This is the documentation of our second driving trip into Mexico. In 2016 we were part of an Escapees Mexican Connection Birds of a Feather group that RVed to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) Mexico. Our destination was the Sea of Cortez and we spent 8 days there in a campground on the beach.
In winter 2018 we again went to Mexico with the Mexican Connection group. The journey was called “Wine to Whales” and you will see why in future issues of this blog. This time our final destination was close to 500 miles down the Pacific Coast to Guerrero Negro in Baja California Sur. There were seven stops involved for the 23-day adventure. We learned that 50% of the travelers were newbies on their first ever road trip into Mexico. There were 43 rigs in the caravan and we traveled in groups of 6-7 rigs. Each group had a leader in front and a tailgunner in the rear who would stay behind to assist should any rig have difficulty. Cell phones in Baja are not reliable so each RV had to have a CB radio with an external antenna to be able to communicate, line of sight, with others in their group.
Saturday, Jan. 27 and Sunday Jan. 28, 2018
356 Miles
A foggy morning with visibility of only 1/2 mile greeted Daisy and I as we left southern Texas on our trip west to Baja California. We made a short side trip north to Lampasas to spend that Saturday evening and Sunday with Shannon and our grandboys.
Our daughter and family live full time in their motor home. It has been a great adventure for them during this part of their military career. But the advent of a third active boy to the family has the potential to change all of their adventures in living in small spaces a mite.
Matt was on an assignment for the Army, so we didn’t get to see him this time. It is always special to have time with family and to see how much the boys have grown and changed.
Of course we had to get a photo of “PopPop” with all three boys and also our granddog, David.
It took Micah (8 months old) a few minutes to warm up to us, but it was clear that he and I have a grandson/grandpa connection. Micah had 2 teeth at this point and was eating some solid food and what ever else he could get to chew on.
We got some pretty good photos of him checking us out. He liked Daisy’s earrings of course. Something long and shiny to pull on.
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Shannon is a wonderful mom and also a great home school teacher for the boys. We are amazed at their knowledge of many subjects. In a few years, Micah will be joining in the classroom activities.
At age 12, Josiah is a very skilled soccer player, and this was the season for indoor youth soccer.
We were fortunate to be there for one of his fast-paced games. He is also taking art lessons and developing his creative talents.
Levi (age 9) had recently started taking guitar lessons, and we think his progress indicates he has the potential to be an accomplished musician. We told him to keep practicing and maybe he can join his uncle Michael Cartwright’s LA band in a few years!
Daisy was glad to take her turn to entertain Micah (read that “PopPop, let me have him,” she says). He may be walking by the next time we see him.
Shannon made shepherd’s (cowboy’s) pie on Saturday evening while we entertained the grandboys and talked about their upcoming transfer of station.
We showed the boys a card game called “wiggle waggle bingo,” and after that they wanted to learn to play poker. As you can see on the table, we used Cherrios as our money for betting!
Monday, Jan. 29, 2018
Destination Fort Stockton, Texas
304 miles
It was a chilly 39 degrees when we left Lampasas, Texas heading west to California.
Western Texas in the beginning of Spring looks like Texas almost any other time of the year. The difference now is that the trees and prairies have just barely begun to turn green. What makes this part of Texas unique is its varied topography.
Daisy and I love the open road. Around each bend, adventures of sight, sound, smell, and taste await. Here, I especially like the open vistas that the West offers.
The grays of early spring are flanked by the rolling prairie roadsides or travel ways carved by man into its rocky hillsides.
The bottom lands are deserts of mesquite with live oak and grazing prairies. The addition of water brings pecan orchards and cotton fields.
The wind blown mesas can be rock bare and occasionally flanked with windmills to serve man’s needs.
We like to be on the road by 9 am and off by 4 pm. Today this made our destination the old wild west town of Fort Stockton, Texas. The town, including its cowboy and military history, grew up on one of the largest sources of fresh waters in Texas called Comanche Springs.
We normally do not make reservations for overnighting on the road unless there is a holiday or weekend travel is involved. We did this time and it was a good thing. They were turning away campers when we arrived at 3pm due to full occupancy. We noticed more than normal RV travel on our journey. Most likely some of the people who spend winters in warm weather were relocating. This particular full-service campground has a restaurant on its premises that also factors into its popularity.
Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018
Destination Deming, New Mexico
345 Miles
It was a sunny but cool 39 degrees when we left Fort Stockton. We gained 1 hour as we traveled and so drove longer that we would have normally. We decided to pick a new place we had not been before that featured strong WiFi and had a high rating on its restroom facilities. I have a weakness for good long hot showers.
It was a little after 3 pm (with a time change) when we checked into the campground. They assigned us a small site right behind the showers and close to the WiFi antennas. One of the advantages of a small camper is that you can use smaller, highly desirable sites that the big boys cannot get into. I know because I traveled in a big boy for 12 years.
We had a special treat that evening that we had hoped to see. Daisy and I witnessed the trifecta of a super, blue, and blood moon from Deming, New Mexico, which is at an elevation of 4,259 feet.
A “super” moon is closer to the earth than usual so it appears slightly larger than usual.
This is the photo that Daisy took at 7:38 p.m. of the super blue moon. No, it doesn’t have a blue color! When there is a second full moon in a calendar month, it is called a “blue” moon. This doesn’t happen often, hence the phrase “once in a blue moon.”
