Spring Break '98
March 13, 1998
Well, it’s Friday the 13th, an inauspicious day to begin preparations for San Felipe ’98. Doing these trip logs is one of my favorite parts of the trip, documenting the preparations and the fun to be had. Please bear with me as my ramblings continue -
This year Easter falls on April 12th, so in order to get there the weekend before, I’ll need to leave Leonero on the morning of the 1st to arrive on the afternoon of the 2nd. I called Amparo in San Diego today, she’s part of the Laguna Percebu family living in San Diego. She will let Jorge know when I’m planning on getting there, so he can hold one of the preferred camping spots for me. I also spoke with Melodie at our bank, she and her family have a place at Percebu and confirmed that they will be there that same week - she’s the greatest cook, I’m looking forward to some of her cooking..
Last year I bought some new camping gear, and I figured it’s about time to unpack things to make sure everything works. The new air mattress will be a vast improvement over last year, when I resorted to using a couple of bed comforters as a bed pad. The new 1000 watt generator powered the 3/4hp air compressor perfectly - airing the bed was a snap. I’ll leave the mattress inflated for a couple of days to make sure there’s no leaks.
March 14th -
I’m trying to decide whether or not to bring the quad this year. It’s not a whole lot of fun without other people to ride with. I’ve sent an e-mail to the Powell’s to see what their plans are. I called Al today and he confirmed his group will be arriving at Pete’s Camp - about 30 miles north of Percebu on the 2nd. If you’ve read the 1997 trip log, you’ll remember they usually stay at Pete’s, and we have some memorable road trips between camps.
I’ve broken out the camping duffel bags and have started to stage the equipment. I’ve decided to buy a new conventional blender this year, as last year’s gas-powered MotoBlend doesn’t seem to be working that well, and I have the new generator for power. I’ve rigged up a 20ft cigarette lighter 12v extension to power the lantern and computer. I haven’t used the palm tree/banana float in several years, so it was unpacked and aired up - found a pinhole leak in the banana headrest - fixed that.
March 19th -
Broke out the new tent I bought last year and set it up for the first time - the dealer said it was the easiest tent for one person to set up and he wasn’t kidding. It was up in less than 2 minutes. If you've ever done any tent camping, you'll know the tent will never fit into the original carry bag once it's been set up. Having learned this the hard way, I was already prepared with a new larger duffel bag for the tent. Repacking the tent into the new bag went almost as fast as setting it up.
Spoke with Al, Jeff Powell and Doug Folsom today. Doug's made reservations for a large block of spots at Pete's, and Jeff will be staying at the place they bought at El Dorado - right next door. As everybody will be staying at the north side camps, I've decided to camp with Al and the boys at Pete's. We'll just have to make some road trips to Percebu to visit Amparo, Jorge and the family. Since our camp will be in some soft sand, I've had my construction crew make me some sand spikes for the tent out of rebar.
March 21st -
One of my concerns is getting my e-mail and updating the website during the trip. I had figured I'd use the Percebu office's phone line in San Felipe, but as we won't be camping there that would be politically incorrect. When I first set up our website last year I had tried to connect using my cell phone, but I couldn't get a reliable connection. As an experiment, I tried again to get a cell connect - lo and behold - it worked! I made 6 consecutive cell connects during the day (only 4800 bps - good enough). I spoke with the BajaCel techie, and he indicated they had upgraded their equipment over the last few months, giving me the reliable connect. That problem solved, I look forward to updating the site while laying on the beach at Felipe.
Now that the camping arrangements are set, I'm for sure bringing the quad - everybody else will have their bikes with them, and we have had some great trips into town for tacos and tequila. This being the case, I've serviced the quad - oil change,lube & new plug - it's ready to party.
As I'm a legend in my own mind, I've ordered a "Campo Mr. Fun" banner to ID our camp. Also got an additional supply of Sr. Divertido stickers for tagging various spots on the trip.
