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Heidi & I take off from Hayward Wis. Tuesday Dec 28 and make a bee line south.

Free drinks: We are shooting for Santa Fe New Mexico for New Years Eve and maybe look up Tim, a new friend I met at the Horizons unlimited motorcycle event in Creel Mexico. Our goal is not to do any driving after dark and enjoy being on the road as much as possible. This is our first night on the road. We are staying in Iowa Falls, Iowa, nothing to report. On our second night, we make it to Wichita, KS. Heidi & I take a cheap room at the motel 6. After we get settled, we wander across the street to a fancy hotel in search of a bar. At the bar, I order a couple of cocktails then try to pay. The bartender says I need to get drink tickets at the front desk (The bar is for hotel guests and drinks are free). I worked in the resort hotel business all through high school and college, so I know the ropes, 'go with the flow and act like you own the place' nobody will notice. It is not that I am too cheap to pay but the bartender would not take any money, and this is fun! While we stand in the lounge drinking we met a couple from Austin, TX, Heidi & Dale. Fun people, we have a lively conversation. They invite us for a New Years eve party and a place to stay in Austin, wow! The four of us walk to a restaurant next-door for food. Before we know it, we have a group of eleven people. Four others I met while making small talk at the hotel bar, the other people I think owned the restaurant. Man we lit that place up! It is like we are all best friends that haven't seen each other for a long time. One of the guys had some far-out stories that I could fill pages with. Super fun, what a way to start the trip, a fun social adventure.

New Years: Well, Austin is out of our way so we had to decline the offer. We had other offers for places to stay from people I met at the horizonsunlimited motorcycle event in Creel Mexico. I can't get over how warm and friendly people we have met on the road have been.a

Driving into New Mexico and can see the snow covered mountains to the North. I turn to Heidi and say "do we really want to go up into the snow again?" We instantly change our plans and decide to look for a new destination for New Years further south. We make Alamogordo, NM and find cheap motel. We sign up for two days to take care of a list of things-to-do. Plus, that is just the way we like to travel, we give ourselves time to chill, enjoy the location and take care of business, win - win.

In Tucson Arizona, we still need new tires and a battery for the jeep, plus my laptop screen went bad. I need a computer. In only one night in Tucson, we get 4 new Mud-Terrain tires, new battery and an oil change, sweet! Our plan is to cross the border at Mexicali, Mexico. Yuma AZ looks liked a good place to stage ourselves and take care of a few last minute things. In Tucson, I have a technician look at the laptop, it doesn't look good. In Yuma, we stay just across the street from a Best Buy store. I pick up a 15" flat screen monitor for under $200. Not ideal but I'm back up and running with all my software. I have an AC power converter for the jeep, so I can still compute even when we camp on the beach. At the motel in Yuma, I plug the laptop into the phone jack and clicked on NetZero.com. Sweet, it fired up even though I do not have an account with them any more. Thanks NetZero. It is fun emailing all our friends with an update on our trip and the link to our new web site, http://www.JustAdventureTravel.net

Mexico: From Yuma we made it to the border in no time. This is the fourth time I have driven into Mexico, so I know the procedure. Everything went smooth, the Baja! It is only a little over a hundred miles to San Felipe, our first Mexico destination. In route, I saw a few dune buggies cruising next to us in the dirt. Of course, I had to jump in behind them, just for the fun factor. When in the ‘Baja’

San Felipe is great, it's the first American tourist destination in Mexico I've been to. I don't like that most people we run into speak English, but I guess that's the way it is in the Baja. I have conditioned myself over the years to not speak English when talking to a Mexican in Mexico, but it feels weird when they speak English to me.

Heidi & I rent a little cabin with a fireplace stove and fridge and private parking right outside the door for $35 a night, two nights. A short mile walk to the Sea of Cortez, super fun. I've read about the fish tacos being to die for here. It is true, unreal.

WWe have a great time playing tourist, walking, eating, drinking and looking. I bought a Baja off road racing decal that included a free shot of tequila, what a deal!

