BC Road Trip

and time with friends  We left the beach and headed back to portland for a few quick days.  Celebrated my birthday with a small group of friends, half celebrating and half trying to recuperate from a fun filled week at the coast.  The following day we headed over to a …

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Hours in the day

There just aren’t enough of them…   Seriously, sometimes I just can’t figure out where the day goes. Let’s take a quick look at my life shall we? I’m unemployed,  we purposefully have no major commitments, we don’t really watch tv to speak of, and to top it all off I …

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Final stretch Home

A lot sooner than we expected. We spent the next day driving around chico breaking our “new” engine in.  Stop and go driving, highway driving, fast, slow, stopping, starting, idling…you name it- we did it.  We actually know our way around chico better than most towns we’ve visited, and we …

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E…2.0

and better than ever?…  A few calls while waiting on the tow proved there were very few options around in terms of vw experts.  Luckily, the one that is nearby seems to be well known and highly recommended from everyone I call.  We have the truck drive us to Latenight …

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E’s dead baby…E’s dead.

As our friends depart for the airport, we drive north on I-5.  Originally, we thought about going the other direction from napa and taking the coastal route through oregon home, but we’re really excited to get to portland and spending a few days with friends just made that decision easier.  …

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North of SanFran

we’re getting close!   After the 17 mile drive, we head north toward san francisco looking for Half Moon Bay.  We had a welcome invitation a while back from Christian and Persephone, who we haven’t connected with since the Maya Rally on our way south.  Christian was actually the one who …

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Pacific Coast Highway

definitely taco de ojo   Our next few days of driving were absolute bliss.  Our last month or so in mexico we stumbled upon the term “taco de ojo”.  Literally translated as “eye taco”, but used like “eye candy” north of the border.  We found ourselves using the phrase often as …

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SoCal Coast

and elephant seals… We finally get the bus back together after a new clutch, a new brake line and other bits and pieces and we pull out of the mechanic sounding not much better than we started.  That said…the bus stops when we hit the brakes, which is a win.  …

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Stateside again…

with a bit of difficulty. After over 2.5 months, 6600km, 7 countries (and surprisingly few breakdowns), we wake up and head for the U.S.of A. We arrive at the border, get in the back of a long line of traffic filing into a single lane stretching out along a steep …

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Ojo de Liebre

We could have stayed on santispac for a month… and in the future may well do just that.  But for now, we move forward.  Ben has already left portland heading south and we have a few days to make it north to Guerro Negro where we plan to meet.  We …

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a precursor on driving in mexico

just in case you decide to drive a car in mexico. We currently have a friend in route to visit us in baja, and it dawned on me that when trying to describe safety on mexican roads, there was a bit too much to cover in a text. We certainly …

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La Paz

and a VW spa day. We have been telling E for the last few weeks that he just needs to get us as far as La Paz and we would book him a “spa day” with rojelio.  How else could we describe a day at the best vw mechanic in …

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onward to Baja!

its been too long.   We had heard from other travelers that you had to make a reservation 7-10 days before the ferry, way different than when we came across from baja on the same boat.  We emailed and asked for a reservation a week or so in advance just to be …

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for the love of Tequila

both the drink and the town. We made the quick trip from tonala to tequila and pulled in with giant smiles on our faces.  Our shortest road day in weeks, a town we know and have missed, and knowing that we are only one day away from the pacific… all’s …

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Arco Norte

Up and around mexico city We have been having great luck with the cities and parts of town we’ve been staying in, but we still are far from city people.  At this point were just dreaming of getting back to the beach. Images of sand and waves dance through our …

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Villahermosa

from the gulf to villahermosa. After Merida our drive dips us momentarily along the gulf coast of mexico. We talk about how much closer it seems to us to simply continue around the gulf and pull into new orleans (where we’ll be in a few months for french quarter fest) than …

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The long drive across mexico

not our favorite part of the trip.  There were two parts of the drive back home that we were less than excited to endure.  The multiple border crossings of central america was the first.  That one is behind us, and was honestly better than we expected. The drive across mexico …

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Back to the mainland

We could stay on cozumel playing and exploring and eating/drinking forever.  But we also are eager to begin making our way across to the pacific and then back home, so we finally make the decision to hop the ferry back to mainland mexico.  That of course didn’t come before a …

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Xpu Ha

We drove north past tulum and into the heart of the mayan riviera.  This section of mexico is always a pro and con battle for our psyches.  It’s always been among our favorite places in the world.  The people are fantastic, the food amazing, the sand impossible soft and white. …

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Orange Walk, Belize

We left san ignacio on a football fueled high…Stopped at the first roadside stand we saw for some veggies and a bbq chicken.  A few miles down the road we get gas and buy some habanero hot sauce off a guy out front.  We can just feel ourselves getting back …

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