Tropical Storm Patricia

Looks like tropical storm Patricia is going to skirt the Cabo/San Jose area on her way out to open water in the Pacific. That's fine with me. Right now we're having good rain: no flooding or damage and no wind. The ground is soaking it all up and the aquifer is is being replenished. It's a beautiful thing.

Arriving Home

Just South of Santa Rosalia is the orphanage I mentioned earlier. A friend had asked us to deliver some items and we planned on visiting with our friends Doug and Diane who oversee the orphanage. Diane was very sick with the flu so we didn't get to see them. Here is the lady of the house and one of their young charges who swore to me she wasn't skipping school.

Everything is green from the recent rain storms. We were going to drive over the mountains from a cutoff just North of Loreto that comes out at La Purisima but we didn't this time because of the recent storm; the road was most likely in poor shape. The mountain road probably isn't a shortcut but when you get to La Purisima, the road is paved again. La Purisima has a river that has water year around and there are hundreds of palms growing there. After passing through La Purisima, you drive south to Insurgentes, on to Constitucion and then La Paz.


We evidently just missed a dandy rainstorm that hit La Paz. As you can see in the video, there was lots of water left over. Every low spot on the highway had standing water. The water was running enough to wash out some holes in the road and the holes were well marked by the cars that had fallen into them.

We got home to Buena Vista around 9 in the evening.

The trip was 2 days. That's too fast to enjoy but we had a commitment at home that had somehow moved forward a few days. Taking 3 days instead of 2 is much more relaxing and allows for a few hours of stops here and there. If you plan to come down via Highway One, try to take 3 or more days. Do your homework on the internet and find out what's here to be seen or to do. If you're coming between December and February, pre-book a whale-watching tour. Find out where the cave paintings are and visit one. Or you could stop at one of the wineries. There are a couple to choose from.

Saludos!

Still Driving South On The Baja

Something I forgot to mention is that there are military stops scattered here and there. If you are traveling south, they rarely stop cars with US plates. I guess they figure we're not smuggling pot INTO Mexico. If they stop you, they will ask where you are travelling from. Then where are you going. That's about it. I've always been treated with courtesy at these stops. Remember: by and large they are simply doing their job.

When you return North, they are more concerned with US plated vehicles. You might get searched for guns and drugs. Generally speaking these soldiers are lightly trained young men who are living in very basic conditions with very little entertainment outside of searching cars. It's always a good idea to carry something to give the kids. Believe me when I tell you, they will appreciate it. I handed out bottles of water one trip and Reece's peanut butter cups another time. One trip North I had a backpack in the back of a trailer and inside, I had somehow left a cleaning kit for a .22 caliber rifle. At the last stop before Tijuana, a young soldier found it. He asked me what it was. I told him and asked if he had a .22 rifle. He said yes so I gave him the kit. I've never seen a half-dozen soldiers lose interest in a car inspection so fast. The other boys were all huddled around the lucky one checking out his prize. The thing to remember is don't be afraid or worried. Normally they just ask a few questions and send you on your way.

Meanwhile, back at the journey,
I already told you about the long drive without gas between El Rosario and Guerrero Negro. If you get in a jam you can buy gas at Cataviña on the side of the road. This guy with the drums must really get a kick out of us dummies that can't do the math. Oh yeah, I said "us dummies." I've bought gas from him 2 or 3 times.

There is a section of road in the mountains I think between Cataviña and Gurrero Negro that has new pavement. They have not replaced all the signs yet. You'll recognize it because of the lack of curve signs. There are 2 curves that are nasty. I went into one at night doing 50 or so and nearly didn't come out the other side. So if you can't see how sharp the curve is, fear for your life.

You will drive past a gas station (or into it maybe) then through a military base just North of Guerrero Negro and soon after is an agriculture stop. They'll take any fruits or veggies from you and ask for 10 pesos "cooperacion" (like a donation) and then you drive across a pipe that sprays something, presumably bug killer, up under your car. As soon as you clear the sprayer thing, pull over and get your tourist visa stamped at the little trailer.

Next is Guerrero Negro but there's not much there if you're not going whale watching or need gas or a hotel. It's always like an Oregon coastal town: overcast, windy and cold. They have salt production and whales, not much more.
It's about 130 miles to Santa Rosalia from Guerrero Negro. There's gas at Vizcaino and San Ignacio. The first few miles out of G.N. is kind of blah then there's a yucca forest with huge yuccas. It's really green now because of the storm that just blew through. Then you pass San Ignacio, then arrive at Santa Rosalia. If you are going to get gas, buy it at one of the first 3 or so stations. The last one in town is a notorious ripoff. Bajanians with more than a few trips under their belts all have stories about the various tricks they use to rob or short-change you there. Santa Roselia still has quite a bit of un-repaired hurricane damage but all services are restored and traffic-wise, everything is normal. There's some great photo ops along the coast as you travel south past Mulege and Loreto and on through the mountains. Stop when you see something good. You have time: don't get in the "we have to get there" mode. Promise?

