Lewis and Clark, et. al - 2 months and 8,000 miles in a FJ40.

[x32792]

Well written with great photos...Kudos. Keep it coming!

[DarinM]

Well written with great photos...Kudos. Keep it coming!

Agreed. Looking forward to seeing more.

[stainless40/45]

Agreed. Looking forward to seeing more.

Excellent article,looking foward to the rest of your marvelous adventure....

Your dad looks just like Danny warden....of Wardens of California the landcruiser shop,don't know if he is still there or not.

[cpg]

Glad you made it home safe we ran into you and your girlfriend here.

[tglaser]

Haven't found the time to write again yet and I will be out of town for the weekend - so here are a few more pictures and maybe a short video - if I can figure that out.

Thanks for the compliments and thanks for reading.


















Video is not happening right now - I'll put more brain power into it later on. OK.

[4runnin']

I'm hooked! Love the old iron...

[Cabrito]

Subscribed

[1leglance]

I really dig the Father/Son thing and I hope either of my boys will make such a phone call to me someday way down the road.

great writeup and pics....looking forward to more

[tglaser]

We'll start this one with a picture.



I woke up in the mountains and intended to sleep by the Sea of Cortez, by way of the Pacific Ocean. Long day ahead of me. Better get going.


By now I was beginning to learn how things were laid out in Baja - small towns were placed every 20 or so kilometers and a series of white painted speed bumps let you know you were getting close - some of these were small, and then every third or fifth rivaled the size of goat laying in the road - which wasn't impossible either. The towns might have a gas station, probably no ATM, a few tacos houses, lots of onlookers and lots of repair shops. Between the towns were racheros and farms of varying sizes - most over 100 acres - growing potatoes, peanuts and strawberries. The ground was lush but littered, and fortunately yielded more than enough food to feed the locals. I suspect either you or your father or your primo or tu amigo spent some time being bused back and forth between town and the farmlands if you were from here.




But I was on a mission. The night before I had decided to try to reach Bahia de Los Angeles by that evening. That may sound like a small feat, but remember that we're traveling at a little faster than covered-wagon-speed across a never ending desert. South to Lazaro Cardenas and over some hills and through Catavina. Looked a lot like this:











245 kilometers of cactus. Amazing. I'd never seen anything like it. And boulders the size of the cruiser - so many that it reminded me of stars in the night sky - I was baffled at how they created a road through there - it must have taken years and there must have been a really good reason to get through. Or perhaps this is the only way. Think about that.

Finally ended up in L.A. Bay, as some folks call it, found a place to crash and rest my weary bones. It was a long, exhausting drive and my ice had melted and my beer gotten warm. Luckily the first guy I ran into noticed this, said "You look like you need a cold beer" and then we became best friends. He and his lawyer, his lawyer's brother, and a Brazilian amigo were in town from Southern California fishing and relaxing. The day was spent swimming, drinking, eating and telling lies. I hesitate to call the place a hotel, but we did pay to sleep there. The gate was fancy, but that's about it. But it was on the water, their beer was cold and the staff cooked up the best tuna ceviche tostadas I'd ever seen. Later that night, we grabbed our dive masks, underwater lights and drove in. Had to be careful of all the stingrays in the shallow sandy bottom at night, but you should have seen all the life underwater. Pufferfish, rays, eels, jack, ribbonfish, a sea turtle and most of all - the Phosphorescence. It's something I'd never seen before and it's something I'll never forget - millions of glowing particles that trace the movement of your body and make you feel like the Messiah gliding through the water. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. And oh yeah, Chico liked it here, too.





The next morning I awoke to this, the Isla Ángel de la Guarda.

[DarinM]

Oh man this is killing me. I want to go so bad. Hoping to make it in Feb/Mar of next year. I'm leaving the cats and guitars in Austin so I know I'll have to come back home. But I'm really hoping to be able to go and stay one of these days.