Solo Ride to Panama | 2021

Chapter 1: U.S.A.

And I am off on another adventure!


Well, not quite.  I had driven to Mom's place in Airdrie on Friday, October 15, and I woke up early on Saturday, the day of my flight to Las Vegas, thinking I forgot something.  I forgot to turn down the thermostat and put the water heater into vacation mode.  It was early enough (and before Mom woke up) that I jumped in the car and drove back to Redwood Meadows to take care of that.  Back in Airdrie, after breakfast, Debbie picked me up and drove me to the airport.  I received a text from Ernie at Las Vegas Motorcycle Storage with a picture of my bike.  It had arrived, safe and sound so I was looking forward to getting to Las Vegas early enough to pick it up that afternoon.  The Rio hotel gave me a lovely corner room with floor to ceiling windows on two sides and after I had settled in, I grabbed my helmet and walked the couple of kilometres to the storage facility.  Being a Saturday the industrial area was pretty quiet and despite not being a terribly pedestrian friendly environment it was nice to go for a walk in the sunshine after the flight.  Ernie met me there and I rolled the bike out.  The old beast roared into life on the first push of the button, albeit with some smoke due to being parked on the sidestand.  Panama here we come!
 

Ernie sent me this photo: my bike has arrived in Las Vegas!

 
 

The bike fired right up but with a bit of smoke (I said, that'll keep the mosquitos down and Ernie replied, we don't have any mosquitos)

 
 

Bring the bike back to the Rio and pack it

 
 

A nice spacious room at the Rio

 


Since I wasn't sure that I would be able to pick up the bike on Saturday I had booked two nights at the Rio and so I had a free day on Sunday.  I used the time to fine tune the packing and then took a walk down the Strip in the late afternoon.  I ended up at the Venetian at supper time and had a wonderful pasta dinner in the main square while an opera singer/pianist played on stage.  Lovely but, let's be honest, eating dinner by myself in a fancy restaurant felt a little weird.  After dark the Strip really comes to life and it was fun strolling back to the Rio, catching the dancing fountains at the Bellagio (where we had celebrated Audrey's birthday in 2019) on the way.
 

The fountains at the Bellagio

I could hear the wind howling outside when I got up on Monday morning and it was indeed quite breezy when I got out onto Interstate 15, heading south.  I had planned to get some gas soon after departing and it was a relief to pull into the "World's Largest Chevron" station just 45 kilometres down the road.  I removed the peak from my helmet to ease the strain on my neck, but it was still hard work just riding at the speed limit (113 km/h).  At a rest area I took a break and thought I would check for any messages onFacebook.  Facebook greeted me with a memory from last year, October 18, 2020, the day in 1988 that Audrey and I were engaged.  And in 2020, a time when Audrey was declining rapidly with only a week left before she would be transferred to a hospice.  I was completely and totally overcome with grief and sat at a picnic table weeping, unable to go on.  When I shared the post on Facebook and commented that I didn't think I could go on.  I received an outpouring of support.  Thank you!  Eventually I was able to get back on the bike and slog another 400 kilometres in the wind to Bakersfield before turning north.  About 100 kilometres before King City the wind finally eased up, but the last half hour of riding was in the dark.  The headlight on the R100GS is almost as good as the wind protection so it was still a bit of a challenging ride. I was physically and emotionally drained, but I was on the road, travelling at last.
 

Good morning Las Vegas!


A wind advisory in effect

 
And I am off!

 
The World's Largest Chevron station provided a brief respite from the wind

 
I saw these mysterious things from the plane as we were landing in Las Vegas

 
Riding right by the mystery.  They are solar collectors.

 
Riding across the desert

 
Great, more wind warnings

 
As the wind eased up and I was riding into the afternoon sun it was better with the peak back on

 
Riding north in the Salinas River valley lots of fresh vegetables are being picked

 
A truck load of lettuce

 
Nice parking spot at the hotel in King City

 On Tuesday I had an appointment in Scotts Valley, just south of San Francisco to pick up a new rear shock.  The Ohlins was still OK but it had been a while since it had been serviced and when I had called The Beemershop before departure to see about a rebuild they indicated that they were taking appointments well into the future and it would take a few days to actually get it rebuilt.  So, I bought a new shock instead.  On Tuesday, October 19th, I rode up to their shop from King City.  The shock is pretty easy to replace on the R100GS but it still took a couple of hours so that meant I wasn't able to return to King City via the wonderful coast road, Highway 1.  I took the road between the 101 (which I had come up) and Highway 1, the Carmel Valley Road.  It was fantastic with very little traffic and lots of fun curves to give the new shock a workout.  Back in King City I stopped at a Starbucks for a bite to eat and read a motorcycle magazine rather than returning to the motel right away.  When I rode to the motel it was after dark and I was surprised to discover that the headlight wasn't working.  But it did work when I held down the high beam flasher.  Weird.  
 

Installing the new shock absorber in the Beemershop parking lot

 
A glimpse of the ocean coming out of Santa Cruz


The Carmel Valley road is lots of fun


Lovely views and no traffic made for a nice afternoon ride

 


On Wednesday I headed over to a nearby AutoZone to pick up a new headlight bulb.  When that didn't fix the problem I tried a few other things, none of which worked, so I made a mental note to; a) avoid riding at night and b) assume that oncoming traffic wouldn't see me.  By this time, I thought I had better get going if I was going to make it to Ventura before dark.  The hotel owner had suggested a nice road down to the coast from King City, but she hadn't mentioned that it goes through an army base, so I was a little concerned when I saw the visitor control center for Fort Hunter Liggett.  There was no one in the booth and a sign indicated that through traffic was OK so I proceeded with a healthy dose of caution.  What a wonderful road and no traffic at all.  None.  That was perhaps a clue that this wasn't going to end well.  Just a few kilometres from the coast I came upon a barricade.  The road was closed due to a recent fire in the Los Padres National Forest.  I had to backtrack through Fort Hunter Liggett and most of the way to King City before taking the four lane Highway 101 down to Ventura.  Too bad, as I had been really looking forward to the ride along the coast.  I had noticed a clunk coming through the handlebars the day before and it was a bit worse now.  Upon investigation it appeared that the steering head nut was a bit loose.  This had happened before, in Sudan in 2007, where I ended up losing the nut and riding 1,000 km without it, so I knew I should tighten it and perhaps get the steering head bearings checked over for damage.  Over a delicious roadside taco lunch, I found a shop in San Diego that works on the old "airhead" BMWs and contacted them to arrange a time for repair.  I finally made it to Ventura just before 6:00 PM, as the shadows were getting long, after encountering serious traffic at Santa Barbara where splitting lanes was especially useful.  The parkade under the Amanzi Hotel wasn't secure (that is, it was open to the outside) but at least it was covered.  I took my luggage upstairs then went for a walk, looking for a bite to eat, ending up with a convenience store sandwich.  I hoped to slow down a bit and have fewer challenges as this kind of travelling was getting tiring.
 