March 24th -
John Ireland rolled in last night after another of his marathon road trips down the peninsula. He leaves San Diego about 3am and rolls into Leonero late in the evening. He usually wants to get together first thing, but this morning he was strangely quiet. When I finally went over to see him, the reason became quite evident - he had forgotten to bring my satellite phone with him - I imagine he thought I might go postal on him. Without the sat phone, if I broke down on one of the remote stretches of back roads, it could be weeks before my bleached bones would be found [maybe that's what he had in mind - just kidding]. Also, the sat phone is the only direct link to the ranch from our campo. Anyway, John is having his daughter bring the phone with her today - we'll see. I told John if he didn't want to be able to get in touch with me for two weeks to just leave the phone in San Diego. John did bring down the 12v-to-110v converter for running the computer off the car battery - plugged it in to make sure it was working - no problem.
Installed a quick-disconnect system on the air compressor - now the compressor can air tires, air mattresses, run air tools, and a blower. The preparations for the trip are nearing completion, so now I'm going to concentrate on getting a head start on my end-of-month accounting functions - it's going to be touch & go to get everything done in order to leave on the morning of the 1st.
March 25th -
Wow! I'm speechless for probably the first time in my life. This morning I connected the SkyCell phone to make sure it was working - no problem. I then contacted the SkyCell customer service dept. to check on other billing options for the phone. The service rep advised my that the data service I had ordered some time ago was now working. I immediately plugged in the laptop to the phone and checked it out. I got an instant internet connect on the satellite phone - for me this has staggering implications. I now have connectivity from any remote spot in North America. I can send faxes, check my e-mail, and update our website from anywhere - it's almost like the gods have released my electronic leash. Wow!
March 30th -
48 hours to go, and for the last several days I've been driving everyone nuts trying to get as much end-of-month accounting completed so I can get out of here on time on the 1st. I'm about as prepped as I can get. The tools are packed, I bought a new car jack, and borrowed a tow strap. The camping gear is all checked and packed, groceries have been bought, and the truck and quad have been serviced. Now if only mother nature will cooperate. A late winter storm hit southern California this last weekend, dropping the snow level down to 3,000 ft. The weather reports indicate that a substantial amount of rain fell on northern Baja. I'm concerned that if it rained south of Puertocitos, the Gonzaga Bay road may not be passable. I've e-mailed Discover Baja Travel Club and Amigos de Baja, trying to get some current road reports from them. In the meantime, there's a new storm heading into the Pacific - not much I can do except watch the weather reports and hope for the best.
March 31st -
The countdown continues - Earle from Amigos de Baja e-mailed me with some current info on the Gonzaga Bay road. It looks like things are OK, except the there are some washouts north of Puertocitos.
Had the staff wash and wax the truck and cleanup the quad. This afternoon got everything loaded in-between completing the hotel payroll. Baja Cellular gave me a scare - they shut off my cell phone. It seems they didn't post a $300 payment made yesterday. After the usual yelling and screaming, they finally admitted the mistake and turned me back on. Spoke with Doug tonight, he assured me that he had confirmed reservations for our campsite.
Zero hour getting near. I'm starting to feel like a cowboy in the jungle.
April 1st -
Got up at 4:30 to get ready. Updated the website, checked the e-mail, and finished packing in anticipation of an early start. As usual, my plans were stymied by the demand of the hotel. Instead of my planned 7am departure, it was 8:30 before I was able to get on the road. Topped off the gas and picked up some junk snacks at Los Barriles and was on my way.
The trip north to Guerrero Negro was pretty routine until I got to San Ignacio late in the afternoon. The sky was getting darker by the minute. Soon a few tentative raindrops splattered my windshield. Before I could stop to move my clothes from the back into the cab, I broke through to clearing skies. However, it was evident that a lot of rain was falling north of me - I hope this won't screw things up tomorrow. Got to the military checkpoint outside Vizcaino and saw an ingenious device they had rigged to stop anyone from running the stop - they had a homemade nail strip tied to a rope which could be pulled to drag the strip across the road. Continuing on, I made it to the Malarrimo Hotel just before 6. Before I could even get my stuff into the room, I heard someone yelling for Sr. Divertido - I turned around and saw Pete and his girlfriend from Los Barriles standing there. It's getting to be a habit to see people I know here at Malarrimo. We had dinner together and all turned in early for the continuation of our travels tomorrow. Called Amy on the satphone to check in and we set up a schedule for me to call in.
