What I'm working on - soccer ball roll cage

Inspiration - Aesthetic Influence - Catavina

Mexican 1000 - and back again - part 3

Mulege to Catavina

Catavina

From Mulege we headed north and stopped in Santa Rosalia for Breakfast

Santa Rosalia was built by a French copper mining company in the 1800s which this gives it a completely different aesthetic from the rest of Baja.  Wood buildings with tin roofs and an iron church said to be designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Supposedly the Santa Barbara Parish was fabricated in France and shipped to Santa Rosalia.

If they ever need to shoot a version of Cannery Row they should use Santa Rosalia

Breakfast was good it was obvious tourists were far a few in Baja.  Between the economy, the tightened boarders and the drug war seeing another tourist was rare and the restaurants appreciated anyone willing to make the trip..

We headed north crossing Baja, passed Guerrero Negro and had lunch at the same truck stop restaurant we stayed/ate at heading down.

Everyone appreciates a fighting zebra sticker.

We reached Catavina before dark and had a chance to run around and climb on boulders.  The kids had a great time.  Catavina is a beautiful spot for geology, flora and a little fauna.

Blue Palms

It's an oasis in the middle of nowhere and has one hotel, an occasionally open gas station and a few houses.  It was one of my favorite spots to stop as a kid but it was a rare treat to stay there.  Dad was usually pushing to get a little further down or up the peninsula.

The hotel was in great shape.  Throughout the years it's varied but now it's probably in the best condition I've seen it.  It was a little sad that there were only one or two other couples there.  

We had a good dinner, watched the Mexican presidential debates and hit the sack.  We would get up early the next day and drive our final leg back to the states.

the story continues here

Old Ghosts - 1971 Honda CL175

I pulled my old Honda CL175 out of my side yard and decided to get it running.  I'm thinking of using it for a piece.

I bought it in 1989 for $50 from Kenny Younghusband.  Kenny was (and I assume still is) my dad's best friend.  He was also the co-driver for most of the Baja races.

It started up today but still needs a lot of things cleaned up.  It has poor compression on one cylinder,  one of the carburators is leaking and the front brakes are frozen.  Greta doesn't know what to make of it.

I road it from 1990 through 1997 and it's floated around from studio to storage to the side yard while I thought about pieces to make with it.   Here are some thoughts that didn't quite make it.

A sketch of it even wound up as a cover for a 45 by the Champagne Socialists (later Never Ever).  I still haven't heard the songs behind the drawing.

Album of the Weeks - Los Freddy's

With all the writing about the race, I've been avoiding the "Album of the Week" well here's an attempt to get it going again.  I give you Los Freddy's.

I found this about 20 years ago in a goodwill dollar bin and since then it's been one of my favorites.  It's a 1975 reissue of Los Freddy's 1964 first lp.

I couldn't I resist it, with the Beatlesque suits and the photo of them at the Tijuana boarder crossing plus I recognized some of the songs.  

According to Wikipedia this album was released in 1964 even though most of the songs they covered were released in 1965.  I think I need to do a little investigating

Anyway, here are the tracks  (you can find most of them on youtube)
- here's a start.

Lado A

Wooly Bully  - fine but not my favorite.  It sounds a bit too much like the original which I don't really enjoy to begin with.  There's also a little skip at the start of the song that irks me.

Sin Razon Para Vivir (Tired of Waiting for You) - Google translates it as "No Reason to live" which is a better title.  I actually enjoy this version of the song more than the Kinks'.

Si Ti Tu Vas (Just a Little) - A pretty solid cover of the Beau Brummel's tune.

Sueno Feliz - nice up beat toon penned by Los Freddy's.  Not great but could hold it's own against most 60s pop.

Ven Dame Tu Fe - More of a 50s ballad.  Slow and moody.  Arturo sings

Divina Maria - slow jam

Lado B

Un Mundo Sin Amor  (A World without Love) - A pretty great cover of The Peter & Gordon song penned by Lennon/McCartney

Muchachos (Boys) - Probably my favorite song on the album.  "Muchachos" sounds so much better than "Boys."

