Day 109 - 112: Rosalia to Guerrero Negro

October 9 - October 12

Over the last couple days we stayed at a campground under a grass hut in hopes of avoiding the residual hurricane weather, and wild camped near the beach. The hurricane is creating some very unusual conditions in the desert. Namely thick morning fog and lots of green vegetation and flowering plants. My camera was dead for the fog and plants, so I will add some photos that Antonie took later.

The only evidence I have of the recent rains is mud. Beautiful flowers will come later.



A grass hut with a bunch of stuff under it. We hid from strong winds and rain under here.


This cat became my friend even though he was standoffish with the others. I'm a cattalker.

Wild camping by the ocean.

Looking up at our camping spot from the beach. Antonie is sitting up on the ridge there.

We have been eating at food stalls like these, which are awesome.


And they make food like this.



A picture of some agriculture:

And of the general scenery.

 They take water saving more seriously here than in California, USA!

A hurricane has helped to drop a lot of rain on the desert, and so the desert plants are in full bloom. There is grass beside the road, flowers of all different colors growing on the cacti and other bushy plants, and all up and down thousand foot mountain slopes there is green green green. I have not seen this much green since the national parks in California.

Here are some stories from the road:

Fog in the Desert

The fog has been crazy in the mornings. Some places we couldn't see for more than 50 meters and had to stop for fear of being rear-ended by a semi that didn't see us. In addition to the fog there is so much moisture in the air that in the mornings our tents look like they endured torrential rains overnight. I think this is another effect of the passed hurricane and rains. If so, we are experiencing the desert in a very unique way!

Cactus Touching Story

I saw a tuna growing on a cactus, and it appeared to have no spines. I decided to pick it and see if it was edible. It turns out there are many many fine little spines, like fiberglass shards, that detach and get stuck in your hand, like fiberglass shards. I learned not to touch a cactus, even if it looks harmless.

Mexican Police Interrogation

As I was walking back from pooping in the Protected Cacti Wilderness I was stopped by a truck filled with police officers. It was on the edge of town, but only a quarter mile from the restaurant where we were camped behind. I could see the restaurant from where they police stopped me.

They asked me "Where are you coming from?" in an authoritative voice.

I was quite nervous about being stopped by the Mexican police so it took me extra long to figure out what they were saying. And then I wondered if I should say I was coming from the United States, from Tecate, from Catavino, or from the restaurant, or from the wilderness.

So I asked them "Where from? Or Where to?"

And then they asked me "Where to?"

I said "I'm going to La Paz," which is the ultimate destination on the Baja California stretch, but they wanted to know where I'm coming from at the moment, so I told them "I am camping behind the restaurant. I came from the restaurant, I was looking at the...." And I was too nervous to remember the word for "cactus" so I could only point at them and say random words that started with a C and had an O at the end.

At that point one of the men in teh back (there were 4 or 5 officers in one truck, which was strange to see) said "Oh, los cilios." And at that they started to drive off. I breathed a huge sigh of relief and tried to figure out what had just happened.

I have no clue why they actually stopped me.

Day 106 to 108 Guadalupe to San Quentin

October 6 to October 8
Guadalupe to San Quentin

I´m typing from an internet cafe and the keyboard is set to Spanish but the keys on it are regular English. It took me 15 minutes just to sign in because my password uses characters that are in a different place on the Spanish keyboard, but the keyboard doesn´t show where. Frustrating.

We made it to San Quentin!

The last two campgrounds we stayed in have had swimming pools, which were very refreshing. The first one also had a zoo. It is not peak season, but it looks like that campground is a hoppin place during peak season. It had a soccer-fustal court and tons of picnic tables.

Awkward moments abound! We have also been talking with locals and my spanish is slowly improving.

One guy wanted to take a picture with the four of us, me, Antonie, Jason, and Daisy. When they left it got weird because one of the women wanted to get a picture with just me. I faked understanding less than I actually did about their request and what they were saying about me until Antonie came back. That was the only awkward moment up until then.

And then I had another awkward moment in a store looking for peanutbutter, or ¨something to put on bread.¨ As a tried to explain to the store owner. He grunted and pointed to the fridge. There was no peanut butter or jelly or anything spreadable in there, so I said ¨No, gracas.¨Then I decided to get some fruit, so I picked san apple off the table. He grunted againa and pointed at the mysterious fridge. We walked over there, opened it, pointed to the assorted fruit in the fridge and then took the warm apple from my hand and made me switch it with the cold apple.

I didn´t understand, and I never expected to have such an encounter. I gave the man 5 pesos and left.

And then earlier this morning I went into a store to find some salt. I tried asking the woman if she sold salt in smaller quantities, and was surprised to see her sitting behind the counter breast feeding her baby. She didn´t understand what I was asking. I was too shocked-amazed-happy to see a bussiness that would let you bring your baby to work and then nurse it in front of customers to respond very well. In the end we did find a smaller quantity of salt.

Hasta luego!

Day 105: Tecate to Guadalupe, Baja California, MEXICO!

October 5, 2014

Tecate to Guadalupe, BC, MEXICO!

WE MADE IT!

It feels like a whole new journey. There were times in the last month I was ready to call it quits at the border. I already had a great time in Canada and in the Sierra Cascades, and would have been okay with going back to Minnesota to begin a new, more traditional and socially accepted/expected, adventure.

But I thought about how I had been dreaming of going to Central America for over a year now, and realized that I owed it to myself to take full advantage of the opportunity I have now. And those thoughts stayed with me as I crossed the border and began this exciting part of my odyssey.

I am reinvigorated and happy to be in Mexico!

The roads are well paved, with a wide shoulder. The incline up the hills is perfect for biking.