April 2nd -
Slept like a log. The restaurant doesn't open until 7:30, and I can't wait until then for my morning caffeine fix. So while I'm writing this, I've got my little 4-cup Mr. Coffee brewing me that concoction which helps me hang on.
It looks like the weather gods are smiling on me today, there's clear skies and no wind - unusual for Guerrero Negro. About 6:30 I set up the satphone for the daily upload, then relax until breakfast time.
I talk the manager into opening the restaurant early for me, so after a great breakfast of steak ranchero, I'm on the road by 7:45. As I top off my gas at Jesus Maria, the attendant comments about my Sr. Divertido sticker, so I whip out a couple for him. You should have seen his eyes light up! I make the Laguna Chapala cutoff by 9 - earlier than last year. To be on the safe side, I drop the tires down to 22 lbs, although I soon find out that may not have been necessary - the road is smooth and fast. After about 10 miles I run into a military check out in the middle of nowhere. This was the first stop I've run into in a couple of years where they seemed really serious - they took down my license number, asked my name, and spent about 20 minutes going through my stuff. After cheerfully waving me on, I realized that the extensive search they put me through was probably out of boredom - I might have been the first car to come through there in days.
I cruise on into Gonzaga Bay a little after 10 - remarkably faster than last year. After celebrating with a candy bar at the local store, I'm thinking this is a breeze and continue towards Puertocitos. However, it seems that Baja has been playing a trick on me, whereas I got through the first half of the road in a little over an hour, it winds up taking me another 2 and a half hours to complete the second half. It's evident that last year's Hurricane Nora inflicted substantial damage to this area, with numerous arroyos washed out - at one point I come up over a rise, and the road disappears in front of me. Being properly admonished not to take the road for granted, I'm a little more careful the rest of the trip.
After 80 miles of bad road, I'm looking forward to the pavement which resumes at Puertocitos - or so I thought. Nora's presence was really felt here, with most of the pavement gone, and every arroyo crossing for the next 30 miles gone. Cruising into Laguna Percebu I'm feeling like I've just entered a ghost town - there's nobody to be seen, the bar is closed, and every beach palapa is gone. As I stop, Mama comes out of the kitchen and gives me a big hug. She prepares mew a great plate of tacos and then sends for Jorge - he's up at the house [probably taking a siesta]. He shows up and explains how the storm did a lot of damage, and he was waiting until after spring break to complete repairs, as he doesn't want a repeat of last year's fights. He says even Amparo is passing up this week, and there will not be a cazuela bar at all. After listening to all this, it makes it easier to tell him I won't be camping there this year.
Heading north, I decide to make the perfunctory cruise through town before heading out to Pete's Camp. Lo and behold, I find our friend Kiko, the taco vendor, is back in town. After stopping to say hi, I assure him we will be back tomorrow for tacos. I'm anxious to get out to Pete's and get my camp set up. As I pull into camp, I'm greeted by the Powell's, who have come over for lunch and were just getting ready to leave for their camp. After explaining where they are camped, they take off, and I agree to come over later. Cruising on down to the beach, I find Doug, Scott, Frank and Robert with a well-established camp. They try to talk me into going to town with them for tacos, but I'd rather get my camp set up first. They race off in a cloud of dust and sand, and after a while Robert shows back up and says Scott blew up his bike, so we jump into Robert's truck to go retrieve him. No sooner do we get back, and here comes Al rolling in - it takes him about 2 minutes to get stuck in the sand. We make a big production out of pulling him out. While Al gets his camp set up, Doug fires off his generator and we watch motorcycle videos on his tv. Afterwards, we all cruise up to the restaurant for a late dinner and then turn in.
