Rolls Alaska to Argentina & back: 8 US border to Santa Rosaria, Mexico

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

*Miles for the day: 287 (462 km) Miles to date: 4,734 (7,619 km)*

This morning we were next door at Denny's for breakfast before 5AM, and at the Tijuana border before 6AM. There was no traffic going our way, and not a soul spoke to us. Heavily armed soldiers were all over, and a guy with his face covered with a scarf silently looked into the car windows, and without a work motioned us through. The line coming into the US was well over a mile long, and barely moving at all.

We missed the turn for Ensenada, but traffic police directing the border line-up got us onto the right road. We were in Ensenada by 7:15, having purchased gas along the way, but had to wait until 8AM for immigration to open. It is the obligation of the tourist to find the immigration office and purchase a tourist card - there was no border check point manned by Mexican officials. No one asked for Mexican car insurance, or checked the car to see what we were bringing in.

I had joined the Baja Travel Club on line, and they looked after Mexican car insurance, tourist card and everything else necessary in advance and Vic was first in line to purchase his when they opened, so it was quick. We then drove around the city for 45 minutes waiting for a bank to open to change money. There are loads of banks in Ensenada, and we found parking in front of a Scotia bank a few minutes before 9AM. I asked a fellow waiting in line if the bank changed money, and he said it did, but that it would be a lot cheaper at a money exchange. There was one right across the street that had been open for an hour so the time spent circling town was wasted, as there is little to see in Ensenada. On the way out of town we had the car washed and continued in good spirits.

This was a landmark day. In spite of the cold morning, by the time we left Ensenada we had removed coats and sweaters for the first time, and were driving with windows open. It felt great! The day was bright and the sun had warmth in it.

An early stretch of about 10 mi (16 km) of road was under construction and was in horrible shape - large holes, mud and gravel. We were able to travel at between 10 & 15 mph (16 & 24 kph), but after that the road was OK. We were stopped at three army roadblocks where the main road was closed and a deeply rutted dirt road went through the check point. The troops were thoroughly inspecting most vehicles, including underneath, but the Rolls worked her magic, and once we said where we were from, where we were going and answered questions about the car we were on our way.

Through the very populated area around San Quentin, a prosperous looking farming area, it was very slow going with many towns, traffic lights and slow moving traffic, but once past we were able to speed up on the straight stretches. The twisting sections over hills and along river banks kept the speed down, however we reached El Rosario, where we had planned to overnight, by 1:30PM. We had a good lunch and a couple of beer at Mama Espinosa's Restaurant, bought gas and decided to press on to Catavina, where Capt Bobby recommended the hotel. The manager of Mama Espinosa's was kind enough to phone ahead and make a reservation, as we didn't want to drive into the night, and there are no hotels close by.

The drive was amazing, across desert loaded with many types of cactus and varying scenery. As we drew near to the hotel we passed through miles of huge boulders with pipe stem cactus pressing up through them. The area would have to be seen to be believed - we made a number of photo stops. When we reached the hotel it was a beautiful place, but the reservation was hardly necessary as there was almost no one there. After drinks and a good meal in the cold hotel restaurant where waiters wore winter coats, we retired to the room, which also was freezing cold. Vic worked on getting waypoints into the GPS and I caught up on writing. I asked the front desk for more blankets, but they sent someone to turn the air conditioner to heat as apparently there were no extra blankets. It did produce a little, but only enough to slow the onset of cold from the night air, not to stop it. I finally put on two pair of socks, two shirts, and laid my coat and anything else large enough on the bed in lieu of blankets. It wasn't a comfortable night!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

*Miles for the day: 233 (375 km) Miles to date: 4,967 (7,994 km)*

When we got up at 6AM there was frost on the ground outside. I put on summer cloths and packed my sweater anyhow, and by the time we finished breakfast the temperature was rising. The car warmed up once the sun came out.

We stopped for gas at Guerro Negro, where the car attracted a lot of attention. On the next leg to San Ignacio it was warm enough to have the windows open again. We were travelling through desert which varied from huge boulders to forests of cactus to flat plains stretching to the horizon with only scrub brush. The hotel last night had phoned ahead and made reservations for us at the Desert Inn in San Ignacio. I was worried about a reservation, as when I tried to book through the internet in October it said everything was full - something the hotel staff could not figure out, as there were few rented rooms.

Once settled in we drove to the pretty town center and walked around. Vic was able to purchase a download cable for his camera, and we had a good lunch with a few beer in a tiny cafe - there were no bars or large restaurants. Each time we went near the car it was surrounded by people, so we would answer questions and then go and explore a little more. The old cathedral is worth seeing, and the central plaza is very nice, but there were few people - it was extremely quite.

We drove the car into the palm trees of the oasis, walked around a bit then explored both ways from town looking for a bar. We didn't find one that looked interesting, so stopped at a Tacate Beer distributor where a number of locals were hanging out and had a couple of beer while answering the inevitable car questions. When we returned to the hotel I backed into a post, pushing the back bumper in to where the trunk lid wouldn't open, so we headed back into town to ask where we could get it fixed. The local policeman, who we had met earlier, and his sidekick said to follow their truck back past the Tacate distributor to a body shop,

The owner dropped everything, and using a telephone pole on the street as an anchor jacked the bumper back into place, ensuring it was precisely in position. He noticed a wrong sized bolt in the bumperette so changed that as well - all done under the watchful eye of our two policemen. The bill for the work was $25. We then returned to the hotel for drinks and dinner in another cold restaurant before heading to bed. Here the air conditioner doubled as a heater and warmed the room well.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

*Miles for the day: 52 (84 km) Miles to date: 5,019 (8,077 km)*

Our departure from San Ignacio was slow and lazy, as we had only a short drive before a long wait for the ferry tomorrow evening. The countryside was varied and scenic once again. In about an hour we were on the coast of the Gulf of California passing wrecked factory buildings, abandoned cars and decaying concrete structures as we entered Santa Rosalia. On the other side of town we found the recommended hotel, El Morro, which looked not bad but also suffered from neglect in maintenance. It was perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean where it looked like erosion would shortly drop the front patio into the sea.

We decided to use our time to get some maintenance things done. I washed clothes then took the ignition switch apart, as the starter wasn't always connecting. Vic took apart a loose turn signal lamp, and then we headed for town to purchase correct screws. The job was finished in front of the hardware store with a crowd looking on. We both changed more money, as we are finding a cash economy, where restaurants and shops don't accept cash. There are no foreign exchange places here, and the bank cost $50 more per $1,000 than it had at the money exchange in Ensenada.

The bank teller recommended an excellent restaurant on the plaza for lunch, after which we went to the ferry office to purchase our tickets for tomorrow and to ensure the ferry would sail on time. What a shock to find that the ferry leaves at 6AM and not 6PM as we had written on our reservation! If we had stuck to our initial plan and stayed in San Ignacio we would have missed the ferry!

We went to the section of town where a French copper mining company had built their offices, a hospital and housing. The original hotel is still in business after over 100 years and looks like a great place to stay. We went through it, and the mine headquarters, which is now a museum. The ladies looking after the place gave us cake, and under the piece they cut for me was a little plastic monkey, which they said entitled me to 10 tamales at a celebration on February 2! The cake and museum entrance were free.

We lay around reading for awhile, then topped up the car with gas and returned to the same restaurant for drinks and dinner. I was amazed at the size of the town, the amount of activity and that there seemed to be no empty buildings or shops for rent considering the main industry had closed, however the waiter explained that there was now another boom, as a Canadian mining company had started up and currently had a payroll of 2,000.

Neither of us slept well, as the out of control heater & air conditioner alternated between hot and cold all night.