Heading South of the Border
Crossing the Border
"When was the last time you had a CAT scan"
Departing Phoenix and heading to the nogales crossing. The Vespa will have to be imported and I will have to get a tourist visa. At the import station They gave me some grief about temporary registration and not having a real title but its Mexico and they knew I wasn't going away so they let me in. Here I ran into Dick, Martin and his girl Angelica. Martin a rider himself asked what I was up to and thought that doing this trip on a bike was good ride but doing it on a Vespa was plain retarded. He proceeded to ask "When was the last time you had a CAT scan?". We chatted and I asked to get his pic by the scooter and we went on our way south.
San Carlos Froggy's and fun with some cool Locals
San Carlos is an Awesome little vacation spot on the mainland side of Mexico on the Sea of Cortez. I arrived here after a short 100 mile or so ride from Hermosillo. I thought I would check into a hotel and enjoy the day however this town was hoppin with mexican tourists and every hotel was booked. I went everywhere and took it as it was; a great opportunity to check out this little town and some of the beautiful views and spots off the beaten path. I did finally checked into a hotel a few miles out of town and went on the hunt for a cold beverage. This is where I ran into Kim and Kevin some local gringos who were eager to point me in the right direction. We went to Froggy's where I met a friendly bunch of people and some cheap cold beers. Kathy and Kevin thank you for getting me to the right spot
!! I lost the paper with everyones e mail so please e mail me so I can send you pics. Cherry you too. Alex love your place and thank you for the the beers and fun!
Ferry to Santa Rosalia
The Vespa was packed into the cargo hold of the ferry after a delayed departure and some drug dog sniffing. The boat set sail for Baja Sur. I was a bit nervous with the Vespa tied up below a less than desirable way but I did manage to re secure the straps which made me feel a little better. The ride was fairly smooth although there were some chummers feeding the fish. On the boat I met several fishermen who were on their way to work the Pongas fishing for Calamari. They were an interesting bunch to say the least skinny, energetic, and with bad teeth. I was glad to arrive in Santa Rosalia with a kick ass sunset I promptly checked into a hotel and went to get some grub. I woofed down some tasty tacos and a 40 of Tecate and had an Ice Cream cone for Dessert.
Santa Rosalia to Abreojos: Baja The East Coast to the West Coast
This is another great ride through windy switchbacks, old lava flows, and volcanic peaks. Ride the switchbacks with care!! o guard rails here oncoming trucks and other traffic!!
Abreojos with the Gringos Locos
Where do i start with this one!! I arrived in Abreojos after looking at a map and deciding this looked like a good south facing point where I might find some swell. I parked on a bluff overlooking the ocean where there were a few other groups of campers and surfers. The scooter pulls attention wherever it goes and this was no different. Bruce came over from an exceptionally well set up camp to find out what the story with the scooter and surfboard was. After giving him a summary of the Vespa adventures he invited me over to their camp to meet the rest of the crew. I met his brother Kurt who was the Quad guy, he had a stable full of these things and enough cans of petro to open his own personal gas station. My tank was low and fortunately, for me he was generous enough to hook me up with a gallon.
After hanging and drinking a few beers I knew this is where I wanted to stay for a few days, cool people to chill with and some decent looking waves. Kurt told me to set up and use his quad trailer as a wind block. There are days in Baja when the winds really kick up, they will rip the stakes right out of the ground and blow your tent and everything in it out to sea. After setting up and a few more beers the rest of the gang arrived from a fishing excursion. There arrival was reminiscent of a Toyota commercial this thing was bounding down the trail at mach speed with a couple scrappy dudes bouncing around the back. The truck halted to a stop in a plume of dust and I met Bud, Sean and Tyler. These guys claimed to have been out fishing but given their condition I wasn't sure how much fishing had actually taken place. I was thinking maybe it was a drinking excursion because I didn't see any fish but these guys definitely caught a buzz. I was very glad to have been invited to join their camp This was going to be a fun crew.
The surf was looking decent so Kurt and I paddled out after a couple beers and caught some pretty fun waves. The waves were all right handers that broke and wrapped around a small rock reef into a sandy bottomed bay. We got some nice long rides and did some hooting to work up an appetite for what was going to be a large feast of food and beer. Dinner was followed by a great night sleep, I was exhausted.
As the sun rose over the ocean which was very strange because we are on the west coast, but on a south facing point. As you can see from the pictures the were some beautiful sun rises and sun sets which were over the land; I am still amazed by this!!
At day break we went to look for Cliff and Blinky, the old guys that are rolling high style in their super camper. We found them camped a bit north just out of town. These guys were old (ha ha) but they were swilling beer and eager to get in the water. The razor sharp reefs they were itching to surf were just not breaking that day so they came down to ride the long slow rollers off the point. It was super fun but we were eager to get into some waves with a little consequence!
Blinky surfed and surfed, this dude just does not want to get out of the water. He probably had twice as much water time as the rest of us, he just kept going. A couple days in and we got what we were looking for; some nice sized hollow waves. Blinky, Cliff, Sean and I paddled out just beyond the reef where the wave was breaking a little better than head high. This wave was tubed and fast with a sharp reef staring at you from about fifteen yards away, definitely not what I was used to, but I wasn't going to let these guys have all the fun!! I watched Blinky Sean and Cliff all get a bunch of waves they were rippin and began to feel like I was sewing sweaters out there but, eventually it came. This was my wave and I was getting it or they were going to pick me out of the reef! Luck for me I dropped in backside, stuck the bottom turn and punched it down the line. This was my best wave of the trip and after the ride I had to paddle in to change my pampers.
The following day Bud took us out fishing. I was excited to catch some fish and check out the estuary. We did both it was a blast we all hooked some fish cruised the estuary and checked out the wildlife. Thanks Bud!!!
After four days of fantastic food, company, and cruising quads, we all decided to begin making our we north. We swapped info, swearing to have beers and a photo exchange north of the border. See you gringos in San Diego!!
MORE TO COME