We got up about 5:30 the next morning, and the moon was partially eclipsed by the earth. The temperature was 28 degrees. It was cold outside even with our furry bathrobes on.
A little later, only a sliver of the moon was still showing, with the shadowed area starting to show a red color.
A lunar eclipse results in what is called a “blood” moon because of the deep red color when the moon is in the earth’s shadow. This is a photo that Daisy took at 5:50 Mountain Standard Time that morning, when the eclipse was about at its peak. She did not alter the color—this is how it actually looked.
Our camp site did not have a lot of exterior lights polluting the darkness and we were located on the edge of town, which allowed us to have great unfiltered views of the night skies. What an adventure we shared.
Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018
Destination Gila Bend, Arizona
336 Miles
We wanted our next destination to be in a place where we could stay for a couple of nights. This would allow us to rest, do laundry, and plan destinations for the rest of our journey to the kickoff point into the Baja of Mexico. It was 37 degrees when we left Deming heading to Gila Bend, Arizona via Tucson. There was a 3,000 ft. drop in elevation when we reached our resting point for the night.
Just outside of Deming we happened upon our first warning signs that travel in this high-elevation, flat-appearing country could be dangerous.
In addition to the transport trucks, we saw lots of trains in the southwest, which are great in terms of having less freight transported on the highways.We strive to notice the change in the physical features of the land as we motor. We drove through western New Mexico and crossed the Continental Divide. If you were not paying attention to the road signs, you would have missed it.
We typically think of the western divide being in a mountainous area at the top of a ridge, where the rain on one side flows into tributaries of the Mississippi River and then into the Gulf of Mexico and the rain on the other side flows into rivers leading to the Pacific Ocean.
In the second photo, you see that in the high southwestern desert, the divide is in a very flat area. However, there still has to be a point at which the precipitation divides into the two watersheds. This is not the usual topography for a Continental Divide.
After the divide we began climbing to Lordsburg, then dropped over the west side on our way down to the Arizona border.
I was surprised at the fast flow of traffic as we sped through Tucson. Tucson is one of my special cities. I was station there during my early USAF service years and I had responsibilities for the National Forest surrounding this city in my latter work years with the US Forest Service. There is a living spirit in this dry arid land that captures you, if you are willing to be open to it. It did me.
That spirit resides in the people who call this place home. It lives in the artists who decorate its structures and in the mountain peaks that guard its valleys. It is a harsh land that can be unforgiving to the naive yet rewarding to those who endure and learn its lessons.
At 3:12 pm, it was a warm 88 degrees when we turned into the Gila Bend KOA. This was originally named Quail Run until 2 years ago when it was bought and remodeled. This is probably the reason for the large quail metal sculpture as you enter.
We were led to a site that we would call home for 2 days. It was close to the showers and brand new laundry facilities.
We were parked on the eastern edge of the campground with an unobstructed view of the desert. It felt good. The next day (Feb. 1) we slept in, did laundry, took a nap, and grilled our dinner. Life is good.
Friday, Feb. 2, 2018
Destination: Potrero County Park, California
269 Miles
We departed Gila Bend about 9:30 am. It was a sunny day with light breezes to help us along our way. Our destination was the kickoff point for our journey into Baja Mexico. We were part of an advance team that traveled in front of the RV caravan. We met earlier at our departure point to familiarize ourselves with the travel procedures and to meet the other members of what we was called the parking team.
We encountered more large solar farms than I remembered being there as we traveled on Interstate 8 heading west toward Yuma.
The amount of train traffic increase as well as truck traffic as we closed upon the California state border.
It was not long before we encountered dunes of sand and irrigated vegetable production areas.
Wind and solar power farms seemed to be at every turn of the road.
Not far from the lower fertile lands we again began gaining elevation as we took the turn off to our interim destination.
At 3:45 pm we arrived at Potrero Regional Park in Diego County, California. We spent several nights here planning for the arrival of the main body of caravanners.
Potrero is from a Spanish word meaning “a mountain meadow” or “a pasturing place.”
Kumeyaay Indians found the area, with its grassy meadows and towering live oaks, to be a bountiful place for shelter and to gather acorns their major food staple. It wasn't until 1886 that cattle ranchers, farmers, and woodcutters came to the area. The huge live oaks make the campground distinctive and keep it cool in the 80-degree afternoons.
The members of the parking crew car-pooled early the next morning to go across the Mexican border to Tecate to get our travel documents and pesos and to explore a bit before the main body began arriving. The moon guided us on our way.
Tecate Is one of only three Pueblos Magicos or Magical Towns in the whole Baja California peninsula designated by Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism based on cultural riches, natural beauty, or historical relevance.
Tecate has a beautiful downtown park, and we took advantage of these photo ops with the town sign and the lovely bougainvillea.
I took this photo of Daisy with the couple we rode with and the president of the Escapees Mexican Connection Chapter, which was the sponsor of our caravan.
Since it was early morning, our first stop after getting our FMM tourist permits was a bakery where we each had a pastry and also took some back for later.
The total cost for the 6 items was $4.84 US, and they were all delicious.
Before returning to our campground, we stopped at a sidewalk stand and bought some local food items. Chip and I shared the Taco de Harina de Frijol con Queso for lunch and saved the Quesadilla de Harina con Carne for dinner.
