TalkBaja.com » Baja Mexico Forums » Moving to Baja Full/Part Time

Originally Posted by BigWooo

Hey!!!!!

Was this epic novel addressed to anyone in particular?

You gotta get moved & settle all this new-found retirement leisure down to a dull roar....your posts are getting shorter & shorter!

I expect that you're looking a lot like this about now!

Originally Posted by BigWooo

Good to be home, although it still feels weird to call this "Home".

It will feel even more weird when after awhile - you feel like a fish out of water when you are north of the border. It will happen...

Originally Posted by longlegsinlapaz

You gotta get moved & settle all this new-found retirement leisure down to a dull roar....your posts are getting shorter & shorter!

I expect that you're looking a lot like this about now!

We have so much to do I don't know where to start Probably why the posts are shorter, plus I still need to beef up the solar so we can have more computer time. The satellite, plus the computer eat up amps.

Our two trips were pretty uneventful. We use a broker at Otay to do our import and he was able to help us to minimize the duty . We paid a lot less using him.

On the first trip the only snafu we hit was in Ensenada. I missed the turnoff to the main road and went down a side street to get back. I hit a piece of metal with one of the trailer tires. While traveling on the main road a bit north of Home Depot, a man pulled up beside us yelling LLANTA!!! I looked in the rear view mirror to see a smoking tire on the trailer

In that area there is very little parking, so I had to pull across a couple of driveways. I put out my trusty orange cone and Oladulce to ward off any big trucks and began to jack up the trailer (of course the flat was on the traffic side). This is when I discovered my jack had a hydraulic oil leak and it wouldn't go high enough to lift the trailer.

I went up one of the driveways I was blocking to see if I could find a piece of wood and found a muffler shop. The guy in the shop was working under a car. I asked if he had a piece of wood and why. He said nothing, then began to clear all the pipes and tools from under the car he was working on. He lowered the car, pulled out the floor jack and wheeled it over to me. I was able to change the tire rapido with the floor jack! Thank you! What a nice guy.

Now to find a spare to mount on the rim. Unfortunately, I discovered it's nearly impossible to find a trailer tire in Ensenada. The only tire I could find with the necessary weight rating was a super expensive Michelin tire. We sucked it up and bought it.

The rest of the trip was super smooth. We camped at Don Diego's the first night. The restaurant was very good but the showers were super cold. Second night we stayed at Santispac and third afternoon made it home.

On the return trip to the U.S. the only problem we had was when we pulled into Los Olivos and it was closed. Turns out it was only closed that night. It was late, dark and getting very foggy. Traveling through San Quintin, where the road shifts around the center dividers, I could hardly see the road. I was certain I was going to wind up high centered on one of the lanes that becomes a center divider. I've never driven in super heavy fog in Baja before. On thing I found very helpful was that everyone put on their emergency blinkers. That made it so much easier to see the other cars. That should be standard practice in the U.S. We finally made it to Don Diegos and had another really good meal there.

We did have some problems with the trailer bottoming out on the first trip, so while in the U.S., I had the axles put under the leaf springs. That gave it another 5 or 6 inches of clearance. No problems after that.

On the second trip we used the same broker. Once again he smoothed the way and importing was easy. We camped at Los Olivos the first night and had a great meal at Jardines. The only problem on the second trip was a flat on the trailer while crossing the river. I hit something sharp. Fortunately it wasn't a truck tire. I had a good jack this time so the tire change was easy.

It's nice to have all that behind us.

All this exercise is merely lead up training to get you in-the-know QUICKLY for actual construction! It's called a learning curve!

You made one seemingly simple statement in your post that proves to me you're up to the task....you referred to the southern-most end of your trips as "home"!

Isn't it amazing how much Mexicans will do to help out when we're in a bind?!!

With all the action items you have to choose from, you'll rapidly fine-tune the art of prioritizing! Let us know which is more important....keeping the beer cold & lights on....or keeping us updated on a regular basis! See how that prioritizing thingee works? Expanding solar just became #1 priority!

Originally Posted by longlegsinlapaz

prioritizing! See how that prioritizing thingee works? Expanding solar just became #1 priority!

I think solar is going to be #2. We're not quite done with the guest house yet. We're still sleeping in the camper. Building a closet so we can get our clothes out of the plastic containers that are stacked on the bed platform is #1 priority right now. Sleeping on a real bed would be nice.

No....wait. Finding my tools is #1 priority

Naw....you're pretty organized....you'll be able to put your hands right on them! They're right where you left them last!

Thanks, BajaGringo, for this link. Good information on this website. Very helpful!

Seajay44....