunset horseback riding on the beach with the Baja’s Awesome Beach Rides company. It turned out great. Our tour guide is Felix. He even called ahead to see what drinks we’d like after the ride so he can get them ready for us. There were four of us: Felix, Cody (young boy about 12, the owner’s son), Paul and I. My horse’s name was Pearl and Paul’s horse’s name was Major Tom. It’s funny that Pearl is so competitive; she doesn’t want to lag behind the group. If Major Tom got anywhere near her, she would speed up to be in front.
Felix said he used to be a tour guide for cruises but because of covid and other circumstances, he’s now a tour guide for the ranch. You can just tell he’s so great with the horses. We trotted the entire length of the beach, about 2 hours ride. The sunset while not dramatic, it was beautifully serene.
That was a wonderful event and a nice break from the lack of activities this week. We had dinner at Trinies, a restaurant nearby within walking distance. Lots of Americans at this venue. Several people have told us they like Los Barriles because it’s not crazy hectic with tourists like Cabo San Lucas.
Wednesday 9/29/21
We left our campsite to refill the water tank. Paul missed a turn so the GPS rerouted and led us down a dirt road. Every time I see a dirt road now, I smell trouble. Sure enough, about a mile down the narrow dirt path, a broken fence with barb wires has fallen down for quite some times, and to top it off, a huge boulder sat on the side of the road which made the path impassable. Paul attempted to squeeze BAT through it, but I had to jump out of the truck to inspect the road as the view from my side window is screaming:”not gonna make it!” It was so narrow that Paul couldn’t even open the door to get out. He had to back up the truck to get out and assess the situation. Yup, it’s a no-go as we have to spare tire to mess around. Paul has to back the truck up almost a mile tracing back to get back out, meanwhile, an assenide side by side ATV was approaching us woke we’re sweating bullet trying to back up. Instead of turning his ass around to give us the time to back up, he decided to inch up as we reverse BAT. Really, who does that? At one section, there seems to be enough room for him to pass by, Paul signaled him to pass us, he approached our truck and wanted to chat. Again, who does that?! We’re in a pickle here trying to get out, we both are sweating like pigs, do ya really think we wanna chat right now?!!! Seeing that we didn’t want to talk, he finally left the scene. Further down the road, we found a small driveway that would enable us to do a 10 point turn, and we finally got off the dirt road. My only regret is I didn’t take a picture of the blockage scene to post on this website. But when you’re under stress, the last thing you think of is the camera.
It turns out both of the filtered water stores in town didn’t work out so we moved to a new campsite, the East Cape RV Resort. This site was much nicer than the previous campsite in Los Barriles, more shades, nice swimming pool, well kept. As soon as we parked the truck, we both jumped in the pool to cool down. Ah yes, so refreshing for a change! We met a nice couple, Dave and Sharon, from Seattle who’s been on the road full time in their camper van. They are actually building a house here in Los Barriles. I asked them why they decided on this town, Dave said it’s a small town, about 2000 people, who are very friendly, supportive and engaging community. I said it’s quite a climate change from Seattle to Baja . Sharon said they got tire of the gray sky all the time. I get it, I’d much prefer the sunshine too (but not the heat!😉) My comfortable operating temperature range is between 72 – 76, very narrow bandwidth. Outside of this range, my body goes berserk.
We spent several hours by the pool, finally came back to our campsite for dinner and call it a day. Another encounter of Baja’s roadside hazard today — that’s too much excitement in one day for me.
Thursday 9/30/21
Lazy day today, hanging out by the pool while doing laundry.
Friday 10/1/21
We needed to refill our water tank before heading south to Cabo. It was definitely a challenge around here. The Purificada store are either close, only refill the 20 liter bottle water, or parking is impossible. And if we find a decent one, our house can’t mate to their spigot dispenser. We finally found one in San Jose del Cabo, Water World. Of course same problem with the hose mating issue. We almost gave up, but the two attendants were most helpful. They got a heat gun to soften one end of our hose and clamped it their spigot after struggling with it for almost 20 minutes. Finally, success!
While waiting for the water tank to be filled , a young man came by admiring BAT. I started a conversation with him. During our chat, he suddenly asked: “have you gotten pulled over by the police yet?” I said, how did you know? He said look at the size of this truck, how can anyone miss it? I just laughed. He said, what you need to get is a cheap $30 dashcam and mount it up. When the police tries to bribe you, if they see a dashcam, they will let you go since they don’t want to be caught on camera. Hmmmmm…. so that’s the trick! We’ll definitely have to get one for the duration of the trip.