Tried replacing the headlight bulb but the light still didn't work


Entering Fort Hunter Liggett


No traffic at all and a lovely ride to the coast

 
I thought these turkeys were safe but realized that they hadn't had American Thanksgiving yet...

 
Dodging enormous spiders was part of the fun of the road

 
Well, that's the end of the fun.  Road closed because of a recent fire in Big Sur.

 
Road closed just past Nacimiento Campground, I could almost smell the ocean

 
Well, I guess there was this Road Closed sign in Fort Hunter Liggett

 
Clunk from the front end traced to a loose steering head nut

 
Doing research on BMW mechanics over lunch

 
Well, at least I am back by the ocean

 
Turning off before the Space Force Base

 
Lovely ocean views

Robbed!  Yep, I came downstairs, and I had forgotten to lock the saddlebags last night.  The lids were open and everything that I hadn't taken upstairs was gone.  So that was all the bike-specific things like rain gear, tools, spares, warm clothes, first aid kit, and extra gloves.  My frustration was compounded by the fact that Audrey was always much more security conscious than I was.  I wouldn't have left the saddlebags unlocked if she would have been here.  I reported the incident to the hotel who said they could give the security camera footage to the police, but I would need to file a police report first.  That made sense since otherwise I am sure I would have gone looking for the miscreant to extract a bit of vigilante justice.  Instead, I walked in a spiral outward from the hotel just looking for my stuff.  No luck.  I had an appointment with BMS, Best Motorcycle Seats (formerly Bill Mayer Saddles before Rocky passed away) to get my custom seat adjusted so headed over there and spent the morning with Adrian getting the seat so that it fit me better.  Their saddles are absolutely amazing, and I would recommend them to anyone, check them out at legendarybms.com.  I thought I would have a look at replacing some of my stolen gear at Ventura BMW but they had no rain gear (what, it never rains in California?) and they couldn't sell the 2-in-1 gloves because they use kangaroo leather. Apparently, it isn't possible to sell kangaroo leather in California.  Who knew?  I also asked if they could tighten up the steering head nut but their mechanics won't touch an old motorcycle for fear of breaking something and they didn't have the tool available for sale either.  I took the long way back to the hotel, through the mountains and by the ocean and then walked around again to see if the thief had discarded any of the useless items.  Like who else would need a spare clutch cable for a 30 year old motorcycle?  I ended up at Finney's, a really lively pub on a pedestrianized street in downtown Ventura.  It was way more fun eating at a lively spot by myself than in a fancy restaurant.  Plus I had a Moroccan salad, easily the healthiest thing I had eaten on the trip.

Adrian of Legendary BMS goes to work adjusting the motorcycle saddle

 
Another happy customer

 
Tightening up the steering head nut in a Home Depot parking lot

 
The Ventura Pier was built in 1872

On Friday, October 22, I packed up my (more) meager belongings and hit the road south.  First a stop at Legendary Best Motorcycle Saddles to make another adjustment to the seat and then to the newly opened Rivian Hub in Venice.  Rivian had just started delivering their new electric pickup truck to customers and only a few days earlier had opened up the Hub.  The truck was great to see in person, but I was even more impressed by the attitude of the people I met.  Everyone there was really into adventure travel, it wasn't simply a company slogan.  Some of the staff even insisted on coming out front to have a look at my bike and talk about the adventure I was on.  A little further down the road I stopped off at SpaceX headquarters to check out the Falcon 9 booster on display.  That made my bike look pretty tiny!  A Travelodge was my home for the evening, but I was a bit concerned about the Harley Davidson dealer across the street that seemed to be setting up for a party.  After finding a nice hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant (yummy lamb tikka masala) I went back to the Travelodge to find the HD party in full swing.  I didn't mind the party too much but after the party the legions of open pipe Harleys roaring away was actually deafening.

Arrived at the Rivian Hub

The Rivian R1T is a cool, adventure-ready truck

The blue is sharp

 
 

Check out the slide-out camp kitchen available as an option

Yes, my BMW R100GS is in the photo with the Falcon 9 booster

After a Saturday morning breakfast at Starbucks I continued south.  I stopped off at Long Beach BMW and found new rain gear in my size (!) and new Airflow gloves.  This thievery thing was getting to be expensive.  Taking Interstates 405 and 5 south I was struck by the volume of traffic going in both directions.  While splitting lanes meant I could make better time than those stuck in their cars it was still a bit of a slog.  At a rest stop I struck up a conversation with a couple of people that had pulled up beside me and were checking out the stickers on the bike.  When I told them I was on my way to Panama and that this was the first adventure ride without Audrey they asked if I would mind if they blessed me.  Umm, OK.  Blessing completed I rejoined the fray and split lanes most of the way to San Diego.  I arrived at the harbour at 2:30 and texted Onno that I had arrived.  This was the first time I had seen his boat and Lost Pearl did not disappoint. What a wonderful boat, nicely laid out and it was obvious Onno had done so much work on it.  The next morning we went for a cruise around the harbour to help break in the new motor.  In the afternoon we hopped on a couple of eScooters and zipped over to a theatre to check out Dune.  Great show but the theatre had the sound cranked up to 11.  My ears were still ringing that evening, as if I had come from a rock concert.  Isn't there a saying, "The music isn't too loud, you're too old!"  After running a few errands on Monday morning, Onno and I had a delicious bon voyage lunch (for both of our voyages) at Supannee House of Thai and then I set off in a bit of a drizzle.  I had booked a hotel on the other side of San Diego to be close to the motorcycle shop that would take a look at the steering head nut the next day.

Saturday traffic between Los Angeles and San Diego is pretty heavy (huzzah for lane splitting!)

