Leaving Tecate and looking for the mountains.

Did not take long to find what we were looking for. Heading south on Hwy 3 toward Ensenada. Temperature still in the 70's.

After a couple of hours or so of riding, Ensenada is in sight.

Felipe called a friend of his that lives in Ensenada and told her that we were on a quest for the beest fish tacos in Baja. We meet Felipe's friend and she drove us to a small street side stand. Mission accomplished. No question that these were the best fish tacos that I have ever had. It is my understanding that the fish taco originated in Ensanada.

Lunch over and it was time get back on the road. Heading south on Hwy 1 through the mountains and following the coast line, we left the warm temperatures of Ensenada behind us. As we continued to climb in altitude the temperature began to drop down into the low 70's. Wind chill came into effect and eventually the heated grips were turned on. Baja, July, and heated grips. What is wrong with this picture.

Road construction and a few miles off hard pack dirt road. This was Felipe's favoriate part of the entire trip. NOT! He had been out riding me in the curves for the entrie trip. Now it was my turn and soon he was left behind me i the dust.

After the fun of playing in the dirt again we began to desend back down to sea level and the coast.

Our brief visit to the water front was soon over and we started back up into the mountains again. This time we were crossing Baja heading SE and going to the east coast. On our way across we would have a few changes in the landscape.

From Hwy 1 we turned east onto Hwy 12 and were on our way to Bahia de Los Angles where we would be spending the night.

Bahia de Los Angles is a small town on the coast on the Gulf of California. Only one way in and only one way out. It appears that not many tourists visit here, but it known to be a favorite spot for fishermen. Tonight there were not many people in town. We found a good hotel, checked in, and were the only guests staying there for the night.

After unloading, we went to a restaurant that had been suggested by some of the locals. The restaurant was a crowded place. There were already 4 people there when we arrived. It may have been a small restaurant, and there may not have been many people in town, but they served the best seafood that I have ever eaten in my life. Today's catch from just across the road, freshly cooked as it is ordered, and with a great view of the water. All of this and at rock bottom prices too.

We took the only road that led out of town and headed west back to Hwy 1.

Reaching Hwy 1 we turned south and headed back toward the west coast of Baja.

And then it happened. On 13 July 2014 at 2:28 pm EDST I left the state of Baja California and entered the state of Baja California Sur. I have now visited each state and province in North America (United Stated, Mexico, and Canada) by motorcycle. Now I must add something new to the bucket list.

After crossing into Baja California Sur and going past the town of Guerrero Negro, we suddenly realized that we had not been to the east coast of Baja since, well, since this morning. So it was change the direction of travel to the SE and it is off to Santa Rosalia we go.

Back on the east coast of Baja and the town of Santa Rosalia.

After leaving Santa Rosalia we head south along the coast and to the town of Loreto.

We reach Loeto and our destination for the night.

Today was our last ride in Baja. Tomorrow we will be taking the ferry and crossing over to the mainland. It is a short 4 hour ride down to La Paz from Loreto.

We rode south following the coast line for a short while then changed direction and was riding SW toward the west coast of Baja. Reaching Ciudad Insurgentes the route turned south as we continued riding out into the desert again. Soon the route changed direction again and we were back up in the mountains heading east toward Baja's east coast and La Paz, BCS.

Upon reaching La Paz, the first order of business was to buy tickets for the ferry. Even though the ferry leaves from Pichilingue, the ticket office for the ferry is in La Paz. I assume that placing the ticket office close to the ferry would have just been way too logical. Much better to make people hunt for the ticket office. Office located, tickets purchased for tomorrow, and on to the second order of business.

The chain on the bike had developed some serious problems again and I felt that it was longer safe to ride using the current chain. Using the GPS we located a Suzuki dealership. Arriving at the dealership we found that it was nothing more than a small local shop with a Suzuki sign in the window. Also, it was closed. While we were sitting there considering our options, two kids on a 4 wheeler rode up. Turns out that one of the kids actually had some real mechanical ability. Only problem was that we did not have a new chain to replace the old one with.

