Part 2 Heading South - The Salton Sea
We didn't get any pictures of the actual sea for some stupid reason. Probably going too fast to stop. So here I am having a nice cold cerveza. This would prove to be a theme throughout the trip.
Next stop... Mexicali Yahoo... we're in!
We stopped to change money at the border. Paul had noticed some oil usage and a bit of smoking from his bike so rather than change any money, he added oil to his bike and fumed. We crossed the border a few minutes later, a very painless affair, and were into the madness of Mexican driving. Thank goodness it was a Sunday. Our first encounter with Mexican drivers was great. They were giving us the thumbs up sign and yelling "motos" "motos" out of their cars and the kids were fascinated with us. It is a real motorcycle culture in Baja. As we crossed town, Paul's bike really began to smoke and run poorly. We were beginning to think; "is this the end of the trip?" and "how can we make this work?'. About 5 miles south of Mexicali, we stopped at a local gas station to let Paul's bike cool off and to have a nice cold cerveza. (I told you there was a theme developing) While we waited, Paul broke out his manual and noticed that he had overfilled the oil. So being ever so eco conscious, he drained the excess onto the ground in the parking lot.
End of Day 1 - San Felipe 299 miles
After rolling into San Felipe with Paul low on gas we bumped into an American guy at the local gas station who gave us the skinny on where to look for a place to stay. We rode down to the malecon (sort of a concrete boardwalk along the sea) to scout out the local nightlife scene then began weaving through the side streets looking for a secure hotel. Phil wandered up a few dirt streets and stumbled on the Condominios Carlota. A nice condo unit that was being rented nightly for $100 for all three of us. They had a secure courtyard for the bikes and recommended a local restaurant just up the road. Very nice people running the place, they spoke very little English but we were able to communicate well enough.
Dinner cost us $12 for and included sodas for the three of us. The staff spoke no English but had photos on the wall as their menu. We would point at a picture and they'd say "si" or "no" if the dish was available. The food was very good.
We walked down to the malecon, which was really quiet, and watched the end of the superbowl. We stoped at a local tienda and I got us beer and tequila to drink back at the condo. Since my Spanish was the best of the group, I became the interpreter by default.
I learned that San Felipe is a natural dry dock because of the very shallow beach and large tide change. There were some old boats right near the malecon that looked pretty cool. As usual, we met some Canadians who were hanging out in San Felipe to escape the winter cold at home. We chatted with them for a bit then went into a restaurant along the malecon for breakfast.
Beginning of Day 2 San Felipe to Alfonsina 107 miles
Breakfast on the malecon then prepare to head south to Alfonsina. We've been warned that the pavement ends about 5 clicks south of Puertocitas and that the road is very rough from there. We've also been warned to watch out for the 'vados" or washes that cross the road. They dip deep enough that you can tear the oil pan out of a car if you hit them too fast. They are great fun on a motorcycle though.
While getting gas before leaving town we met an American named Dean who had been involved with team Husqvarna in the Baja 1000 for many years. Dean was super nice and gave us some more tips about the area. He owns a home in Puertocitas and said he'd keep an eye out for us on his way down in case we had any problems. We ended up seeing him again as we were leaving Puertocitas. Photo interlude below of the road south to Puertocitas.
Alfonsina on Bahia de San Luis Gonzaga
The view from our hotel room at first light. Alfonsina's is a small hotel, restaurant, bar that has excellent food and decent accommodations. We really enjoyed our stay here. We met (if you can believe it) some Canadians who made us honorary Canadians. So we felt that to live up to the honor, we had to party like animals that night. We also met a great couple from San Fransisco riding on a KLR650 and DR350 named John and Cari. They shared riding stories and route information with us. We had a great time chatting with them and hope to meet them again some day. We also bumped into Neduro from Advrider.com on his KTM950SE and one of his friends on a KTM 640A. We chatted with Ned for a bit during the evening but they called it a night earlier than we did. We all three shared a room that night. On the trip down Paul's octane booster leaked all over his sleeping bag making it all but unusable. Phil got his first experience with Paul's snoring. I don't think he got much sleep. I was prepared with earplugs!
We awoke early the next morning to a glorious sunrise. We could hear the barks of the sea lions and the calls of the pelicans in the early morning stillness. Phil and I took a walk along the narrow beach just to enjoy the simple beauty of the place. Paul met us a short while later as he was walking along the waters edge in his bare feet. The small community of residents are a luck few. Most fly in to stay at their homes and enjoy the splendor.