 
I get blessed at a roadside rest area

 
Arrived at Shelter Island pier, looking for the Lost Pearl

 
Meeting up with Onno

 
Arriving at the Lost Pearl (click on the photo to watch the YouTube video)

 
The captain at the helm

 
A lovely evening on the boat with a view of San Diego (also the iPhone takes pretty amazing photos)

 
Packed up and taking the tender back to shore and my motorcycle

 
A light drizzle for my departure from Shelter Island

The Carlton Oaks Lodge was a golf course hotel with direct access to the golf course which would probably be good for a golf vacation, but it was in the middle of a residential neighbourhood far from any other services.  So Tuesday was a day of walking.  First a few kilometres to a café for breakfast then back a couple of kilometres from DCMW Motorcycle Service of San Diego after dropping off the bike with Dave.  He thought the bike would be ready in the afternoon if he didn't need to order any parts.  With a little time on my hands, I walked back and forth to a laundromat and Kaffeemeister for afternoon tea when I got the call that my bike was ready.  Finally, after 22.7 kilometres of walking (according to my iPhone app) I had my wheels back.  Using my wheels, I popped over to an O'Reilly's auto parts store to replace my stolen air pump and flat fix kit and finally to dinner at an Olive Garden.  On Wednesday I did some prep work for Thursday's planned border crossing and then moved to another hotel where I got the required documents printed out.  I swung by San Diego BMW to see if they had a clutch cable to replace my stolen cable, but I had no luck with that.  Next door to the Best Western was Anthony's Fish Grotto, a famous local establishment where I enjoyed the salmon and penne pasta while sitting beside a duck pond.  Quite lovely but as always at a fancy restaurant, a bit weird by myself.  I woke up on Thursday in anticipation of a border crossing.  Part of the thrill of travelling is the unknown of a border crossing and today would be no different.  Well, it turned out to be a bit different.  I packed up the bike and rolled it off the centre stand and thought it felt weird.  Sure enough, an enormous nail had managed to find its way into the rear tire.  The tire was relatively new, so I thought about repairing it with my newly acquired tools.  Figuring that no matter how well I repaired the tire it still wouldn't be as good as a new tire, I checked with the dealer to see if they had the same tire in stock.  They were able to get a tire and install it that afternoon.  Perfect.  Rather than taking an Uber over with the wheel to get repaired I used the opportunity to practice my puncture repair skills (and brand-new pump and tire plugs) and then rode over.  I also extended my stay at the Best Western an extra night.  Friday morning, I took a nice mountain road to the Tecate border crossing figuring it would be a little less stressful than at the busy Tijuana crossing.  It was a lovely ride except for the long wait in the heat at a construction zone and I hoped that the border crossing wouldn't take too long, or I might cook in all my gear.  What further adventures awaited?  How reliable would the bike be, or would that also form part of the adventure?  Into Mexico!

DCMW Motorcycle Service of San Diego has a few older bikes out front.  My bike will be in good hands.

 
A flat tire just as I am leaving San Diego for Mexico

 
My flat tire repair kit is only a couple of days old and still in the original packaging

 
Love this sticky note in a Starbucks (despite the spelling error)

 
The border with Mexico

 
Map of the U.S. portion of the ride to Panama

 

 

Chapter 2: Baja

On Friday, October 29, I crossed the border from the U.S.A. to Mexico at the Tecate crossing.  It was a warm day and I had just spent some time sitting at a construction zone so I hoped that the border procedures wouldn't take too long.  As always, a new border crossing can be a bit confusing, so I pulled up and had a look before proceeding.  I didn't see a line of vehicles and nowhere official to park, so I pulled up in front of the gate and looked questioningly at an official who motioned me to proceed through the gate, park on the street and return.  The only convenient place to park was a little way down the wrong way on a one-way street.  I parked the bike and was securing my stuff when an official motioned me over to an official spot that he indicated would be much more secure than on the street.  What a nice introduction to Mexico!  I then walked back to the immigration office where it was an easy process to stamp my passport and issue the visa.  The agent asked if the photo on my sleeve was of my wife.  I said yes and explained (in extremely limited Spanish) that she had passed away a year ago.  As it isn't necessary to obtain a Temporary Vehicle Import Permit just for riding Baja California it was a little trickier getting the TVIP that I needed to go to mainland Mexico.  I knew I needed to get it at the Banjercito so asked for directions from the friendly immigration officer and she pointed me in the right direction, just a few metres back.  There another friendly and helpful officer got me through the process though I did have to go to a pharmacy across the street to get a photocopy of the immigration document I had just received.  The total time for the border crossing was only 20 minutes so I got back on my bike at 12:30, just in time for lunch.  As I didn't have any pesos and I didn't see a convenient bank machine I headed for a restaurant that I knew would take a credit card.  MacDonald's.  OK, not exactly the Mexican lunch of my dreams but needs must.  From there it was an easy ride to Ensenada though I did need to adapt (as one always does) to the driving style in Mexico.  I could see the Lost Pearl from the balcony of my room at the Corona Hotel, next to the marina and texted Onno.  We arranged to meet for supper, and I walked into town to a bank for some pesos, stopping for a delicious mocha frappe at D'Volada.  I met Onno and his crew (Gretchen and Tim) for dinner in the hotel restaurant where we had a great conversation about their trip down from San Diego and plans for sailing to Cabo San Lucas.

My first Mexican meal!

 
The Corona Hotel is right near the marina in Ensenada

 
View of the marina from my balcony

 
Yes, that's a Canadian flag!

 
The cathedral in the centre of Ensenada

 
Yummy!

 
Onno and Ekke

I met Onno for breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then, since he needed some pesos, we walked over together to the bank I had visited yesterday.  Then we wished each other a bon voyage and started our separate ways to La Paz.  I went east from Ensanada as I wanted to follow the coast along the Sea of Cortez so climbed out of town and up into the low mountains.  About 20 kilometres into the ride, I was following a couple of cars and was being tailgated by a van when I noticed a jerry can lying on its side towards the outside of a left-hand curve.  The can wasn't in the way but a black oily liquid covered the entire width of the road.  As soon as I hit the oil slick, the bike went into a two-wheel drift, both tires sliding towards the outside of the curve and the steep drop-off.  I gingerly steered into the skid and rolled off the throttle while pulling in the clutch, hoping that I wouldn't go off the road and over the cliff.  I made it through the slick without falling or getting run over by the tailgating van and rode a couple of hundred metres further where I could pull over.  I had passed a Honda Civic parked on the other side of the road and while I was standing beside the bike, trying to calm my jangled nerves, the driver came over and relayed how she had hit the oil slick and spun out, ending up on the other side of the road.  We both thanked our lucky stars that we were OK.  The remainder of the ride to San Felipe was uneventful though riding with extreme caution saw me tiptoeing around every single corner.  The Stella del Mar was right on the beach, so I enjoyed watching the sunset before heading to the restaurant.  A live band was playing, and I thought they were really good, so that made for a lovely evening getting the tension out of my system.