The two kids said that they knew of a moto mechanic shop not too far from there and that if we would follow them they would lead us to it. Now, anybody that knows anything about Mexico would have known that this was a trick to lead us out into the desert and to cut our heads off, leaving our headless bodies to rot in the sun. With Felipe being from Mexico and me being just a dumb Southern country boy, we followed them anyway.

Seems that somehow the two kids never got the memo and lead us to a moto mechanic shop. Which was also closed. However the mechanic was suppose to be back about 30 minutes ago. Little guy gets out his tools and starts checking out the chain. He determines that the chain has gotten out of alignment and not only ruined the chain but also the rear sprocket.

About this time the mechanic arrives and opens up the shop. He checks out the bike and says that the chain has gotten out of alignment and that the rear sprocket is also bad. He is able to locate a new chain and rear sprocket. Couple hours later the bike is ready to go and we are on our way to find dinner and a hotel for the night.

The ferry was scheduled to leave at 2:00pm and we did not have to be at the ferry terminal until 12:00 so this morning was a slow start. We rode down to the beaches in La Paz and had breakfast/lunch.

After lunch we rode to the ferry terminal in Pichilingue and started the process board the ferry. We were in line with the cars moving slowly toward the terminal gate. After entering the gate we were directed to go to the right and park the bikes. After waiting for about 10 minutes an Aduana official came over and checked the bikes and the paperwork on the bikes. After she cleared us to proceed we entered another short line and our ferry tickets were checked. Next we paid a small fee (?) for something and then we were allowed to board the ferry. Rode up the steel ramp into the ferry and then a sharp left and a right down a steep steel ramp to a lower deck. Tied down the bikes, secured all of the gear, and climbed the long steep series of stairs to the upper decks. We settled down in the lounge and now it was just a matter of waiting until the ferry took us to mainland Mexico.

Departing from Pichilingue and heading toward Topolobampo.

Reaching Topolobampo there were a few Pata Salada members there to greet us.

Found a hotel in Topolobampo a short distance from the ferry terminal, dinner, and the day was done.

Semi early start this morning. Only one road out of Topolobampo. Hwy 1 north to Los Mochis. Only other option is to return to the ferry.

From Los Mochis we took the cuota (toll road) Hwy 15D to Mazatlan. Riding along the coast it was generally flat and straight with the mountains on our left.

Reaching Mazatlan we stopped by Felipe's house. Lupita, his wife, joined us and we all went out for a seafood lunch. After lunch Felipe and Lupita returned back to Mazatlan and I was back on the road headed to Las Blas. I continued south along the coast on Hwy 15D toward Tepic.

Before reaching Tepic I turned off on Hwy 54 toward the coast and San Blas. Hwy 54 is just a small two lane country road leading down to the coast and is just north of the mountains where they come down to meet the ocean.

Found the town of San Blas and finally found my hotel. The hotel was fairly nice.

However, just on the other side of the hotel walls, things could have used some improvement.

Almost all of the side roads were rock and sand. Some of the streets were very rough. The Haul road in Alaska was in great shape compared to some of them. I hit one section of sand that was deeper than I had expected and almost dumped the bike. Learned in a hurry to pay more attention to the sand sections.

Views from the back of my room around dusk.

San Blas Centro

I had planned on using San Blas as a break from riding before continuing on to Aguascalientes and to take some time to explore the town. I was so far behind on writing my ride report that I wound up spending most of the day in my hotel room and working on the ride report.

Leaving San Blas I took a more southern route going back up to Tepic than the route that I came into San Blas on.

Initially I headed south along the coast.

Turned NE on Hwy 76 and rode back into the mountains. Once in the mountains the road became a narrow 2 lane, often covered with heavy canopies, and continuous curves. The curves were too tight to be able to take pictures.

Reached Tepic, turned SE on the cuota Hwy 15D and headed toward Guadalajara.

This makes my 3rd trip to Guadalajara. The first two times took me over two hours to cross from one side of the city to the other. Today I only needed to ride a short section of the outer loop. 30 minutes and I was headed out of the city.

To get off of the coutas I took Hwy 23 north out of Guadalajara. It was a good road with lots of great views and sweepers.

When I arrived in Aguascalientes, Marco, who had been watching my SPOT page, meet me outside the city and we rode to his house together. I will be staying with Marco for the next few days until we ride down to Cuernavaca.