Short USA Summary

Saturday, 24 October 2009 22:54

After 3 days riding, I arrived in LA. Nothing special about the ride other than finally seeing sun, the California Coast,

and getting to LA for a day or two of last minute preparations before heading down to Baja.

I did have quite the amazing experience at the BMW Shop, West Valley Cycle Sales, in Winnetka when I stopped to see about getting my Anakee 2's mounted. The lady behind the service counter replied, “We can’t do that.” “What,” I said? I think I must have had a weird expression on my face as the lady just stood there looking at me. She finally said, “I can’t mount them because I didn’t sell them to you.” “I’ll pay,” I told her. Nope, she wouldn’t do it because she didn’t know where they came from or how they had been handled; insurance and all she told me. “You’re serious?” I asked her. As she started to walk back to her desk, she assured me there was nothing she could do. "Ah, do you know of any shop that will help me out?" “Maybe an independent shop, but no major dealer,” she said as she set down at her desk. “There aren’t very many of us anymore,” she said before getting involved with her computer screen. Well, no shit, if that’s how you treat a customer, I thought.

The next day I stopped in at Pasadena Yamaha and walked out 1 hour later with the tires mounted. I even had a nice talk with the very friendly service manger. What’s going on with the BMW dealers in Southern California? They can’t mount tires they don’t sell? I’ve never heard of that before!

In to Mexico

Monday, 26 October 2009 00:00

I spent a few days in Arcadia, CA doing last minute changes/fixes to the bike and checking and repacking all my gear. Now, I have one pannier filled with things I hope I never need: tools, spares, first aid kit, rain and cold weather gear; the other with items I can use everyday.

I left Arcadia late and made it to Ensenada....

The border crossing at Tecate was a breeze. I made it all the way to Tecate Centro when I realized I had not been stopped or gotten my tourist card yet. I turned around, and about an hour later, I had my tourist card, but still no import papers for the motorcycle. I was told I would need to get the papers in Ensenada, not in Tecate. When I got to Ensenada, I found a bank that was supposed to handle the paperwork, but they told me I needed to get it in La Paz, not Ensenada.

Let’s hope so...as I don’t want to be told in La Paz to get the paperwork back in Tijuana!

Tequila is all about tequila

Monday, 02 November 2009 13:00

I spent the day in Tequila during El Día de los Muertos. Pretty cool, but first I had to head off to the Jose Cuervo distillery

I’ve wanted to visit this town ever since working up on the North Slope of Alaska when I came up with the idea of of building a Tequila pipeline. Well, I thought it was a good idea! The guy at the Jose Cuervo bar told me that all he drinks is 1800. I didn’t have the heart to tell him there are better tequilas out there... he was only 23, afterall, and still has a lot to learn.

Since it was El Día de los Muertos, I left the distillery and headed for El Centro to see what was going on.

 

 

 

An hour or two later and the parade started

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before the parade, I was lucky enough to see a local wedding. Now, to me, getting married on Halloween seemed a little weird. But hey, it works, especially when you can bring the whole family.

This police bike blocked traffic for an hour or more. The whole time the engine was running!


Back inside the church, there was a group of kids reciting something about the saints they represented.

 

After that, the party continued until after 3:00 AM, but with so many places to get tequila open all night, what do you expect?


And, if you get hungry just stop here:

Flashback

Monday, 02 November 2009 18:03

Let me back up a bit as my last update was from Tequila, but before that it was from Ensenada, and I’m now sitting in Puerto Vallarta. So, to recap, I took off from Ensenada at the respectable hour of 10:00AM; destination: Guerrero Negro, some 370 miles away. Should be able to make it on a single tank (I love those 41 liters).

The road out of Ensenada climbed into the hills and the twisties followed.

Then the cactus started


Followed by the cactus and rocks

At Guerrero Negro, I stayed at the hotel Malarrimo, which seems to be a local favorite for people travelling in Baja.

Had a wonderful shrimp dinner and talked to an xpat that has been in Baja for 15 years. He told me he had never seen it so green. I was thinking, OK, it’s green, but nothing special. Well, that’s until I left Guerrero Negro and headed south to Loreto.



Ever since entering Baja, I’ve had this uneasy feeling about getting the Beast’s import papers. In Tecate, they told me to do the paper work in Ensenada. At Ensenada, they said La Paz. When I get to La Paz, what are they going to say, Tijuana? I was wanting to get to La Paz to get this settled.

I got to Loreto, found a place to stay, and went for a walk along the waterfront.

Then, there was this huge splash, as if someone threw something large into the water. Expecting to see some kids goofing off, I saw nothing expect for Pelicans.

Then, SPLASH...and this time not more than 6 feet away. It was the Pelicans fishing. They would fly above the marina, and when they saw something to eat, dive down and nab it.


Loreto Church

From Loreto, I set off for La Paz. If you’ve been thinking of heading to Baja, then think no more, do it! The roads are awesome!

Arriving in La Paz in the early afternoon, I went straight to the ferry terminal as I really wanted to answer the bike import question. It turned out to be a non-issue - the guy at the bank sorted everything out and I got my paperwork for the Beast. After buying my ferry tickets, I found myself with about 5 hours to kill in La Paz.


At the ferry terminal, I met these two guys,


Clark, with the Honda 750, was headed to Brazil. He picked up the bike for a song and, “It only burns a quart or two of oil every few hundred miles”. Yeah, he carries extra oil. Louie, the French Canadian on the ST, was doing a 3 week trip from Quebec to Puerto Vallarta and back to visit his brother.

Offloaded from the ferry in Mazatlan a little before noon and rode to San Blas for the night


Had a nice lobster dinner (sorry, forgot my camera) for $13. This was a plate with three medium sized lobsters – good stuff.

From there it was off to Tequila. Another excellent road full of all types of twisties. Also, this volcano rock garden.


I have to admit, I’m having a hard time stopping to take pictures as the roads are so nice I don’t want to get out of “the zone”.

Then I saw it! My first road sign that told me I was on the right path.


Followed by some Blue Agave.

Checking into the “Real Tequila Hotel” and after a shower, I was off to visit downtown.

I’m now sitting in Puerto Vallarta after an excellent ride to the coast. Spent the day here relaxing and catching up with everyone after no internet for a few days. On the way to Puerto Vallarta, I came across three accidents. One involved a bicyclist and a car. The guy didn’t do so well, his hat was next to the blue tarp that covered his body. For the next few miles, I reminded myself to be extra careful as I imagine the road hazards will become worse than here in Mexico.