Heading east out of Ensenada

 
Pulled over after the oil slick

 
That's oil on the road

 
Across the Baja


Beach accommodations in San Felipe

 
Click on the photo to see a short YouTube video of the band at Stella del Mar

I was expecting a bit of an adventurous ride today since the map I had obtained from the Canadian Automobile Association before I left, recommended that Highway 5 south of San Felipe was only suitable for four-wheel drive vehicles.  I usually book accommodation the night before but held off this time since I wasn't sure how far I was going to make it.  Well, it was a lot less adventurous than anticipated since the highway was freshly paved for the entire distance.  The new road seemed to have eliminated the famous Coco's Corner, a must stop for all motorbike travellers.  I thought I had passed something called Nuevo Coco's Corner ten kilometres before where it should have been, but I didn't feel like retracting my steps.  There were no fuel stops available until I got to Guerrero Negro, a distance of 400 kilometres.  Sometimes it's nice having an extra-large gas tank.  The Hotel Caracoles had lovely rooms and I could park the bike right in front.  While not as nice a setting as the Stella del Mar the room was far nicer and one third the price.  This was not a tourist town as was obvious when I walked into town to sit at a coffee shop and read a book.  I had downloaded "The Apollo Murders" by Chris Hadfield onto the iPad and was anxious to read it.  Walking back in the dark on Halloween was fun as a few stores seemed to be open specifically for kids to come "Trick or Treating".  The day after Halloween is Día de Muertos so I made a point of stopping at a few roadside shrines on the ride to Loreto.  There were a lot of shrines, presumably erected at the location where a loved one was killed on the highway.  Of course, when I stopped at a shrine I thought of Audrey, but I also wanted to think of Onno's wife, Chieko, who had passed away in 2019 from cancer and my Dad who had passed away in 2017 while Audrey and I were riding in South America.  Even at the Santa Fe hotel restaurant in Loreto there was a Día de Muertos shrine set up where candles were lit, and offerings laid out.  November 2 also seemed to be part of Día de Muertos, so I stopped at another shrine on the ride from Loreto to La Paz.  While the day before I was really processing grief, on this day I wanted to focus more on the positive aspects that made Chieko, Ekke Senior and Audrey so important in my life.  It was a completely different point of view of their passing and made me feel so much better rather than wallowing in grief.  While Monday's ride to Loreto had gone through the mountains and along a lovely coast dotted with small bays (perfect for the Lost Pearl to anchor I thought), Tuesday's ride was on arrow straight roads through the desert.  I had booked the Hotel Palmira in La Paz because Audrey and I had stayed there in 1989 and despite the awful vacation (that's another story) we liked the hotel.  The hotel was nicer than I remembered it and after dropping off my laundry I jumped into the pool for a refreshing dip.

Going for a morning walk in San Felipe

 


Let the adventure begin!


Spectacular views of the Sea of Cortez

 
Small islands by the coast

 
Desert highway with fresh new asphalt

 
Here's the old dirt road

 
Leaving Baja California

 
Nice to be in a town that wasn't too touristy

 
Nice digs at Hotel Los Caracoles

 
More desert highway

 
Stopping at a roadside shrine

 
Día de Muertos meant that the shrines I saw were well taken care of

 
Thinking of my Sweetie

 


 A lot of shrines were located at sharp curves

 
An ice cream shop in Santa Rosalia

 
I think the Lost Pearl would look right at home here

 
Shrine in a cave

 
Hotel Santa Fe in Loreto is nice

 
Even the restaurant has a nice shrine set up

 
The bay in Loreto is a UNESCO World Heritage Site



 
The coast south of Loreto is just beautiful

 
Classic cactus

 


Stopping at shrine on the second Día de Muertos

 
A welcoming Canadian flag at the Palmira Hotel in La Paz

 
Sunset on the malecon

On Wednesday I ordered tickets online for myself and the bike on the Baja ferry to Topolobampo for Monday, November 8, over breakfast and then walked over to the ticket office (about 5 kilometres) in downtown La Paz.  It was already 30 degrees, so I tried to stay on the shady side of the streets on the way over.  Once there it was an easy process to pick up the tickets and the agent gave me some good information, telling me to pick up my own tie down straps as they wouldn't be provided on the boat.  After the ticket office I met Ken (Viv's friend (Viv is a university friend of Audrey)) at Coffee Star where we had a nice chat over a frappe mocha.  He was staying at a place in the same direction as the Hotel Palmira, so we walked down to the Malecon together and along the sea wall.  Good thing we had our sunscreen on as the sun was good and hot.  Back at the hotel I checked on my laundry and found out they hadn't done it since they thought that I was checking out today.  They promised to have it done by tomorrow morning (my real check out date) and I continued wearing the same clothes for another day.  That wasn't so bad as I worked on the website and then read The Apollo Murders by the pool.  Thursday morning my laundry was indeed done, though it was done by one of the staff at the hotel rather than their regular laundry service.  I packed up and then rode south out of town, stopping off at Home Depot to buy the tie down straps and an adjacent Carls Jr. for lunch.  I might as well be in the U.S. at this rate.  At least the ride to San José del Cabo on the east side of the peninsula felt like it was in Mexico and a lovely ride.  In San José del Cabo there was an option to take a toll highway to Cabo San Lucas, but I chose libre instead and started to regret it with the endless stop lights and heavy traffic.  This was compounded by the clutch not disengaging completely making it difficult to select neutral, so I adjusted it at the handlebar while riding and it was noticeably better.  Still, it was odd as it had never gone out of adjustment before.  Getting to the City Suites in Cabo San Lucas was tricky with U-turns and frontage roads to get there even though the hotel was clearly visible from the highway.  After checking in I got on the elevator to the fourth floor but the lights in the elevator weren't on and the elevator didn't move when I pressed "4" after the doors closed.  Pitch black darkness.  Uh oh.  I found my phone and turned on the flashlight so that I could open the door and get out.  Back at the front desk I mentioned the broken elevator and they said someone would come over to fix it.  After no one had shown up in a while I went back to the front desk.  She said she would try it and got in the elevator while I waited outside.  When nothing happened after a minute or so, I thought I would hit the elevator button.  The door opened and the desk clerk stepped out looking a bit pale and frazzled.  While she said she would get someone to fix it she said there was another elevator for a different part of the hotel that I could use.  It was a bit of a mystery why she hadn't suggested that earlier while I was waiting for the elevator to be repaired.  The suite was very nice, and I hoped that with the kitchen I wouldn't be as reliant on restaurant meals.  By this time, it was getting close to the time that the Sage Soirée was to start.  This is an annual gala put on by Hospice Calgary (virtually during COVID) and I had been invited since I had done a video on grief that was to be shown.  I got the computer all set up and joined the event.  As I knew it would be, this was quite an emotional event, especially when my video was shown but also hearing other stories of grief.  What an emotional end to the day.