April 3rd -
Jeez - it was cold last night. I couldn't wait for the sun to come up to start warming things up. Now that everybody is here, we are starting to get into sync. Today is starting to look like a typical San Felipe day. We all head up for hot showers and breakfast. Afterwards, we spend the rest of the morning hanging around camp. Scott works on this quad. We use the satphone to call San Diego for a buddy to bring out the parts he needs. The rest of the guys are working on routine camp projects - quad maintenance, etc. I buy a blanket from the first vendor that shows up. After awhile it gets pretty warm, so everyone breaks out the beach chairs and spend the rest of the morning reading Hustler, teasing the beach vendors, and soaking up rays.
About midday we try organizing everyone for a trip to town for tacos. Since Al needs gas and Doug needs some car parts, we load up in their two trucks for the trip. After a feast at Kiko's, we cruise the malecon and wind up at the Miramar - a bar of legendary proportions. We proceed to engage in self-induced alcohol poisoning. Much later, we cruise the shops and spend some fun tickets on the biggest fireworks we can find. Pretty soon we had to cruise on back home, stopping on the way to pull out a buddy of Doug's who was stuck on the side of the road.
There's a mixed consensus on the evening's agenda. Al wants to go to a new bar up the beach at Playa del Sol, the younger guys feel the need to inflict their particular style of punishment on the town, while I'm happy to stay at camp. We spend some time looking at old desert photos stored in the computer, including shots of Jodi the day we met her here at Pete's back in '85. Doug rigs up his generator to run the tv/vcr, playing some porno movies Al found at one of his jobs. We take the audio signal and run it to Doug's bizillion-watt car stereo, and for the rest of the afternoon the whole camp is being treated to moans and groans. Al then introduces me to Ann and Suzanne, some camping neighbors he and Jodi met earlier in the day. It seems Ann has written a Baja cookbook she's selling, and knows the East Cape area well. Suzanne is intent on feeding me, which is fine - she not only cooks, but she's cute too - this could be an interesting trip yet. We spend the rest of the evening watching Ryan attempt to blow himself up with the fireworks we bought. We part company after Suzanne agrees to a quad ride tomorrow.
About 2:30am all hell breaks loose. Doug and Scott and the boys have just gotten back from town and are about as liquored up as I've ever seen them. They proceed to wake up everyone in a 2 mile radius by playing their stereo at full blast, screaming for everybody to get up, and starting a bottle rocket war with a neighboring camp. Things don't settle down until Paul comes down and threatens to kick everybody out of the camp. I can't wait to see what kind of hangovers they're going to have in the morning.
April 4th -
Due to last night's debauchery, I figure everybody's going to be a little slow today, so I head on up for a shower and breakfast by myself. After a hot shower and another great meal downed with about a gallon of coffee, I'm starting to feel like myself. As I'm getting ready to cruise back to camp, I'm amazed to see the boys are vertical, dragging their butts on up to the restaurant for some food to soak up all the alcohol they consumed last night. I corner Doug and tell him he'd better go and apologize to Paul and Rafael for last night's antics or he's going to wear out his welcome here. Being properly chastised, he takes off to kiss and make up, while I head back to camp to get in some hacking time to update the weekly fish report on the web. If you'd think about it, we have some interesting technology to get this done. First, the resort faxes the report to our USA office using a radio repeater - we have no phone lines there. Then the US office sends me an e-mail of the report. I download the e-mail using a SkyCell portable satellite phone connected to a 2 pound Pentium-powered palmtop computer. After rewriting the report and adding some new photos I had taken on the digital camera before I left, I reconnect to the host server with the SkyCell phone, and upload the report - that's also how I'm able to update this journal each day. Not bad for sitting in my tent on the beaches of San Felipe.
