Visiting friends & family in Cali

Jonathan & Mack were once again gracious hosts for us as we re-entered the U.S. There's always a bit of culture shock when crossing borders, but going from the Baja to Orange County... yikes! We had a lovely visit with them.

Luckily, we also got to meet up with our Baja traveling pals Elke and Chris. They told us all about their travels in the U.S. while we were still down in Mexico. We look forward to traveling again with them, perhaps across Europe soon.

We left Irvine and went to Pismo Beach, chasing the wind. However, we found little of it there. What we did find was that our trailer for the motorcycle had pretty much breathed its last breath. After the long haul across the southwest and then a mere 2000 mile jaunt up and down the incredibly lumpy Mex 1, our hitch was sagging like a baby's full diaper! It was time to make a change. We put a for sale sign on the bike at the beach and waited for wind or a sale! Neither occurred. Karen--who has issues with letting things go she's been told--had a think-outside-of-the-box moment. Before you know it, we're ripping out the bench seating in the camper (that Karen had fantasized about turning into a captain's swivel chair--you know like Captain Kirk!) so that the motorcycle would fit INSIDE the camper! It sure made for an obstacle course to the potty. Because the length of the "hallway" was almost exactly the length of the bike, we had to pop a wheelie on the couch to get it in and turned down the main path. And of course, camper doors are NOT very wide, so we had to do some fancy moves just to get the handle bar through.

Not knowing if this crazy plan would even work, we turned the camper's entrance away from the fancy three-axled humongous trailers that families of wealth brought in (from neighboring vineyards off in the hills) in order to ride their horses at the beach. Yes, we've become the Beverly Hillbillies, and we're not ashamed of it. Hell, after all the basically homeless people we've met in the Walmart parking lots, we know we are rich: we have a full fridge (that we keep cool with ice b/c it's broken), a full gas tank, and 6 functioning tires. More than anything, we count ourselves quite fortunate because we have friends and family who we could call for help if we were stuck, and whose company is invaluable.


Speaking of which, after loading up the bike, we headed north for a visit with my brother and his four boys. I can't believe how big they are getting! We camped for the weekend and got to see two of Matt's baseball games as well. The boys are really cool kids. We enjoyed them very much. Fortunately, upon our return from camping, we were able to sell the motorcycle. We even got the hitch torched off the back. El Dorado feels like she just got an ass-lift! We don't cringe anymore when going in and out of parking lots. We're feeling foot loose and fancy free!

So, it's off to the giant Redwoods for us. We can't wait! If southern Cal is a consumer's oasis, then northern Cal is treehugger heaven!

Mexico chapter comes to a close...

For all those holding their breath for us, you can let it back out! We made it back across the border without any difficulties.

We're in Irvine at present, staying with my best bud Jonathan and Mack. We'll be wandering up the Pacific Coast and into Canada hopefully for this next leg of the journey. I may even pop over to Egypt for a couple of weeks too! We'll see. I'll keep you posted.

We had a GREAT time on the Baja. There are many more stories to tell. We've gotten SO relaxed down there we haven't posted lately. I'll prod Tony to post some more as he's much more the story teller than me.

Happy spring to you all. We were enjoying perfect swimsuit weather and then, we headed north. Now we are in southern Cal and its actually quite nippy out. We even woke up to rain this morning, something we hadn't seen in the last 3 months. So, yeah, sunny Mexico, hangin' at the beach was just what the doctor ordered. Tony and I are like two goofy peas in a pod! We are well suited wanderers. We look forward to the next leg of our trip together.

Thanks to you all for your positive thoughts and prayers.

How The %&@! Did We End Up Here!