Walking around La Paz

 
Along the malecon with Ken

 
City Suites hotel in Cabo San Lucas

 
The Sage Soirée

 

The City Suites was a reasonably priced, modern hotel but quite a way from the famous beach of Cabo San Lucas.  Always up for a walk I put on my walking shoes and headed out into a warm day.  Only one wrong turn later I made it to the beach.  I walked up to one of the expensive beach hotels and sat in the shade of an umbrella on their patio restaurant.  The waiter said that the breakfast buffet was still open, and I could go in and fill my plate.  I had to explain to him that I wasn't staying at the hotel and just a smoothie would be great.  Isn't that the definition of white privilege though?  I walked into an expensive restaurant like I owned the place and people automatically assumed I belonged there.  I got out Chris Hadfield's book and enjoyed a smoothie, and then a Caeser wrap at lunch time until I finally moved on in the early afternoon.  I strolled around Cabo ending up at a downtown, indoor, air-conditioned mall before taking on the hot walk back to the City Suites.  I wanted to grab some groceries for meals in the suite and there was a Walmart across the highway, but no way was I risking life and limb as a pedestrian to cross that highway or walking several kilometres to an underpass, so I hopped on the bike instead.  Now I would be self-sufficient and could also try to eat a little healthier.  Saturday was kind of like a vacation from the vacation as I stayed at the hotel reading, writing up the website and watching Foundation on Apple TV+.

The beautiful beach of Cabo San Lucas

 
Reading the Apollo Murders while enjoying a smoothie

 

So here we are.  November 7.  One year on from Audrey's passing.  I had of course been dreading this day for some time.  I rather expected myself to be an utter mess, curled up in a ball, weeping uncontrollably.  But it wasn't that way.  Perhaps because I had been dreading this day, I had been preparing subconsciously for it.  I did spend a lot of time reflecting on my life now, how grateful I was to have had a wonderful life with Audrey and also on how this trip was going.  I still hadn't found a great deal of joy in travelling.  It almost seemed like I was going through the motions of travel.  I didn't know how to shake that feeling though.  What could I change in my travelling to bring back the joy?  The dichotomy of the grief and realizing how lucky I was, not just for having had Audrey in my life but also to have the means to keep on travelling was also playing on me.  Having finished The Apollo Murders I started another book, Anxious People by Fredrik Backman.  The same author who wrote the book, A Man Called Ove.  I had received that book from Jackie, and it was eerily similar to my own experience of losing Audrey.  The title character was the same age when he lost his wife and also felt completely lost without her.  And he was a SAAB aficionado with great disdain for Volvo, BMW, and Audi drivers.  Perfect match then.  Mr. Backman can make you laugh and cry in the same paragraph, if not the same sentence.  Highly recommended.  I had finished the writing and photographs for the first chapter of the Solo to Panama portion of our website but was having trouble exporting it on the Surface Pro.  I struggled with it but couldn't get it going.  It looked like I might have to wait until I returned to Canada and use the old Sony VIAO computer to upload to the web.  Eventually I packed up and, in the afternoon, returned to La Paz and the Palmira, this time taking the western-side road avoiding the traffic in San José del Cabo.  It was easy riding on four lane highway and perhaps perfect on this emotional day.

Relaxing by the pool back in the Palmira Hotel in La Paz

 

On Monday, November 8, I packed up and left the Palmira at 10:30 to ride 16 kilometres to Pichilinque, the ferry port.  First the Banjercito checked my Temporary Import Permit to make sure I could take the bike to the mainland.  While I could have arranged that here I was glad I had done it back in Tecate where there was no pressure of having to catch a ferry.  Next the length of the bike was measured and then the bike (and operator) were weighed.  After waiting in an air-conditioned lounge for about half an hour I popped outside and saw a couple of motorcycles riding towards the boat.  I jumped on my bike and headed after them and was surprised to see that we were able to board despite not having heard any kind of announcement to that effect.  Using my new tie down straps the attendant strapped the bike down while it was on its sidestand.  Hopefully it won't be as smoky on start up as it was in Las Vegas after being in the transport truck.  For some reason I had this image in my mind of cruising to Topolobampo lounging on deck while watching dolphins and whales cavorting in the Sea of Cortez, so I hadn't booked a stateroom.  When I climbed up the stairs from the car deck I was shown to a lounge and my assigned seat.  I sat down and put my motorcycle gear on the seat beside me.  Until a lady came by and indicated that was her assigned seat.  At least a Mr. Bean movie playing at the front of the hot room in Spanish had lots of visual gags. Leaving my gear at my seat, I got up and walked around to find that the only open deck space was facing back, looking at the cargo hold where trucks were jockeying for parking.  This deck was only a metre or two wide and the three park benches on it were already taken by smokers.  This wasn't going to be the cruise of my dreams.  I went down to the purser's office and asked if a cabin was available.  He said that I could check back with him just before departure when he got the final information.  Thank goodness a cabin was available as the crowded dining area looked like it would be a COVID superspreader event.  So it was a lovely crossing after all, relaxing in my cabin (with the provided meal) and going out on deck occasionally to grab a breath of fresh air.  I'll have to look up the Mr. Bean movie to see how it ends though.  I had booked a hotel just a stone's throw from the ferry terminal in Topolobampo so it was a short ride in the dark.  At least the intermittently functioning headlight graced me with its presence.  I really should try to fix that.

