FEB. 1, Friday, Bahia de Los Angeles
This cloudy day began slow and relaxed. Got up at 7:30 a.m. It really got windy later but we did get sunshine to help us along. Russ and Joyce left this morning so we said our goodbyes. That's what so sad about this life style; you meet people that you like and then they leave. I guess that's what makes the relationships so special!?
We drove into town, got some water, bread, milk and connected to the internet. Met Gail and Steve walking back so offered them a ride back and decided to go for lunch first. Stopped at this little restaurant/hotel and had a nice lunch. Came home and chatted with them for a while. They are really neat people and we have made a very good connection.
Val and I went for a walk on the beach and checked out the neighbourhood. This is a very rugged coast. The beach consist of sand but at the water level, it is all rocks and pebble. This is a fisherman camp and most of the RV'ers here are fisherman. People are friendly and welcoming. It is a very beautiful place and the Bay is great with all the Islands around. There is an island with a dormant volcano on it. Quite neat (see pictures link). I am not sure I would come here again though! I prefer "Bahia Concepcion". The town is small and isolated. They recently had hydro installed and the groceries are hard to come by. It is a very isolated community but there are quite a few Canadians and American who have permanent places here.
FEB. 2, Saturday, hanging around Bahia Los Angeles
Got up at 7 a.m. It is warm this morning. There is a cloud cover but the sun is shining through. We had an incredible sky last night. Even saw a shooting star. Millions of stars! A true desert sky.
Went for a walk with Steve and Gail along the beach to the light house then rounded the Bay and walked into town to check out the museum. First, though, we had lunch and a couple cerveza to quench our thirst from the walk. The museum didn't open until 2 p.m.(keep forgetting about the siesta times) so we sat around and nosed around the area. An elder Canadian couple were the museum keepers so after they opened, we had a look around asked a bunch of questions and bought a couple of t-shirts and a Baja picture taken from space which we will hang in our rig.
We walked back to our campsite and about half way there, we were offered a ride which we eagerly accepted. We must have walked a total of 5 miles today. My feet and knee sure feel it.
Packed everything and got ready to leave for tomorrow. Gail and Steve came over for happy hour and dinner.
We went to bed by 10 p.m.
FEB. 3, Sunday, northward bound and our first break down!
Got up to a sunny day. There was a really strong wind overnight and it is still blowing this morning. Packed the rest of our stuff, said goodbye to Gail and Steve who are also leaving today, dumped and hit the road by 8:15 a.m. The red light for the batteries keeps coming on but it does go off after a while. We drove west on Mex 12 to Mex 1 which took us about 3/4 hour then headed north towards Catavina and our destination for today: San Quintin.
About 20 miles from Catavina and on a hill, the truck stalled and it wouldn't re-start because of dead batteries. The red light had come back on and didn't go off. I was hoping to make it to San Quintin before any trouble but no such luck. Val directed traffic and I stopped this Mexican guy and he gave me a boost to jump-start the truck to get it started again. As we sat there, Steve and Gail arrived (they had stopped in Catavina to look around) so they followed us all of the rest of the way. Just before that, we saw an accident between a semi and a motorhome. The truck had lost his load coming down the same hill I stalled on and somehow, the motorhome was involved. We didn't stop though as there were lots of people around and we went on to El Rosario for fuel. Took on 57.9 litres.
We finally arrived in Vincent Guerrero, just north of San Quintin and parked at Posada Don Diego RV park. Cost $14/night. They have a restaurant on site which was serving a beautiful smorg for 187 pesos(approx $16 cdn for two) so we all decided to go and try it out. Steve and Gail got a room at the motel on site then we watched the SuperBowl with Margaritas, compliment of the house. NY Giants won over the New England Patriots. Too bad! We went back to our respective places afterwards. It is pouring rain!
N 30* 42'44" W 115* 59'41"
Alt: 90 feet; Distance today: 377 km
Average speed: 42 mph Top speed: 62 mph
FEB 4, Monday, repairs and on to Guadalupe on Mex 3
I got up at 7 a.m., had a quick shower and Steve came over around 7:40. We had a quick cup of coffee then jump-started the truck. We headed for the garage and slowly negotiated the muddy road full of potholes. The truck stalled about half way so we went to the garage and talked the guy into landing us a new battery which we jury-rigged and were able to bring the truck down to the garage. After checking it, the mechanic/owner confirmed it was the alternator so we left and went to the bank to get some cash and Steve gassed up his jeep. We went back to the garage where the guy had taken an alternator out of an old F350 sitting in his yard and he replaced mine with that. We left him alone and went back to the site where Val cooked everyone a marvellous breakfast. An hour later, Steve and I went back to the garage where we found the truck ready to go and the batteries all charged up. All this for 1000 pesos (approx 96$ cdn) Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!! I profusely thanked the garagist/owner/mechanic and we left. Went to the site, packed and said our good-byes once again to our friends and what marvellous friends they are. They went beyond the call of duty on this one and we are forever in their debt. We won't soon forget them! Gail is an artist and had drawn a semblance of the rear of our rig as they followed us. It was quite cute. I burned a CD for them of the pictures we took of all of us on the whale watch tour and at Bahia Los Angeles. She was thrilled.
We slowly drove out of Posada (used the 4X4 to get out just to be sure) and headed north west to Ensanada. We went through the obligatory military check-point north of San Thomas ( a very pretty valley) and stopped in Sanchez, just before Ensanada, for fuel: 94.858 Litres at 5.71 pesos per litre($0.55/L cdn). Then it was on to Ensanada. When we arrived there, we had to take a detour as there was a parade because of the Festival happening, this being a holiday and all!!! Took us an hour to get around town. Finally hit Mex 3 and drove through another Military check-point although they didn't stop us at all on this one. We climbed to 1200 feet and then the road straighten. It is wide enough to relax and not have to worry. We did hit road construction at a village at the top for about 1 mile. We finally arrived in Guadalupe around 4 p.m. and by 4:30 p.m. we were parked and set up north of the town at "Rancho Sordo Mudo RV park", a ranch for deaf kids.
It's been a long day and I am glad it is over. Now the switch to raise/lower the legs on the rig is acting up. It is time for some overdue maintenance I think. There is another rig here from B.C. GOOD NIGHT!!!!!!
N 32* 06' 42" W 116* 32' 49"
Alt: 1150 feet Distance today: 214 km
Average speed 36 mph.
Top speed: 60 mph
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