2nd Degree Burns:
Ok, when we travel in Mexico on a budget, there are often surprises. When we get back to our cabin, the temperature had dropped significantly, we are freezing. Being south of the border, we didn't expect it to be cold, but a front was upon us and there is no heat in the cabin. We have a gas stove so great, a heat source, but NO, no gas. I go to plan B, blast on the showers hot water to steam up the room. This usually does the trick to take the chill out of a cheap room but not this time. We have lukewarm water for a minute, then nothing. It is late and no one is around to ask about firewood. So go to plan C, get out the long johns and sleeping bags. We are cozy warm in the bed but it has to be close to 40 deg. F. Heidi does not even whine, what a girl!

We have another night so I need to do something, it is not comfortable anywhere but under the covers. First thing in the morning, I go search out the source of gas for the stove. I find a shut off valve crammed behind the hot water heater just outside the cabin. "Yes", I say to myself, now we have four burners on the stove going and the bite is taken out of the room before Heidi is out of bed, I'm the hero! OK, I'm liken this so I go out to tackle the hot water heater. Instantly I see why we have some warm water, the pilot light is burning but that is it. I fiddle around with the controls then kill the pilot flame, crap. I have a lighter, stick my hand inside the bottom of the heater where I saw the flame, then flick the lighter. BAM! Flames are shooting out. The pilot shut off mechanism is obviously not working, probably because the thing is sitting outside in the rain and salt sea air. I burn myself and my longjohns, cut my wrist top and bottom while yanking my hand out. Anyway, I get the water heater going full blast and find a ton of fire wood next door in a vacant lot. We are cooking now and are ready to have a great second day in Mexico.

After San Felipe, we have only two choices for going south into Baja. We can go back 150 miles north on a good road and catch the paved highway-1 south, or we could continue south on the Baja 1000 race course for 150 miles, then connect to highway-1. The word "Baja" has been in my vocabulary every since I was a kid and it meant to me 'off-road racing and tough off-road terrain'. I love going off road in Northern Wisconsin. When I hit the rough stuff, the word "Baja!" always comes out of my mouth. My guidebook says we will see a part of the Baja that can't be seen any other way by doing the dirt road. Heidi doesn't like the idea of going 300 extra miles just to get to a paved road, again what a girl! We have the Jeep, we just installed new extra-heavy duty springs and shocks and new mud terrain tires. Baja 1000 racecourse, here we come!

We're hammer along getting our teeth rattled out of their sockets but great scenery. A new friend, Art who I met at the horizons unlimited motorcycle event in Creel Mexico suggested taking some air out of the tires. It helped but the stiff suspension was a killer. All of a sudden we see a dune buggy racing toward us going super fast. It had what looked like 50” tires sticking way out and springs on each tire at least 5 feet tall. When it passed we could see the driver and passenger had big 70’ style head phones on. I imagined them jamming loud rock and roll and having a blast. Heidi & I looked at each other for about a nanosecond, we grabbed our case of tunes and popped in “Dance Extreme” and cranked it! WOW, in an instant I’m living the dream. We’re racing along the Baja jamming tunes and seeing stuff I’ve only dreamed of. I’m having a difficult time keeping my eyes dry.

To be continued:

Updated: 01/15/05 Lareto, Baja Mexico

After San Felipe we stayed at Alfonsina’s resort and had a room over looking a beautiful bay on the sea of Cortez. A little expensive, $50 US but the service and food great. Antonio made us feel like we were at home. We woke up in the morning with an unreal orange sunrise filling the bay. I parked myself on the deck with a book and the next thing I see are a half of dozen dolphins playing around the bay where a fisherman was reeling in a giant fish net. I felt like I was in a dream.

More Baja 1000 fun!

This is Coco at his place in literally the middle of nowhere. Coco lost a leg in an accident years ago and now lives here right on the Baja 1000 race course. Coco serves cold beer and has lots of funny stories and information. We mentioned meeting Memo the day before at the Cowpatty bar. Memo is a big bicycler, every year when it’s too hot he shuts down the bar and rides his bike south. Last year he made it to San Salvador. Memo stays with Coco on his way south and helps him out with repairs. Coco was saying how much Tequila he drinks having 3 liters strapped on his bike when he rides with a tube running into his mouth. Funny, I could go on and on but I’m sure you get the idea. True or false I’m not sure? For sure Memo is a real hard core biker.

This is Memo at the Cowpatty bar.

