The Sea of Cortez is Beautiful

Up well before the sun this morning, Dave and I were anxious to get our bikes of the trailer and get them on the road.  It took about an hour of fiddling with our gear, topping up the tire pressure and getting into our helmets and boots to start the engines and go just a little after sunrise.  Everything worked except my helmet intercom.  That caused troubles later.

We found out the wrong way that you can ride straight through the border into Mexico without being stopped.  However, you need your FMM short term immigration paperwork stamped and approved to be legal. We got our taste of the traffic struggle to come as we turned around to go back to the border.

My Spanish is OK but we still went to several desks before we found the correct one.  The Mexican border personnel are very nice but they have some trouble with English and do not all understand the rules the same way.  Thankfully the lines were short.  We were back on the Mexicali Terror Road in less than an hour.

The path from the border crossing to Mex 5 through Mexicali seemed far more complicated and dangerous than it looked on the map.  New road signs, lane marking conventions and heavy fast traffic led to about twenty minutes of terror.  I was in the lead using a GPS that gave information often inconsistent with the signs and roads were on.  Dodging merging vehicles and the occasional ferrel dog, trying to follow road signs I often did not understand and making sure my buddy behind me was still upright took everything I had.  I don't know why the road had so many turns to get to the main road out of town, but we both made it out alive and with a clear sense we were no longer in the good old US of A.

It feels so good to be on the open road on a motorcycle especially after the hair ball we had just ridden through.  The day was sunny in the mid 60's, our bikes were running great and we were feeling  like we were getting the hang of this adventure motorcycle thing.  Then up ahead, "Militar Inspecion".  Dave waved me ahead with my better Spanish and gullibility.  I opened everything up the young soldier with a stern look asked.  Within ten minutes we were on our way.

We arrived in San Felipe a little after 2:00 PM.  You can see Dave to the lower right near the iconic white arches the invite you into the town.

We easily found our way to the Chapala Hotel though it had no sign.  I had to recognize it from a photo on the Internet.  The owner was building cabinets for one of the rooms in the very secure parking area.  He welcomed us, checked us in in less than five minutes then took 600 pesos for a clean, no frills room on the third floor.  Hauling all of our gear up to the room was a chore as Dave reminded me to always get a room on the first floor.

After a lunch of fish and goberner tacos, we went to the gorgeous beach and beautiful water of the Sea of Cortez.

Tomorrow only a 130 km ride to Bahia de Luis Gonzaga. We are feeling the true spirit and life of the people of Baja.