On The Road Again

With the inside of the truck loaded pretty high and the ATV, deflated raft and motor in the back end, we said goodbye to Los Barriles and started our journey home!  Although we were both sad to bid the ocean farewell, we were excited to go back home!

Our day was great - traffic wasn't too bad and we only got lost once in LaPaz - the turn off road is not marked so of course we missed it!  The road does circle back around but takes you through a lot of traffic first - and it was rush hour - figures!

We stopped again at Loreto for a picnic lunch and walked up to the malecon and ate - it was a gorgeous day....................we drove further this time, hoping we could make the Baja drive in 2 1/2 days instead of 3 1/2 days!  I had made reservations in Mulege' as it's a cool town that sits on the only river in the Baja which flows into the ocean!

Our stay was at Clementine's Oasis - the owner Clifford is originally from Oregon and he rents out a house, a casita and 4 bedrooms in the B & B!  We just needed a room for the night so stayed in the B and B - it was really set up cute with a huge kitchen/dining/relaxing area with 4 bedrooms/baths surrounding the area!  Since we were the only ones staying that night, it was extremely quiet!

We had brought along a package of dorado fish, hoping a local restaurant could cook it for us and Clifford said just down the road about 3 houses was Junga Jim's, a bar and restaurant, and they could cook the fish!  So we walked down first and had a drink and sure enough, the cook could handle that!  Later we brought the fish and had an excellent meal - garlic fish, beans, rice, salad and fresh tortillas!  And the cost for the meal?  100 pesos which translates into $5.78!  Cheapest meal yet!

Because it was a B & B, breakfast was already in the frig waiting for us which we knew would be rolls and juice!  Actually it was 2 mini loaves of bread that we sliced and toasted and he had butter and jelly for us along with a large carafe of the best squeezed orange juice - and Glenn made coffee!!  Just enough to get us on our way!

We headed out at 7:00am (because that was first light) and knew we had a long day ahead as we were going to try and make it to San Felipe - AND we had the 21 miles of gravel to cross!  I think we had 4 federali stops during the day - twice we had to get out so they could search the truck (which consists of looking under the seats and dash, and then peeking in the back.  The other two stops they waved us on!

This time when we got on the gravel, we took a different road - it's so confusing as once you get so far, you can take one of 3 roads - apparently the first time we came we took the HORRIBLE road and it took forever - this time we took a different road and made MUCH better time!!  Until we came upon this!!

This poor trucker hit a huge pothole and not only did his tire blow, but he couldn't get out!  We wouldn't fit on the right side of the truck as there was a drop off so we had to use the left side and you can see it wasn't very wide!  And yes, that's Glenn out there with his machete chopping bushes down that would scratch the truck as we went through!!  I shut my eyes!  And the poor trucker sitting behind this truck and the other waiting behind us just have to wait until some piece of machinery can pull the truck out!  Gosh were we glad we could fit by him!

Glenn made great time during the day (which is usually an impossibility with the S curves, cows on the road, and slow traffic) and when we got to San Felipe, he made the decision to just keep on driving to cross the border!!  I was happy with that decision but NOT happy to hit Mexicali at rush hour!!

Because GPS is very limited on his navigation, we didn't know for sure which road to get over on to get in line to cross - and GPS told us wrong.  We did get turned on the street, only to discover we were on the WRONG side of the barriers - one side is the Medical Only lane and one lane was the Sentri lane (which we would later find out is paying a fee after doing an application, background check, interview and vehicle inspection so you can cross the border quickly) and the other side of the barrier is the regular lane to cross the border - which is where we were supposed to be!!  But there's no place to go once you're on that road so we drove on up and figured we were in the medical lane but we were in the Sentri lane - Glenn apologized to the officer and he scolded us but put a note on our windshield so the next officer would know what was going on!  We pulled into a space to wait and he finally came over - again, telling us we were in the wrong but since this was our first time driving back from the Baja, he would waive the $5000 fine!!!!!  ARE YOU KIDDING?????  Glenn thanked him again and we were across the border - knowing that next time WE MUST get in the right lane because now we're marked in the computer!!!

We were both exhausted after that.................checked into the same hotel in Calexico that we had stayed in on the way down, walked to Applebee's where Glenn had a stiff drink and then a good meal - which was 30% off since it was Senior Day - ha!!!

I have to admit it felt good to be back in the ole USA!!!!!!!

We headed out the next morning to drive to Prescott to stop at Jeff and Karen's home!  And look what town we went through!

We stopped in Wickenburg for lunch at Nana's Place - GREAT coffee!  Also walked around a little and stopped at The Jail Tree - a place where they used to tie criminals to because there was no building to house them in!

We arrived at Karen's place mid-afternoon and enjoyed catching up with them and also meeting their close friends who now live in Co. Springs!!  Dinner was at a local Tapas bar and we all enjoyed visiting till late that night....................Sure glad we got to stop!

Another day of driving but the scenery was pretty with lots of red rocks - I knew we were going through the 4 corners so told Glenn I wanted to stop!  He wasn't impressed with the fact that we had to pay $5 per person to get in - and as you can tell, the wind was whipping around like crazy!  But I got my picture!  And yes, my feet were cold as it was only 47 degrees out!

We drove into Durango for the night and ate at a local pizza house which was good!  There was a memory foam mattress on our bed at the hotel and gosh we slept good on it!!  HMMMMM - maybe we should think about getting one!

After a great breakfast in Pagosa Springs, we headed home -  it was great to see our home about 1:30 that afternoon - home sweet home!!