Last day of the year

Learn, Love, Laugh....I lived it today

I am a very lucky guy!!!

Woke up this moning well rested and walked over to the Cortez del Mar for breakfast with my friend Len and his wife.

Then met my new friends from Italy, Christina and Claudia and the little baby Pug Dog Maggie; and went for a walk. I helped them take a big load of luggage out to their new boat in the Harbour (on the bike). They leave tomorow for La Paz and up to their viila.. They have invited me to visit on january 5, do you think I will do it? In addition, Claudia has a vineyard up in the wine country and has enlisted me as a consultant to make her fancy-ass new driveway gate and entance statue area. How fun!! I'll pass by there on January 15 to meet with her managers to decide on a plan.

So, then I went out too meet my special friend Heidi Ann at the Westin to hang at the beach. What a special and wonderful person she is. Unfortunatly, flying back to San Fransisco and in love with Craig in Australia. I am happy that she has found love with Craig. Although I heard much of the story and honestly have my doubts. In any event, I was more than smitten with her!!! I cried tears of melancholy happiness on the ride all the way back to Cabo San Lucas. I now believe that it was a release of mucho pent-up emotion over the last few months!!!

Oh such a day it has been! So much width of emotion. If I lived every day like this it would be all that one could ask! It reminds me of the most emotional speach I can remember, by Jimmie Vivano, a famous college basketball coach. Here is the link, please get some Kleanex before proceeding!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E

I plan to take a nap after all this and then watch the New Years fireworks on the Harbour here with my Italian Friends at Cabo San Lucas...............

A busy day

I never did meet up with the John and Jamie last night. But I did manage to have a nice cubano cigar and 2 corunas!!

Slept like a rock.

Woke up very hungy and went to The Mar de Cortez Hotel for breakfast. Then I washed the BMW. Met some wonderful Italian people here at the pool.

Then went to the bank, Pemex for fuel and then back out to the Westin to hang at the beach. My friend there was again quite hospitable and we had a nice lunch on the beach.

I am back again at my hotel to get myself cleaned up. I am going ou to a fancy Argentina Barbeque place right down the street. Then, afterwards, back to the cigar shop for another one of thoose wonderful Cubanos!!! Am I getting into a rut??

Another nice day!

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”
Helen Keller

So, I had a very relaxing day at the beach....and ended up nibbleing Hors d'oeuvre and sipping wine in the Presidential Hospitality Suite. Is not life grand??

Just returned to my Hotel in Downtown Cabo for a quick shower and change of clothes, and then OFF to the Giggleing Marlin to meet my friends John and Jamie (and their friends) for mucho cocktealz....and Cubano Cigaros.

Thursday????? Morning!!!!

So, here are a few catch-up pictures.

Ilya and Chris from San Diego. They are actually rocket scientists from the Ukraine and California!! Alot of fun to ride bikes with.

This is a picture of me at the pool this morning catching up on the emails.

And another picture of the pool area at the fantastic Westin Hotel. That was a pleasant day.

Don't forget, I still think of (or plagerize) some thoughtful quotes:

Many lives are wrecked on the rocks of fear and jealousy.

A very nice day in Cabo

I happened to meet my riding buddies for breakfast at the Mar de Cortez restaurant. A real coincidence. They were leaving directly back North to be in San Diego for New Years.

Then I rode the bike around the town exploring the area. I ended up at the Westin Hotel Pool/Beach. I had a couple cocktails at the pool and read my book. I meet a well educated Investment Banker Lady from San Fransisco, with whom I had a nice chat with. She has traveled the world extensively and is on vacation for the week. What a treat!

I just returned to my hotel and went out for a haircut. I'm now back here doing emails...and Blogs. I'll take a nap and then go out for some pizza later.

Bye for now!!

Arrived and settled in Cabo

I arrived here in Cabo at about 2:00pm and said goodbye to my 2 new riding friends from California..Ilya and Chris. 2 very good riders and all around great people.

If you look closely in one of the pictures you can see the large Cruise Ship pulling into the harbor.

