Author Topic: Well, It Looks Like Maybe Mexico.... (Read 2809 times)

H2RICK · « **on:** March 22, 2007, 11:07:51 PM »

in September for a bunch of us Cowtown guys. The tentative plan is to leave shortly after Labour Day and spend about 3 weeks on the road. We're planning on making it all the way to Cabo San Lucas on the tip of the Baja, barring any unforseen stuff happening. One of the guys has been down there just last year so that will make the trip a lot easier. He knows where all the good motels and restaurants are and where you have to carry gas, what insurance to buy, etc etc. However.....
ANY input from anyone on this board with Baja travelling experience would be greatly appreciated by me.

Red01 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 22, 2007, 11:55:09 PM »

I doubt my Baja experience would do you much good. Last time I went to La Paz & Cabo, the pavement ended ~10 miles south of Ensenada and didn't start up again until just outside of La Paz. The unpaved section in between was rarely marked, so you often had to take your best guess which set of two-track thru the desert was Mex Hwy 1! Cabo San Lucas was more a geographical landmark than a town. There was one seedy little two-story motel on the beach and a little fishing village. IIRC, they only had electricity when a generator was running.

How long ago was that, you ask? Spring Break, 1973.
Dad & I took the CJ-5 (his then, mine now) on a road trip.
. . . or should I say off-road trip?

H2RICK · « **Reply #2 on:** March 23, 2007, 12:36:05 PM »

Yep, Paul, I remember reading stories in the mags at that time about how primitive things were down there. The Baja 1000 was THE offroad race. Paris-Dakar were just two places on a map...not a race of any kind. I'm sure you wouldn't trade memories of that trip for anything.

Red01 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 23, 2007, 01:30:04 PM »

You got that right!

I turned 16 on that trip. While we were in Cabo, my dad broke his collar bone and I had to drive us back to La Paz to the hospital. He was in there for a couple of days getting fixed up and I was on my own at night. Fortunately, we'd already checked into a campground on the edge of town and had set up a base camp, so I had somewhere to stay. When he was discharged, I had to drive the Jeep all the way back to Seattle because he was in no shape to drive.

Once we got back into the US and on the freeway, Dad instructed me not to drive over 60 mph. (Speed limit was 65 in Cali and 70 in WA & OR.) When he'd doze off, I'd slyly sneak the Jeep up to the speed limit. No sooner would I get it there and he'd reach over, eyes still closed, and pat me on the leg and say, "Slow down to 60, son." LOL

H2RICK · « **Reply #4 on:** March 25, 2007, 01:49:25 AM »

That's a bunch of memories definitely worth keeping.
My dad wasn't a traveller (being in the Navy in WWII was enough for him, he said) so I never got to go on a real road trip with him....

Red01 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 25, 2007, 09:38:10 AM »

My dad was a career Marine (vet of WWII, Korea & Vietnam). The military didn't kill the travelling bug in him, but it did kill the hunting bug. As a kid, I always wanted to go hunting, but he didn't. He always said it was no fun cuz the animals couldn't shoot back. I did manage to go hunting a few times with neighbors and an uncle though, but never as much as I'd wanted.