Baja Bound - An Odyssey of Wonder - March 2012

[timperry]

Originally Posted by Tyler

I never felt in danger but we did take precautions such as never traveling at night or always using the buddy system should we separate. We also crossed the border in Tecate instead of Tijuana to minimize any path crossing with dark elements.

I think you are correct... there is crime pretty much everywhere but if you make the proper plans to limit exposure to that, you'll be fine. The people that we came in contact with were warm, kind, and wonderful... the Spyder caused quite a stir and there are at least 6 photos of people wanting to sit on it down there!

Tell your weenie friends to get off their duffs and make some plans!

Right-On Tyler, treat the Mexican People with respect and kindness as it's their home,most of all the regular People are warm ,proud of what they have,very much familly close. Theres so much hype about drugs,killings,etc, that overshadow the beauty of the land and its People, I have alwars enjoyed everywhere We have gone and always looj foward to hitting Baja Myself soon...keep on wheeling now back to Your Post take care Tim P

[timperry]

Originally Posted by Tyler

The next morning dawned sunny and cool. Today’s adventure was a day ride to the Bay of Concepcion for lunch. We gathered in town before heading out to view the church, San Ignacio Kadakaamán, which was founded in 1728 by the Jesuits, handed over to the Dominicans in 1773 who completed construction in 1786. In the 1800s, the community shrank and the mission fell into disuse and suffered neglect. By the mid-1970s, however, San Ignacio had revived and the mission was carefully restored.

More info here: http://www.colonial-mexico.com/West%20Mexico/kad.html

One wonders how many people have traversed these stairs to visit…










Angels on the ceiling watching over us…


Spout for water drainage (which I learned from Dorothy who is always a wealth of knowledge on these trips… she’s always got something new to show/tell me!)…


Bench in the back garden to sit and ponder the meaning of life…


The town square where we came across different groups of dual sport riders who were headed out for some dirty fun…


Group shot on the side stairs of the church (photo by Scott)… right leg out everyone!!

This is proof of why People love Mexico and all its beauty, history,architecture

[timperry]

Originally Posted by Tyler

The next morning we reluctantly packed up our bikes and said goodbye to our new friends. This place and time was magical and I didn’t want to let go of it… but I knew there would be more magic ahead of us so off we went for our day’s destination, Bahia de Los Angeles. There weren’t any places for lunch so we hit the market in Guerrero Negro for snacks and munchies and had an impromptu picnic at a rare turnout on the side of the road.




Desert blooms…


The road ahead…


Scott laying down on the job… I know there are some folks that get all riled up at these photos but you just have to know Scott... cracks me up every time…


Curt wandered into the desert and, unbeknownst to him, came back with a little bit more than he bargained for!


The barbs on this cactus were very deceiving… the barbs on the end are practically invisible but holy hell do they latch on!




A couple of folks donned gloves and duct tape and removed the pesky cacti parts from his jacket and he was good to go. There were some nice sweepers and some fast straights on the way… but we, of course, obeyed the speed limit at all times… that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Life is good!There is no better way of expieriencing,blue skys,great friends and bikes to share the adventure...2-wheels for life .what great pictures Yo've taken for Us..Many thanks Tim

[Tyler]

Here are a couple of video clips that my friend, Sally, took of the whale adventure... still agog!! B)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DtvE...ature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_buP...ature=youtu.be

[Tyler]

The next morning, Geoff and Curt got up very early to go fishing. Scott waited behind for them and the rest of us hit the road, knowing we’d meet up with them in El Rosario for lunch. The sun was shining down up on us…


Fisherman on his way out to see what he could bring back…


On the road again on another beautiful day in paradise… no cacti hitchhikers this time!


I loved the contrast of the colors of these blooms against a backdrop of deep blue sky...


The day before, when we had stopped for our picnic, unbeknownst to Sue, her trusty froggy sidekick had decided to have an adventure of his own jumping off somewhere along the way to Bahia de Los Angeles… she feared he was gone for good but lo and behold, Dorothy was up in front and saw something in the road… yup, it was Froggy… guess it was kinda lonely out there in the desert for a solo frog so Dorothy gave him a ride back to his owner…


Traversing back toward Guerrero Negro… to the left is an enormous pile of rocks/boulders… wondering if they just fell from the sky…


One of the many types of cacti, the giant saguaro… I think you can understand where the giant part of the name came from… notice Chris standing on the road… he looks really tiny in front of that thing!


The desert is a cruel mistress… beautiful but potentially very painful!




Another stop in El Rosario for gas (the attendants at the station were quite entertained when four women pulled in on bikes) and one more meal at Mama Espinoza’s… oh, and Wifi finally as we were outta luck at Costa del Sol the day before… talk about technology withdrawals… lol


Following Scott, he led us off the main road onto a dirt, rutted road and I wondered where the hell he was taking us… we pulled up in front of El Jardine in San Quintin, an absolutely beautiful hotel in its own private oasis and gardens… Scott was so happy to be there, he… well, he did what Scott does when he’s happy to be somewhere…

[Tyler]

We gathered at the restaurant next door for a beverage or two… Geoff only had one beer… (I have no idea who that guy is behind them… lol)


I ran back to the hotel to take out my contacts and came back to the reminder of why it’s NOT a good idea to ask certain friends to watch your camera while you’re gone… sigh…






When I asked who the hell got a hold of my camera, they threw their friend to the wolves…


We headed back to the hotel to relax a bit before dinner and wandered the beautiful grounds… flowers, citrus trees, cactus all blended to make a really wonderful Alice in Wonderland type garden…








There was a fabulous tree house in the back…


Sadly we came upon the scene of some carnage… we weren’t able to find the rider so didn’t call the authorities… hope the rider made it home safe!