The morning came quickly and I found myself nursing a slight hangover. I was the first to wake up but laid in bed for a few moments trying to take in last night’s events. As I laid there watching the sun peek through the curtains, slowly a sound seeped into my consciences as if I was still dreaming. The sound was loud and irritating like a motorcycle that will not start. I leaned up on one arm and slowly looked over the side of the bed. There it was the maker of the irritating noise. Four paws covered in white fur with sky blue eyes, tongue hanging out to the side with what looked like a tennis ball in her mouth. I could see that hope sprang eternal as she glared at me like the photos of the RCA dog from the seventies with her head cocked to one side. “You better take her out seeing how she saw you wake up first;” came a husky voice from under the covers. I rolled over and plopped out of bed. Now Graceland does not have a tail only a nub and when she gets excited her whole ass wiggles and the nub moves like the remainder of an amputee’s body part. If you were to walk past her and her sphere of perpetual joy, she would pick it up and race in front of you and drop the toy in your pathway. This is the curse we live with on an hourly basis of every day. One must understand that the minute Karen and I walk away from that camper Grace will attempt to chew your face off if you walk too near. This is the sole reason she was chosen to come along in a household of three dogs. I dawned the days uniform of cut off shorts and a tank top, threw on my flip flops and out we went. In the parking lot of the campground is where I decided to play fetch with Grace but after the first ball toss a chorus of barking came from the other campsites as she sprang off to chase the ball. Everyone in the camp was now up.
Elke and Chris wanted to mail off the postcards they purchased the day before so before leaving all four of us went on a morning hike to find the only post office in town. Afterwards we picked up last minute supplies, filled our gas tanks then headed out to Los Cerritos which was about ten miles down the road. Now Karen and I were utilizing a book to help instruct us through the Baja which happened to be in its third edition. The book was still four years old yet we followed its instructions to a tee. Somehow we made the wrong turn and convinced Chris and Elke that the dirt road the book is specifying is the one we were on so we kept on driving. Within a hundred yards into the desert I found myself on three wheels with the fourth wheel a foot off the ground. I don’t think El Dorado was designed to do this but here I was stuck on an isolated dirt road that was a mile and a half long heading towards what the author of the book said was the best beach on the Baja. There was no mention that the damn thing was a true four wheel drive road! Out came Elke and Chris who with Karen pushed me on through. When we reached our final destination we were sadly disappointed to find out that the town of Todos Santos had closed the beach area due to the sale of the property to some developer who had condos in mind! Son-of-a @#$%! Now I had to drive out with the anxieties looming ahead. We decided to get a bite to eat before doing the deed. Chris was sure he saw another road that connected to our purgatory after the four wheel debacle. So instead of eating, Chris took one of my two way radios and decided to walk the road he saw and discovered that this road was the best way out with no boulders, roller coaster turns or soft sand pits in the road. He radioed back that he would wait for us at the exit and within minutes were back on solid paved road heading south.
We only drove for what seemed like a few miles when we saw the signs for Playa Los Cerritos and turned in. The Pacific winds were blowing gently as the sun was starting it’s decent over the horizon. Karen and I quickly located a spot for both vehicles to park. We leveled out the camper and with Grace leading the way scurried to the beach that was about a hundred yards away. As we sat enjoying the sunset and watching Grace bark at the waves, one of the seasoned locals named Marcos who boondocked this camp since early November sat down next to us to give us the lowdown on the beach scene. A biker from Arizona who was newly divorced with a fat pension brought him this far south. He made mention that tonight at the local gringo bar called the Sand Bar was all-u-can-eat pizza night and that most everyone in the camp heads over. He even offered to give our group a lift over if we wanted. Then two other campers named Dennis and Pat came over with Elke and Chris to chat. Marcos made the introductions and we all sat to watch the last daylight fade away.
The idea of pizza and beers sounded very good seeing how none of us felt like cooking dinner. Marcos was just pulling up in an old 82 two door hatchback Chevy Citation when Elke knocked at our door. Dennis and Pat came strolling into our campsite as well and like a college prank stuffed all seven of us into the small car and was off for the night. As we drove out of the campground the poor old car scrapped bottom at every bump. We were laughing hysterically.

