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[Trip Report] SF to Baja and back. Unplanned layover in LA.
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SCM
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 12:05 pm    Post subject: Re: [Trip Report] SF to Baja and back. Unplanned layover in LA. Reply with quote

Microbusdeluxe wrote:
We found that in Mexico flashing lights at oncoming traffic means there is a problem ahead so be ready to stop or swerve around an upcoming obstacle.


I thought this was standard practice in the US as well. At least it was when I learned to drive.

Great TR!
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erste
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 1:47 pm    Post subject: Re: [Trip Report] SF to Baja and back. Unplanned layover in LA. Reply with quote

Thanks all for the comments.

Jake de Villiers wrote:

My son went through the lower floors of the Petersen Museum when he was in LA for work and said it was fantastic. Very Happy

Yeah, I looked through the brochure with descriptions of the cars down there and think it'd be worth a dedicated trip to LA just to see that collection. They had the GT40 out and that was cool to see, especially after watching Ford vs. Ferrari the day before with my friend down there.

Igeo wrote:
Looks like a great trip. I'm in the bay area too and am looking at a May trip down there. How far south did you get? I was thinking of Conception bay, but your spot at Gonzaga (?) looked great!

I only got as far south as Guerrero Negro, so about halfway. I don't have this book but heard it's worth checking out. Might be helpful planning your trip down: Traveler's Guide to Camping Mexico's Baja - Mike and Terri Church
I looked for book recommendations before the trip but couldn't figure out which one to get so I just bought maps and relied on iOverlander.

Microbusdeluxe wrote:
Turning on the left hand signal to indicate it's safe to pass is standard operating procedure in many countries. ...

You said you flashed your lights in excitement. We found that in Mexico flashing lights at oncoming traffic means there is a problem ahead so be ready to stop or swerve around an upcoming obstacle.
...

Yes, when I was flashing my lights I was also waving so I don't think it confused anyone. There were a few times when a semi flashed and that was because of roadwork behind them. I did the same. Also helpful to throw on the hazards when you come up on stopped traffic so the big rigs can get slowed down.

I really enjoyed driving down there. A few hours after crossing I was passed on the left by a police truck. Scared me a little because they were flying. Then four more passed the same way. I found the speed limits to be very low and wasn't sure if getting pulled over for speeding was common, but it seems not. Traffic tended to move at 1.5 or 2x the posted limit.

SCM wrote:
Microbusdeluxe wrote:
We found that in Mexico flashing lights at oncoming traffic means there is a problem ahead so be ready to stop or swerve around an upcoming obstacle.


I thought this was standard practice in the US as well. At least it was when I learned to drive.

Great TR!

Thanks SCM. I'll also flash my lights to warn about a speed trap, but don't know if many drivers today recognize the gesture.
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erste
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 2:54 pm    Post subject: Re: [Trip Report] SF to Baja and back. Unplanned layover in LA. Reply with quote

Finally going to wrap this trip up.

Leaving San Felipe, spotted another custom convertible Grand Cherokee and a nice little Baja bug.
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I wasn't sure how the border crossing would be in Mexicali, but I knew it would be easy and quick in Tecate so I cut east. I'd saved just enough pesos to buy a nice lunch at the border, but then there were 3 or 4 unexpected tolls. Thankfully they were able to take dollars, and I got more pesos in change.

Before you get to La Rumorosa the road climbs up a little mountain and the view at the top was a good one.
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Back in Tecate:
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Spent the last of my pesos on fish tacos and got in line to cross. It was around 3 and I could sense that the line gets a lot longer during commuter hours, but it was only a 5-10 minute wait.

Border agent was nice enough. He said something that I didn't quite catch. "Excuse me?" - "Is this your Kombi?" - Shocked "Yes" - "It's a diesel? 1.9?" - "Yeah, 1.9 TDI, want me to shut it off?" - "No, that's ok." Cool

I was prepared to get an asshole CBP agent asking me why I'd want to travel to dirty old Mexico. I'm happy it went the opposite way.

Just after crossing I went in the convenience store to buy something cold to drink. Was leaving the parking lot as this T6 California Ocean TDI 4-Motion was pulling in. I wave and he rolls down his window, asks if I speak spanish. Not much, but figure out he's trying to get car insurance. Told him about bajabound, what it might cost, and how to pay for it online. I think he was Spanish, but the plates were from France. Before I left he told me they had driven all the way down from Alaska! What a trip.
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From here I headed toward San Diego. Ended up finding a campsite at Lake Jennings. It would have been a lot better if I'd had firewood, but I didn't get there until after dark. Finally though I had cell service and could make a hotspot and do some work in the morning before driving north.
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I wasn't really in a big hurry to get back and wanted to avoid traffic as much as possible, so I kind of went around LA and then cut east on 126.

