Monday, January 21, 2019

Baja IIII (Home)

And just like that we are leaving Baja. It was a very nice trip with much warmer weather than was at home.

I stop and overnight in Hurricane, Utah. I was considering a ride through Zion National Park and wandering home, but I was told that a huge winter storm was going to hit on Monday, so I get up Sunday and head for the barn. The 320 mile ride was fairly pleasant, with temps never getting below 40 degrees.

When I pulled into our circle, our garage door was open and I find out a hot bowl of chili is waiting for me on the table.
(Beverly was watching my 'google tracker' and knew when I was getting close)

So that's it. 
Nearly 4300 miles home to home, 4 states, 2 countries, one whale watching trip, numerous Tecate's and a Ton O Fun!

I got rained on in Death Valley.

Met, broke bread with, and made new friends in Tombstone, Arizona, Guerrero Negro, and San Quintin, Baja.

Enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Mexican People.

Saw ancient cave drawings.

Snuck into a locked World heritage - Mexican national site for pictures only.. (that story intentionally left out...)

and

Got hit by a rogue wave and very nearly drug into the ocean. (another one intentionally left out...)

The Tenere performed flawlessly, never took a nap, and continues to make her way into my heart.
Good times, good friends, good life!

And just for reference, this is looking out my front door the day after I got home.... (The Monday storm I was told about)
Timing is Everything!

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Baja III


We make the short (110 miles) ride from Guerrero Negro to Mulege which is the turn-around point for this ride.

On the way we stop at San Ignacio to see the Mission.


I don't think I'd like that sand chunk hanging over my house...

The Sea of Cortez.

Gustav Eiffel designed the "Church of Santa Barbara" . It was bought disassembled in France, and brought to Santa Rosalia in 1897
!
These two couples were also touring Baja together, we kept running into them at the sights. Once when they we leaving the man with the beard rolled down his window and yelled, "see you at the next place!"
Each time we met it seemed as if we were seeing old friends again.

Attractive churches dot the land.

We rode to Cueva del Raton, where you can see some amazing rock art. This is thought to be one of the most important sites in the world. There are over 1500 drawings in this area. We only were able to visit this one site.






6 miles of dirt round trip, this is one of the best sections, it was very steep for most of the ride.

We finished up a great day of riding , then it was back to Guerrero Negro to spend the night. Tomorrow we'll ride to San Quintin.

Monday, January 14, 2019

Baja II

Another beautiful sunset in Baja.

Where we stayed for 3 days.
The meals at Don Eddies are awesome!


A storm arrived, so we stayed at Don Eddies an extra day while the weather calmed down. Then went out to see a few sites, and lunch.




The roads were muddy and SLICK!

 The next day we ride to Guerrero Negro, and on the way there we see some ancient rock art.



And we stay at the Terra Sal.
The next day we find a whale watching tour to go on.
The access to the bay is through a salt mine. This is a barge full of salt.
Lots of wildlife to see besides whales.
 The whales were a little shy, we saw plenty, but none elected to come over close enough to the boat that we could touch them.


5 Canadians take the rooms next to oure.
Good conversation and good food with some great guys!
And an excellent dessert.

Life is good in Baja. Tomorrow we'll ride to Mulege.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Baja I

Sooo... after the NYDV ride Adrian and I decide to head south into Baja. After all its snowing back home..

But first we ride to Tombstone, Arizona and have a very enjoyable lunch, and visit with Tenere buddy Garry (Yellow S-10).

We meet at Big Nosed Kates for lunch.

And even though I don't have a hangover I get the "hangover burger" Tasty!

I grab a hat and make this painting G rated...

The next day we ride to Calexico, and then into Mexico on the 9th of January.
After a glitch at the border (we had to backtrack into the US for me to get insurance, the crossing had recently been moved and was still in the 'getting settled' phase) no a huge problem, and several hours later we arrive at Don Eddies Landing in San Quintin, Baja.

We spend the next two days wandering around.

Seals in a hole in the ground.



The food at Don Eddies is awesome!

Then a storm arrives and rather than spending a day riding in the rain, we decide to stay at Don Eddies for another sloooow day...Life is good and relaxed here!
Maybe tomorrow we'll ride to Guerrero Negro...or maybe not.

Sunday, January 6, 2019

New Years Death Valley ride 2019

It's a new year so of course it's also time for the New Years Death Valley ride.
Mike aka Vegashotwheeler sets it up every year and it's always a blast!

I leave on Thursday, and stay overnight in Hurricane. Temps for the ride are 17 to around 25 degrees.  Brrrr.

Getting gas in Beaver.

The next day I wander towards Vegas, stopping in Kayenta, Utah.
The Kayenta city center is a gathering place for local artists, with numerous shops for art lovers.

If you look closely there is a tiny gold wire in that bottle. There is a solar collector on the cap and the wire glows up in the dark. Very cool!

Then Saturday (Jan 5) it's time for the NYDV ride.
There were 26 machines attending. including 6 Spyders. 




Some of the art at the place we had lunch, at the Longstreet Inn.



(Thanks Adrian for the pic)

Its getting wet...

I think we did about 300 miles and rode through a bit of rain. Mike cut the ride a little short so we could get over the pass and back to Vegas before the rain turned to snow.

As always the ride was a Ton O Fun!