“You can check out any time you like…

The rhythmic flapping of a dozen hummingbirds filled the air as each bird individually worked the various flowers on the numerous cacti which grew around the field. The local dogs barked as their masters began laying food dishes out for the morning grub. The scent of a diesel engine tractor lofted through the campground as it sat idling in the lot next door. The clock showed seven thirty when the side door entrance of the Westfalia slid open. Karen and I were still sleeping soundly. Chris made loud throat clearing noises as he and Elke prepared their breakfast; a subtle alarm clock. Karen was the first to stir awake. She gently threw the covers off her as she slid out of the elevated bed. “Wakey, wakey, hand off snakey!” she bellowed as she filled the tea pot with water. I threw the covers off and sprang to my feet like a cheetah on a baby gazelle. Do you really believe that shit? It took me ten minutes to rub the sleep out of my eyes. Then I crept slowly up to sit on the edge of the bed. The tea pot started whistling. I threw on the shorts I wore the day before but made sure a fresh t-shirt was on, poured me a cup of coffee from the now hot french press, sat outside under the awning and smoked the first cigarette of the day.
We made no qualms about prepping for the day’s drive and by eight thirty both vehicles were pulling out. Todos Santos was the today’s destination which happened to be about two hundred kilometers. The journey took us through Lapaz, the largest city on the peninsula. The drive was truly uneventful and drab overall. By mid morning we neared the ten kilometer marker as the mile markers count downwards to the large city. Here we passed a military checkpoint set up to appear as an agriculture stop. There was a tank covered with desert colored netting and what looked like the barrel of a fifty caliber gun set on a tripod with two young recruits listening to their ipods all the while pointing the large weapon at our camper. The traffic leaving the city was backed up a few hundred feet as the soldiers were more alerted to the vehicles heading north on Mex1 with vehicle inspections that occupied several soldiers at a time. The young officer in the southbound lanes took one look at our vehicle and waved us through, lucky I thought. At about a mile north out of the cities edge our caravan needed to gas up at the local Pemex gas station. Two guys that looked like surfers who were heading back to the states stopped over as I was pumping gas. They noticed the surfboard on the back of El Dorado and wanted to chit chat a little. They warned us that the city of LaPaz was preparing for the holiday carnival and so the police force has quadrupled. “Their stopping any gringos for every reason under the sun and pulling the ‘ol pay-up-front-now so-we-don’t-have-to-go-to-the-police-station routine” said the older of the two. I also mentioned how lucky I thought we were to blow through the check point with no hassle. The younger surfer said “These boys on the Baja don’t give a shit about what you may or may not be carrying heading south towards Cabo. You can expect long searches for any American vehicles headed north. Drug runners from Cabo are notorious so everyone gets checked out thoroughly all the way to Ensanada.” Damn! I thought it might have been the dog sitting between Karen and I that swayed the young officer’s mind in stopping and questioning us. Oh! Well! Before parting the two surfers shouted “be careful, have a great time and don’t forget to check out the surf at Los Cerritos!” Chris and I started looking on our maps for this hidden jewel tidbit of information and found it to be a few miles past the town of Todos Santos. Chris also noticed a new highway that loops around the city of Lapaz on his map and made mention of it to me. Without words we knew this was the route of least resistance and possibly no police squirmishes. The highway shortcut guided us through the western edge of the cities barrio and life in this neck of the woods looked pretty dismal. Karen snapped photos of the daily bizarre lifestyles as we scooted along through neighborhoods and in no time was back in the desert terrain.
An hour had passed when Chris slowed the Westy almost to a halt. A local police checkpoint was just ahead. Without even a glance the police officer waved our caravan through and within minutes we were driving on a cobblestone road. This was the main street through Todos Santos. Colorful banners zigzagged across the tops of the street. Every flower seemed to be in full bloom. Tourists dressed in white shorts and straw hats darted in and out of shops and restaurants. Chris and Elke pulled over to park the van in the first open spot. I found a spot a few car lengths down. Chris walked up to Karen and made mention that he needed to stop at an ATM machine and to make a call. Karen and I started to look around some of the local shops instead of waiting around. Todos Santos has many art galleries and Karen wanted to check them all out. Just then Elke walked up and said she’ll have to try the phone call again later because there was no answer so all four of us decided to walk around town and join the colorful clothed tourists.
The town had a real carnival type atmosphere. The first shop we walked into had many colorful items like coconut masks and numerous t-shirts with clever ads pasted on the front and backs. Ponchos and jewelry made from the various regions in Mexico and brightly painted bathroom sinks in a multitude of shapes and sizes. But as the hours passed we noticed that all the shops pretty much carried the same items. Near the center of town Karen and I walked up to the famous Hotel California with Its legendary status that was started from a song written by the infamous rock band the Eagles called Hotel California. Karen was oblivious to the story so it was not as impressive to her as it was for me. I walked through the hallways and arched entrances to the various rooms taking photos like the other tourists who were in the know. The afternoon hours were upon us and the four of us decided we best locate the campground we planned on staying at for the evening. It wasn’t too far away just a few blocks. We drove in and found two campsites side-by-side and made it our night’s headquarters. Karen and I decided to take advantage of the hot showers then made us a nice dinner all the while we were inspecting the day’s loot. We bought some jewelry, clothes and postcards. That night all four of us decided it would be easier to walk back into town and have a few drinks at the famous hotel bar. The margaritas were superb and going down like water! I was so glad we walked to the bar as we headed back to the campers at the end of the night. Two margaritas and one can forget the straight line walking!