Now that the daily work chores are done, I can start concentrating on the more serious task of reinforcing my Mr. Fun moniker. A few more coffees fortified with tequila and Baileys is a good start. Checking in with Suzanne, she's getting ready for the ride I promised her. Doug's helping Scott get his quad back together. Before you'd know it, everybody's ready to cruise on over to Campo Playa del Sol, the location of our friend, Jim Weatherby, and his camp. The rumor abounded that Jim wasn't coming down this year, he's renowned for being a crybaby, and checking on him was a good excuse for going on a ride there. Jim's the only person we know who's had 3 new jets for over a year and still hasn't put them in the water. Making sure that Suzanne's holding on tight, we all rip up the beach cruising to Jim's - as expected he's not there, but his buddies Rick and Steve are. After a recreational beer, we all head on over the the camp's new bar to check it out. A few more cocktails give us the proper motivation for the ride home.
Back at camp, I drop off Suzanne after agreeing to meet later for dinner. We spend the rest of the afternoon in typical San Felipe fashion - doing nothing. The tide is out, so we head on out to the point for some Happy Gilmore action. Then Al, Frank and Robert go for a quad ride - Al runs out of gas, has to ride back double with Frank, then takes his truck back up the beach to retrieve his bike. After some more do nothing time it's time for Pete's famous Saturday night steak dinner. Afterwards, Suzanne and her camp decide to turn in early. We have another photo viewing session on the computer, then most of us turn in early, while some of the hardcore return to town for another evening of alcoholic stupor.
April 5th -
We had grand plans for today which just never seemed to materialize. It had previously been decided to go over to El Dorado for their Sunday brunch, however by the time we all had showers and coffee it just didn't seem worth the bother. We settled on bloody marys and omelets here at Pete's, Nobody had thought to wake Ryan up, so just as we're finishing he shows up, and launches a tirade which convinces everyone he's going to become the poster child for the FBI's ten most wanted list.
The tide is finally high enough for launching the jet skis from the beach, so while Doug and Scott get ready we set up chairs at the waters' edge for some sun action while they're out shredding the water. Rick and Steve show up from Playa del Sol, so we make a serious effort to deplete the beer inventory. Jodi makes us a big pot of guacamole - life is hard.
We've been trying to organize a quad ride into town since we got here. It still hasn't happened. We wind up loading everyone into the trucks again for the daily pilgrimage. This time I remember the Sr. D stickers, which we promptly apply to every place we visited, the Beachcomber, the Miramar, and Kiko's. We couldn't get a table at Kiko's, so we ended up at a neighboring taco stand - the tacos were excellent - Kiko better watch out. We wind up this road trip with another stop at the fireworks store - and leave about $150 poorer.
Late in the day it turns bitterly cold at camp. Ryan has disappeared, and for awhile we're not sure whether or not we brought him back from town. Just as we're organizing a search posse, he comes cruising back to camp. Since we filled up with tacos late in the afternoon, there is no rush for dinner. We just break out the snacks and bundle up and watch Ford Fairlane with Andrew Dice Clay on the tv. Shortly after turning in, a weather front moves through, and for the rest of the night the wind is howling outside our camp.
April 6th -
Today started out completely different from yesterday - to begin with, we started out at the bar instead of the showers - big mistake. After several really potent bloody marys, we stumbled through the motions of getting cleaned up. By the time we got back to camp, it seemed to be a natural progression to break open the Captain Morgan's rum. By noon, we finally generated the momentum we'd been trying to create the whole week and organized everyone for a quad ride into town. We make the obligatory stop at Playa del Sol to see if Steve or Rick want to join us. They can't go, but this stop provides us an opportunity to recharge with a few more beers. As soon as we hit town the first stop was obvious, Rueben's for coco locos. By this time we're all having too much fun! We race through town and spend some time watching Frank and Jodi racing their quads up San Felipe's comp hill. Afterwards we decide to stop at Kiko's for some tacos to soak up all the alcohol.