Later that day we continue south through constantly changing scenery, every mile getting more dramatic and exotic, seeing elephant trees and giant cacti. Finely we hit paved highway 1 heading south to Guerrero Negro, a nice little sea side city on the Pacific, about 10,000 people. This is a popular whale watching spot where the whales come every year to bare their young. The whales come into the big bays outside of town and chase out all other fish and guard the bay entrances from any fish coming inside so the young newborn calf’s can be safe, wow. Fun little town, we stayed two nights and had a ball.

The guide book said, south of Guerrero Negro, on the sea of Cortez are several campo’s along beautiful beaches. A campo is an area where you can park your RV or pitch a tent for a small fee, around $6 a night and there’s usually a restaurant or store on the grounds. The first one we pulled into was said to be the most popular for windsurfers. I imagined tons of tents and cars with windsurfers on top but when we got there all I saw were RV’s and no surfboards. It was low tide and the beach didn’t look ideal so we continued down the coast. The next beach / campo is said to be the most beautiful and popular.

The sand was perfect the bay was idyllic but the prime spots were all taken by RV’s, many looking like they are permanent. We drove to the end of the beach on one side turned around and went to the end of the beach on the other. I thought the road dead ended at some homes but I could see a small rough looking path leading further over a hill. We have the Jeep, we're jacked up with gnarly tires so here we go. We climb over the hill and the view in front of us explodes to the sight of a deserted desert beach on a bay surrounded by colorful rocky hills. The beach was about a mile long on a bay 5 miles long by 5 miles wide, this was the windsurfing bay. We could barely see the first campo we came to on the other side of the bay, besides that nothing. I felt like I just woke up and found myself in paradise. Heidi & I look at each other with a “O my gosh, can you believe this?” look. We were loosing sun so I get out the tent while Heidi prepares cocktails.

The beach was littered with millions and millions of beautiful sea shells. I was feeling super large and felt this was the time to break out one of the Dominican Republic cigars my brother Pat gave me for Christmas. My next mission was to find the perfect cigar ashtray. It took only seconds to find one. Thanks Bro!

Heidi has never been one to rough it much so I was determined to show her how good it can be. I bought an 8 person tent with a 6 foot screened ceiling, enough room for two extra large cots, two lawn chairs with foot rests, a cooler and still enough room to cook. We’re liken it!

That night the moon went down by the time it was dark. We always thought we could see tons of stars at our cabin in northern Wisconsin but here it seemed like there were 100 times more, it was unreal, we felt like we were on another planet. I purposely pitched the tent less then ten yards from the high tide mark. All night we listened to the gentle wave break coming closer and closer.

After a little research we discovered this entire bay is a national marine preserve and is reportedly one of the cleanest in the world! We felt like we were watching a National Geographic special. All around us were sea gulls, frigates, pelicans, hawks and blue-footed boobies just feet from our tent. The gulls would pick up a clam, take off flying straight up about 50 feet high then drop it on rocks below. It usually took about 3 or 4 tries before the gulls would start feasting on the clam. We couldn’t look out into the bay without seeing frigates or hawks dive bombing into the water. They would start at about 100 feet and go straight in causing a splash that shot up about 4 feet high. The hawks would come right back up out of the water but the frigates would coil back their wings just before hitting the water and stay under water sometimes for a long time. Hawks were constantly circling low around the cactus and shrubs near us, often we would see one carrying a rodent or sitting on the tip of a cactus eating a fish or whatever. I’m not kidding this was going on constantly. We couldn’t look up or out without seeing one or several of these sights all at once.

The main beach where all the RV’s were had some permanent looking structures surrounding an RV or two. This one was for sale for $8,000 US. All you need to pay after that is the $6 per night fee, about $2,000 a year and it’s yours for life, as long as you pay the fee. I want to contact my main windsurfing friends Tim and Connie to see if they want to go in half on the place. Two out of the three days we were there the winds were cranking in the windsurf part of the bay.

We pushed further south.