Approaching the ferry port at Pichilinque

 
Nice warm lounge to watch Mr. Bean

 
OK, a cabin is nicer

 
Departure

 
Sunset on the Sea of Cortez

 
GPS tracks of my ride on the Baja Peninsula

Chapter 3: Mexico Part 1

Tuesday, November 9, I woke up on the "mainland" of Mexico in Topolobampo.  I love how that name rolls off the tongue.  Being on the continent now I was a bit disappointed as to what qualifies as a "continental breakfast" in these parts.  Apparently, a slice of toast with jam, a small bowl of fruit and a cup of hot water into which I was to dissolve the Nescafé.  Suitably fortified (?), I rode a short distance to a gas station and fuelled up before riding south, having to choose between the "cuota" road and the "libre" road after about 75 kilometres.  As it was getting properly warm, I thought that going through the small towns and their attendant topes (speed bumps) might not be that much fun so opted to pay the 37 pesos (about $3) to keep the air flowing through my suit on the toll road.  So, I arrived a little earlier than anticipated in Culiacán and when I saw an air-conditioned Starbucks, where I could read my book to get out of the 34 degree heat before checking in at the San Marcos hotel, I pulled over.  A barista asked if I had really ridden my motorbike all the way from Canada when he saw the Canadian flag on my jacket.  Well, only from Las Vegas…  The San Marco hotel certainly had interesting art in the lobby.  Rather erotic really.  Maybe not a place for a lonely motorcycle traveller?  Well, perhaps a walk around town was a good idea.  A short walk from the hotel was the centre of the city and Catedral Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Rosario.  I went inside and at first simply admired the beautiful interior but after a few minutes I ended up in a pew near the front and sat down.  I was overwhelmed with emotion as I thought of Audrey and sat there contemplating life.  While overwhelmed with grief it was so difficult to pull back and look at the big picture and how incredibly lucky I am.  Not just for having had an amazing relationship for 30+ years with my life partner but also for being able to travel as I wished now.

Continental Breakfast

 
Ready to depart

 
The lobby of the San Marcos hotel is... interesting

 
View of Culiacán from the San Marcos

 
Catedral Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Rosario

 
Sat in a pew and just thought about life

 
Why a Coke bottle in their sign?

 
Wednesday was a lovely ride on the "libre" road to Mazatlán and I appreciated the change in vegetation compared to the desert landscape of the Baja.  I swung by the Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay resort where Audrey and I had stayed on a Spring Break a few years ago.  I had checked it out online since I thought it would be cool to show up at an all-inclusive resort on a motorcycle, but the price was ridiculously high.  I can't recall, but it must have been much more reasonable as part of a package, or we wouldn't have stayed there.  A stop for lunch near the Mazatlán marina at Rico's Café yielded a delicious chicken crepe and a mocha frappe and then I continued on to the Holiday Inn Resort.  (I think it is probably time to disabuse you, dear reader, of the notion that I am some rugged adventure motorcyclist) It was a pleasant enough stay for a couple of nights, and I did lots of walking.  On Friday I met up with John Fitzwater, whom I had first been in contact with over Facebook.  He was on the boat from La Paz and would arrive in Mazatlán in the morning.  I saw the boat from my room so packed up and rode over to our prearranged meeting point; a Starbucks I thought would be easy for him to spot.  We chatted for a while on a wide range of topics; he is a motorcycle tour operator in New Zealand and because of the pandemic his business was shut down, so he was riding his 1974 Norton Commando to South America.  We booked a hotel in Durango and then got going.  At first, I led out of Mazatlán and up the El Espinazo Del Diablo, a famously curvy road over the mountains to Durango.  There is a parallel toll road, so all the trucks and buses were over there and only local traffic and those who specifically wanted to ride the Devil's Backbone were on this road.  I had the impression that John wanted to ride a little faster so waved him ahead.  I was really enjoying riding with someone else.  There were a lot of sports bikes on the road and, come to think of it, some of them looked like pure race bikes without lights but number plates.  The road was a typical Mexican road in that it was fairly rough and had sandy spots and of course no runoff room with cliffs and trees lining the route so I can't imagine trying to get some speed up on it.  Surprisingly we saw only one crash.  When we gassed up in Durango an SUV driver pulled up and started chatting.  I asked him if he knew anything about all the sports bikes we saw on El Espinazo Del Diablo and he said that there was a race on the weekend where they would close the road.  The riders we saw were just getting familiar with the course.  And I thought the Isle of Mann TT would be a death-defying race, this seemed like pure madness.

Libre road towards Mazatlán

 
Entrance to Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay resort

 
View from the Holiday Inn Resort

 
A lovely spot

 
Beautiful soft sand for walking

 


 I love these "pulmonias", based on VW Beetles

 
John's ferry from La Paz is arriving

 
Now this looks like fun!

 
Meet up with John at a Starbucks

 
Heading up El Espinazo Del Diablo

 


 At the top of a fabulous road

 
A little rain and hail won't slow us down!

 

When we had crossed the mountains, we had gained a lot of elevation, at one point reaching 2,800 metres and Durango was also fairly high.  As a result, it was only 7 degrees Celsius in the morning, a bit cooler than we were used to.  By the time John had taken care of an issue with his rear tire and done some repacking it was getting on 11:00 o'clock when we departed Durango.  We stayed off the toll highway, going through Fresnillo instead.  It wasn't too bad in the slow city traffic with the cooler temperatures.  All the hotels in Zacatecas' centre were booked so we ended up at a City Express on the outskirts.  After getting settled we walked the six kilometres into the centro historico.  We soon found out why the hotels were booked as the centre was bustling with activity on the Revolution Day long weekend (Revolution Day was November 20 but the bank holiday was Monday, November 15).  Zacatecas was captured by Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution in 1914 so perhaps it was appropriate that we had dinner at Los Balcones De La Revolución across from the basilica.  The service was glacially slow, and it was actually rather cold sitting on the balcony, but the food was delicious and the atmosphere, watching the bustling activity below, was unbeatable.  We walked back in the general direction of the hotel doing a bit more sightseeing after dark and then caught a cab back.  On Sunday morning John did a bit more work on his bike and re-evaluated his luggage as he was thinking of leaving some of it at a friend's place in San Miguel de Allende.  While he was engaged with that, I did some more digging into why my headlight was still working intermittently.  I found a broken spade connector at the headlight relay and hoped that bending the spade to ensure a better connection would fix the problem.  I also borrowed some black duct tape from John to "repair" the paint that had flaked off the tank.  With John riding up front he was able to verify that the headlight was working properly now.  We had planned a route that would avoid the big city of San Luis Potosí since we weren't interested in taking the toll highway around it.  Unfortunately, John's phone (he was using Google Maps to navigate) was giving him some trouble and we missed the turn.  While my GPS had showed the turn, I just assumed John had something else in mind.  When we got to San Luis Potosí his phone ran out of power and so I rode in front, navigating us through the city and eventually on to the beautiful city of San Miguel de Allende.  John turned off to go to his friend's house and I continued on to Casa Mia Suites.  My goodness, what a lovely hotel, what with the large, two-storey suite decorated with local art.  The only downside being that there was no onsite parking, and the valet parking was (according to the desk clerk) quite a distance from the hotel.  After taking my luggage to the room I parked the bike on the street down the block, locked it up, put it under cover and hoped for the best.  The main square was packed with people enjoying the long weekend and all the restaurants were busy.  Even Starbucks had a line going down the street.  I ended up at a fancy restaurant off a side street where the ribs seemed to be mostly fat and gristle and the artichoke heart floating in the otherwise delicious soup was apparently not for consumption as it was rock hard.  The chocolate mousse for dessert was delicious but didn't save the 900 peso ($70!) meal.