Next: Arriving home.

A Drive Down the Baja Peninsula

We're back! You didn'teven know we left didja? We took a quick trip to Oregon to visit family, go to the doc and buy a pickup to drive back down.Everything went well. Donna's brother-in-law Mike, was given a nice retirement party by his kids. My mom

celebrated her 79th birthday but I don't know if it was her first time. We had a barbecue at my sister and bro-in-law's house. All kids and most of the grandkids were there. We were missing 2 of my 3 boys, Bob and Wayne.




My 18 year old tore up a knee playing basketball and is still on crutches but we managed to have a good time together.

The weather was GREAT. Didn't rain for the week we were there. In fact, it was pretty hot a couple of days.

We started back down the Baja Monday morning, crossing the border at Tecate around 10 AM or so. I had a couple of motorcycles in the back of the pickup to deliver for a friend and some clothing articles for an orphanage just south of Santa Rosalia at the little village of San Lucas. There is a store there and the orphanage is right across the side street, on the right side of the highway..

The young man who inspected our vehicle was very efficient and cordial. He checked all the numbers on the motor bikes to make sure they matched with the documents I had. He asked me if the clothing was new or used. I knew it was a trick question but I figured I had a 50% chance of answering right so I said "used." He then told me that he couldn't allow me to carry the used articles of clothing across the border because of the flu. I then quickly said, "I meant new!" He laughed and ignored me even though I assured him that they had been washed thoroughly. After verifying that the bikes were ok, he sent us on our way but with a warning that next time, he wouldn't allow the clothes. By the way, if you take stuff like quads or bikes, always take something to prove that you have a legal right to possess the item. I met some kids once in Cabo that had their motorbike confiscated because they couldn't prove that they owned it. The police allowed them to have the documents faxed down but it was quite a time-consuming hassle.



This is the second time we have crossed at Tecate and I doubt I'll ever cross in Tijuana again. At Tecate there's less traffic and once you cross, you're in the country. I admit that driving along the coast south of Tijuana is one of the nicest drives anywhere but I really hate the traffic and delays etc associated with Tijuana. And you save like 6 bucks because you don't have to pay the tolls!! Woo Hoo!!! (I've been hanging with my friends from Monterrey again, could you tell?)

After you cross through the inspection, the road is fairly well marked; follow the signs to the highway that will take you to Ensenada. The drive down to Ensenada is pleasant. You'll pass through small villages, grape fields and wineries. There's construction on the highway between Tecate and Ensenada but they've built a nice bypass and you're not left waiting for 2 hours behind a flagman.

The road from Tecate ends at the highway to Ensenada. Turn left towards Ensenada, you'll drive for a bit before you are actually in the city. There's a marked truck route but stay on the road that says "zona touristica" or something similar. When you see that there are 3 lanes, stay in the middle lane. Take a left on Gral Agustin Sangines. Across the intersection is "Club Vegas", on the right is the navel base, you can't miss it. Stay in the right lane, watch for stop signs! There's like hidden stop signs. You'll pass the hospital IMSS, go through one light then turn right at the second light. There's a big sign at the corner that says "Soriana and Home Depot." Now you're cool. Drive south. A few minutes south will be a Costco on the left and a shopping center on the right if you need stuff or fast food. You are now on the main highway headed South.

South of Ensenada you will be passing through lots of small towns. The highway is also the main thoroughfare that the locals use. So you might creep along at 30 to 40 mph for quite a ways. Be ready for it and don't get impatient. If there's lots of locals going slow, go slow with them. There's a couple of places that have "speed trap" written all over them. There's another place south of Ensenda that also has road construction and a bypass road. The locals if they're in a hurry, will try and pass you in the dust, on a corner, wherever. Let 'em pass. Just make sure and give yourself enough space in front that they can squeeze back in when a Metro bus appears suddenly in the dust cloud.

When we drove through the wine country at Santo Tomas, there was a pretty good smoke cloud that looked like a brush fire in the hills behind the L.A. Cetto vineyard. I don't think it was threatening any homes; we didn't see any emergency equipment.


You don't have to worry about gasoline until you get to el Rosario. Fill up there just before Mama Espinoza's restaurant. From there, the next gas stop is at Cataviña but it's not a Pemex; it's a guy with 5 gallon cans of gas and you'll pay dearly if you forget to gas up in el Rosario. It's a good photo op though. After Cataviña, the next gas is just a few miles before Guerrero Negro.

