Baja for New Year's ...

[SFMCjohn]

... and strafe Palomar on my FZR400RR-SP race bike (Built by Steve Biganski and campaigned by Nick Ienatsch). The apple pie in Julian... highly recommended

... John, quit dicking around and get south of the border. This Bay Area rain is driving me nuts! I might get a wild hair; and be in Ensenada within 48-hrs. on a GasGas EC300

Hi Seavoyage,
Palomar must have been fun on that FZR400RR ... I remember Steve and Nick ...

OK, no more foolin' around!

see you in Baja,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[SFMCjohn]

It's been raining in Baja, too ...

Heading out onto the playa ...

We took a wrong turn here, and headed east through some dunes ...

After this, we got the hang of it, and had fun in the sand ...

Our hot tub ... pure bliss!

The view from our campsite ...

The camp mascot ...

Riding out after two relaxing nights ...

We got to see Nemo Brinker and Termagant, too, who are having an adventure ... We got to play a small part in it ...

We're in San Felipe at Kiki's, where we saw Coco ...

On our way to Gonzaga Bay ... Good weather and a full moon ...

see you on the road,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[SFMCjohn]

Hi tgrrdr,
Thanks for following along!
-- SFMCjohn

 

[SFMCjohn]

Another pic on the way out from Canyon de Guadalupe ...

A beautiful morning in San Felipe ...

Feels like it's in the 60s now, no wind, with 70s forecast ...

Just going to hop down to Gonzaga Bay today ... fish tacos at Alphonsona's and a night in one of the palapas there ...

see you on the beach,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[SFMCjohn]

Few pics from Gonzaga Bay and Bay of LA ...

Coco has a couple of the same panoramic photos from Pismo Beach in the 1920s that we have in the SFMC's clubhouse .... You can see a SFMC banner in this pic ...

see you in the palapa,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[budman]

F U for living.the good life John....

Keep that going sir_!!!!!

 

[Nemo Brinker]

Thanks for your help, you guys! It was great running into you, and I'm glad to see that you're still out there having a grand time. I'm all the more on fire to explore more when I get the chance!

We got Termagant back to the hot springs with the help of the good Bay Area folks we met, and got her out and back to the US and a doc after much adventure...all casted up now and healing, thankfully. DEFINITELY an adventure, and a learning experience.

 

[SFMCjohn]

F U for living.the good life John....

Keep that going sir_!!!!!

Hey Budman,

The good life ... some rain, some cold, some adventure, and a few good fish tacos ...

Thanks for reading and posting!

See you at Sears Point,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[SFMCjohn]

Thanks for your help, you guys! It was great running into you, and I'm glad to see that you're still out there having a grand time. I'm all the more on fire to explore more when I get the chance!

We got Termagant back to the hot springs with the help of the good Bay Area folks we met, and got her out and back to the US and a doc after much adventure...all casted up now and healing, thankfully. DEFINITELY an adventure, and a learning experience.

Hey NB!

No problemo, we were glad to be of some help ...

Looking forward to learning from your experience and adventure, and to seeing the photos ...

Best wishes to Termagant to Get Well Soon!

see you at the hot springs,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[ThumperX]

So John,
Are you guys back?
Perhaps an over a beer debriefing next week?

 

[budman]

Good stuff John..!

 

[SFMCjohn]

So John,
Are you guys back?
Perhaps an over a beer debriefing next week?

Hi ThumperX,

Still a couple of days from home ... Carrizo Plain and Parkfield Grade ...

Love to debrief! I'm better at coffee, though ...

See you in the cafe,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[SFMCjohn]

Good stuff John..!

Hey budman,

Thanks, and thanks for following along!

Better get back to it:

We spent three nights in Bahia de los Angeles ... bit of rain the first day, so we took it easy ... On New Year's Eve Jim and I rode up to Mission San Borjas ...

But first we chatted with Herman Hill, ninety-one years young, about his years of prospecting for gold in the mountains of Baja ... great stories ...

On the road to the mission, above Bay of LA in the desert ...

Our guidebook claimed the road was OK for passenger cars ... ha.

Riding past a boojum or cirrios trees ... they say they only grow in this area on either side of the Sea of Cortez ...

Because of the rain the riding conditions were wonderful ...



more in a bit ...

 

[SFMCjohn]

The mission was founded by the Jesuits in the 1760s ... Hard to imagine how remote this remote place was then ...

The Dominicans finished this stone church in 1801 and by 1818 the mission was abandoned ...

The remains of the adobe Jesuit church ...

There is a hot spring ...

The scar in the mesa above is where they got the stone for the church ... mucho trabajo ...

The mission mascot ...

The recent rain made the riding conditions great ...

The DRZ spat her master link clip ... Jim had a spare, and we were back on our way to celebrate New Year's Eve ...

 

[Nemo Brinker]

That mission looks so dang cool to explore! How far down dirt roads was the site?

 

[WoodsChick]

Totally digging the report and photos!




WoodsChick

 

[SFMCjohn]

That mission looks so dang cool to explore! How far down dirt roads was the site?

Hi NB,

It's 20 miles from the Bay of LA side and maybe less than 10 from Rt 1 ... I think the way from Rt 1 is the "passenger car" route, or easy way?

It's a graded road and a nice adventure way to get to BoLA ...

Easier than the last few miles into Guadalupe Canyon, and none of the long sandy sections before that ... Just short sandy sections, ha.

see you in the shop,
-- SFMCjohn

 

[SFMCjohn]

Totally digging the report and photos!

WoodsChick

Hi WC,
Thanks for reading and posting ... we're trying to emulate the master as best we can!

Back to it:

We'd accomplished two of our three New Year's goals ... getting to Bay of LA and meeting our friends Christine and Jim ... now we just had to celebrate!

But first, a few things ... Primarily, partying with the Ena Riders, a group of dirt bikers from Japan ... they were founded in 1970, their sticker says so ...

We got a "President's Portrait" of myself and the president of the Ena Riders ... I didn't get his name because none of them spoke English and we didn't speak any Japanese ...

The communication thing was a bit of a problem, until Jim thought to pull out his cell phone and show pics of his Land-Speed-Record and flat-track race bikes ...

Turns out that in some subcultures motorcycle pics is the universal language ...

The Ena Riders were a fun group and really knew how to party! They gave us stickers and cool fans from Japan, and Cary gave them San Francisco key-rings we brought to give away in Baja ...

The next order of business was to make party hats so we could step out in style ...

Christine's party-hat ...

... And our party-hats ...

... and Jim wearing Christine's party-hat ...

And finally, we had to go to a cocktail party thrown by Carleena, who had heard we were hat-wearin' fools ... She came over to see our party-hats and invited us to her beautiful home, where they would be making party-hats for the town's big New Year's fiesta ...

In the group shot we're all getting ready to raise our right hands and swear to wear our party-hats for the next four hours ... ha.

It was a fun cocktail party and cool to chat with all these old Baja hands, most of whom have been coming to Baja for years ... They were all fascinated with how much we were paying for everything ... hotel rooms, museum donations and meals at Guierrmo's, for example ...

Which we did next ... lobster dinner and then the dance fiesta ...

It was about $70 to feed the four of us including margaritas ...

Then, off to the fiesta! Held at Casa Diez, the whole town makes an appearance ...

We danced a lot, and the band played until 4 am, very well and very loud!

So, mission accomplished ...

 

[WoodsChick]

Dang...looks like you guys know how to have some fun!! arty




WoodsChick

 

[ThumperX]

I'm going with you next year