Mar 2007

oh what to say. we got on a ferry, drank beers with mexican truck drivers, and landed on the mainland. found a walmart, not too proud of it, but we camped in their parking lot. getting up the next morning we headed south with plans to catch a late surf before the sun set then meet up with brad, tim, and their significant others. cruising down the highway and then clank, scrape, clank. this didnt sound good. we pulled over and i jumped out of the car to see one of the newly installed rear shocks had come loose and been trashed as it beat on the concrete and under the truck. and it just so happened that the bolt that came loose happened to be the ones justin had installed. ouch. luckily you can drive without a shock so we went to the nearby town, culiacan, which is supposed to be the most dangerous city in all of mexico as it is home to plenty of drug trafficking. luckily we didnt have to enter but the outskirts and found a replacement. once installed we were back on the road. we had lost any hopes of a surf but our friends in mazatlan were awaiting. after a side of the road pee break we got back up to speed when something blew off of the truck dash and out the window. nick asked what that was, since i had picked up our trash and put things to keep on the dash, but i couldnt figure what was missing so we continued into town.
meeting the crew at their hotel we had a quick beer and then set out to find camping near their hotel. once set i began to check my belongings and what the hell? i cant find my passport. after tearing through everything in the truck and camper nick and i come to the resolution that it was my passport on the truck dash that flew out the window. in utter disbelief we determined that there was nothing we could do that night, and we would address this incredible misfortune in the morning. having asked nick what he would carry that night he said nothing but some money, so i followed suit. so in true justin fashion we went out and drank all the beers in mazatlan. walking or more stumbling back from the bar, alone, guess who roll up? that is right, our friends the police. they jump out of the truck and thrust me against the side and begin to frisk me. "what do you have?" they kept asking, and strangely enough i had nothing at all. the little money i had was actually tucked in my boxers for safe keeping. "where is the marijuana?" they asked. all i kept saying was "no tengo nada". i they asked about ID or a wallet. nope. nothing. finally the one officer asked my name. i told him. he smiled and said "go". i guess having nothing means they get nothing.
upon arrival at the camper i grab my bedding and the pillow felt funny. oh yes, the passport. when emptying my pockets the night before i had thought no safer place for my passport then under my head. unless you forget you put it there. well with that problem solved i crashed out for the night. next morning i realized i has lost my camera joe's oyster bar. damn it. but at least it wasnt a passport. we hung out with brad, elisa, tim, and sarah all day and night, then took off the next morning. that leads us to yesterday. we have not surfed in a week now. and its getting no better as there are no waves right now. we find the surf spots but the waves are tiny. so we drive on.
nick busted out with his fishing pole this morning which was awesome, even just to watch. he caught about 5 barracuda, 2 grouper and a snapper. we only kept two fish, but we are excited. now just outside of puerto vallarta we are just playing around until we get some surf. with all the ups and downs, life is never dull. hope everyone else is doing well and i'll drop another when the time allows.
cheers -
justin

After a couple of days in Mazatlan hangin' with our buddies Tim and Brad, and their wives, we are on the road again heading south. We actually found a pretty pimpin' spot on the beach in Mazatlan, just down from the boy's hotel, so it was good fun while we were here. A day at the pool sippin' cervezas, and some good reminiscing, and we have had our fill.

The surf is pretty pathetic here in Maz, as it is getting all the way up to 3 feet on big sets, but hovering more around the 1 foot range on most. Thus...south we go for some bigger waves...hopefully!

Going back, the ferry went really well. We met some fun, hard drinkin' truck drivers that do the route between Cuilacan and La Paz, so we decided to join the madness and swill beers as fast as we could with them before disembarking to head to Wal-Mart for the night...luckily Wally World was super close, as we were a little tipsy! The night at Wally's went without incident, and we got a pretty early start to drive the 5 hours from Los Mochis (port town) to Mazatlan.

Along the way, we had a bit of an incident just north of Culiacan when one of the new shocks that we installed FELL OFF! Yes, FELL OFF the rig and started dragging on the ground suspended by the other bolt that was still holding strong. We managed to do a little roadside repair and disassembled the shock. With huge luck, we were only about 5 miles north of Culiacan, and were able to buy and install a new shock for the rest of the journey...yes, we tightened the other one as well, so we should be in good shape. The rest of the journey to Mazatlan went pretty well, minus a passport that blew out the window along the way.

Justin was doing some cleaning at one of our breaks along the journey, and apparently put his passport on the dash so that it wouldn't be in with the trash on the floor. When we recommenced the journey, something blew out, but we didn't figure out what it was until later that night when J had he presence of mind to take a look for the elusive passport. Upon realizing that he couldn't find it, we finally boiled it down to "lost on the side of the road."

Justin was a trooper that night, as he went out with the crew and forgot about the passport. We decided that looking on the side of a freeway in the middle of the night would be less fortuitous than waiting until the morning to head back and see if we could come across it in the rubble.

