Hi Friends,
Surprised to hear from us this soon? We had an experience in our travels in Mexico this year that we want to share while it is fresh in our minds. Some of you who are friends on Facebook have already seen this, so I hope we don't bore you!
You may know that we left our Baja home Saturday to avoid road and weather concerns with Hurricane Blanca, which was weakening some, but due at our place sometime Saturday night. The drive that day was fine... a few nasty detours where they're doing road construction, but pretty normal for Baja!
We spent the night at the Serinidad Hotel in Mulege, but alas, didn't get into the pool or use the swim up bar, because I went straight to bed! I wasn't feeling well; skipped the swim, skipped the cool drinks, skipped dinner. Ugh. I slept really well, and was feeling much better the next morning. We got up pretty early and left about 6:30, just as the cooks and maids showed up to start their day. I told Ben I was kind of hungry, after no dinner the day before, so we stopped at El Moro Hotel in Santa Rosalia for breakfast at about 7:15. We were pleasantly surprised that the restaurant had been remodeled, and it had just been re-opened 3 weeks prior. I ordered toast and a fruit plate, and this is the fruit plate!!!
Beautiful and delicious (notice the watermelon platform?) This was way more than I could eat with my tender tummy, but I did my best!
We hit the road again, and were planning to stop that night in El Rosario. All went well, although the potholes were getting pretty serious in Baja California (the north state). Then, about 30 miles from our destination, we crossed a bridge with a settlement at the approach; the trailer banged, a tire exploded, and Ben found a place to pull half way off the road about 150 feet from the bridge. We were still hanging half-way in the lane of traffic.
We looked at the damage; one tire completely shredded, and the tire on the other side out of line and "shaved" on the inside edge. It was apparent that the U-bolts holding the axle had broken, and we were in trouble! Ben decided to walk up the road 50 feet, and found a spot that was wider, but how to get the trailer there? I was flagging traffic with one of our red dog blankets, and soon, a south bound Mexican car stopped, saw the problem, and said he'd tell his friend, who was just 5 minutes away. Thank goodness!
In the mean time, we off-loaded the Model A to lighten the trailer, and by the time we'd moved the A up to the wider parking spot, our Mexican super-hero angel showed up! He has a tire shop about 5 minutes away. They are so clever and "make-do" with what you have. He agreed it would be good to move the trailer, and pointed to the come-along that we use to tie down the Model A when on the trailer. We had a brand new spare one, so used that one to straighten out the axle (pulling it forward to align it), and than driving very slowly to the wider parking spot. He then asked about the u-bolts and plates, and if we had recovered them. Nope. We didn't have them. He told us he would go back to his shop and get the necessary tools, and we noticed him driving very slow near the bridge.
To be normal, I need to post a flower photo for you, so here is a bloom from a Cholla cactus out there where we were stopped for a couple hours. The vegetation was gorgeous, and I spotted this and hiked up to get a picture, and came back with a bunch of cactus spines in my shoes!
Surprised to hear from us this soon? We had an experience in our travels in Mexico this year that we want to share while it is fresh in our minds. Some of you who are friends on Facebook have already seen this, so I hope we don't bore you!
You may know that we left our Baja home Saturday to avoid road and weather concerns with Hurricane Blanca, which was weakening some, but due at our place sometime Saturday night. The drive that day was fine... a few nasty detours where they're doing road construction, but pretty normal for Baja!
We spent the night at the Serinidad Hotel in Mulege, but alas, didn't get into the pool or use the swim up bar, because I went straight to bed! I wasn't feeling well; skipped the swim, skipped the cool drinks, skipped dinner. Ugh. I slept really well, and was feeling much better the next morning. We got up pretty early and left about 6:30, just as the cooks and maids showed up to start their day. I told Ben I was kind of hungry, after no dinner the day before, so we stopped at El Moro Hotel in Santa Rosalia for breakfast at about 7:15. We were pleasantly surprised that the restaurant had been remodeled, and it had just been re-opened 3 weeks prior. I ordered toast and a fruit plate, and this is the fruit plate!!!
Beautiful and delicious (notice the watermelon platform?) This was way more than I could eat with my tender tummy, but I did my best!
We hit the road again, and were planning to stop that night in El Rosario. All went well, although the potholes were getting pretty serious in Baja California (the north state). Then, about 30 miles from our destination, we crossed a bridge with a settlement at the approach; the trailer banged, a tire exploded, and Ben found a place to pull half way off the road about 150 feet from the bridge. We were still hanging half-way in the lane of traffic.
We looked at the damage; one tire completely shredded, and the tire on the other side out of line and "shaved" on the inside edge. It was apparent that the U-bolts holding the axle had broken, and we were in trouble! Ben decided to walk up the road 50 feet, and found a spot that was wider, but how to get the trailer there? I was flagging traffic with one of our red dog blankets, and soon, a south bound Mexican car stopped, saw the problem, and said he'd tell his friend, who was just 5 minutes away. Thank goodness!
