Santa Barbara to Buenos Aires, and then some...

Sunrise! Rode until dusk last night.  Didn't quite make it as far as I had hoped and got stuck in the middle of the desert.  I was tired and didn't want to press my luck driving through the coastal range mountains at night.   Turns out that there was only one hotel stuck in the middle of nowhere (Catavina - to be avoided) and I paid more for lodging there than the resorts in Las Cabos - Asi la vida. I was up early and heading for the border. It turns out that the tea-baggers might have won.  Just north of El Rosario they relocated part of the Imperial Valley and all the workers that used to live there.  There are fields of cabbage, and greens for miles and the greenhouses can be seen from space - HUGE GREENHOUSES - just add water.  It's no coincidence that this place is just about 6 hours form the border with lots of trailers with California plates running around. I did a cut and paste of the trip. The GPS collage shows the sum...

Central Plaza Church, Loreto, Baja California Sur Rode north from Los Barilles to Loreto today.  The floods following the hurricane have receded and the vados (swales in the road that are part of the flood planes) are now shallow enough to drive through.   The scenery following the rain is amazing and beautiful; the desert is in bloom.  If more people knew about the quality of the roads and fun riding them, there would be groups of motos and sports cars racing around down here.  They backfilled missing bridge abutments with rock and dirt to get traffic moving.  I counted three bridges and several vados washed out. I made Loreto in mid-afternoon and did a slow cruise around town.  I found a nice hotel in old town and was given a nice room ($29) overlooking the church. The town is still cleaning up from flash floods but you can tell its a delightful little city.  I'm going exploring. Chau for no...

Yesterday, as I rolled into the pit of LA it started raining - a lot. By the time I hit the center of the hole it was monsoon-downpouring Noah-and-his-ark rain. It's the first rain of the year and all the storm drains are backing up and in large areas ponds have developed on the freeway and in sections water is splashing in waves onto my lap from the oncoming traffic - I was wearing gear and I was still soaked to the cahones.  Don't forget there are about 300 merging freeways with overcrosings and merging messes designed for about one-half the traffic and southern californians wet their pants at the first sign of a drizzle.  Somewhere about Pasadina I should have pulled over and taken a pictute.  Anyway, I continued south towards San Diego and as I'm passing Carlsbad I pulled over for gas and looked up my aunt carol who has always extended an open invitation - she graciously invited me in and then made dinner too...   Thanks Aunt Carol! I got a late start...

I just picked up some peso-nalities from Banco de America, a short term moto insurance policy, filled the tank and I'm heading south. I hope to make Ensanada this evening but I'm racing a nasty thunderstorm. It's good to be back on the road ! Sent from my phone