Ready for departure from Durango

 
Normally I wouldn't pass motorcycle cops with their lights on...

 
John riding towards Zacatecas

 
Zacatecas is a beautiful and lively town

 


 Los Balcones De La Revolución is just across the street from the cathedral

 
Pancho Villa

 
A walk after dark in Zacatecas

 
John uses the luggage cart to get his stuff down to the bike

 
Before (honestly it's amazing the paint has lasted this long)

 
After (duct tape is great!)

 
Heading down the highway on a 1974 Norton Commando

 
Entering San Miguel de Allende

 
Wow, the Casa Mia Suites has a beautiful courtyard

 
I love how the room is decorated with local art work

 
Sunset from the rooftop deck over San Miguel de Allende

 
Lively downtown on the Revolution Day long weekend

There was no breakfast included at the Casa Mia (which makes sense since they are suites after all) so I took a chilly walk to the Starbucks (my motorcycle was still where I had left it!).  By the time I finally got on the road it had warmed up a little.  The traffic of course became heavier as I approached Mexico City and the last 10 or 15 kilometres was slogging through it.  Splitting lanes was challenging as the lanes were quite narrow and the bike felt quite wide but overall, the traffic kept moving, hardly ever coming to a complete stand still.  The clutch was dragging a little as the bike got hot, so I had to adjust the cable at the lever while riding.  The European-style Geneve Hotel built in 1907 was a grand hotel in a lively neighbourhood and I had booked it for a couple of nights.  I had just dismounted the bike in the unloading zone of the hotel when a woman approached me and said something unintelligible.  I took off my helmet, removed the earplugs and asked her to repeat what she said.  She asked if I wanted sex.  Maybe this neighbourhood was a little livelier than I wanted.  The next day I walked over to the BMW dealer to see if they had a clutch cable to replace the stolen item but they didn't.  And they didn't have the 2-in-1 gloves in stock that I couldn't purchase in California because of the kangaroo leather.  I tried a few other options for a spare clutch cable but didn't have any success.  It was suggested I could get one made at a shop if my cable did indeed fail so I wasn't too worried about not having the spare.  Audrey and I had spent two weeks in Mexico City in 2017 when we were waiting for our motorcycles to be shipped from Brazil, so we had done all the tourist things and I didn't feel a need to see the sights again.  I was walking around my lively neighbourhood looking for a place for dinner when I was approached by "Frederico."  He seemed friendly enough though a bit pushy when he wanted me to buy some beads or a pen from him.  It was all friendly enough banter until I felt his hand brush my wallet at which point, I backed away and tried to get rid of him, eventually giving him a bit of change.  From then on, I was hyperalert to being pickpocketed and couldn't really relax whenever people were nearby and headed back to the sanctuary of the Geneve.
 

Ciudad Mexico (one of the great cities of the world, you really should go)

 

On Wednesday morning, while packing after breakfast, I was sitting in a chair, and I thought I felt it sway.  Like the chair was a bit wobbly.  Strange.  Then it did that again.  The chair itself was fine so perhaps it was a mild earthquake.  I guess these things are fairly common in Mexico City and no one else seemed to notice, not like the time in Quito when a 6.7 earthquake shook us out of bed and the next day that's all that anyone talked about.  With a foreign registered vehicle (that is, not from Mexico City) I wasn't allowed to ride before 11:00 (or all-day Fridays and Saturdays) due to their strict smog regulations.  So, I took my time before checking out and getting out of Mexico City.  Traffic wasn't too terrible and soon (and with only one wrong turn!) I was climbing on the toll road south towards Puebla.  The road topped out at 3,200 metres and I was finally out of the smog that is Mexico City's curse in the winter.  At that altitude the bike didn't have nearly as much power as at sea level (about 30% less) but still enough to climb the grade faster than the trucks going 5 km/hr.  Down the other side I stayed on the toll road to bypass Puebla.  This was an elevated expressway, and I was rather stunned by the sheer size of Puebla spread out below me.  I was glad to have opted for the toll road.  Looking it up at a coffee shop/gas station a little while later I discovered it is a city of 3.2 million people.  And also, home to the largest pyramid by volume in the world, Tlachihualtepetl.  Well, I guess I'll have to visit that another time.  I arrived in Tehuacán early enough that I could pop over to a lavanderia (laundry) to wash my clothes and was glad for the help the young girl running the place gave me to get the machines going.  Dinner was at a family restaurant, Vips, where the enchiladas in mole sauce were delicious and the mineral water was Canada Dry.  As Vips is a chain I'll have to keep them in mind in my travels further south in Mexico.  Leaving Tehuacan was a bit of a chore on very rough roads and lots of topes, making me rethink my decision to take the libre road, but once I cleared town it was a very pleasant ride on curvy mountain roads.  The road descended to an elevation of 500 metres before climbing back up to 2,200 metres with a commensurate range of temperatures.  About 50 kilometres out of Oaxaca I joined up with the toll road, figuring that minimizing the amount of city riding would be better.  Eventually of course I entered the city proper, and the roads were atrocious, very rough, and dusty with heavy traffic.  I noticed that it seemed like the clutch wasn't disengaging completely, making it difficult to find neutral at stops.  Perhaps the clutch cable had stretched, and I needed to get a new one made up.  When I got to the hotel I had a look and the clutch cable was adjusted all the way out both at the handlebar end and at the clutch end so something was definitely not right.  I didn't have the heart to venture out of the hotel for the dusty 30-minute walk to city centre so instead I did some research on storing the motorcycle in Panama.  I found out that Panama will stamp the motorcycle into your passport so that leaving the country without your bike would be tricky.  Costa Rica was apparently easier so I changed my plans a little so that I would store the bike there and then return in February to complete the ride to the end of the road in Panama and turn around to ride home in the spring.