In the mean time, we off-loaded the Model A to lighten the trailer, and by the time we'd moved the A up to the wider parking spot, our Mexican super-hero angel showed up! He has a tire shop about 5 minutes away. They are so clever and "make-do" with what you have. He agreed it would be good to move the trailer, and pointed to the come-along that we use to tie down the Model A when on the trailer. We had a brand new spare one, so used that one to straighten out the axle (pulling it forward to align it), and than driving very slowly to the wider parking spot. He then asked about the u-bolts and plates, and if we had recovered them. Nope. We didn't have them. He told us he would go back to his shop and get the necessary tools, and we noticed him driving very slow near the bridge. 
When he returned, it was in a different truck with a compressor in back so he could use his air tools. Ben had jacked up the trailer with our handy (big) Jack, and our llantera (tire shop) guy had a new very large U-bolt to replace the two broken ones (you can see it on the fender). He'd found the metal plate from the trailer by the bridge, so he knew how big to make the replacement. He took off the shredded tire, put on the make-do U bolt, and put on our spare. Then when he was ready to move his little truck so we could reload the Model A, it wouldn't start....so, we helped him push it down the road! It still didn't start, so he told Ben no problem, he could do it, and got under the hood to tweak it just to right (all in the wrong lane of traffic!) Anyhow, he got it started, reversed back to where we were, and watched us load the A back on on the trailer. He was very impressed with our old car, and was a pleasure to work with! By the way, he spoke no English, so I (Harriet) again got a chance to practice my Spanish. I chatted a bit with his 12 year old son, too. He told us to go to San Borja Llantera (tire shop) in El Rosario, and it being Sunday, we would have to wait until Monday morning to do that. Ben was hoping to find at least one used 14.5 sized trailer tire, a very rare size to find in Baja. He also told us to go slow the rest of the way, which we did, (30 to 40 mph) and that we'd probably have to have the trailer repairs done in San Quintin, a bigger town than El Rosario.
We made it to El Rosario, stayed in our favorite hotel there (Baja Cactus), and got up early to go to the tire store San Borja. We pulled up, and the owner spoke perfect English. Ben asked for a 14.5 tire, and he said "yes, I have 4 or 5. Just got them yesterday from the states" Whoa!!! Amazing. Ben decided to have all 4 replaced (he was going to replace at least 2 in the US this summer anyhow, but now the 2 newer ones had been ruined in our little "accident". He also offered a decent price. Ben agreed, and he changed out our four tires, (one was the spare). Here he's posing for a customer who wanted a picture of the car!
Then Ben asked him where in San Quintin he should have the trailer work done, and he said "Use Oscar here in El Rosario. He can do it". He sent his helper next door to Oscar's, and Oscar came back to look at it. He was an older American man, dressed in tan, greasy coveralls, bearded and rotund (might be Santa in disguise). He said, yes, he could do it, and sent over his worker to take some measurements. Luis (also speaking great English) came over, took measurements, and then asked about 50 questions about the Woody! Finally, he said to haul the car trailer over to our place and park it so we can work on it there. Well... this is your typical shade tree mechanic spot! We unhooked the trailer, went back to check out of the hotel and have breakfast while they worked their magic. Their yard had the dog on a rope, the chickens roaming free, and all the tools you'd need, hanging from the tree trunk!
They finished up in a timely manner, and we were out of El Rosario by 11:30am, and we didn't have to stop in San Quintin. Hallelujah! God provided wonderful answers to our prayers, and we met some very special people in the process! Ben really enjoyed talking with Oscar and hearing his stories about his life in Baja. (While we were there, our "angel" showed up to pick up a part this shop had machined for him!! Not sure why he didn't recommend them to us. Maybe he thought they'd be too "rustic" for us Americans.)
We even managed to cross the border that same day at Tecate at about 5:30PM, and it was the quickest border crossing we've ever done! Almost no cars in line at all! Gotta love it!
Tuesday night we're in Bishop California (Hwy 395 on the east side of CA) feeling the tail end of Blanca. We're having some stiff winds, and they're promising a thunder shower tonight, so we just covered the Woody (hope it doesn't blow off!)
This is a reminder to us, that when some thorny situations come into our lives, God will often bless us beyond our expectations, more abundantly than we can ask or think!
I will post some more photos in our June 2015 Picasa Album, but probably not until we're in Bend, probably this Thursday.
Your friends On the Road,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey (who are kind of getting used to their leashes again, but are not happy about it!)
PS. Next one WILL be written by Ben, I promise!
I will post some more photos in our June 2015 Picasa Album, but probably not until we're in Bend, probably this Thursday.
Your friends On the Road,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey (who are kind of getting used to their leashes again, but are not happy about it!)
PS. Next one WILL be written by Ben, I promise!
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