I seem to make 1000 mile marks upon arrival to a new country. 1000 into British Colombia, 2000 for USA, and now 5000 for Mexico.

130 pesos for each taco (that's about $1.25). I had 4. And a torta. They were deliciosos.

We met some other cyclists! Funny that I met nobody on the Cacsades route, and on my first day in Mexico I meet new people. Antonie is on left, Jason on right. Jason's wife, Daisy is not pictured. All of us toured through Canada, and so we talked about the people we met. We both met Ryan, as well as Cho, a Japanese man who pulled a cart across the Al-Can highway. Here's a link to Jason and Daisy's blog.

My first impression of Mexico is that it is like Alaska, but with friendlier people, inexpensive food, and hot, dry weather.

Day 104: San Diego to Tecate

October 4, 2014
40 miles
San Deigo to Portrero via bike and Larry

I'm back in the saddle after 2 weeks of rest and relaxation in San Diego and Las Vegas.

No photos, just a pretty good story. Please continue.

It wouldn't be a day back on the bike without being picked up in a convertible by a 7th Day Adventist named Larry. I didn't feel like riding since I already rode between Tecate and San Diego. I just wanted to meet Antonie and go to Mexico, so I hopped in his car. After about 5 minutes he pulled out his missionary card.

Truly and honestly, I liked Larry and respect the work he does. Those of you who know me know that I sometimes disagree with how missionaries go about their work. But I liked how Larry went about his work. He was kind, helpful, and interesting to talk to since he had done some bike touring before, and also had been to Mexico many times before to do his missionary work.

He took me to Portrero park where Antonie was waiting. Larry helped unload my bike, thanked him, and expected him to drive off. Instead, he pulled out some food and sat down with us to chat. After a minute of shooting the breeze with Larry and Antonie (who, remember, I have only exchanged a couple emails with up to this point) that I realized what was about to happen: Larry needed to tell Antonie about the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to save his soul from ever lasting torment in the lake of fire.

And so that is how Antonie and I met.

I feared fighting and yelling when I realized that Antonie might not be up to par religiously. Fortunately both Antonie and Larry are very respectful people. Larry simply informed Antonie of his options regarding his soul and left it to me to continue the conversation on our bike journey. I agreed to do so, and after an hour or so of conversation, Larry left the remaining pears and chips for us to eat, and drove away.

Afterwards, I unrolled my pad and sleeping bag on top of the picnic table and went to sleep.

This giant tumbleweed blocked the shoulder of the road! I've grown fond of seeing tumble weeds in southern California. They make me smile. 

Day 92: Mount Laguna to MEXICAN BORDER!!!

September 22, 2014
56 miles


I am pleased to report that on the 3 month anniversary of landing in Anchorage Alaska, I have made it all the way to the US/Mexican border at Tecate!

I was so excited last night I couldn't sleep. I felt like I was 6 years old waiting for Santa Clause to come. So at 5:00 in the morning I decided I had enough and packed up. Unfortunately it was 45 degrees out and I only have one light fleece, so it was too cold to ride. I stopped and heated up some water on the buffet burners that I picked up since I couldn't find camp fuel. It takes an unreasonable amount of time to heat anything with them.

But the riding was nice all the way to Tecate. I think the heat has greatly influenced my opinion of southern California. Like how the rain greatly influenced my opinion of parts of British Colombia.

One thing that you didn't see between the US and Canada is this beautiful wall.

Mother did it need to be so high?

I won't be crossing until I meet up with mky new cycling partner, but I really enjoyed this milestone nonetheless. If I get run over cycling to San Diego tomorrow I will be joyful to know I made it all the way from Anchorage to Tecate on a bicycle!

I celebrated with some pizza, and then rode back to a city with wifi, groceries, and camping. Now the wait begins. I'll head towards San Diego to stay with a friend of a friend, do some beach camping, and visit family in Las Vegas. I'll get to see my 6 year old (I think she's about 6) cousin that I've never met before!

Day 91: Oak Creek to Mount Laguna

September 21, 2014

A COMFORTABLE DAY OF RIDING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA! This hasn't happened in a long time. The temperatures were perfect, the hills were more gradual; I greatly enjoyed the riding today.

Of course such a great day had to be marred by some angry driver flipping me the bird for the first time all trip. I sigh as I think about how I made it almost 5,000 miles, almost from Anchorage to the Mexican border, without having to witness such rude behavior. And of all the times when I deserved the finger, I get it when I'm riding safely in the middle of a nice wide shoulder? The universe is unreasonable. I secretly enjoyed it a little bit.

So I hope that the truck driver's day improves and that he doesn't have to see any other cyclists that may trigger more explosive temper tantrums.

The truck driver drove off before I could take a picture of him, but I did see this fun little airport where they have air sailing. It was pretty cool to watch.

The craft with the wider wings is an engineless glider being pulled by the airplane with the shorter wings.

I should make it to the border tomorrow! So excited to be so close to such a great milestone!

Day 90: Pinyon Flat Campground to Oak Creek Campground

September 20, 2014
38 miles

I'm putting in fewer miles than normal in order to limit the amount of time I have to layover in San Diego.
The big news of today is that I finally met a southbound cyclist doing the Sierra Cascade route! I've met maybe half a dozen people on the route, and all but one were doing a loop, and not the whole route. On guy, Max was northbound.

So Matthew aka Stampede and I split a campsite and were happy to have someone to talk to. We decided we are both conversation starved. Stampede's story is partiularly interesting since he did the Pacific Crest Trail South to North, and then hoped on a bike and is headed North to South on the Sierra Cascade route, which loosely follows the PCT. Way to go Stampede!

Still, hot, still hilly. No photos. Oops.