We got an email tip from Warren who just did the Baja 1000 race on a motorcycle. He gave us several recommended places to check out and knowing Warren I thought it would be foolish to pass them up. The first place on our route was Loreto and a gringo happy hour bar on the male’con. What a tip! We met so many people. We’re invited to a goat roast party tonight and met two sailing couples each on a boat parked just across the street from our hotel. One couple, Deanna and Roy sailed across the Sea of Cortez in a huge storm a week ago surfing down 20 foot waves. They were up for 46 hours straight, at one point for two hours they made zero headway due to the heavy seas. Now that’s all one thing but the kicker is they were doing it in a 26 foot MaccGreggor flat bottom swing keel water ballast boat, wow! The other sailing couple, Tammy and Larry just bought a 39 foot something and had their injector pump go out so Deanna and Roy towed them over eighty miles with their 26 footer to where we met them in Loreto. The six of us connected and are all going to the party tonight.

Loreto is a quaint little town with nice street cafés, cobble stone streets and a university with a gym. We were charged $1.30 to use the gym for the day and I never felt so welcomed in my life to a new gym. Thanks Antonio from Loreto university, your welcoming almost made me choke up.

Sunrise from our hotel in Loreto.

To be continued:

Updated: 1/27/05:
The Party:
OK, the last update I mentioned Heidi and I were headin to a goat roast party in Loreto with Deanna, Roy, Tammy and Larry. Well the party was a real sleeper. And Deanna, Roy, Tammy and Larry were kind of dull.

and nothing real exciting was going on. NOT! Everyone at the party welcomed us with open arms and treated us like family. We stayed till the wee hours and all walked home together and partied at the hotel after, Ouch!

We all had plans to meet the next day up the coast at Puerto Escondido and Heidi & I had an invitation to stay the night on Tammy & Larry’s sailboat, how nice! About half way down at this pull over, we saw both their boats sailing toward Puerto Escondido. Perfect conditions, I was imagining how great it must have been to be out there on a boat.

Heidi and I didn’t like the idea of staying the night out on the bay on a sailboat with all our belongings unguarded on shore so we planned to pitch a tent on the beach and just have another day of fun with the gang. When we arrived at Puerto Escondido we found it to be nothing but a big sailing community with no hotels, no beach or anywhere to pitch a tent. I’m sure the sailors like that.

Tammy & Larry really wanted us to stay on board their sailboat for the night but I’m the captain of my own ship and had to make the call, sail on (drive on) to the next port of call where we will feel good about the jeep. Thanks again Tammy & Larry!

Luggie Man:
Shooting for La Paz, we’re looking for a budget Hotel. The guide book says La Paz has the cheapest hotels in all of Baja. The way we see it the cheaper we stay in one place the more we can afford to live it up in another. But the number one priority for lodging is always overnight Jeep security. It doesn’t matter how cheap or expensive the hotel is, if we don’t have a good feeling about the Jeep we don’t stay. The first place we check out is Hotel Tijuana, a bit seedy but had great parking security with an enclosed courtyard and we were close to the seaside boulevard or malecon. Felix, the owner of the hotel was extremely pleasant and was willing to do anything to make us comfortable and happy. He was always calling me “my good friend Tomb”. We planned to spend just one night but Felix said it would be cheaper to stay longer, $38 per night for one night, $22 a night for two. No brainer, we took two. You get what you pay for! Heidi checked the sheets and said they were dirty and had hairs all over them, not from some buddies head. I broke out the sleeping bags. After the superbowl play-off activities in the courtyard finished the guy staying above us (he is a permanent resident of the hotel) was hacking up luggies for close to two hours. The next night around happy hour time he started clanking bottles together and singing loud to 60’s rock and roll that he had blasting. The clanking and singing weren’t as bad, it was the luggies that got to Heidi. Glad I was asleep for most of it.

La Paz:
We found La Paz to have everything we like. The malecon is the nicest I’ve ever seen with clean beaches, sailboats and ships in the harbor, hotels, restaurants, bars and cafe's along the street.

Heidi and I like to explore new cities while on foot. We enjoy the aerobic exercise and to us it’s the only way to get a good feel for a new place. We spent over six hours walking around and had a ball.

Keeping with the theme of an inspirational web site I’ll keep trying to mention things Heidi and I like to do while traveling. One goal is we like is to return from an adventure in much better shape then when we started. We constantly have our eyes on the lookout for a gym and a way to get the heart pumping. We stumbled on Athons fitness center, a nice little gym and just a short walk from the hotel. I didn’t think we could feel more welcome at a new gym then we did at Loreto’s University but Luis and everyone at Athons were trying their best. We worked out both days and felt great!

