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November 20, 2017
Day 8 [Monday 11/20/17] - Loreto, B.C.S. to La Paz, B.C.S.
I am alive and well and resting peacefully in the La Posada Hotel, in La Paz, Baja California Sur.
Starting Odometer: 6,837
Ending Odometer: 7,111
Distance Traveled Today: 274 miles
Distance Traveled This Trip: 2,508 miles [7,111 - 4,603]
Here's roughly what my ride looked like for today.
So, I wake up this morning, and there's a freaking marching band parading down the street outside my bedroom window. For some reason, it's a Monday, but these kids aren't in school. Instead, they're all dressed up and marching up and down the street, in step, out of step. Someone's blowing a whistle.
The best that I can get is that it's November 19th, and that is cause for some celebration. But I'm not clear who, exactly, they overthew on November 19th. No one else seems to know for sure either.
I get up, check out of the hotel, and then when I go to start my bike, I can't find my keys. I have an extra set, but I'm kind of freaking out because they're not in my riding pants pocket where they should be. The maid comes and lets me back into my bedroom, and I go in there, empty my pockets on the bed, and then I find my keys were in my blue jeans pocket, instead of my riding pants.
I'm relieved, and I go back outside, oil my chain in the parking lot, and then start riding down to the Route Uno store, to buy a Mexico Route 1 sticker. The band is just breaking up, and when I get to Route Uno, the store is still closed today, same as yesterday.
OK. That's it. So, I'm heading out now for Ciudad Constitucion.
But first, I'll stop by the Pemex across the street to top off my tank before rolling out into the deserts of Baja. You can't be too paranoid about running out of gas. It's a very serious risk.
So, I gas up the bike, but now I can't find my wallet. It's only like 6 liters, because I went south of town about 30 miles yesterday, and then returned. So, I put in about 6 liters, but my wallet isn't where it should be. It should be in my right riding pants pocket, but it's not there. I start frantically looking through all of my belongings, but I can't find it. There's this little girl, sitting there at the Pemex gas pumps...I'm guessing her mom is the one pumping the gas, and she's watching me come unglued. It isn't pretty.
Like, if I'm so stupid that I can't make this trip without losing my wallet, then maybe I don't need to be on this trip. Maybe I need to be in a "home" somewhere.
Finally, I ask to pay in U.S. dollars, because I have plenty of cash on me. She says it's $6.00 USD, so I hand her six dollars. Now, I'm really freaking out. I decide to go back to the hotel and look for it there.
When I pull up, the maid comes out waving my wallet. Apparently, when I went back into the room to look for my room keys, I took my wallet out, looking for the keys, and then left it on the bed when I took off.
She hands me my wallet back. I take out a $50 bill (USD) and hand it to her.
Now, I get on my bike and ride off into the deserts of Baja.
The gloves I nromally wear are North Face ski gloves that I bought up in the Yukon, in White Horse, Yukon Territory, Canada.
They say North Face "Hy Vent". And, I take them off because it's hot in the desert, and I put them under my CC Filson handbag as I'm racing across the desert.
In the desert, basically I just open the throttle and run triple digits because I've got no time for these deserts. I've seen enough cactus to last a lifetime. I'm done with this. I want to get to La Paz.
So, I'm running triple digits through the desert and, at some point, I realize that I've only got one glove. The other one must have fallen off. Oh well.
I do have a backup set of gloves in the rear Givi Case. At some point, I put on my other gloves just so my hands won't get too sunburned.
So, today hasn't been a great day.
I stop and refill the bike in Ciudad Constitucion (my internet sucks so bad I cen't get it to draw me a map of where I went today).
Then, I see a store in Ciudad Constitucion that looks like a large enough store to have an ATM, so I go in there, find the ATM, and take as much out of it in Pesos as it will allow. I think it was $5,000 pesos? I'm tired of not having pesos in this country. I was almost completely out.
Now, I have another 130 miles of open desert to cross before La Paz. And no fuel stops along the way.
I'm just running through the desert at 100 mph for some time when I realize that I'm really getting very poor gas mileage by driving so fast. That sucks.
But somehow, I make it out of the desert and come rolling down the hill to my old trusty Pemex station that I recall well from last time.
I go look for the restaurant that Jennifer and I liked so much, only to find that it is closed.