Before we tavel on to Guerrero Negro, I want to mention Doña Anita Grosso de Espinoza: "Mama" Espinoza. I only met her once but I know from the old Baja rats that have traveled the peninsula for decades that she is a very special lady. Before you go, do a web search on "Mama Espinoza." You'll be amazed at the references to her. She was born around 1908 or so, opened the restaurant in the 30's and has entertained guests since. I didn't see her this trip and honestly don't know if she has passed on or not. By the way, the restaurant has good food and I normally stop there to eat. There's a hotel next door that has wireless internet.

Continued..........

How to Learn Spanish

I hate to beat this to death but I can’t believe I spent almost a quarter century in Alaska freezing every winter: wearing fuzzy boots and earmuffs, fishing through a little hole in the ice and running around in short sleeves when it warmed clear up to -20. I’m still not used to the idea that I can walk around in shorts and a loud flowery shirt here in Baja Sur almost every day of the year. It seems like such a huge change of lifestyle but as I told you in an earlier post, there are a lot of similarities: Both states are tourist destinations that are famous for their fishing, both are remotely located in relation to their parent countries, both were settled early on by missionaries, both were whaling destinations and the list goes on. Both are still “frontier living” no matter how you slice it. Oh, and did I mention the futility of expecting an Alaskan OR a Mexican to arrive anywhere on time?

I guess it’s because of the similarities that I adapted so quickly to life here on the Baja. That plus I already knew all the drills. We used to have the same conversations back in Alaska. “Hey ya wanna go fishing this weekend? The girls are all going to Anchorage to go shopping for ukuleles or something.” Here in los Cabos you simply substitute La Paz for Anchorage.

Another fact of life for us pioneers is the communication systems. Somebody will say something like, “The phone system here sucks.” I smugly reply, “You think this is bad? We had a ten party line in Alaska!” Or I hear, “I really wish we could have regular TV.” Then I start some long boring commentary about the fact that there were no live TV broadcasts in Alaska so they used to send TV to us on tape. The tapes went to Anchorage then to Fairbanks so the “daily” news was actually 2 days late. Football was 2 weeks late, and we got Christmas specials clear into March and …………..
My friends have quit complaining to me.

While the similarities are almost predictable; the differences quickly reveal themselves in the culture and language. The true locals of los Cabos who call themselves “Choyeros” have a polite, indirect and non-confrontational style that we Americans don’t appreciate. We are frequently considered rude because of our direct, get-to-the-point style and we can unknowingly cause our own trouble because of this. For example let’s say the neighbor’s dog eats all your chickens. We (American persons) would immediately confront the neighbor, stomp our feet, call the cops, demand that the dog be destroyed and sue for compensation. A Mexican person whose chickens have been killed might greet the neighbor, inquire about the health of his family and casually comment, “It seems that my chickens have tempted your poor dog beyond his ability to resist killing them. Oh and by the way, I can put fresh feathers in your pillows for a good price.”

I owned a bakery here for several years. My baker, bless his heart, understood how we Americans are. I would walk into the bakery, jump directly into my command mode and tell him that I want this and that and tomorrow he needs to do the other thing. He would listen and nod his head and when I finally wound down he would smile and say, “Fine, and you?”

Is that subtle or what?

So then I did a quick rewind and we would inquire about each others’ families back to about 4 generations, their children, grandchildren and Bessie the cow before continuing with work. It was a beautiful thing.

Language is a whole ‘nother issue. I’ve tried to learn to speak acceptable Spanish but so far haven’t really succeeded. I got desperate enough to tell my Pentecostal friend I wanted to go to church with him so I get the gift of tongues in Spanish. He said, “It doesn’t work that way” and graciously left off the “you idiot” at the end of his sentence. I’ve been here 10 years: watching my Spanish improve is like watching evolution.

On the flip side of this coin, I know Mexicans who have lived in the U.S. for a couple of years and speak great English. They say they learn by watching TV. That’s almost scary. Of course when my Mexican friends bring it to my attention, I insist that the reason they learn English more quickly is because English is much easier to learn! That always starts an argument that I ultimately lose because my Spanish isn’t good enough to argue effectively.

A good friend (Mexican, his Spanish is excellent..) finally came right out and told me to my face that my Spanish was terrible and that I needed to do something. I indignantly told him in my best whiny voice how I had taken two classes and that half of my Mexican customers and all my American customers at the café speak English to me so how could I practice more and that it’s harder for older people to learn and bla,bla,bla….. He held up his hand to stop me from continuing with any more lame excuses and said:
“Listen my friend, all you have to do is find a nice Mexican girlfriend and you will learn Spanish quickly.”

How about that?