Dreads & Banana Pancakes

The sun was creeping over the sole peak on the island of Isla Chivato which was due east about a half mile directly across the beach. El Dorado was parked perpendicularly a mere twenty five feet from the water’s edge. Elke and Cris parked the 74 Westy in front of El Dorado and we formed an “L” shaped camp site. Both our entrances to the vehicles opened to the ring of rocks that caged the large camp fires we had during the previous nights. On this morning I decided to make all of us my famous banana pancakes. Karen loves these delights and our young German travel mates never heard of such a dish yet in their polite European manner devoured as many as I sat in front of them. With our tummies full, all four of us were zipping around our vehicles, breaking down camp and prepping for the trip to our next destination – Ciudad Constitucion.

After eighteen long hours and a river of pain, Karen’s dreads were done! She’s a beautiful buffalo soljah girl. At first glance, you would think she has had these dreads for years due to the length. I am very proud of the crop of dreads I made for her. She wears them well!

The drive was scenic along the rocky coastline to the town of Loreto where Mex 1 headed west again cutting and climbing through the mountains of Sierra de la Giganta and on through to the farming town of Ciudad Constitucion. Here we stopped for a quick visit to a roadside fruit stand set at what appeared to be the entrance of the town. Little did we realize how tiring this four hour drive can be, we were all drained. I swear some of the truck drivers appeared to be young teenagers on crotch rockets blowing down the highway passing vehicles at 75 mph. What’s really scary is that Mexico’s highways here on the Baja have no shoulders. Some spots drop two to six feet. It can be very nerve wracking.

As we drove through the orange groves and fields of corn, we discovered the backbone of the farming life here on the Baja. These people work quite hard for a few pesos a day. We finally see our landmark destination that turns us off Mex 1 for a half mile to a cheesy little RV park called La Pila Balneario RV park. It was nothing really but a palm tree encased field with dozens of red ant hills dotting the park, time to break out the Ajax and sprinkle around the tires. Ants hate Ajax! The pool was half full of ice cold water and the Jacuzzi had a sign that read “under reparacion,” there goes the swimming and the hot tubbing for the night. The camp did have electric hookups and potable water but the highlight was the whole camp was WIFI rigged. That night calls were made to a few utilizing our majic jack hookup. What a cool device, free calls anywhere all year long! Dinner consisted of teriyaki beef and broccoli over rice. Karen, who’s not a big fan of bell peppers, actually ate the red bell peppers sautéed in with the broccoli. She then, let out a loud my-compliments-to-the-chef burp. As night settled in Cris and Elke came over to check their emails and down a couple of warm Cervesas with the chef. Karen had her favorite drink which consisted of coconut rum and pineapple juice. The night was peaceful until sometime during the night several gunshots in the distance set the security tone for the evening.

El Coyote one of our fav beaches on the Baja

Damn! Our very first vehicle problem had snuck up on us, at least here in Mexico. We apparently ran the batteries low during the night. This minor mishap slowed our departure from the barren Laguna Ojo de Liebre and the 28th parallel. As Willy and Anna were passing by he shouted in his broken English “need a jump?” Within minutes the Dolphin was running. Sadly though Willy and Anna decided last night that they were going on separately and so we all wished each other safe travels. We exchanged our home addresses and individual email addresses before giving hugs to one another when Elke and Chris drove up to the group. Words were then spoken in German and the hugs followed thereafter.

The fifteen mile drive to the main road did not seem as horrific as the drive in and soon our two vehicle caravan was scooting down the highway. We drove through the Sonoran desert again crossing from the Pacific side to the eastern side of the Baja and the Sea of Cortez. But for the first time we had to cross through mountains known as the Sierra de la Giganta. These mountains run along the whole eastern shore of the Baja. Exciting! We blew through the quaint desert town of San Ignacio which marked the entrance through the mountains and within an hour saw the first glimpse of the Sea of Cortez.

We drove along the seaside for a few more miles before entering the French colonial town of Santa Rosalia where we stopped and resupplied our food shelves then found the local internet café. Before departing, we found the oldest French bakery in the Baja. Yum! Eee!! This is a must find for anyone passing through. We also found the church made by Mr. Eiffel, the man who made the famed Eiffel tower. The unique thing about this church is that it is all metal. Each piece was hand crafted in France and shipped over to Santa Rosalia.

