Baja Road Conditions October 2012

We just returned from San Diego via Mex 1. The carretera just keeps getting better. There was very little construction and where there was, it was only for short distances. There are stretches of new pavement all the way down. The most impressive piece is the “Cuesta del Infierno” or "Hill From Hell" just North of Santa Rosalia. Feels like a whole different road. Wider, new lines and signs. Still make sure you have good brakes before traversing!

We cross at Tecate usually. Less traffic, reasonable inspectors. Plus we like driving through the wine country. Much of that road is new also.

We stayed at a different hotel this time in Santa Rosalia, the Tourist Hotel on the South end of town. (somehow our reservations at the Baja Cactus were lost...) Nice place. Less fancy but new and clean and secure.   Ate breakfast at Mama Espinosa's.

Since we were pulling a trailer and our pickup was loaded, we took 3 days to get home. There are plenty of gas stations now but before crossing the dead zone between el Rosario and Guerrero Negro, fill up. If you get low on gas, You can buy gas from various "resalers" at Cataviña and other place for a bunch more than retail. If you get in trouble, stop and ask somebody where can you get gas.

 Had fun at the military stops.  Most of the young men wanted to flirt with our granddaughter Erika. Naturally I didn't take advantage of the situation...  One young man asked if she was my daughter, I said, "no, she's my granddaughter." He then asked if I would like to be his grandfather. Instead of saying no and risk insulting him, I explained that she was already taken and had a 2 1/2 year old son. He didn't seem the least bit bothered by that.

By the way don't be nervous at the military checkpoints. If you don't have drugs or guns or some other obvious thing that could get you tossed in the slammer, you are ok. These kids are bored, tired of each other and most are a long way from home. I've never been robbed or felt threatened by these kids. Think of your kids or friends kids who are away from home for military duty. A big smile and friendliness is usually reciprocated. I sometimes have stuff in the car to hand out like candy bars or bottled water. They are normally very appreciative. Read this if you've never driven the highway.

 

We stayed our last night at the Hotel Santa Fe in Loreto. There's a big sign outside that says, "$490 pesos per night" or something. It's misleading. That is for single occupancy. My buddy Larry (lawyer in his last life) wanted to know why our quote was more than double the price shown on the banner outside. The clerk explained. Larry said said something to the effect that it was a scam and a ripoff. The clerk replied very politely, "Yes, I know. It is our policy." I mean, how do you respond to the the brutal truth? It was pretty funny. By the way, the hotel is nice, has large rooms and a decent restaurant attached. Also has secure, walled parking.
That's about it. I didn't say a lot about road conditions because they are so good compared to only 10 years ago.

Night Lightning Over the Sea of Cortez

I was at the computer late last night and noticed the lightning. I hadn't bothered to watch it in a long while but it was really going off last night. It appeared to be close but wasn't; I could barely hear the thunder. Here's a few seconds of the flashes behind the clouds.

Fearless Roxy the Boston Terrier

Attention East Cape residents. You may not know this but there are loose cows out there. One attacked our car the other day. Fortunately, our dog Roxy protected us. Watch the video as Fearless Roxy saves us with a ferocious bark!

Los Barriles in the Rain

The rain has stopped for now but there is still quite a system out there to our East and North. Maybe it will go up and clobber San Diego; they need some rain.

When the state rebuilt the road in downtown Los Barriles, it was designed to operate as the city's storm drain. Seeing as how there was storm water that was trying to drain, Donna and I went to check it out. Looks like their project is working as advertised! The first part of the video shows us driving through town on the "drainage" route to the ocean. The second part is about an hour later, after a short stop at Los Pescadores hotel to harass a friend, we drive back to check the water level downtown. Remember when LB was a giant mudhole after an average rain? This is way better. When I'm king, I'll fix the sidewalk problem...

Guitar Lust Pt. 3

It's all done.  Mike finished the paint. Complete with clear coat and pearl finish. I had some nice hot Seymour Duncans out of another guitar that I don't play. It has straight wiring without the extra switches that the Jaguars and Jazzmasters used. Also the tone knob balances between the 2 pickups instead of rolling off the highs. The Fretworks in Portland put it all together and I have it. Plays well and sounds good. Now we just have to become friends.

Gotta give my bro-in-law Mike special thanks for the paint job. He spent a lot of time on it and it's perfect.

The Remodel Blues

We started a remodel project a couple of years ago.  Many of our neighbors have accused us of turning it into a hobby but we're finally getting close to the end. Thought I'd share some photos of the inside since all you can see is the outside of the garage from the street.

Marcia moved here first in 1989. Her and her late husband Howard started with a trailer and palapa but soon built a home.  Donna came built in 1995.  So it's been a few years since the homes were new. We cobbled together a plan and here's what we ended up with.

The photo below on the left is the breezeway in front of Marcia's house. Donna's house is at the end of the columns and to the right.
The second photo is a from a little different angle but you get the idea. We dressed up the columns a bit and added some gingerbread like the arches. This was a 90% cosmetic remodel. The garage of course was new construction but almost everything inside was non-structural.

 

The next photos were taken to the right of the above photos, looking back on Marcia's house and then directly at Donna's.

 
Here are the "after" shots. Again the angles are a little different.

It' still not done as you can see but we're getting close!  Thanks to all our neighbors for their patience while we had the crews and construction materials all over.

Anthony Mullin's Boring Adventure

Ed and Ella's had their 10-year-old grandson down for a few weeks. Curious, a friend asked him the obvious question,”So, did you have a good time?" He and his grandmother (Ella) sent this response. What do you think, was he really “bored”?





 My boring Baja Vacation       by Anthony Mullins

The first thing I did was learn to drive an ATV. I liked learning how to drive and shift the gears. I bugged grandma and grandpa everyday to drive it. At first I could only drive around the block but then I got good enough to drive by myself. I even got to drive it home with my grandma on the back all the way from La Ribera.

I got stung by a jelly fish. That was the worse day of my trip, it hurt really badly but I’m okay now! Went swimming at Buena Vista Beach Resort pool on Father’s Day; since they have memberships there. It was nice to play and swim with my grandpa.

I went snorkeling. I liked floating around and seeing all the fish. I even saw a trumpetfish. I snorkeled with my grandpa first and then I snorkeled with my grandma. We went with Deb and Sam (my grandparents friends) and we took the Kabota (a cart) down the beach. I even got to drive it….it was slow.


I got to go to the car/truck races, Baja style! I met Bob and Donna Farmer’s son Patrick at their house. He invited my grandpa, Sam, Mike (grandpa’s friend) and I to watch him race outside LaPaz. I got to sit in his car, too.