The Adventures of Familia Bajaboy

I've been raving to Tracy for many years now the benefits of trail running. Up until recently, Tracy had primarily run on pavement. She has even completed The San Diego Rock and Roll marathon. But trail running was a new adventure and with a bit of coercion, she agreed to sign up for the Santa Monica Mountains Trail Run put on by Pacific Coast Trail Runs. There were 4 different distances but we set our sites on the 30K distance which translates to 18.6 miles with about 3,200ft of climbing. While visiting my mother, Zoe, in Sebastopol over the summer we opted to volunteer at the Salt Point trail run put on by PCTR. As a result, we each received a free entry. But more impor tantly Tracy got to see first-hand the laid-back nature of trail runners and the sport itself. The runners talked with each other, joked around, and were more concerned with the scenery than with race splits. I think this helped ease both of our nerves. At the suggestion of the race directors, we reserved

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

Google Earth is one of the coolest products to come out in a long time. I have explored and re-explored so many areas with it. Today I spent some time and plotted a map of our place in Bahia Asuncion and other important landmarks. I also realized that our place is 3/10ths of a mile from the ocean and sits at 26 ft. above sea level. Good to know....just in case. Down the road I'll include my favorite hot dog stand (Chimo's) and the big Modellorama across from the Police station. I'm also working on plans for the future. I'd like to get a patio built for the front with a shade canopy that will also act as a second floor patio. Here's a sketch:

Bahia Asuncion, Baja California Sur, Mexico Well it finally happened....we own a home and land in Baja . We bought a lot with a small two bedroom house in Bahia Asuncion, Baja California Sur , Mexico. I've dreamed of one day having property in Baja for most of my life. My grandparents used to have a place in Rosarito Beach and I always envisioned that I would spend many years there. Unfortunately after my grandfather passed, the place was sold. So journey after journey to Baja , I would dream about if and when I might have a place and where it would be. Well the dream is now reality. Bahia Asuncion is located 70 miles south of Highway 1 and Vizcaino . The turn-off is about 50 miles from the Baja Norte / Sur border and Guerrero Negro. The town has a population of about 4,000 although it "feels" more like 2,000. Many of the residents live in the nearby fishing camps and thus could explain the disparity. The primary source of income is from the ocean. The

Tracy had not seen the coast south of Bahia Asuncion so I decided we would head out that way. The route goes along the coast through San Hipolito, La Bocana, and Abreojos before heading back to Highway One. The beaches are breath-taking but the road can be rough...it's always a risk/reward scenario. We decided to stop along the way for some breakfast with Tita, Juan's sister who lives in San Hipolito. We had met her last summer at Juan and Shari's and recalled her to be very jovial and entertaining. Her smile is worth a thousand words. She and her family live on the ocean and have a million dollar view. Tita made us some wonderful fried fish with all the fixings. We give her a tip and continued on with full bellies. Unfortunately for us, the coast was covered in a light fog. But the drive was still enjoyable and the road wasn't too bad. We explored the grave yard just before La Bocana and were surprised with all the children there. The graves were very intrica

Overview My wife, Tracy, and I decided to make the most of our summer and head to Baja for 16 days. We had a very flexible agenda and schedule with only a few areas that we needed to visit. First, we were going to visit our friends Juan and Shari in Bahia Asuncion. Second, we planned on visiting our friends Mark and Lidia Rockwell at Elias Calles, just south of Todos Santos. After that, it didn't really matter. Being that our trip was in the middle of July, though, with the heat and humidity setting in along the Sea of Cortez, most of our trip would likely occur on the Pacific. The week prior to our trip, I had completed Ironman Coeur d'Alene so I was in the mood to relax a bit. I envisioned camping along empty beaches, doing some reading and napping, and then enjoying an afternoon dip in the ocean. If I got some energy I might pick up my fishing pole and practice some casts. Otherwise, the goal was to recover, relax, and enjoy time with my wife. The Journey Begins: Da