*Baja~ Valentine's Day a different way

Day 11

  Happy Valentine's Day to all you lovers out there!
We don't celebrate Valentine's day but we did go shopping so it kind of seemed like a celebration to us. We got a few things to make a nice big breakfast, so the morning of the 14th I cooked us up a great big fatty brekkie that was to die for!

  

We had bacon (which was much thinner than what we're used to but very delish), farm fresh eggs, I chopped up a fresh white onion along with some amazingly fresh, thick Chorizo (yum) with half of an Avocado, mix that in with some Dirty Chai on the side (brought from the States) and you have yourself the "Breakfast of Fatties"!!! I don't think I did much for a couple of hours after that one!

A little later on in the day, we decided to go for a swim. To catch you up on the things around camp, first though.... In the mornings right after sunrise, I am usually out reading while I make Chai or coffee. I see the same two guys walking the beach collecting trash that has washed ashore the night before. We started talking due to the trash collecting, because I have been doing the same thing during the days and it became a conversation piece when they saw a huge chunk of the beach didn't have trash on it anymore. I met them (Peter & friend, retired Canadians) and every morning we would meet-up around coffee time and talk about different things. Yesterday I asked Peter if he knew why all of the snorkeling boats come right to the water in front of the van, he said, "They come out here because this is where the Whale Sharks are." You could imagine my excitement as I heard this and now was even more totally stoked to get in the water to see one of these amazing beasts! They grow to about 40 feet long and feed off of Plankton, so they are totally safe to be around since we don't become part of their food chain. With this information, NEW goggles for both of us and a now digested belly, we decided to get in the water and go for a little underwater sight-seeing.

 I put my wet suit on but Jamie doesn't have one so he went in with just his board shorts. The water was a little chilly at first, but once you get used to it it's not too bad, plus it was a pretty hot and sunny day so that always helps. 

We stayed in the water for about 30 minutes but didn't see anything more than each other and a Blow Fish that I scared the crap out of when I swam over it. We had fun though and got some pretty good exercise in, so that's always a plus!

Something strange was captured on film that day!

As we dried out, it was still pretty early in the day so Jamie decided it was time to switch the tire on the back of the dirt bike. He learned when he went for that ride with Al & Tom in Mulege, that before he rode it again he would need to change the tire to a more suitable tire for the terrain. The old tire was a Shinko Hybrid street tire that he changed to a Sedona, we brought the tire with us so we wouldn't have to try to find it in Mexico or have it shipped if we ended up needing it.

The rest of the day was pretty much laying out, relaxing and watching the boats cruise North and South as well as watching the birds scream at each other and dry out their wings. 

There are so many different kinds of birds around here and they are always yelling and screaming at each other, some dive bomb other birds in the air while some run after them on the shore...it's quite entertaining!

As the Sun started to set, Chili Moon and I went for our nightly Sunset stroll and I noticed the water is starting to get really choppy and rough, so there may be a storm coming through. 

Grumpy Blow Fish

Not sure what this was, but it was big

That dead Seal from a few days ago

When I got back, I started making dinner and went to take a picture of the lights lighting up around La Paz...but my camera lens wouldn't come out. I tried 3, 4, 8, 12 times, I couldn't get it open at all, it wouldn't even turn on. I knew the battery was full so I started to panic and the evening was starting to turn very sad all of a sudden. I asked Jamie if he could try to get it to work and since he's "The Fonz" and all, of course he got it to work! I have always had problems with electricity and anything that has to do with power, whatever I can't get to work in a hundred tries, he or anyone else will try once and it works like nothing is wrong at all. Jamie says this is due to my 2 near death experiences so I'll just go with that, either way, we seem to always have success in the end....and now that my camera is working again that's what counts right now!

PEACE

Please watch, like and subscribe to our videos on our Youtube channel. We love new subscribers!!

 Enigmatic Nomadics 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_W_E5SFCxwpSOaqMjOOBTg 

We are also on Instagram @EnigmaticNomadics

or online at https://www.instagram.com/enigmaticnomadics/ 

New lights on XR 400: Video of Ride

Jamie is pumped about "midnight rides" and even more stoked he can now use his new lights to light the way.

This video is what it's like when we do "Midnight Rides". 
 Jamie & Johnny night riding.