I rode down and around the Town a bit and finally found the Dos Mares Hotel (2 Oceans). A very nice Mexican Hotel with pool, jacuzzi and locked parking; and all for $30/night. It is about 250 meters from the Wyndym Hotel at $350/night!!!!!!!!!!! So funny, and the Owner was actually very happy that I stopped by.

I explored the bay area, and it is quite similar to Marina Del Ray. Spectacular blue water and many large boats. I wish I had the 10M Fountain here..... They have an area where they clean the large fish, I think to show off the fishing possibilies as this is the Blue Marlin Capital of the World. They were working on a huge 150 lb Marlin as I happened by.

I had a wonderful steak and lobster dinner, so I guess that means my plumbing equipment is working fine...hopefully!!

My energy level is quite low, so it is time for me to go beddy bye. Bye for Now.

Arrived safe in LaPaz

On the way out of Rosario this morning I met 2 guys from California. The were riding a Kaw Z1000 and a Ducatti 996. So I decided to ride with them for the day. Very fast and safe. Just arrived here at the Hotel Peking .....ironically...!! And the really good news is that we are leaving right now for the Applebees down the street on the ocean.

I did find many campgrounds on the ocean where many retirees bring their motorhomes for the winter. Alot of Canadiens. They are mainly on large bays and have large islands about 5 miles out to shield them from the surf. These places charge about $150/month to stay. Many of the people bring fishing boats and have alot of fun.

I just discovered that I cannot upload images from this place either. Darn. I think that perhaps they have the wireless routers configured to restrict data upload size...or something like that. I'll figure it out when I settle down in Cabo tomarrow.

I will add to the post later this evening.

On The Road Again!!!!!!!

I finally feel better. Slept like a rock last night and am getting ready to go South. I feel like I survived a near death experence and am now safely out the other side!!!

See you all in Cabo San Lucas.

Feeling better!!!

Good Morning and Merry Christmas

I really do miss the last Christmas where I was very comfortable with my Wifey and Doggies, snuggling in my Bonnie Briar Nest!

I do feel much better today and had some apple juice and muffins. So far so good.

I think I'll stay another night here in order to regain my strength. Good thing I did not have some important reservations in Cabo.

A lost day...maybee more

I am still here in El Rosario, Baja California, Mexico, at the Industrial Hotel...nicer than it sounds! So, old Iron Stomach ate something really bad last night, and I am suffering terribly for that. Awoke at mid-night puking and crapping on and off the entire night. The only good thing is that the toilet is conviently located next to the sink.....allowing both to be used simultaneously!!!

I have only left the room for cold fresh water in the Lobby this whole day. I have been drinking lots of water successfully. I do have some banana-nut muffins and hope to nibble a bit on those later. I have high hopes that I will feel a bit better in the morning. If not, the Hospital is just 200 meters up the hill.

So, I was apprehensive of putting up this post..... because I can hear all the "I told you so's" all the way from the USA. But what the heck, sometimes the truth really hurts.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

2 Exciting Days!!!

I am in a nice hotel in Rosario, about 1/2 of the way down to Cabo. My internet conection does not allow upload of images, sorry about that. I'll put up a bunch when I get settled in Cabo.

Yesterday was a beautiful ride down through Tecate and the Wine Country. There were many very nice looking vineyards and the area was much more beautiful than the wine country north of LA. I made it almost to Ensenada and it started to get dark, so I stopped in a small town with a Hotel. $22 and the manager threw in an electric space heater. I was partially frozen, so that helped alot.

I awoke early and got on the road to Ensenata. I filled up with gas and coffe there and headed South. Mostly through stuning desert landscapes that changed alot in character over the miles. I did take many pictures and will upload them later.

The roadway here is as good as the best in the USA. All newly paved 2 lane roads. The cambre/geomety and layout of the surface is top notch, not unlike a road racing track! Signage is also excellent. The best thing is that I have not seen any traffic cops runing radar/laser, not one!!!!!!. Nothing like the Nazi Storm Troopers in Michigan and Ohio!!! I think the Police here are actually doing police work...not collecting traffic fines.

