By GAIL and ERIC HAW5
For more than ten years we have not been in the US for
Christmas nor New Years. 1991 would not be any different,
or so we thought. But, our airline reservations to Malaysia
did not come through and we fell back on a contingent
plan. We would drive our new
BMW PD into some region of
Mexico. After some planning we decided to drive to the
southern tip of Baja, Mexico.
From Eugene to Mexico is over 1800 miles and then the tip of Baja is another 1000 miles so our trip would be more than 4000 miles , both ways. And, we would not drive down the freeway but take backroads and the famous coast road whenever possible.
With a new PD one has to have it serviced at 600 miles and then again at 4500. We just had the latter service and were ready to put some real miles on this real motorcycle. If you haven't driven a dual purpose GS nor PD then you are in for a thrill. We wanted to not only go to Baja, but to drive on the non-paved roads because that is the only way to get to almost any beach area in Baja. So we loaded on our camping gear and summer clothes only. After all, we were heading south into sunny California. No winter clothes needed although we did have rain gear.
On 20 december we planned to leave at noon as it would take half a day to get to the California boarder . We left at 2:30. We drove the county road from Eugene then along HY 38 to the coast. No sun, just fog, but of course we were still in Oregon. We had not taken Hy 38 for many years. It was as if new to us. Then down the coast where we planned to stop before dark as we seldom drive at night due to the danger of deer. However, because we left late and were stopped by a logging operation, blocking 38, we did not get as far as we wanted. So, putting ourselves and bike into "night attack" mode we finally reached a motel at Gold Beach where we were the only ones there and paid $25.00 for the privilege.
The next day we started early and soon reached California. Still no sun and it was cool but we were heading south. Then the first problem. Going down hill with just four cars ahead of us we passed them and received our first ever traffic ticket on a motorcycle. We have been told that a dozen traffic tickets for speeding are too many but perhaps our insurance company would not find out about the $115.00 navigator mistake. But the officer did tell us a good place to eat, which most tourist miss since it is off the road. So we stopped at the resturnant and enjoyed the view.
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