Frank had used up too much gas racing with Jodi, so he wound up running out on the way back to camp. We all waited while Doug fetches some gas from camp. Once we got back, Scott gives me a message from Suzanne - she's at the jacuzzi in the next campground over and wants me to come over to take her for a quad ride. Needing no further excuse for a road trip we all jump back on the quads - Al takes his truck - and we go on a Suzanne search mission. By the time we get there Suzanne is well past being any fun, and to make matters worse, the bar there has just closed. Having used up the little patience I have, we gathered everyone back up and headed for the bar at Pete's.
We're still pretty tanked up when we hit the bar and continue our journey into inebriation from there. There's lots of people at the bar - all seemingly in the same state of intoxication. A few more rum and cokes and we're flying again. After awhile, I'm about as much fun as I can take, so I excuse myself and head on over to Suzanne's camp to see what's going on. During the entire day, Al has left Ryan to entertain himself - another big mistake. While we've been having fun at the bar, Ryan's been out terrorizing the camp. First he takes Al's quad and starts racing around camp, throwing as much dust into other camps as he can. After he gets bored with this, Ryan breaks into our fireworks cache, steals some M-60's, and proceeds to blow up one of the bathrooms - fortunately no one was seriously hurt. Pretty soon Rueben, the camp owner, comes looking for Al. I'm still at Suzanne's, and see Rueben looking around our camp. I go on over to see what's the matter, and he relates the saga of the kid from hell. I tell him Al's at the bar, and offer to go get him. Rueben doesn't want to ruin Al's fun, so he says not to say anything to Al and he will come back later. In the meantime, things have gotten out of hand at the bar, and they have to close it down and throw out our group for being too rowdy. Just about the time everyone gets back to camp, here comes Rueben looking for Al. Not only does he get thrown out of the bar, but then he has to shell out $75 for a new toilet to replace the one Ryan's put into orbit. Al and Jodi are not happy campers at this point - and neither is Rueben - he doesn't come out and say it, but I think he's really happy we're supposed to leave tomorrow. And so concludes another typical San Felipe day.
April 7th -
Considering last night's excesses, everyone is a little somber this morning. Throughout the week we had been discussing extending our trip one or two extra days. Under the circumstances, that's now out of the question. Everyone's up earlier than I expected, and without discussion we start breaking down the camp. The only bright side to all this is as we're packing, plans are taking shape for a trip to Glamis this weekend. For those of you who don't know about Glamis, it's ATV heaven, in the center of a strip of sand dunes running from the Mexican border to the Salton Sea. Before moving to Mexico, I was there almost every weekend during the winter months.
After packing, we all meet up top and get showered and have breakfast. Al and I are pretty much ready to go, while the rest of the group has some errands to do in town before they leave - we decide to go in two groups - me & Al, followed by the others. Before leaving, I catch up with Suzanne, we exchange numbers, and plan on getting together in San Diego later this week. As we pull out of camp I can feel a collective sigh of relief emanating from the campground. Topping off the gas tanks on our way out of town, I'm halfway expecting a police escort to make sure we don't change our minds.
The trip home is routine, Al's driving like he just watched Top Gun - he's going mach 2 with his hair on fire. We make it home in about 5 hours, including a 1 hour stop at the Calexico border. Once we get to San Diego, Al heads for home, while I make the obligatory dinner stop at Outback steak house. I run into another of our friends there, Danny Long, and over dinner we catch up on the local gossip. Dropping off my quad and camping gear at the Powell's for storage, I cruise on into my mom's place about 7pm.
April 8th -
First things first - off to the car wash to give the truck a much needed and deserved facelift. Upon leaving, I notice the dome light won't go off, so now its off to the dealer - they think a switch has gone out, and ask me to come back early tomorrow. In the meanwhile, I pull the fuse to keep the light from driving me nuts.
