June 17: Saturday - The Journey Begins

After much packing and delays we leave Larry's place around 3:30 PM, all of us having gathered there. Larry is really crippled up with knee problems. Carl, Curtis, Todd, and myself (Mom/Grandma) going with Larrys on the way out to leave their animals at Spouse's folks. It is very hot³. We ate supper and met the rest of the group in Buckeye, Arizona. Myra and Chesleys. Put air in right front tire. Finally camped for the night at the KOA campground just east of Yuma, which was Camp 1.

June 18: Sunday - San Felipe

Camp 1: Cold breakfast. Made it to the Mexican border and San Luis by 11:00 AM. Carl and I wondered for a while if we were going to make it through. All the rest did. But after getting our visas with some talk we were on our way and made it to San Felipe and had enchiladas and tacos for supper. Took picture of old ships. Finally the beach and place to camp. Beautiful! All take a dip. So refreshing! Camp 2⁴.

June 19: Monday - Puertecitos

Camp 2: Leave second camp about 9:30 AM after a little problem about which road to take. Pelicans and gulls are combing the beaches. We arrive at Puertecitos about 3:30 PM. Larry's trailer hitch broke, but after putting some things in Myra's car he made it and got two hours of welding done ($25). We all ate. Children take a swim. I take a nap. It's been quite a day. The ocean is beautiful, but so many people everywhere⁵. Both Mexican and Americanos⁶. Carl and I and boys go ahead and find a place to camp for the night just south of Puertecitos. Camp 3.

June 20: Tuesday - San Luis Gonzaga Bay

Camp 3: Up leisurely and breakfast, swim, etc. Gene got a very odd scorpion fish. Eric a starfish. Off about 11:00 AM, after taking a couple of boxes of Larry's canned stuff. I got a picture of a flower with various bees on it. Finally we're all over the big hills⁷ and at last stop for lunch about 2:30 PM. Eric and Lyle lost the little scope, but we found it. Four miles from Gonzaga we hear Sea Biscuit⁸ has car trouble. Transmission⁹ and shocks are out. We wait for Myra. See flock of quail after lunch. Bluebird (Myra) and Truckadillo (sic) arrive at Gonzaga about 30 minutes before sunset and wait for Larry and Gene. Then all go to San Luis Gonzaga Bay and Camp 4, where we were two years ago. Eat at the restaurant¹⁰ there and bed down. Frigate birds (many).

June 21: Wednesday - Birds & Boojums

Camp 4: Very good night, and cooler. Bad news! The welding job on the trailer came loose. Carl redid it with Larry and Gene's welding outfit. Two more hours. Birds seen here were Western Grebes, Brown Pelicans, little Blue Herons, Swifts, and gulls of all kinds. Finally leave at 2:10 PM. We have Darla and Eric. Todd with Larry (Fish). Curtis with Bluebird. Carl contacts a fellow 80 miles south of Charleston, West Virginia [on the radio], who called himself "Rooster". See Elephant¹¹ trees and first Boojums¹². Camp 5, among the Boojums. A good supper of beans and bacon, but there's a cold Pacific wind. Got picture of '66 Corvair that was abandoned¹³.

³117 degrees F. is not uncommon in southern Arizona and Baja California this time of year.

⁴San Felipe marks the end of the pavement and beginning of the unimproved roads of Federal Highway #2.

⁵This complaint is satisfied by leaving the Puertecitos settlement.

⁶Nortamericanos, to differentiate gringos from Mexican nationals.

⁷Reference three grades (Cuesta La Leona, Cuesta La Virgen, and Cuesta El Huerfanito); p. 83, Mi. 188.7, Lower California Guidebook, fourth edition; Gerhard and Gulick; Pub. Arthur H. Clark Company, 1967.

⁸These are Citizens’ Band radio pseudonyms, known in the era as "skip handles".

⁹It isn’t a transmission failure, but a broken transmission mount, which becomes a recurring theme throughout the trip. In a Volkswagen of the era, the engine is supported by two engine mounts and a transmission mount, loss of any of which will produce sufficient stress to break a drive train.

¹⁰In those days this restaurant, Papa Fernandez’ was known for its turtle soup, in season; however, on this day nothing was being served except tortillas and beans.

¹¹Like many plant species in Baja, Elephant trees are unique to the peninsula, except for a tiny patch along the west coast of Sonora directly east of northern Baja. They are short, stubby trees often less than four feet in height, featuring a heavily tapered large diameter trunk and fat stubby branches. Most of the year Elephant trees appear dead, but when moisture presents itself they quickly produce tiny leaves for photosynthesis, which drop off again within a few days.

¹²Boojum trees, which can attain a height of over 100 feet, look like a narrow stick candle. They are usually branchless except for a foot or two of tiny "whiskers" near the top, and sport a dusty green bark similar to that of some Palo Verde species.

¹³It is common practice to abandon vehicles which break down and are unrepairable, leaving them where they sit along the rough, unimproved roads of the peninsula. Many such vehicles can be seen yet today, providing a chronological history of the hardships endured by travelers over the years.
 

 
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L. Elva Fox & Larry K. Fox

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