Mexico
05': A journal of Heidi & Tom’s South of the
Border Jeep Adventures 2005
The Adventure: We are starting driving our 1990 Jeep Wrangler toward Mexico, the Baja peninsula. From there we plan to board a ferrying to the mainland, then travel South into Mexico and beyond, 9 months touring Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. Our goal and mission is to rent long term on the beach somewhere with surfing and a gym close by, basecamp. From basecamp we will plan jeep excursions to places undiscovered.
I'm done with my full time job for at least
9 months and I can’t believe it! It’s really
happening. Here we go!
Update: 01/10/05 Guerrero Negro, Baja Mexico
Heidi & I took off from Wis. Tuesday Dec 28 and made a
bee line south.

Free drinks: We
were 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. Our first night on the road we stayed in Iowa
Falls, Iowa, nothing to report. On our second night we made it
to Wichita, KS. Heidi & I took a cheap room at the motel
6. After getting settled we wandered across the street to a
fancy hotel in search of a bar. At the bar I ordered a couple
of cocktails then tried to pay. The bartender said I need to
get some drink tickets at the front desk (The bar is for hotel
guests only 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, act like you own the place and nobody
will notice. It’s not that I’m too cheap to pay for our drinks
but the bartender wouldn’t take any money and to me this is
fun! We stood in the bar drinking our drinks then met a couple
from Austin, TX, Heidi & Dale. Fun, fun people, we had a
lively conversation and received and invitation for a New
Years eve party and a place to stay in Austin, unreal! The
four of us walked to a restaurant next door to have some food.
Before we knew it we had a group of about eleven people. Four
others I made some small talk with at the hotel bar while I
was waiting for the bartender to make more drinks, the others
I think owned the restaurant. Man we lit that place up! It was
like we were all best friends that haven’t seen each other for
a long time. One of the guys had some unreal stories that I
could fill pages with. Super fun, what a way to start our
trip, a big social adventure.
New Years:
Well, Austin was out of our way so we had to decline their
offer. We had numerous 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
you meet on the road can be.

When we drove into New Mexico and looked north at the
snow covered mountains I turned to Heidi and said “do we
really want to go up into the snow again?” We instantly
changed our plans and decided to look for a new destination
for New Years further south. We made it to Alamogordo, NM
where we stayed at a nice little cheap motel for two days. We
had a list of things we still needed to get and do, so it was
nice to chill a bit and take care of business. Next we drove
to Tucson, AZ. I still needed to get new tires and a battery
for the jeep plus my screen on my laptop went bad. I need a
computer.
One night in Tucson, we got 4 Mud Terrain tires put on, a
new 96 month battery and oil change, sweet! We planned to
cross the border at Mexicali Mexico so Yuma AZ looked liked a
good place to stage and take care of last minute things. In
Tucson I had a technician look at my laptop, things didn’t
look good. In Yuma we stayed just across the street from
a Best Buy store where I picked up a 15” flat screen monitor
for under $200. Not ideal but I’m back up with all my software
running. I have an AC power converter for the jeep so I can
still compute even when we’re camping on the beach. At the
motel in Yuma I plugged the laptop into the phone jack and
clicked on NetZero. Sweet, it fired up even though I don’t
have an account with them any more, thanks NetZero! It was fun
emailing all my 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 my fourth
time driving into Mexico so I know the procedure, all went
smooth, we’re in the Baja! It’s only a little over a hundred
miles to San Felipe, our first destination in Mexico. In route
I saw a few dune buggies cruising next to us in the dirt so of
course I had to jump in behind them just for the fun factor!


San Felipe is great, it’s the first American tourist
destination in Mexico I’ve been to. I didn’t like it that most
people we ran into spoke English but I guess that’s the way it
is in the Baja. I’ve conditioned myself over the years to
never speak English when talking to Mexicans in Mexico but it
felt weird when they spoke English to me.

Heidi & I rented a little cabin with a fireplace stove
and fridge and private parking right outside the door for $35
a night, we took two nights. We had a short mile walk to the
malecon, super fun. I’ve read about the fish tacos being to
die for here. It’s true, they are unreal.

We had a great time playing tourist, walking, eating,
drinking and looking at all the shops. I bought a Baja off
road racing decal and received a free shot of tequila for the
purchase, what a deal!

2nd Degree
Burns:
Ok, when in Mexico and on a budget
here are some things that are often norm. When we got back to
out little cabin the temperature dropped significantly, we
were frozen. Only being a hundred and some miles south of the
border I didn’t expect it to be hot yet but a cold front was
upon us and there was no heat in our cabin, burr! We had a gas
stove so great, a heat source, but NO, no gas. There were 9
cabins and one standard sized hot water heater for all and it
was situated just outside our cabin. We were the only ones
staying there that night so I went to plan B, blast on the
showers hot water spraying it up as much as possible to steam
up the room. This usually does the trick to take the chill out
of the room but not this time. We had lukewarm water for about
a minute then nothing. It was late and no one around to ask
about a source of fire wood so go to plan C, get out the long
johns and sleeping bags. We were cozy warm in the bed but it
must have been 40 deg. F in that cabin that night. Heidi never
whined once, what a girl!
We had another night to go
and I needed to do something, it was not comfortable anywhere
but under the covers. First thing in the morning I went to
search out the source of gas for the stove. I found a shut off
valve crammed behind the hot water heater just outside the
cabin. Yes, bingo, I had four burners on the stove going and
the bite was taken out of the room before Heidi got 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 had some warm water,
the pilot light was burning but that was it. I fiddle around
with the controls then kill the pilot, crap. I get a lighter,
stick my hand inside the bottom of the heater where I saw the
flame then flick the lighter, BAM! The pilot shut off
mechanism was obviously not working, probably because the
thing was sitting outside in the rain and salt sea air. I cut
my wrist top and bottom yanking my hand out of the thing and
singed my skin and the sleeve of my long johns. Anyway I got
the water heater going full blast and found a ton of fire wood
next door in a vacant lot, we were cooking and had a great
second day in Mexico.

After San Felipe we had two choices for going south into
Baja. We could 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 of dirt road 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 always loved going off
road in northern Wisconsin and when I hit the rough stuff the
word “Baja!” always came out of my mouth. The guide book said
you will see a part of the Baja that you can’t see any other
way by doing the dirt road south. Heidi didn’t like the idea
of going 300 extra miles just to get to a bland nice paved
road, again what a girl! We have the Jeep, I just installed
new extra heavy duty springs and shocks and new mud terrain
tires. Baja 1000 race course 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:
Update: 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.

Coco said this is for mosquito control, ha ha ha.
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.

Along the road further south we saw scenes like this
constantly.

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:
Update 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.

The
unexpected:
After a little research we
discovered Todos Santos is world famous for surfing and the
best in the Baja with several surf beaches north and south of
town. Our room is less then two kilometers from the ocean.
Coming through town on our way in I notice a sign for a gym.
OK, what’s wrong with this picture? Nothing, this is what we
look for. We didn’t expect to find a long term destination
here in the Baja, but here we are, I can’t help it. We’re
sitting along side the pool the first night having cocktails
and likin it. The owner Alberto takes over at about 5:00 PM. I
could sense Heidi really liked the whole scene and wouldn’t
mind spending some time here. Talking like Arnold “I .. Know
.. The .. Procedure” I excuse myself to Heidi for a moment and
go have a chat with Alberto. I come back and say to Heidi “We
have a little problem. We’re stuck here for a month!” Life is
tough.


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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