Today is shopping day for all the office goodies not readily available in Mexico. One stop at Office Depot gets this project taken care of - next stop is Master Marine to drop off this load for shipment to the hotel, and to pick up some fishing tackle Jon has requested. A couple of days ago I had ordered a new sat phone from Honor Marine Communications - I called to check on the order and was surprised to find out it was already waiting for me. Almost nothing excites me more than new toys, so I drop everything and head on over with eager anticipation. My old phone weighed in at 30 lbs, the new one is a slimmed down 5 1/2 lbs - the mighty march of progress continues - pretty soon we'll have implanted comm devices under the skin powered by our own minute electrical charges.
I get there about 2pm. It's going to take awhile to get the authorization numbers to program the phone, so I settle in for what I hope to be is a short wait. Pretty soon it's 4, then 5, and I'm still twiddling my thumbs. Finally at 6 the numbers come in. While waiting for Scott to finish a meeting so he can program my phone, I decide to join Lotto Mania and cruise over to the local liquor store to get some tickets for tonight's 100 million jackpot. However, today just doesn't seem to be my day - the entire Lotto system has crashed due to overloading and I'm just out of luck. Back to Honor, and my bad luck streak is holding fast - the phone won't initialize. We stay until 7:30 [thanks Scott and Andy] trying to get it going, but it ain't going to happen. We decide to try it again tomorrow. It's adios and off to Gary & Anne's for the only bright spot of the day, dinner at Chili's.
April 9th -
Breakfast at Grandpa Allen's starts today off. Then its a trip to the Ford dealer to get the stuck light fixed - and was I embarrassed. It seems when the car wash guys were cleaning the inside of the dash yesterday, they accidentally pushed the dome control switch all the way over to the detent position which leaves the light always on. Since I had already planned on being there for the next couple of hours, I went ahead and had the headlights adjusted - they were way too high after the bigger tires were put on a couple of months ago. With these items off the to-do checklist, it was time to pick up some new eyeglasses I'd ordered. While waiting there, I had lunch at the Spot, a La Jolla eatery whose owner, Jerry, I'd known many years ago - he was there and we had a great time catching up on things. Another trip to Honor for the now-activated satphone, then its back to San Marcos for a movie and an evening of hacking and cyber-surfing.
April 10th -
Dire situation! - John's daughter, Genie, has crashed her computer. She's a freshman at UCSD, and will have a hard time functioning without it. As usual, its Mr. Fun to the rescue. I arrange for a new computer from my buddy John from the Portable Source, and have Genie pick it up. Once her computer is fixed, we'll send the new one down to the hotel for a spare. With today's crisis over, I look up an old buddy, Clark Duley. When I last saw him about a year ago, he was having girlfriend problems; things change fast - he's now happily married to Tana, and has an 8-day old baby daughter. As coincidence would have it, Clark just bought a couple of lots at Pete's Camp - we talk about getting together there in the future. For now, I relax the rest of the day while looking forward to my trip to Glamis tomorrow. I try calling Suzanne a couple of times, but no luck - oh well, ships passing in the night.
April 11th -
For many years I was a fixture at Glamis - I remember one 16-week stretch when I was there every weekend. I even have a meal at the restaurant named after me, the "Roy Special". I've been trying for several years to get out there to visit Duncan & Jeannie, who operate the restaurant, but somehow I just never got around to it. I'm determined to get there this trip, even though it looks like Mother Nature isn't going to cooperate.
I'm supposed to meet my friend Yvonne for breakfast at 9, but as usual she's late. We catch up on what's been happening with each other, and she proudly shows off her new car. With storm clouds brewing on the horizon, I finally get on the road about 10:30. Due to the storm that's supposed to hit later, all my San Felipe buddies have cancelled, so this is just a recon mission to catch up on my social obligations. I hit Glamis about 1, and as I'm checking out the campgrounds along Gecko Road, it's apparent that the area's popularity has suffered over the years - there's only about half the number of campers as would have been here on a major holiday weekend in the old days. This is just another example of how lawyers and legislation are bent on taking away what little fun we still have left.