We drove for another hour or so passing the palm tree oasis of Mulege before entering Bahia Coyote. This is a bay within a bay. Bahia Concepcion is quite large and the paradise cove of Bahia Coyote is near the entrance to the much larger bay. At the southern end of Bahia Coyote marks the beach of the same name - Playa El Coyote and we pulled in for our next adventure. Playa El Coyote has to be the coolest of all the beaches in Bahia Coyote with a drive in that can rival many drives along high passes in Colorado.

We cruised the short beach until we found a beautiful mangrove patch with what seemed like a permanent vacationer parked under it. The twenty five foot Winnebago had a signed painted on the rear which read “Raven Research Laboratory.” We had to park next to it!

Gary was the sole owner/operator of the research facility. He has been coming to this very beach for eighteen years. The birds know this guy for he had in the mangrove trees bird feeders for the various birds, a bird bath with fresh water and fruits on broken branches. Hell, he even had the pelicans hanging around the stretch of beach off his camp site. This guy even had a beach museum next to the lab in a makeshift palapa stock full of shells, dead fish and corals and did I mention dead fishes? I know he told me what he was researching but I forgot. Anyway, this guy seemed really cool. We decided to stay for several days. This beach really had it going on. Every morning local vendors would come and sell their goods. One sold fresh fish, shrimp and scallops. Another sold fresh picked vegetables and fruits. One sold fresh baked breads and pies. There would also be a few trinket sales men selling such things as hammocks, necklaces and of course Mexican silver whatevers. We found ourselves hiding in our campers when these guys came around by the third day!

Life is slow and easy here. Gracie even made friends with many of the local pooches. One in particular was a puppy named Gypsy. At first glance, one would think this dog is one of the thousand homeless canines. How wrong we were. This dog had a home with some world renowned kayaker. Gypsy was the local trash inspector. Gracie and Gypsy played all day long which was cool with us seeing how bad she can be with the ol’ Jedi mind tricks and throwing the ball or Frisbee. Besides it helped tire her out at nights. This place is beautiful. It will be hard to leave this place. Tomorrow will be the big day for Karen. I will start the long process of dreadlocking her hair!

Grey whale watching!

“Yes I am pirate, a few hundred years too late!
The cannons don’t thunder, there’s nothing to plunder,
I’m an under forty victim of fate arriving too late!”

~~ Jimmy Buffet


The afternoon sun was nearing 2:15 when the two younger German couple came strolling up. The boat captain was still pleasantly smiling even though the trip was scheduled to leave at two. Willy and Anna muttered phrases in German and the four began what sounded like an international chicken squabble but off we were. There were eight of us not counting the boat captain loading up into a twenty foot wooden v hull. Soon the vessel was skipping across the two mile wide lagoon and the mist off the front of the boat was a cool oasis from the afternoon heat. Within minutes from our departure, bottle nosed dolphins were escorting our boat. Then as the captain lowered the gears on the 75 horse Yamaha, the atmosphere was filled with the sound of what could best be described as someone blowing air through a short garden hose. We had arrived! Majestic Grey whale mothers and babies were breaking water like submarines submerging from the deep. The sight was breathtaking. Not one or two but dozens and dozens in every direction and in varying distances from the boat as well. Before we knew it the captain pulled the boat within twenty feet of a sleeping mother and baby. It took the baby which averaged fifteen feet or so no time at all in realizing there were visitors near them. It swam as if from a sea world show flipping a single fin at us and rolling along. The ruckus woke the mammoth forty foot mother and off the two went. We cruised slowly through the giant pack watching the occasional brown pelicans diving for food through the maze of whale humps for what seemed an eternity. The sounds of digital cameras filled the air when the captain found another sleeping pair. I realized he was utilizing a more stealthy approach as he idled the engine. The boat drifted in a near perfect perpendicular glide to within a few feet of the dormant mother. I stuck my waterproof camera a foot and a half below the surface and snapped an excellent shot of the mother’s eye when all of a sudden the camera clicks woke the pair. Within seconds the second sea world show started this time the mom was also involved with the play time. The two whales danced around the boat for a good half hour before the captain asked if we had had enough. Yet even before the captain finished his sentenced Karen was reaching for the fin of the mother grey whale as they were about to swim off. The whole scene looked like a child in a petting zoo reaching for a goat who wants to stay out of reach. The afternoon sun was cooking now as the winds slowly picked up. The ride back seemed more wet as the boat cut through two foot waves. That night the six of us upon finishing our dinners met at Willy and Anna’s camper to compare pictures and videos. We laughed into the wee hours of the night then departed to our camps.