We are 2 weeks into the Baja adventure with our 2003 Cooper S. Cooper is not an ideal Baja vehicle, but it is fun & distenctive - the locals all know us. We are in San Felipe - about 120 miles South of Yuma. We ventured out on the beach last week - got stuck in the sand. Pulled out by another Gringo.

Went from San Felipe to Ensenada a couple of days ago - worst road in the country (or the world). 100,000 potholes. Drove home thru Tijuana & Mexicali. Lost the toll road in Tecate - a town of "roads" that have 45 degree drops or hills - concrete with mud at the bottom.

Finally got back to the toll road by following a local. Got back to San Felipe - next AM, one of our 2 awful "runflat" tires was flat - probably a rock punchure from the washout - detour on the road.

Since no one in this area can deal with the awful run flat tires, I ordered a new (not run flat) tire & wheel from Tire Rack (total delivered cost $184 - cheaper than just a run flat tire).

We are now down to just one evil run flat. Since it is 3000 miles to home, we will probably use it, but get rid of it when back in the cold Illinois

Tire Rack is the greatest - I ordered a tire & wheel early afternoon - is was shipped before the end of the day.

Run flats are great except - most tire places can't get them off of the wheels for repair/replacement, cost a fortune, have short life, tend to loose air, have a bad ride, very limited selection for replacements. Here in Baja Mexico, I'm sure no one can get the run fats off of the wheel - without breaking the wheel - thank god for SLIME (assuming my tire has air in the AM).

This adventure continues for another month - I'll keep posting

Bob

 

How about some photos. It sounds like quite the adventure.

 

Wow, I'm impressed! We were in Mexico for a week last summer, and after hours of driving mountains and coasts saw NO MINIS at all! I'll bet you get lots of attention. Good to know about Tire Rack!

 

Sounds like you are having a good time on your Baja adventure. Went down there 10 years ago in a well used Toyota SUV. We spent 10 days and made a few off the pavement forays, almost got bogged down in a serious way a few times. By the time we returned the Toyota was really well used!! Have a good time and keep us informed about fu.ture trials and tribulations.

 

http://s924.photobucket.com/albums/a...I%20in%20Baja/

The above URL contains some pictures - more later.

The reason we came to Mexico was for treatment of my wife's lung disease (Pulmonary Fibrosis) the treatment was fastastic. Anyone with a problem email me @ robert@machineryacoustics.com

Bob

 

Great slides Bob. Please post more...

 

It did not come out too well, but the photo "Mountains" is a picture of a bunch of car that could have been thrown off the road as in the Itallian Job.

Have been to lots of palces in the North Baja - haven't seen another MINI

Bob

 

This sounds impressive, especially with all the bad news coming out of mexico lately. I really wanna see some pics! Have fun and be safe!

 

Mexico is an interesting country - a least this little part. The area is very very poor (I would guess 75% - 90% unemployment). Thousands of stopped construction projects. Local police presence is very visible - if you sit in one place, you will see a police vehicle every 30 minutes or so.

The Mexican military also is very visible - I see a truck several times per day with several soldiers in the back and at least one is manning a truck mounted gun - I assume they have bullets & the gun works.

There is a military checkpoint about 30 miles North of San Felipe - they check all vehicles going both ways - checking for drugs & guns. In the last 2 weeks they have found 2 semi trucks loaded with marjuanta. 12 tons in one truck, and 9 tons a couple of days ago. I just wonder how much gets past them.

No new exciting adventures - go to beach everyday, but avoid loose sand & try to dodge the pot holes. Haven't seen another MINI in Mexico - there are losts of old air cooled VW's though.

Stay tuned

Bob