Tons of these guys chirping away as the sun started to cast long shadows on the garden…


Oh my…


Spider webs…

[Tyler]

Cracked crab was on the menu for the evening for many…


Nighty night… don’t let the bed bugs bite…


Saturday rolled around and it was time to head back to California… as we rolled through one of the towns, Scott was in the lead position and he pulled over unexpectedly… he had run over something that didn’t just puncture his rear tire but slashed through it and the tube as well… perpetually ever prepared, he had a spare tube and we just happened to have stopped in front of a tire place in the town… so while the boys “helped”…


The watch girls held down the bikes…


And Dorothy edjumacated herself…


I took stock of my absolutely filthy bike… not sure how I’m gonna get that crap off the muffler… oh, fiddle dee dee, Rhett… I’ll think about it tomorrow…


Two hours later, the tire was back on Scott’s bike and we were back in business… stopped in Ensenada for lunch… just find the most packed taco stand and that’s a pretty good bet the food is good… how many bikes can you cram into two parking spaces?? Oh, about 8!

[Tyler]

And off we went toward the border and back to California when all of a sudden, Scott (in the lead) drops speed quickly and motions for us to go around him. As I pass him, I look at his back tire and it’s done… flatter than a pancake… squished… toast… he and Curt pulled over to a small turnoff and the rest of us pulled off at a larger one about 100 yards up the road. They tried to slime it, etc. to no avail. We were about 40 miles from the border and trying to figure out how to get the bike, and Scott, there when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a big blue pickup truck pulls into the turnout.

A young man by the name of Moises (pronounced Moses) hops out and asks if we need any help… we all just looked at him wondering where he had come from. He was on his way home from Ensenada to Mexicali and had seen Scott on the side of the road as he passed. He too is a rider and subscribes to the The Code so he turned around and came back to see if he could help. For all the media hype/scare about Mexico, the only people we came across were warm, curious, and friendly… and Moises was no exception.

His motorcycle club… he sure lived up to the name!


Moises…


No ramp… just a bunch of manly men to hoist the bike into the truck bed… and lots of documentation by the estrogen units… lol


Dorothy showed off her impressive roping skills with the assorted tie downs pulled together, the bike was secured, and we were off to the border. Just before the border, Moises pulled his truck over to the side of the road and a couple of folks there scrambled and found a makeshift ramp to help get the bike out of the truck…


We thanked Moises again and told him he had new friends to come and visit in California! Then we turned to face the music… well, the line waiting to cross the border… this was only half of it… yikes!


We were instructed to continue down the left side past the line of cars… so Scott walked his bike down that hill and we gently edged into the waiting line of cars (although there were a few drivers not happy about it but they were sitting in air conditioned cars and we only took a minute or two to get through so I didn’t feel too bad) and Scott walked his bike over the border... I wish I could've gotten a pic of it but they kind of frown upon cameras at the border so I refrained!

Once over the border, Scott called for a tow truck and once we knew that he and Sue were set, we skedaddled for San Diego where Sally and I arrived a bit later than we anticipated but still found time/energy to get some dinner and nice, cold, tall pint of beer at a local brewery… the people watching was quite entertaining as well!

We slept hard that night and awoke to blue skies which surprised me as I thought there was supposed to be rain… we wandered out to the beach to share a few moments before having to say goodbye and close this episode of the Sally Tyler Risk show…


I felt a little tug on my heart as I pulled away from my lovely Brit friend… another adventure tucked away in the memory books… and looking forward to what mischief we could get up to next time… I headed for Temecula to have lunch with a friend and then into LA (business)… about half an hour outside of LA, the heavens opened up on me, 101N came to a standstill, and I hadn’t put on my rain gear… I was quite the sight when I pulled into the Westin Bonnaventure… they weren’t quite sure what to make of me!


It was quite a change of worlds from Mexico to downtown LA…




So I sat in my room, gazing out the window and the rainy streets below…


And I reflected over the past week’s events… the challenges that had been overcome, the sights that had been seen, the friendship that had been shared, and the experiences of a lifetime… and it was good.


Again, many thanks to Scott & Sue for their expertise and helping guide us on a wonderful adventure that will forever be etched in our hearts and minds… you guys rock!!

FIN

[demenshea]

What an AWESOME ride report. Good friends, good food, good booze, good roads and lots and lots of adventure.

Tyler, though you I am learning the value of wonderful riding partners and great destinations. Your photos skills are something to aspire to and your storytelling keeps one waiting in the wings for the next chapter.

Thanks!! I have another new destination now.

Did Clifford come clean? ( and was he honest about the relationship )

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by demenshea

Did Clifford come clean? ( and was he honest about the relationship )

Actually, I haven't had the chance to clean him off yet! Got home on Wed night and had to drop it off at the dealer for a new tire (boy, did I get some ribbing about how dirty it was... and I said, um, yeah... I actually RIDE it!! )... didn't get it back until this past weekend. I've heard a product called Goof Off is supposed to be good to get gunk off.