Luck would have it that he found it upon returning to the rig that night in his pillow case, where he had placed it the night before using drunk logic...

That is all for now. More later.

Nick

After an extended stay on the Baja, far longer than we had planned, we are finally on our way today. We stuck around for what seems like an eternity (not really, but close), all to see my cousin Patrick when he arrived, but that didn't happen...lines were crossed on arrival date, and then he decided to not show up at all due to plane delays and the such. Have a good night in LA, buddy? He will be stoked when he arrives, though, as his new house is the bomb, and ready to move into.

Times here have been pretty rough. Living the Mexican dream, for sure. A couple of hours of work a day, a lot of fucking around, and a few beers in the evening. La vida tranquila, por supuesto!

McKenzie will be bummed to leave, as she has become quite the little Baja dog. She rolls with the pack in the morning and sleeps all day before heading back out again in the evening. She can't hang quite as well, as she is the only black one in th bunch, but she has held her own pretty well.

I tweaked my shoulder pretty good the other day surfing at El Conejo, which has plagued me for the past few days. I hope to get a bit of relief when we get to the mainland and get in the water again. New board bags, newly repaired boards, a clean and pimpin' car and camper, and all the necessary repairs have been made. We are ready for another good ass kickin', so it is high time we blow this popsickle stand!

Hangin' with Mike, Reina, Memo, Boogie, and Dondi has been an absolute pleasure, and the guru wisdom that Mike provided for the rest of the journey was invaluable! Thanks cous'!!!

NicknolongerbajaheadingtothemainlandfortherealdealReid

buenos dias!
so here we are, ready to roll out, finally. after far longer than anticipated here in el sargento, just outside la paz, we are outta here this morning. jumping on a 6 hour ferry ride to the mainland and then driving on down the coast. a lot has changed in the last week. schedules being the biggest. we have come up with at least 4 different itineraries, so you never really know for sure. we got one together seconds later i get an email from mr brad bogardus stating that he and one timothy hussion would be in mazatlan with their respective others march 26- april 1. well, you know we cant let them have a peaceful getaway with their ladies so we had to make that happen. we will be crashing that on monday, and perhaps tuesday. that is how solid our schedule is.
so the biggest observation for me over the last few days came in the realization that i will not make it to nicaragua. bummer yes, but the time frame i am working with will not allow it. nick is in no hurry to get there as he hopes to take full advantage of his travels by seeing all that he can between the united states and nica. and who could blame him. i however am unemployed, lacking limitless funds, and have a beautiful girl i wish to return to. so what i am seeing in my future includes the remainder of mexico, perhaps including the yucatan peninsula and then guatemala. there is still an off chance i may also make it into el salvador, but that would require and even longer stay. and as i have not yet booked my flight home, oh the possibilities!
all that aside, the trip fires up now. fire up! fire up! (that is for hutch and the wagon). anyway tomorrow we hit the mainland. mazatlan, puerto vallarta, zihuatenejo, acapulco, and so on. basically surfing, surfing and surfing. oh yes, and its spring break too. we had to cut out mexico city and i am indifferent about it. biggest city in the world = cool to see, but also cool to avoid. it leaves more beach time anyway, which is never a bad idea. so that is all. yep. thats it. now i am going to shave off this ridiculous beard, call the lady, and try to book a flight home. not necessarily in that order. but what follows that today will be beer, a big ass boat and 6 hours at sea. yeah.

hope everyone is grrrreat just like tony-
justin

Well, after some hard traveling, we have slowed down a bit! We have been at my cousin Mike's place in El Sargento, Baja California Sur for the past week, making preparations for our departure, messing around and just enjoying the beauty here. Although we have done little more than make repairs to the truck and camper, we have had some fun nonetheless.

Yesterday we hit a surf spot on the west coast, about 1 1/2 hours from La Paz for the afternoon. Unfortunately, we didn't check the surf report, so we didn't know that the wind was blowing onshore at about 20 knots, which made the surf a bit disorganized. Most probably wouldn't have bothered with it, but we decided to take our licks and see about getting a few waves. Indeed...we took our licks. Both of us got heavily rolled a few times, but we persisted until we had had a thorough ass kicking and retired back to La Paz with our tails between our legs! Fun and a good experience despite the pounding.

McKenzie got pretty motivated to follow me out in the ocean late in the session, so I decided that she could have her second chance at surfing on my board. She jumped right on in waste deep water, dug her nails into my wax (and board), and actually caught her first whitewater! It was AWESOME. She road it until she hit the beach, and then hopped off in triumph, returning for another! I think she has a future in surfing. Truth be known, I think that she has more natural skills than I do, but don't tell her that, as she might get a big head!

We are here until Sunday, and then we will be taking the ferry across the Sea of Cortez to Topolobampo. Hussion and Bogardus are going to be in Mazatlan when we get there, so we will have to ruin the first part of their vacation properly (at least for their wives) and stay for a couple of days to corrupt them (not that they need any corrupting...at all).