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”
and the tire that just
got a good bill of health blew and was instantly flat.
After getting past the swearing and complaining, we decided to head
back to N. Rosarito again, so we stuck out our thumb…after a while of no
luck, we began dragging the cart towards our destination. After about 3
of the hardest miles, we were picked up by Tomas and Gabby from Loreto
in their old Ryder rental truck, or a least it looked like one. They
drove us back to the llantera.
Turns out the tire blew at the value stem and there was no fixing it
and we had no spare. By this time the guy at the llantera was different
from the previous guy that had given the good bill of health, so we
explained the situation. He then went into the back and started digging
through his junk, truly…he came back a little while later with a tire
exactly like ours, and the tube was in perfect shape. Unbelievable. The tire was fixed, but in fixing it we realized all four wheels were
wobbling pretty bad, so we worked to get them tightened using washer,
but really didn’t have a lot of luck. By the time we were ready for the
road again it was too late to start walking again. I asked one of the
guys that was being such a great help to us, if there was place to camp
and he invited us to stay in his yard across the street. Turns out his yard in beautifully landscaped
with a giant tree and lots of roses and blossoming flowers. Very, very
nice.
His name is Alfredo, and after a long Spanglish conversation we found
out that half his family is Scottish, which is the same as Rachel and
her family. We made plan to return in October to join him and his family
for the San Borja Fiesta. SEE PHOTOS
The next morning we hit the road, and although we had to walk the
same miles again, we were ready to do it and did over 18 miles. The next
day we did over 17 miles, during which we got another flat – if you can
believe it. This time we decided to continue forward and swore we would
not return to Nuevo Rosarito until October. So we dragged the cart
about 5 miles further to the military checkpoint, thinking the would
have a compressor or something, so such luck.
We left the check point and continued on, but this time Rachel
started flagging every gringo we saw, knowing any smart gringo driving
the Baja usually has a 12-volt tire pump (we do too, back home in our
car). One couple said they did, and said they would help, but then drove
onto the checkpoint. So, we had to return back ourselves, and go back
through the checkpoint to the other side. They didn’t have a pump, but
gave us a can of fix-a-flat. We were very happy and now this problem and
possibly any more could be fixed. We didn’t get a chance to talk much,
the man seemed in a hurry and then the military told us to leave – we
were causing some disruption because people were trying to talk to us
from their cars while waiting to get through the checkpoint, even a nice
lady named Carolyn got out of her truck and came over to tell us her
and her husband had been following us on Baja Nomads.
The three nights were bitter cold, and really wet. At one point we
thought it was raining from the sound on our tents. We stayed inside and
got started late, hoping a little sun would come out, it never did
until at least 1PM, after which the wind would get going and kick our
butts all the way until we stopped and setup camp, which was another
problem in this area. It wasn’t long after Nuevo Rosarito that the large
cactus, trees and other such plant life got very thin, and finding a
good hiding place at night became a problem. We had to drag the cart
through soft sand for a long distance to get out of view of the highway,
but we managed.
On the third day, right around the lunch hour our friend Mas
Margaritas showed up with tortas and Powerades for lunch. It was great,
until he told us we were actually 4 miles further away than we had
thought. This was a new problem because it was Saturday and we had
packages of necessary equipment and supplies waiting for us at the bus
station, and we knew they would be closed on Sunday. Fortunately, Mas
Margaritas went into town to the station and charmed the boxes out of
the manager, even though the sign on the wall clearly said “no factura
number, np package” and of course we had no factura number. But when Mas
Margaritas arrived back to us, a couple hours later he had both of our
boxes.
During the time Mas Margaritas was gone the wobbling of our wheels
began to get worse and was starting to squeak. So, although we had about
6 miles to go, we got a ride back into Gro Negro in hopes of catching a
llantera before the end of the day and we did. I explained the problem
and clearly illustrated it to them by wiggling the two tires I needed
fixed. They tore them apart and said I needed new barrings. “No problem,
go ahead and get them for me” I told them. So, off in a car one of the
guys goes, so I asked the other if I could come back in an hour and
check on the progress and he said okay. An hour later when I returned
they had “fixed the wrong tires” and not only did they not fix it, they
were worse, only now covered in grease.
After a verbal fight between the two of them, obviously one was the
boss and the other a younger apprentice that wouldn’t listen, they put
washers on both tires. The washer stopped the wobbling, but it also
stopped the tires from spinning. So now the empty cart feels like it is
carrying a load. No bueno.
We have decided to try a mechanic in the morning before we go back to
where we got picked up to continue to walk. The positive side is that
in the boxes we received from our good friends Gene Jensen (San Felipe),
Cathy Tiwald (San Felipe), and Jackie and Marty Alameda (Click-on
Puerto Nuevo) were lots of medical supplies, batteries for our SPOT,
freeze dried foods, and other goodies, and 3 new pairs of HIGH TECH
running/walking shoes and socks.
Our new friend Jerry Freer, also relayed a message from Timothy
Means, the owner of Baja Expeditions in La Paz, that now only can we
stay a couple of days at his Whale Watching camp on the San Ignacio
Lagoon and will also welcome us to La Paz, where we can have a small
press conference in his building. We’ll keep you posted.
That’s it for now.
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