About Us

The Pack Family Journal is a place where we gather text and images of our lives, adventures and travels. This is a very personal site, written openly and honestly. Enjoy.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Crazy Dog!

We are very sorry we were not able to get our dog Cai spayed (tried in 2011). Unfortunately she was allergic to anesthesia and almost died when we tried. 

She actually did die, and our dear friend Steven Foreman, who is not with us anymore was there and the vet, I believe it was Doctor Solis, and his assistant Carol revived her. Steven said if we tried again, he wanted to make sure he wasn't in town. Sure miss that guy. In any case, about twice a year Cai goes bonkers! She becomes a crazed predator and won't leave our cat Max or our other dog Trixie alone...Even if I kiss my Rachel, Cai wants in on it...it is DRIVING ME NUTS!!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Baja Walk 2012 - San Ignacio Lagoon to San Juanico

We left San Ignacio Lagoon in the early morning and the first day on mud flats was easy going and very little mud, more like a highway of mud, smooth and flat. Finding a place to camp was difficult, but we did find a place behind a sand dune, next to a dry lakebed, it was nice, quiet and out of view of the “road”. The second day was exactly the same, with the only real problem being the choices of roads, literally every few hundred feet we would be offered  a choice of 2 or 3 roads, or path choices. We only made a wrong choice once, somewhere near “no town”. We figured it out quickly enough, turned around, and got back on track. On the second day, we made it to El Datil. We spend the night with Minerva and Hugo, camped on the porch of their tienda. These were two extremely nice people, so much so, we have made plans to come stay with them again at their home for a couple of weeks, so Hugo

Friday, June 8, 2012

A Hard Few Days!

We finally made it Vizcaino and it's been a few hard days getting here. Thanks to David K, Gold Huntress, Ateo and everyone else (from Baja Nomads) for all the kind words and support.

We are working ourselves pretty hard and trying to make some solid progress each day. We had a hard time leaving G.N. and didn't make the progress we wanted June 5 after Mas Margaritas dropped us off.

We finally starting walking around 11AM, when there was still some overcast skies and a light breeze. But, by the time we reached the military base and parallel 28, the wind was picking up. It was about that time that Roberto, the new owner of the La Pinta Hotel, Desert Inn, and now the Halfway Inn, stopped by in his new passenger van to let us know that not only could we stay for free at his hotel, but our meals would be free as well. We sure wished we had talked to him sooner. But,

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Guerrero Negro is Not a Bad Place

Damn, will we ever leave this place? Don’t get me wrong, Guerrero Negro is not a bad place, but enough is enough.


This morning we had another flat, and we hadn’t even gone anywhere, thanks to the llantera. Plus after the llantera fixed our barrings, the cart would not roll – literally. Completely empty it felt as if it had a full load. So, we had to stay another day, because nothing was open on Sunday.
Tomorrow we will be leaving hell or high water, nearly everything that could go wrong has, and all has been fixed by good luck, or simply by a series of miracles; either way we are good to go. However, even with the good luck, none of it could have been possible without the help of our new life-long amigo Mas Margaritas. Today alone he has taken us from the mechanic, to the llantera (different one), hardware store, laundromat, back to the hardware store, a couple more times, the Internet cafe, then Baja Pack to ship some equipment back home again, and on and on. We even had a chance to pick up a new tarp, for both protecting our air mattress from the cholla, but to also create a larger shade area when we’re hiding from the sun. We are so thankful!

I also want to give a few plugs to not only Mas Margaritas, but to some local Guerrero Negro businesses that you should know about, and one you should not. First, if you are ever in need of a mechanic in this neck of the woods, I give a 10 out of 10 stars

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Twilight Zone - Hell Getting Here

Quick update everyone. It has been hell getting here, or rather back here. I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, waking up in  the same stretch of Baja for over a week now.

As you know last Sat, we had two flats and came to Gurreo Negro to get them fixed along with picking up other stuff. Then last Wednesday returned to continue. We got dropped off by our new friend mas margaritas and away he drove. We walked about 1 mile and realized one of the tires was low again, so we returned. This time the llantera was open, so he pumped the tire and poured water over it as we both looked for bubbles or problems. None were seen, so we got back on the road.
About 5 miles later on one of regular stops – we work in rounds, like a fighter and every 30 minutes we reset the timer, sometimes we drink or eat, like other times we continue. Our goal is 16 rounds per day. At this round, we were drinking when we hear “pppsssstt”

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Back on the Road Again

Last week the nights were brutally cold and we were not prepared for cold weather, so it was a bit tough. We also run out of medical supplies, primarily tape and gauze and primarily for me. Rachel is only now getting a couple of small blisters, and my feet have been one big blister on top of other big blisters. But, no worries, Rachel is really good at taping and bandaging, so there are no infections and lots of quick healing; overall the feet are getting better and better.

Last Friday night we had a tough camping location with some off road to get to camp. We hide each night out of view of the road, and try to find a safe place for the night, however the foliage and rocks are decreasing making it much harder to hide; and this night it required going further off road then normal. Saturday morning after leaving camp and hitting the road, and climbing a huge mountain, we realized we had two flat tires. As usually there was very nice Mexicans to the rescue. A family driving by in a flatbed truck filled with scrap metal asked us if we wanted a ride, they took us approx. 10km to Nuevo Rosarito to the tire shop, but as luck would have it it, it was closed and from what we could find out, it looked like it was closed until Monday. Fortunately,

Sunday, May 27, 2012

BAJA WALK - May 27, 2012



BAJA WALK - May 27, 2012 - Leg #2 from Coco's Cocos Corner Ranch to Punta Prieta.
This was a tough walk and it was during this leg we experienced one of worst nights, it was also a time we experienced unconditional generousity.
See more photos

Thursday, May 10, 2012

BAJA WALK - MAY 10, 2012 - Leg #1 from San Felipe to Coco's Cocos Corner Ranch
San Felipe - May 10, 20012. 

On May 10th, 2012 Rachel and I left San Felipe on foot to walk the entire distance of Baja California peninsula throughout the summer months. Link below for photos from our first leg of the journey from San Felipe to Coco's Corner. See More Photos

John and Rachel with friends at the San Felipe arches the day be began the Baja Walk. — with Gene JensenRachel PackRaine FisherAndrena JoyceRebecca N Jerry SimunovichSandi Raduziner FlanniganPatty Cosman and Bill Spradlin in San Felipe, Baja California.