The Adventures of Familia Bajaboy

 We recently had the opportunity to sit down with the founder of Tacos Don Ramon here in Bahia Asuncion, BCS, Mexico.  He explained why he decided to open a taqueria selling fish in a village of fisherman.  Now after 14 years, he is as busy as ever.  Enjoy the interview

Gabriel Goes To Asuncion 10/25/2008 The truck was packed, we loaded up the cats, Tracy fed Gabriel, and off to Baja we went. It was about 5:15am when we finally left the house. My mom decided to follow us down as this would be her maiden voyage. We stopped at the border to pick up our FMT permits and were on the road by 6:08. Our plan was to drive all the way as we had done in the past but if we needed to we’d stay the night in Guerrero Negro. We left the door open as we weren’t certain as to how well Gabriel, Jack, or Cleo would travel. As it turned out, they all did fabulously. Gabriel was a dream and the cats were great, too. That is, after Jack peed all over himself and we let him out of his cage, he was fine. We arrived here about 7:30pm or so taking our time on the drive. It was great to be back. I unpacked the truck while Tracy introduced Gabriel to our neighbors (Angela, Luis). It didn’t take us long to settle in but the cats were full of

Part Two Well after posting my last report at the Internet Café, I walked out to my truck and found a long-time friend waiting for me. Mark drove up from his place in Elias Calles and decided to surprise me. My routine was about to change with Mark in town, horse races, quincineras, dances, and a baseball play off all slated for the weekend. Without going into much detail, the weekend was full of fun and little sleep. The first night Mark arrived we were up until 2:30am playing horse shoes if that is any indication. Both Saturday night and Sunday night there were dances at “La Concha” a block from the casita. It was great to finally attend one of the parties/bailes as I had heard so much about them. I was not let down. I also really enjoyed the horse races. About four miles outside of town, cars line up for a number of races. They sell beer and people make wagers on the races. We parked next to Lupita, Rita, and Briseda. Later Juan, Shari, and the gang arrived. The highligh

I left San Diego on Monday, June 30 about 4:30 am. I have a pretty solid routine now getting up at 4:00 am, showering, making coffee, and on the road by 4:30 or so. If I have my FMT (tourist permit), I might sleep in a bit more. Anyways, I drove to TJ and got the green light from Immigration. I had received the red light my last couple of trips so I was a bit apprehensive. I’m always bringing things down…nothing major…but I hate putting myself in a compromising position. Well, no worries this time. I park the truck and walk to the Immigration office for my FMT. Low and behold, I walk in and find two young ladies working the office. Usually, I have to wake up a grumpy old man and hope he’s in a good mood. Well, the young ladies had me on my way in record time. After making a detour through TJ as there is road construction, I was at Playas about 5:20. A big sigh of relief came out of me. Once I’m on the toll road, I feel comfortable. I head down the road alone….there is no tr

Wow-hard to believe we're already into April. It's been a busy and good year so far. The year started out with Tracy and I in Bahia Asuncion. With the help of some friends, we've done a major face-lift on the casita. Some of the major improvements so far this year include: a new roof new electrical outlets, lights, switches, and wiring new stove and refrigerator new windows drywall in one bedroom hot water heater tinaco (water tank) and a horse shoe pit On the next trip, I plan on installing a new vanity and sink in the bathroom and also new saltillo tile. I'm also debating on digging a new septic tank as well. And finally, we'd like to plaster the outside of the bathroom. Otherwise, I think most of the improvements will be cosmetic. While it's easy for me to get caught up in all the improvements I have planned for the casita, the reality of having a baby in August are starting to set in. We had a few scares recently but the doctor has promised that all

In an effort to maintain our fitness gains from this year's training, Tracy and I decided to sign up for some longer events. We signed up to do a 30k trail run in November as well as a challenging bike ride, the Grizzly Challenge. We coerced some friends to sign up and join us. Here's a brief report from the ride. The plan was to camp with friends at Bass Lake, California about 10 miles from the start of the ride in North Fork. Chuck and his wife Laura along with her parents reserved a large spot for us and we were excited to hang out before and after the ride. Our other friends Cheryl, Eric, and Kim stayed in North Fork at a friend's house. A storm was clearing out as Tracy and I arrived late on Friday night. We heard that snow had fallen at 5,000 feet and thus we might find some the following day on the ride. We decided to sleep in a bit as it would not warm until the sun had risen above the trees. After all, it was in the low 30s when we woke up at 6:30am. The r

Tracy and I were re-energized and ready to roll now that the "ToyotaHome" was secure again. The prior day was long and stressful taking a toll on the two of us. But today was a new day and we were fresh with enthusiasm for the upcoming adventure. The plan today was to head south from our beach campsite south towards Loreto. We would top off on gas and then head west across the mountains and camp on the Pacific. While I have traveled most parts of Baja, today's route was completely new for me. I have heard incredible things about these mountains and had marveled at their beauty driving south. Today we would see them up close. There are two primary roads that head towards the Pacific. We chose the road to Mision San Javier. The first few miles are paved but I knew that would end quickly and it did. The road was in great shape but had a number of steep grades. We were driving slowly anyways as the views were incredible. We stopped a number of times to get out of