Really beautiful sunset on the drive. This night I stayed at Lake Piru. I met a few others and hung out with them for a few hours until it got a bit weird.

Fell asleep easily and woke up to someone making some ungodly screaming sounds. I figured it was the people I'd met, maybe a little drunk now, just messing with me.

Woke up a few hours later after having a dream that they'd tipped over the van, so my backup plan of driving away wasn't going to work. Rolling Eyes Again to the screaming sounds.

Long story short, there were cattle just beyond the treeline that I didn't see or hear earlier. I've never heard a cow make such a terrible sound, but sometimes they do.
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I got a pretty early start and headed up the coast. What a beautiful drive. I think there were some spots of HWY 1 that I hadn't driven before, and I pulled over a lot to take it all in.
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My plan for the day was to try to camp at Pismo Beach. Made it up there and unfortunately everything was booked up.

Finding a campsite on the same day can be difficult, especially on Friday or Saturday, because you're not able to book them online. I called ahead to a campground an hour north and they had some sites left, but not a lot. Ended up staying there, San Simeon Campground, and watched a nice sunset and had a good fire. Met a nice guy with a Wrangler that had a pretty sweet built in roof top tent and we shared stories and tips. He said there were sea lions just up the coast.
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Next morning I headed out and stopped to see the sea lions. There were a hundred or more and the big males would posture every once in a while and fight a little bit. Funniest thing was a big male chased another male off into the water, then stopped a few feet away at the nearest lady sea lion and just started mating.
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I think this was my first time on HWY 1 near Big Sur after they rebuilt the bridge. There were a couple of spots where the road has fallen off the cliff...
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Last night before heading home. Found a campground near Gilroy called Coyote Lake and met my friend there. It was full of wild pigs. This made it kind of stressful because she has a dog, and the dog couldn't ignore the damn pigs. At 4 or 5am all the pigs wandered over and ate the olives that had fallen off the tree we were parked under. Dog, of course, freaked out. Not a very good night's sleep, but otherwise it's a nice campground, and probably a lot nicer when there's more water in the reservoir.
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Last day we just took it easy and hung out at the res before driving home.
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Thanks for reading. (:
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tjet Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:26 pm    Post subject: Re: [Trip Report] SF to Baja and back. Unplanned layover in LA. Reply with quote

Great pics.

How do you like those Tencent screens? I would get those if I didnt already have jalousies.
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fxr
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:40 pm    Post subject: Re: [Trip Report] SF to Baja and back. Unplanned layover in LA. Reply with quote

First, sorry the group missed you due to the unfortunate mechanicals.
Next time perhaps. Smile

erste wrote:

I wasn't sure how the border crossing would be in Mexicali, but I knew it would be easy and quick in Tecate so I cut east. I'd saved just enough pesos to buy a nice lunch at the border, but then there were 3 or 4 unexpected tolls. Thankfully they were able to take dollars, and I got more pesos in change.

For future reference, if your have Global Entry or a Sentri pass, the crossing at Mexicali is just several rapidly moving queues of a dozen cars or so each. Total delay, practically nothing. Smile

However, the queue for those without such a pass looked horrendous. Sad This was mid-afternoon on a Friday.
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erste
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 7:27 pm    Post subject: Re: [Trip Report] SF to Baja and back. Unplanned layover in LA. Reply with quote

tjet wrote:
How do you like those Tencent screens? I would get those if I didnt already have jalousies.

Thanks tjet. I have the single screen for the slider door and I like it. Smartly engineered and well built. It folds up, but I haven't found a great place to store it, so on long trips I usually just leave it installed. That brings up the visibility issue while driving. The flaps tend to close and the dark tint doubles up on itself with the window slid open, so it's not easy to see out of that window. Not really an issue on the open road and I'm glad I got it while he was making them, because I think he's just about sold out now.

fxr wrote:
First, sorry the group missed you due to the unfortunate mechanicals.
Next time perhaps. Smile

Sorry to miss meeting up at Potrero! When I finally caught up with Sam, he said you were off somewhere else. Happy to hear you made it all the way down and had a great trip. Definitely looking forward to going back sooner than later.

Thanks for the heads up on Mexicali. Glad I skipped it.
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