Our plan is do the counter clockwise loop around the Baja Cape Region spending a night or two in Cabo then go back and do a week in La Paz. At La Paz we plan to take a ferry to mainland Mexico and cruise down the Pacific coast.

Todos Santos:
We left La Paz late and are now looking for somewhere to spend the night before Cabo. Todos Santos sounded like a good place, a small village where traditional Mexican families, artists, surfers and refugees from the Hollywood film industry live and hang out. The ride from La Paz was arid cactus desert. We tool into Todos Santos and find ourselves in a lush tropical forest. Palm trees, fruit trees and a big rushing clear stream going through town. We …. Will…. check this out! We found a hotel first try that had good parking for the jeep. It was a little expensive for us but cheap for most, $46 a night and it is fabulous, sea view, a separate bed room, living room, kitchen with stove, frig and it has a good pool! The family who run and own it are friendly and warm people, always asking us if we need anything, Santa Rosa hotel apartments.

The grounds around the hotel are like a fantasy from some kind of ancient Roman desert “tropical’ oasis type movie. I keep thinking girls are going to start gathering around offering grapes and stuff.

Next day we head into town to get supplies for a long term stay. I love eating at Mexican restaurants but I put on a good ten pounds loving all that food on our drive down. I’m behind on a goal. I’m looking forward to doing my own cooking and getting back in shape. We bought an orange press in La Paz, we’re always seeing stands selling bags of oranges. The first turn we take in town, bingo, oranges.

Our next mission is to find the gym and sign up, $23 for a month, Sweet! That’s Wime working out on the left. He‘s a college student here on break from Guadalajara University studying international business, perfect, he likes to practice English while we practice Spanish. The gym has everything we need. We were given the combination to the lock so we can go any time and it’s only a five block walk from our hotel. Please, nobody wake me up from this dream!.

The next thing I know I find myself in the back of a topless jeep with two babes in control and we’re on our way to the world class surf beach. This is Ruth on the left, she came down for the first time three weeks ago on vacation and has extended her stay because she’s buying a home here to live full time. …..O…..My….!

The beach:
The beach extends over 20 miles running north and south of town and NO hotels. Hotel development is banned on this beach.

The wind was up today and wind spoils the waves. Only one person was out. The first time I came here I saw two whales about a half mile away and there were at least twenty or more surfers bobbing in the water. It was like watching a Wide World of Sports TV show. This guy did manage to catch some good long rides though. He may be hard to see, he’s the dot on this 10 footer.

We waited for the sunset before heading back.

The next morning before sunrise I’m sitting at the kitchen table typing this up, I’m hearing sounds like a storm rumbling in the background then realize the sounds I’m hearing are huge waves crashing on the beach nearby. Now that I’m going to be a wave surfer dude I have to learn the lingo, “The surf is up!” Surfers hit the beach early morning before the wind comes up. Wind is Bad, swells are Good. I down my espresso grab the camera and head to the beach.

Scene at the surf beach:

Scene looking out @: I’m using this ‘@’ font to symbolize the thumb and the pinkie sticking out and wagging the ‘Hang Loose’ sign. This is the scene here @. It’s hard to see but these are 15 and sometimes 20 footers. Three or four people were set up on shore with cameras with huge lenses sitting on tripods. I have to get Heidi’s big dog lens out here and figure a way to digitize the photos.

OK, OK, OK, I must have been really tired I still haven’t woken up from this dream. I decide to just go with it and see how long it lasts. I couldn’t believe the deal we got for staying a month so I go have another talk with Alberto. I ask if he could do anything for us if we commit for two months.

Home for the next two months!!!!! It didn’t show up but I’m looking out at the Pacific Ocean while typing. I strung up a long wire antenna for my short-wave radio and am enjoying listing to the BBC, Cuba or whatever. I didn’t think it was possible but I’m dreaming this in color.

Today I head to the south surf beach about 6 miles away. This beach is the nicest, it has surf shops renting boards and campo’s selling beer. Windsurfing shops were usually the best place to buy used equipment in the Caribbean so I ask around at the surf shops about used boards. I came away with some good options. I’m likin life.