Then we had to find FedEx to retrieve a pay that Paul ordered from the states to fix the cab’s AC. He paid $50 to expedite the delivery to a hotel that we’ll be stayng in Cabo. Well, the part arrived and was declined by the hotel. So we finally found FedEx in San Jose del Cabo and the agent used Google Translate to tell Paul that the part was sent home. Paul almost lost it, but luckily the store owner came out and told us in English that the part is at the FedEx in Cabo. I looked up the address in Cabo and confirmed it with him. We then headed into Cabo. Parking near FedEx was next to impossible so Paul dropped me off on the street woke he looked for parking. I had to cross a very busy intersection with no cross walk. Finally got to the FedEx store by 3:35 pm, there was not a clear entry way as everything was locked up. I saw a man standing by and asked him where the entry was, luckily he spoke English and told me the store is closed until 4pm. Seriously, is this Friday the 13th?!!!! Paul finally caught up with me and we waited until they opened. We finally got in, have the agent the tracking number, he looked it up, used Google Translate, and said the part is not here. Wtf????!!! We asked him where is it and he said it’s at FedEx in San Jose del Cabo. What would you have done right about now? We told him we were just there and they told us to come here. He was at a lost and his manager came out, look at the tracking info online and that it’s here. Oh thank God! We almost lost it. She went into the back to look for it, while we’re pacing in the front prayng that she will find it. She finally came out with the package and said we have to pay the tax due on it and showed us the amount printed on the package, 210 peso ($10). At this point, we’re not even gonna ask, just pay the lady! No wonder the hotel declined the package upon delivery because they didn’t want to pay for the taxes.
After all the commotion, we finally got on the road to our hotel, Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas for a break from the road. You think the drama is over? No, this day isn’t over yet. The GPS took us down a narrow dirt road and I thought here we go again. What kind of beach front resort are we heading to via this path? But Riu finally appeared in grandeur. Phew! We found a big parking space for BAT and Paul wanted to bring our luggage and a few bags in. Well, it is Riu, but not the Riu we booked. The front desk agent, after checking my ID told us we’re in the wrong location. Luckily, we only have to drive further into the campus to get to the right hotel. Paul passed me the luggage to load back into the cab, and I have noooooo idea what I touched, but I felt a sharp pain on my middle left finger, and blood started flowing. Holly moley, what the hell! I grabbed a wet wipe to clean up the blood but couldn’t stop the bleeding. Three sheets of wet wipes later and applied pressure, the bleeding slowed down. I was able to check into the hotel. We were supposed to have a junior suite with partial ocean view, but the front desk agent said since it was our first time here at Riu, she will upgrade us to a full ocean view. Yeah! Redemption!
The room was great, spacious, with a fantastic view of the pools and the beach. After unpacking, I wanted to get dinner as we had a really light breakfast and after all that running around, sun beaten, sweaty and the works, I was hungry. We had seven restaurants to choose from, I chose the Misaki Japanese restaurant. We were seated in the garden with bamboo trees and really loud birds chirping. I told Paul “couldn’t they turn the volume down a little bit?” He looked up advice the trees and said, these are real birds sound, not from a stereo. I looked up and was totally surprised to see hundreds of birds circling above the bamboos. Suddenly, those chirping sounds became joyful, not an irritant.😊 Funny thing was, a boy across the room dropped a glass on the floor and broke it with a loud shattering sound. Suddenly, all the birds chirping completely went silent like someone just turned off the speaker. We were wondering what happened to all the birds. They must have been scared and flew off? But within about 2 minutes, they all came back with their orchestrated chirping.
We had a lovely dinner, then waked around to explore the property. This place is huge with extensive amenities. It was overwhelmingly paradise! From the outdoor dining area, you can watch the sunset casting is orange glow on El Arco, the famous arch in Cabo. What a fantastic view.
We came back to the outdoor theater to watch the Michael Jackson show. We were loaded up with Pina colada while waiting for the show to start. The main character, Michael performed flawlessly to every one of MJ’s hit: Billy Jean, Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Thriller, etc. He got the costume and every single move/gesture exactly like MJ’s music videos. The audience went crazy with MJ’s signature moves!
There you have it, our Friday in hell was finally rewarded with a perfect ending. Now off to bed….zzzzzz
Saturday 10/2/21
Unfortunately it rained today so we couldn’t lazy by the swim up bars. Paul decided to try out the part to fix his AC and the saga continued…. It was the wrong part! Can you believe after all that efforts and money spent chasing down this part? Urgh!!! Seems like a temporary solution is to bypass this connection with a wire, which leaves the fan running and a lot of connect/disconnect on the road, but I told Paul to stop chasing this issue, just let it be and enjoy Baja because it has completely consumed him. We can address it when we get home.
Endless Trail Expeditions 