The idea weaved around in my brain for bit while my little voice offered a running commentary: each piece of advice contradicting the last. Finally I casually mentioned my friend’s advice to my wife Donna. She got downright offended! She said, “That was a mean thing for him to say to you” and then she said, “I think your Spanish is excellent.”

Isn’t she the best………

Marty

There's another storm out there but it looks like it's going to go away to the West. The name made me pay attention; we had a storm named Marty about 5 years ago that was a little destructive. We'll get some more rain from this bad boy which will probably be fine. The area has turned green everywhere. What a welcome change. It's so green now that when there are rain clouds over the mountains, you can imagine that we live on a real tropical island like Hawaii.

Baja Legends

Before there were expensive hotels and 873 ways to spend money in los Cabos, the peninsula was made up of a few sleepy little fishing villages. These little towns had grown up over a few hundred years of foreign traders traveling from Europe to the Far East and back. San Jose was a major water stop for the ships returning from China and beyond and became a favorite spot for pirates and privateers to lay in wait for a prize. As the Spanish missionaries worked to spread their faith, missions were established all the way up the Baja. Whaling ships were active for several decades in the waters around the Baja peninsula but the whalers took their oil back to New England and left nothing behind. The pearl industry changed La Paz into a small city but after the pearls were gone, the city became quiet for many years.

Then in the 1940’s, over 400 years after the Spaniards found the Baja, things changed. Somehow a few adventurous souls (with way too much time on their hands) discovered that the Baja Peninsula had the most amazing fishing they had ever seen. Guys like Bing Crosby and John Wayne to name a couple of them. As they spent more time here the need for services became more apparent. Rustic hotels were built with landing strips that could handle small planes. Places like the Rancho Buena Vista which was started in the mid 50's. Later the money started pouring in so the rich could enjoy Baja along with the rest of us. Of course after there was money here the folks that figure out ways to get some of it followed along. That is in a nutshell how we got from there to here. We've gone full circle: the pirates have returned. Read this in your best Johnny Depp pirate voice: "Take all you can get, give nothin' back. Arrrrrr"

Also during these last 70 years or so, Baja was discovered by another type of person: the Adventurer. These were the people that had no interest in financial gain from the Baja but found the land completely enchanting. There were many but one I’ll tell you about is Jimmy Smith.

I met this character at my café several years ago. There was this fellow sitting outside dressed in coveralls, sporting a handlebar mustache and smoking like each one might be his last. When I saw him I thought, “Here’s a guy with a story” and I wanted to know what it was. After introductions we started chatting aimlessly and got to know each other a bit. My instincts were correct; he was as interesting as he looked. I learned that he lived in Los Barriles and I hoped I would have another chance to hear more of his story.

It turned out that he had to visit the bank next to my Café occasionally and he would come in for coffee. I took time whenever he was there to visit and was never disappointed. As a natural course of events we told each other how we came to be in the Baja and he told me the most amazing story about how he met his wife. I won’t re-tell his story here but go HERE to read it. Even if you don’t have a single romantic bone in your body, you’ll come away wanting to propose to your wife all over again.

According to everything I know, Jimmy started traveling the Baja in 1953 on a Triumph Motorcycle. There were few actual roads back then: more like connecting trails between ranches, arroyos and wilderness. He stopped in San Ignacio for gas and rest for a few days. This turned out to be a major event in his life as he met his future bride there. (READ the STORY!!)

Later on, Jimmy started coming down in a small airplane, eventually married Guadalupe and became a resident of Baja California Sur. His exploits include finishing 2nd place in the first Baja 1000, doing “airvacs” in his bushplane and insulting Erle Stanley Gardner who was a famous author back in the day. In fact, Jimmy referred to him as FA which I assume stands for "Famous Author." I can't for the life of me imagine what else it could mean. After the "incident" it was told that "FA" was furious and refused to call Jimmy by his name instead addressing him by the nickname, "Grinning Gargoyle."

He started writing at some point and his book “The Grinning Gargoyle Spills the Beans” is a classic read. It’s full of great personal stories including the story of meeting and marrying his wife. If you can’t find a copy, contact me.

The last couple of times I saw him at the cafe, he was carrying on about an abandoned motorhome, and overdue rent and going to jail. If I can ever piece it all together, I'll post the story.

Jimmy died a few years ago but his memory lives on. I hope he wasn’t the last of his breed.

Follow these links for good reading about and by Jimmy.
Aticle by Gene Kira
This one by Gene was written after Jimmy's death
Baja Racing News article, includes The Courtship of Guadalupe
A letter from Jimmy to author Daniel Ford about Harvey Greelaw
The Buena Vista Volunteer Fire Department by Jimmy
Pelona the Cow by Jimmy