Traeme Mi Amor (Bring it Home to Me) - A little slower and just not as good as the Sam Cook original.

Diciendote te Quiero - Another nice ballad penned by Los Freddy's.  A song that really grew on me.

El Diablo En Su Corazon (Devil in Her Heart) - Tweaking "Devil in Her Heart" into Spanish proved to be a bit challenging but the energy's great.

Estoy Muriendo (Under the Boardwalk)  -  Translated as "I'm Dying" it's probably the funniest song on the record.    "Devil in Her Heart" was a challenging translation, this song is almost impossible.

Sweet Wednesday - Rowher Flats

I woke up this morning and the weather was amazing.  Overcast with a few drops of rain but still in the 80s.  I put on shorts and a t-shirt and decided to take the car for a drive.

I would drive one hour out then turn around and drive back.  That way I wouldn't waste the rest of the day bumping around the back country.  I hit the road at 8:54.

In a half an hour I made it to camp 1 at Rowher Flats.  It was virtually empty, one lonely truck parked in the corner.  I decided to see how far I could go on the loop trail.  I turned down Texas Canyon then up Fall Canyon Road.

Fall Canyon Road

At exactly an hour I reached Sierra Pelona Road and there was a motorcycle and the only other person in the park.  I stop and said "hey."  We talked cars and bikes and racing and Mexico.

Sierra Pelona looked rough ahead so I got ready to turn around.  I was alone, I'd met my hour limit, but the cyclist explained to me that what I saw was a side road and the main road was no worse than what I'd been on.  Also, the view from the top was amazing.  He lead the way and I headed towards the top.

I stayed on the fire road and avoided the short cuts (which later, I would see, would've been a piece of cake).  Who would've guessed there would be a grove of oaks on the top of a mountain.  The view from the top was pretty incredible.  On a clear day I'm sure I could've seen the ocean and well into the desert.

The whole trip made for a very sweet Wednesday.

drawings from the trip 2

Mexican 1000 - and back again - part 2

Saturday morning we left La Paz and headed up the coast.

I decided that Arwen, Mary and the kids needed to see San Javier.  It had stuck in my head since the third day of the race and it would be our last chance to see the town before the paved road reach it.

We got to Loretto and headed up the hill.  Arwen got to drive the land cruiser and have her first experience behind the wheel on a dirt road.  The main road was pretty easy but the detours gave us some rough bits.

Cows!

Horses in trucks!

San Javier was extremely quite.  Almost as if it were waiting for the pavement to get there.  The Mission wasn't open but we had a chance to run around it.  

We stopped and had a soda at the local bar/families living room, and then headed back down the hill and up the coast.  The detour took us a little longer than we expected.

As the sun set we got to El Requeseon, one of my favorite spots on the sea of Cortez.  It's a small island connected to the shore by a sand spit.  The story goes that shepperds would use the island as a safe haven for their goats.  Thus the name Requeseon, goat cheese.

When we arrived the moon was coming up and it was going to be the highest tide of the year.  We talked to the care taker and wished we could've stayed but the lack of sleeping bags or any camping gear made that a bit too much of a challenge.

We headed north, Mary remembered a hotel just south of Mulege that mom and dad loved.  She spotted the sign for El Serenidad and we headed to the hotel to find Ned Bacon's "Killer Bee" parked int the lot.

The Killer Bee -tucked behind the black truck

We wandered in  and ran into Bacon and the crew of the 332 Bronco.  It turned out it was the Saturday night pig roast.  My mom had told me about it but I couldn't remember where it was.  The pigs at El Serenidad are raised on dates from the palm trees which creates some of the sweetest pork ever.  We enjoyed the bbq, conversation and too many of the best margaritas we had in Baja.  We chatted with the owner, Don Johnson (not the Don Johnson), he'd been there since the 60s and remembered my folks.

Eventually we settled into our room for a good nights sleep.  The rooms were old and funky while being clean and comfy.  It was a great place to stay.

The next morning we got up, had a swim and headed to Catavina.

the story continues here

drawings from the trip