Continuing north, I check out Competition Hill - same story - in the old days there would be a couple of hundred quads and buggies racing the hill on a Saturday afternoon, but today there's only a few lonely souls there. Off to the Glamis store and my visit with Duncan & Jeannie. Upon entering the restaurant, I ask for Jeannie, she doesn't recognize me until I ask if I can still get a Roy Special, then her eyes light up and she give me a big hug. More surprises - I ask where's Duncan? - she tells me they are in the middle of a divorce after 25 years. She tells me her oldest son, who I remember as being about waist-high, has just gotten his master's degree - I'm starting to feel a bit old. After catching up on 7 years worth of happenings, we promise to keep in touch, and I cruise on over to Boardmanville.
Boardmanville is a little bar/store/hangout just off the main dune area. Over the years it has become a tradition to write your name on a dollar bill and staple it up on the wall or ceiling - there must be 10,000 dollar bills on display. I spend some time looking around, and am rewarded with finding three old bills I posted in 1988 - me & Jocelyn, Team Fun, and Roy/Jeff/Chris. This nostalgia makes me want to check out some of our old campgrounds, but just as I'm leaving, the leading edge of the storm front smacks us with a vengeance. One minute we're enjoying a sunny Saturday afternoon, and in an instant we're in the middle of a Sahara-style 50-mph sandstorm, with visibility cut to zero. Under the circumstances, there's nothing left to do but head home. On the way the storm is lashing out with heavy rain and a tremendous headwind - I can only get 55 mph over the mountains.
April 12th -
Happy Easter! Took mom out to breakfast at our favorite spot, Grandpa Allen's, then had the first quiet day of the trip. Spent most of the day just relaxing and reading, then mom & I went over to the Powell's for Easter dinner. As usual, Bobbie outdid herself with a great meal.
Went back over to the Powell's later and loaded up all my stuff. Ready for another road trip south. Finally got a hold of Suzanne late in the evening. We'll try to get together another time.
April 13th -
I started this log exactly one month ago. It seems fitting that today starts the trip home. First breakfast at Grandpa Allen's, then stops on the way south at John's, Discover Baja, and Honor Marine before hitting the border at 10. No problems at the border, I was waved right through. Lots of traffic, but no real problems until just north of Santo Tomas. The road was closed for about 15 minutes for some construction work. Finally getting past the road work, I notice a white Ford truck that's dogging me. I'm moving pretty fast, and he's right behind me all the way to San Quintin. I lose him there, and forget about him until I spot him again at another road construction stop north of the LA Bay turnoff. Since it looks like we're going to be stopped awhile, I jump out and introduce myself. The guy's name is Doug MacAllister, and he's the Baja sales rep for Lawson Products. During our small talk, I find out he's best friends with John's veterinarian, Gary Smalley - small world! We agree to meet for dinner at Malarrimo, and cruise into Guerrero Negro. Over dinner he talks about having to use different phone casetas and pharmacies up and down Highway 1 to keep in touch with his office - I whip out the new satphone, and his eyes almost pop out. I give him Honor Marine's number and turn in confident they just got another SkyCell customer.
April 14th -
Today wraps it up. I had planned on leaving by 5:30, in order to cross the desert before sunrise. The stretch from Guerrero Negro to Santa Rosalia is brutal in the morning as the sun is right in your eyes. I was slow today and didn't get started until 6:30 - and I paid the price. By the time I got to San Ignacio, the sun was right in my eyes, just over the horizon. Keeping the pedal to the metal, I made Mulege at 9, and treated myself to breakfast at the Serinidad. Back on the road by 10, I pulled into Rancho Leonero at 4:30 - with just enough time to visit my trusty sidekick, Ranger, then unload and shower before having to rush off to meet our Mexican accountant - back to reality.
As usual, this trip was a lot of fun. All the gear worked perfectly, and as is normal, I renewed some old friendships as well as made a few new ones. Thanks for taking the time to read this - stay tuned for more of the continuing adventures of Sr. Divertido.