But there is a very big Police and Military presence here. Checkpoints at least every 100 miles. They mostly all have masks covering their faces and carry high powered guns and look very damgerous. They have Humvees sandbags, machine guns, helecopters, etc. But they are all very courteous and nice. They usually just say hi and wave me through!

So, here I am safely in my Hotel room in Rosario. Rosario is on the Sea of Cortez and is a mineing town. After checking in I walked to a nice restaurant. I am really tired and an sure that I will get a good nights sleep. I plan on getting up early and getting on down to Cabo before dark. It is Christmas Eve after all.

I did finish the book "One True Thing" by Anna Quindlin last night. What a great book!! I'll leave it here in the Hotel Lobby for the next luckey English speaker! Here are some of my favorite passages for the book:

"Its more important that you take advantage of the time you have than that you worry about how much time there is"

"Its so much easier, to learn to love what you have instead of yearning always for what your missing, or what you imagine you are missing. Its so much more peaceful"

Thanks for following my blog!!

On the Road

Yesterday I made it out to Glamis California in the middle of the Desert!!! This is the most popular dune buggy area in the SW. As many of you know, I purchased a Class 10 desert Race Car last year in Phoenix. I shipped the car directly back to Michigan to use up North. But the car was made for Glamis, so I wanted to see what it was like. I met up with a group of people from Oregon and California who were on vacation at the dunes. Ken, from Oregon, took me for a ride in his Honda Turbo Sand Car. What a blast it would be to have My Car out here....maybee next year!

They invited me to hang out so I decided to pitch my tent and sit around the campfire and drink beers. The stars were really on display last night! Unfortunatly, the temperature dipped down below 40 degrees, and I froze my ass off with my REI 40 degree sleeping bag.

Anyways, I was up early and made the Border crossing in Mexicali this morning. I am at the Starbucks at the moment haveing a caffe venta Mocha....doing emails!!

Final details in Arizona

The flight from DTW to PHO was fine and Jim Mank (my Uncle Georges' manager) picked me up at the airport. We stopped at the grocery store in Kearney to buy some steaks for dinner.

I have been here at my Uncles House in Winkelman Arizona for the last 30 hours.

Picked the Bike up at the BMW Dealer this morning in Tucson and brought it back here to Desert Air Salvage. I put everything back together and packed it up for the trip. I leave in the Morning for Yuma and then on to the Baja Penisula in Mexico.

Some more planning details

"In the worship of security we throw our lives beneath the wheels of routine."

So, my little dog, Foey, is helping me with some routing details for the trip!!

I have completed all the paperwork details around here and only have to get on the flight to Phoenix!!! The worst thing about these trips is that I miss my little doggies so much!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr7EkoQeoe4

"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well"

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were going to live forever.

Planning and prepairing for the Trip

Wikipedia Definition
The Baja California peninsula (English: Lower California), is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends 775 miles from Mexicali in the north to Cabo San Lucas in the south. The Peninsula is separated from mainland Mexico by the Gulf of California and the Colorado River, though on the Colorado there are bridges to the state of Sonora. There are four main desert areas on the peninsula: the San Felipe Desert, the Central Coast Desert, the Vizcaíno Desert and the Magdalena Plain Desert.

General Plan
On December 17 I fly down to Tucson to pick up my BMW motorcycle (currently in storage at the BMW Dealer) and ride it down the Baja Peninsula to Cabo San Lucas. Then I'll turn around and head back North toTucson, taking time to explore the entire Peninsula! I plan to camp and fish along the way when possible. Otherwise I'll stay in Hotels and eat in the restaurants. The primary objective is to see as much as possible and to meet the local people!

I am in the process of improving upon my current camping equipment. Researching the best way to go and purchasing the stuff is alot of fun. Generally I use backpacking type equipment- high tech. and lightweight. Here is the list thus far:

REI tent

ThermaRest pad

Byer cot

REI medium weight sleeping bag

MSR campstove

coffee/cooking pot

utensils

collapsible fishing rod w/tackle

This will all be packed into a 28x12 Seabag and strapped on the back of the bike. In total, approx. 25 lbs..

Thats it for now!