We have a shorter cruising season this year with hopes to bring the boat back to the U.S. before summer. We decided to drive down to La Paz rather than fly so that we could bring supplies and see more of Baja from land. We left the first week of April and stayed overnight in Yuma, AZ the night before crossing the border. It was less than an hour drive to the Calexico/Mexicali east entry and we were there at 7am. We went through the border inspection where they checked our truck and some of the bins, asked if we had guns or drugs (which was “no” to both), and were told to park next to their trucks while we got our temporary visas. The whole process took less than 30 mins and we were back on the road cruising down highway 5, one of the two main roads on Baja running north to south. Most all cars we passed headed back north were from Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and a few Iowa plates. Highway 5 is an easy, two lane road and was in great condition. We were impressed.
We planned to stop just past Guerrero Negro at Ojo de Liebre on the Pacific side of Baja to camp the first night, but the campground had closed for the season just two days before. We hope to come back, friends of ours highly recommended this spot. We drove on to Santa Rosalia on the Sea of Cortez side of Baja and stayed in a hotel for the night. A great little spot for $47. We ate delicious tacos al fresco at a brightly colored restaurant across the street with string lights overhead and a light onshore breeze. Ahh Baja!
The next morning we drove to La Paz and stopped in Loreto for breakfast on the way. We had a nice walk around town to stretch our legs. We arrived in La Paz just after 2pm and pulled into the marina. We were happy to see Solitude but surprised to see she was filthy. Our boat caretaker was scheduled to clean the boat the day before – and also once a month since our last visit in December – and it looked like it hadn’t been touched since we left. So, a lot of cleaning on the exterior and interior straightaway before unloading the truck. Around 6pm the boat was turned around, we were unpacked, and headed to dinner.
Over the next week Solitude was waxed, the bottom was cleaned, the zincs were checked, and Jim changed the Racor diesel filters. We had the dinghy motor fully serviced at a Yamaha dealer in town and bought our park passes for the season to avoid any issue out at the islands. We had so many fabulous meals out our first week, a seafood soup especially stood out, and probably ate more yellowtail than we should. Our boat neighbors also caught a mahi and gave us four large filets, which we dove into that night and enjoyed fresh ceviche with them on their boat for sundowners.
We took advantage of having the truck and drove over to Todos Santos for the night. We stayed at a special little property with only five guestrooms on 12 acres right in downtown Todos Santos. We drove through the small towns of Pescadero and Cerritos just south of Todos Santos. Jim had spent time in these areas about 15 years ago with his younger brother and was surprised by how much both areas have grown.
We are ready to set sail and look forward to picking up where we left off last year.
SV Solitude 