Landtrek.net

Minnie

First, a quick update on Minnie’s state of health. I’m glad to say she is now doing much better. It’s pretty incredible how fast she has recovered from her near death experience. Only the areas where she was shaved do tell the tale. Well, actually, so do the few more gray hair on her face… Let’s hope the meds stabilize her liver enzymes and bring them back to normal. It shouldn’t be a problem as she has been eating normally for a while now.

Welcome Math, Jess and …

One week sure blows by quickly when family members reunite after being separated for about 3½ months. We picked up the kids at San Diego airport and drove them back to San Felipe (in a four seater rental car, mind you) where we all enjoyed a full week of good times, great food, meeting new friends and basically just living the life. In a few pics: Meet Math, Jess and the little Ninja who’s still in the oven (that’s how they call him for lack of a name yet…). A proud Mom. Our house for the week. Walking the beach with Minnie. Jess on the beach… …And the mountains of San Felipe. We took the kids to Puertocitos as we really enjoyed the small towns’ turistico park with its seaside hot springs and palapas. Where’s the beer? Cheers! Life’s tough in Puertocitos. Small town requires small town services. Next, Jim took Math and I on a guided ATV ride across laguna Diablo. Some dude’s rancho. Kinda liked the fencing material. Laguna Diablo. A dry lake bed, awesome to ride on! . Jose, 93, lives alone by the laguna in a modest shack like home. He sells ice cold beer to desert wanderers who stop by his place on the way to nowhere. Here’s his house. Folks give him stuff to help make his life a little easier, like the solar panels on this photos. And here’s a shot from him we took back in ‘07. We almost felt guilty, almost, having a dinner of filet mignons on the mesquite fire that night… But our guilt was not something a good bottle of wine couldn’t handle though. Family shot. The next day, we relax by the pool. Our friends Sharon and Jim are then so kind as to let us use their ATVs. Thank you! So we explore the area around town starting on the beach… …Then up on the cliff… …Only to end up at…The dump! We should have brought along our guide! In the afternoon, we take our AWD rental car to the desert and go look for… sea shells ! At 200 ft above sea level and a good 23 kilometers from the ocean, in the middle of the desert, you can find sea shells by the hundreds, or probably thousands, incrusted into the soft rock of the hill. An incredulous Math looking for the nearest water… . The next day is the big day for us as it’s race day. The infamous Baja 1000 is on today. About 1250 miles of pure craziness from Ensenada to LaPaz at speeds of up to 80mph across the desert and on the road. A road that remains open to regular traffic of course… Did I mention it was crazy? Up at five, we hit the road by 5:30 to make sure we see the first bikes go by a sighting spot we chose the week before. It’s a two hour drive to Km 79 on rte 3 and we get there just in time as the leader flies by at around 7:45. Unfortunately, motorcycle and ATV entries are very low this year so the event isn’t nearly as spectacular as what we’ve experienced before. Plus, the gap between the bikes and the trucks is an almost ridiculous 6 hours… Baahhh, that gives us plenty of time to enjoy one (or a few) track side refreshments. And then we hear it. The sound of the first trophy truck approaching. It’s literally screaming its guts out across the desert. Like a NASCAR race car was coming. Only there’s no pavement, no road. Barely a bumpy trail. Soon, the scream is mixed with the sound of the spotting chopper as both machines get closer. For a while, we still can’t see the truck but we sure can see the trail of dust it’s powering up as it approaches. Math is flabbergasted: “What the f… is that ?” That, Math, is a trophy truck. 850+ HP wide open, averaging 60+ mph, across whoops sometimes 2½ to 3 feet deep, it’s in and out in a fraction of a second. And then only the dust remains… The trucks then parade one after the other. There’s a number of different classes of vehicles. Not all as powerful as the trophy trucks but certainly all as entertaining! This guy was driving as if… He actually saw where he was going! Somebody wants a ride to LaPaz? Only about 1150 miles to go… France pitting for a race team??? . Here’s a mere few seconds to try and show you how nuts it is !

Another few seconds…

A different category of cars.

Get the idea? Hundreds of racers (+/- 300), all of them nuttier than the other. It’s pretty amazing when a driver wants to pass the guy in front of him. Basically, the guy in back honks or hits the car in front until he pulls over and lets him pass. Pretty spectacular. . Towards the end of the race, there’s a little less traffic and we have the opportunity to watch as a team stops to get an improvised pit crew have a look at an oil leaking, brakes smoking problem. Once the truck is back on track, the friendly group of Mexicans invite us for some tacos de carne. M: “Sure! Absolutely! Thanks!” We chit chat a while and have another one, they’re awesome, but this one without the “forrr the rrreal man” sauce, mind you… The Mexicans really enjoy the race. Some camp along the course the night before, some also do the following night but all do bring lots of drinks, food, and joie de vivre. Thanks guys! . The sinks below the horizon already and there are still many racers to come in a few more classes (like the stock VW bugs…) but we decide to call it a day as we still have a couple of hours of driving ahead of us to get back home. And it’s always best to avoid driving at night in Mexico… If you can help it. . In the morning, we all have a hard time believing it’s already been a week since the kids got here. We pack up the car and head back to the San Diego airport where we leave Math and Jess with a few tears from France. Thanks for coming downs guys! It was great to see you !

Au revoir!

To be continued…