I think that our restaurant is called Terraza La Choperia, but it's closed due to November 19th celebration.
Then, I go looking for our hotel, and I do manage to find our hotel, La Posada hotel at Nueva Reforma 115, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, 23090 La Paz, B.C.S.
So, good enough. I found my hotel. And I found our restaurant. It's right next door to the Whale Museum at Paseo Álvaro Obregón 1, Central, 23000 La Paz, B.C.S.
I go into the La Posada Hotel and ask for a room for the night. He quotes me $100 USD a night. I take him down to $90 USD a night. It's a lot, but the hotel is crazy nice and looks out over the bay as well.
I rest for an hour or two, then decide to go out to Pichilingue and make sure I know where the ferry leaves from, how long it till take me to get there, etc.
First, I go to the ferry building in La Paz, as it's closer. The address is Ignacio Allende 1025, Zona Central, 23000. But when I get there, it's about 4:30 p.m., but they're closed, of course, in observance of November 19th.
So then I decide to go to the ferry building in Pichilingue, to find out where I need to be, and at what time. She says to be there at 5:00 p.m., but allows that I can get there early, if I want to.
She tells me I need to have all of my paperwork, but I assure her that I have everything I'll need.
Then, i head back towards La Paz, but stop at the restaurant on the beach my return. It's about sunset, but they seat me anyway and I sit and eat dinner as the sun sets across the bay.
Jennifer and I stopped here and shot photos last time. This girl walks up to me, and asks..."were you shooting over there, before?" and she points to the other side of the beach where Jen and I were shooting last time.
"I was shooting over there before....do you recognize me? I was shooting over there, but it was back in July..."
But, apparently, she was referring to someone else that was shooting over there earlier today. "Oh no....not me....sorry."
La Paz is a really beautiful town, but I think not many people know about it really.
I roll back into town in the dark, and now I stop at our little ice cream store. It's called Michoacana. I park my bike, go inside, order my ice cream, and then go outside and sit on a bench to eat my icecream. At some point, I realize I don't know where my helmet is. I go inside the ice cream place, and I've set it down on a table, apparently, and walked away from it. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to finish this trip. I'm pretty sure I'm losing my mind.
I decide to go get some more currency, since I'm in La Paz, and I know where the stores are that have ATM's (cajero automatico). I go back down to our grocery store (Chedraui) and park in a handi-capped spot. Some woman comes out and starts running her mouth, but this is not the United States. Mexico is world's ahead of us in this regard. I just walk inside like I own the place. Like...what are you going to do, woman? In the USA, they'd tow your car and write you a $500 citation. But in Mexico, they can't really do anything. I walk inside the store, she's already tried to get about 3 other security guards to make me move my bike, but they just ignore her.
"Donde cajero automatico?" I ask.
They point me to the ATM, and I go down and take as much cash as it will give me....about $7,000 (pesos), I think.
Then, I walk outside. The upset housewife is nowhere to be seen. I get on my bike and ride to the nearest OXXO. Go inside, buy some Jumex (Mango) and some snacks, and then head back to the La Posado hotel for the night. Crazy tired. Not sure how much longer I can keep up this adventure. I'm completely exhausted.
I'm hoping that I can get a private room on the ferry tomorrow.
So, the ferry looks like this:
1 Adult $1,068.97 (Pesos)
1 Moto $1,017.24 (Pesos)
1 Cabina $990.00 (Pesos)
With taxes, the total is $3,410.00 (Pesos).
So, basically, it's $200 (USD).
And the ferry leaves at 8:00 p.m., and gets to Mazatlan at 9:00 a.m. So yeah...I for sure need a private cabin.
So then, my ride tomorrow (Tuesday November 21st), will be me riding to Pichilingue.
Then, my ride on Wednesday November 22nd, will be me riding from Mazatlan to Puerto Vallarta.
Posted by Rob Kiser on November 20, 2017 at 3:05 PM
Comments
Hey Robster! If my calculations are correct, you have been on the road for only 8 days, 2508 miles. That looks like about 313.5 miles per day average plus or minus. For a guy with no schedule or agenda, that sounds pretty aggressive to me. Maybe a few days on the beach are in order? Margaritas, siestas, senoritas? Of course, I am looking at this through old guys eyes...
Posted by: Steven A Baldwin on November 21, 2017 at 7:55 AM