Mexican people:
The next morning I head to the south surf beach again. On my way back I head down a dirt path toward a beach that’s closest to our hotel, Heidi and I walked here yesterday. This is an ultimate Baja sand banked and bumpy road with options forking off all going to the same place, the beach. Here is where local fisherman head out and do their thing. It’s Sunday so nobody is out. I could see a couple dune buggies up on the lip of the beach. I was parked on hard sand back about 200 yards, near a palapa shelter.

A local family walked up from the beach and started hanging around the palapa. I look at the beach, stick it into 4-wheel, growl and blast off. I pull up to the lip of the beach where the scene was perfect, waves crashing on the beach and rocks below. A few fishermen were casting off from the rocks to the left on this pic. Some of the guys were using bare line in their hands and pulling it up. At one point I saw three guys all grab onto one bare line and pull.

I looked behind me and see a young girl from the family I saw earlier talking to some people in a dune buggy, I was trying not to pay attention but heard some rapid Spanish speaking from the dune buggy people. I heard a “No”. A couple minutes later I see in my rear view this girl carrying a huge bundle of wood from a pile of drift wood on the beach. I think she was asking if the people in the buggy would help. OK I’m ready to head back. I noticed I had dug in the sand a lot deeper then those dune buggies floating by, I really had to step it down to keep moving. If you’re a 4-wheeler at all you know the feeling I’m talking here, a type of tightness in your chest and throat knowing you have to do everything to keep it going and not stall out. It all went OK but still, wow. I was going to pick up a bigger pile of wood for the little girl and toss it on top of the jeep rack, but didn’t. I thought they were only having a bon fire. Heading back I followed the dune buggy tracks, ahhh! I swing right past the wood pile putting the hammer down feeling good just to get out of there. I tool past the family and couldn’t even look at them, feeling I let them down just like the dune buggy people. I smell a fire and see out of the corner of my eye the family preparing a fire under a grill. They must be having a Sunday cookout not a bon fire. I feel like crap, those people need that fire wood to feed their family. “Baja” is in my brain and I’m peeling down the ultimate Baja road. I fire on the brakes, turn the wheel hard and kick it down! I made it up to the wood pile and back once, I can do it again! I cruise past the family and out onto the beach, I whip up the sand hill and turn down and out. I load up a big pile of drift wood, throw it on top and fly out. I pull up near the family and use my most polite Spanish and ask if that would like the wood.

The oldest man came up and thanked me right away in a super gracious manner, after a dozen or so Spanish words I couldn’t understand he would come out with a couple in English, like ‘Thank…..You….” then rattle on looking real sincere. He had no top front teeth but always bore a huge smile, he reminded me of a real Popeye, having strong hands like a fisherman. I tried to scram out of there ASAP, wanting to make it look like it was no big deal which it wasn’t, then the older women and older man started coming up to me talking and doing a thumb in the mouth motion. I didn’t know what was going on, I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. I said as politely as I could that I understand very little and it was nothing and I had to go. They thanked me some more, I boogied, we all waved good bye. Whenever I figure out what someone is saying to me it’s usually much later after I think about it a bit. Thinking on the way back I imagined them asking me for corn, saying they’re fisherman and all they eat are fish. I’m like bawling by the time I get home telling Heidi to get ready we have to go back with some of our corn tortillas. Heidi finally settles me down and we talk about what I think they were saying. Daa! They were asking me to eat fish and corn with them, really wanting me to join them. I knew they weren’t asking me for anything, I guess I went into hyper overanalyze mode, no, not me, ha, ha. Sunday is a big family day in Mexico and wearing your Sunday best is the norm. What a nice family.

The surf board:
We’ve met a lot of people and got the scoop on where to maybe find a used surfboard. Today we head out early to Cabo San Lucas to get some stuff, have some fun and check it out. Heidi spots a big surf shop along the road between Cabo and San Jose del Cabo.

We first hit the big WalMart (Oops, I guess I should say Target) type store up the road and get essentials for long term tropical living, blender, protein powder, fins, wetsuit, rum. We head back to the Costa Azul surf shop and pull out with a surfboard on top, a Gerry Lopez design. I will look up and find out who that is. Ha, ha (I ….. Need ….. To …… Know).

Continued at -> Mex05'-2 <->

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