Wow, now that's going to be a twisty road if it needs two signs

 
Taking a breather from all the curves

 
Someone else enjoying a great ride

 

The first 100 kilometres riding out of Oaxaca on Highway 175 weren't especially enjoyable despite having heard glowing reports how this rivaled even El Espinazo Del Diablo.  But then things changed as the road climbed up into the mountains, started to dance along a ridge at about 2,200 metres and passed through small mountain villages.  Now this was more like it!  As the road descended to the south, I suddenly hit a wall.  A wall of hot, humid air.  I could smell the ocean even though I was still a couple of hours ride away.  I turned off 175 on a smaller, rougher road that was also a lot of fun.  Judging by the looks from the few people I saw, I guessed that they didn't get a lot of tourists through here.  When I finally got to Huatulco I took only a couple of wrong turns before eventually finding the Hotel Coral Blue behind a secure gate, right on the ocean with its own private beach.  Unfortunately, because of the wrong turns I was now behind a family also checking in and they seemed to have an endless series of questions of the desk clerk.  I think I stood in the hot, humid open-air lobby in full motorcycle gear for 20 minutes, sweating up a storm.  Finally checked in, I took my luggage to the elevator to find that it was broken.  So, hauling my bags up three stories while wearing full motorcycle gear in the humid heat had me a bit frustrated.  In the room my key card wouldn't get the electricity (and therefore the air conditioner) to turn on.  Changing into shorts and T-shirt first I found someone to get that sorted out and then went down to the front desk to ask directions to the onsite restaurant.  "Oh, but sir, the restaurant isn't open for dinner.  Just breakfast."  Really, how can an isolated resort like this be without a restaurant?  So back upstairs and put on some long pants and long-sleeved shirt, grabbed my helmet and rode into town, 4 kilometres away.  To be honest, it was probably worth the ride as Juliana's Café had a superb dinner.  Breakfast at the hotel restaurant wasn't all that it cracked up to be either.  After sitting down and trying to get the attention of any wait staff I finally walked up to buffet where there was some fruit and yoghurt available.  I overheard someone say that they had been waiting half an hour since they had ordered and still nothing, so I decided to just hit the road.  First of course I needed to decide which direction to turn when I left the hotel.  Continue my journey south to Panama or turn north to return to San Miguel de Allende where I would be able to get the clutch repaired?  I turned north and set my sights on Acapulco.  At 520 kilometres it was a bit far for one day (especially on the rather meagre breakfast) so I planned to overnight in Ometepec first.  It was mostly four-lane highway northbound up to Puerto Escondido where I stopped for lunch followed by two-lane roads in good condition.  At this lower elevation the bike was running like a champ, with lots of power and passing was lots of fun.  I had confirmed with Alberto in San Miguel de Allende that he could repair my bike, so I booked my flight home for Christmas for Friday, December 3.  Sunday's ride to Acapulco was relatively short so I stopped at an air-conditioned café for a long lunch before going to the hotel to check in.  As I left Starbucks, I shifted up into second gear but when coming to a stop the transmission didn't want to go into first.  Weird.  When I started again from second it wouldn't shift into any other gears either.  It was stuck in second gear and the clutch was still dragging.  Now that was a bit of a pickle.  After checking in I started contacting people, first Alberto in San Miguel de Allende who said he didn't have the tools to take apart the transmission.  Long story short, Carlos at Moto Garage de Charlie in Mexico City was able to do the work and store the bike until I returned in February.  I now had a couple of weeks until my flight to Calgary.  And of course, I needed to get the bike to Mexico City.  I extended my stay in Acapulco until Friday and then planned on taking three days to ride the 400 kilometres from Acapulco to Mexico City in second gear.  At 50 km/hr.

A ridgetop mountain village on Highway 175

 
Yes, 175 is a lot of fun

 
The shortcut via Santa María Huatulco

 
The view from the Hotel Coral Blue (hot and humid)

 
Yay, the moon is still there after last night's total lunar eclipse!

 
It's nice when the topes are signed and an eyeopener when they aren't

 
Lush vegetation down by the coast on the way to Acapulco

 
Lots of river crossings

 


The cattle get a little help from the local police

 
Plaza del Toros in Ometepec (they have bullfighting here?)

 
Catedral Santiago Apostol looks spectacular on a brilliant, blue morning

 
Crossing more rivers on the way to Acapulco

 
Little did I know I wouldn't be seeing these speeds again for a long time

 
Acapulco!

 

Tuesday, I walked to the other side of Acapulco to check out the world famous cliff divers.  What a spectacular show they put on, including climbing the cliff to dive off, wearing nothing but a pair of Speedos.  Back at the hotel when I mentioned to the desk clerk that I had walked to the cliff divers he just looked at me incredulously and said, "From here?!?"  18 kilometres in 31-degree temperatures with high humidity was indeed a pretty good hoof.  Wednesday was a typical resort day with lots of reading, a bit of walking on the beach and watching Foundation on Apple TV+ on the iPad.  Thursday was also a typical resort day in that I went for a nice walk on the beach.  On the way back I thought I would take off my sandals so that I could feel the sand between my toes.  When I first put my bare feet on the coarse, hot sand I thought that it was rather painful but I'm not anything if not stubborn so kept on walking barefoot.  The sand seemed to be made up of sharp, crushed seashells, rather than sand.  By the time I got back to the hotel I thought it was actually even more painful than initially.  That was because by this time the bottoms of my feet had blistered and then the blisters burst so that loose skin was simply hanging from my toes and the balls of my feet exposing the flesh underneath.  It was a struggle to make it up the stairs from the beach to the pool.  After my feet dried, I put the sandals back on (too late!) and went up to the room to assess the damage.  Time for some Polysporin and, since my Band-Aids, moleskin and gauze were stolen along with my first aid kit back in Ventura, I used tissue to wrap around the toes to keep the skin on.  Then I just hoped they wouldn't get infected.  Well, that was pretty stupid.  

Good morning Acapulco!

 
Sunset dinner at Vips

 
Yes, there is still actual fishing in Acapulco

 
Well, it doesn't feel like Copenhagen

 
The famous cliff for the diving

 
Climbing the cliff wearing nothing but Speedos



 
The highest dive