 PEACE

Please Like & Subscribe to our Youtube channel

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_W_E5SFCxwpSOaqMjOOBTg/featured

Pegs, Pigs & More Pegs

I think we both have to say that getting the dirt bike/motorcycle has been one of the best things we could have possibly done for our lives as vandwellers. We can jump on at any time and hop over to the grocery store, get out of camp for a bit, experience a change of scenery, whatever we want and we don't have to move the van...its been great for the mind, body, soul & our gas budget!

Jamie has always had bikes, he grew up on them and as he has gotten older has kept his love for motorcycles alive. Before our journey began, back in 2012, we sold our 2003 Harley Davidson V-rod to help along with the funds for the beginnings of our new life....and oh what a beautiful bike.....

[caption id="attachment_5345" align="aligncenter" width="358"] Sooo many great memories![/caption]

We sold the V-rod knowing it wouldn't be the most practical bike in our new lives and we also knew that another bike would be in our future. We've been looking at dirt bikes for a few years and while we were in San Carlos this Summer, we found one...or maybe it found us! One of Jamie's longtime friends had this bike, it was in great condition, & had barely been ridden, so J' worked, paid it off, and then worked on it to make it street legal as well as a few personal touches.

Our new bike is a Honda XR-400

[caption id="attachment_5347" align="aligncenter" width="384"] Honda XR 400[/caption]

Along with the street legal kit; hi/lo beam headlight, brake light, license plate light, turn signals, horn, rear view mirror, Jamie switched the 2.5 gallon gas tank for a 4 gallon gas tank (cost $23.50 on ebay) and put passenger (foot) pegs on for me. We started with these foot pegs (cost: $10 amazon)

[caption id="attachment_5349" align="aligncenter" width="280"] Save your money[/caption]

We knew when we opened the box that we would need better ones soon, but these were something to get us by, so I could come along for the ride. Once we were back on the road, I rode along about two times before one of the pegs fell off, so we ordered Rescue Pegs (cost: $68), they attach onto the existing foot pegs...like an extension.

[caption id="attachment_5357" align="aligncenter" width="280"] Rescue Pegs for me[/caption]

 I really like the Rescue Pegs. I am 5'7 with pretty long legs, and with these pegs my feet/legs are able to rest lower & be more at ease, plus it's nice to sit comfortably on the back of the bike. The more we rode the bike together, the more Jamie figured out they were in his way at times; starting the bike, at stoplights, etc. And if ya'll know him, you know he's always keeping his research fresh, so the passenger pegs he wanted for the long haul were already on his wish list!

One day last week we went to town to run errands, our first stop was the laundromat. As we were turning into the plaza, the police officer behind us turned his lights on and stopped us in the parking lot. What was the reason he had pulled us over? We were waiting to hear what it was too, because we know we are current & legal on everything, 'cause that's how we roll. First, he asked us about our foot peg situation and after we told him all about it he said, "Hmm, I'll have to check if that's legal." #2- He said we did not have a rear view mirror but we do, he just couldn't see it. So that was a no-go. #3- He said we didn't have a license plate light...but we do it's just harder to see in the daylight.
No-go. #4- He didn't like where our license plate was attached and told us we needed to get a bracket and put it on the side or on the back where it can hang down...he thought that was his "go"...but it wasn't! We stood by the bike while he ran both of our I.D.'s along with the bike and even checked into the foot peg statute. When he came back over to us he said he wasn't going to give us a ticket but he was going to give us a repair order to get safer passenger pegs for me...and for Jamie.

We were given 5 days to get the "right" passenger pegs plus have them installed, before a citation would be issued... so either way he gave us a ticket!!

[caption id="attachment_5360" align="aligncenter" width="203"] NOT a ticket![/caption]

 Later that day when we got back to the van, Jamie got online and ordered his wish list foot pegs, costing us $137.76, almost $40 bucks of that went to shipping because we had to overnight them.

http://www.bajadesigns.com/ProductDetail?ItemNumber=210045

They arrived the next day, earlier than we expected, so we went and picked them up and then headed over to a local welding shop, http://www.thepropellercompany.com/ where Presley welded on our new passenger pegs. (cost $50) We thought that was a little steep but it seems to be a good price around here.

[caption id="attachment_5362" align="aligncenter" width="218"] Welding Presley[/caption]

[gallery columns="2" ids="5373,5374"]

After that hit to the wallet, we had to go to the police station to have an officer sign off on the "fix-it ticket". Funny enough the same officer that gave us the ticket was the one to come out to sign us off...it was comical and made the whole experience complete! All in all, in the end, everyone was happy, he was happy we got it done so quickly and we were happy that we got the pegs we truly wanted...could have done with different timing for the bill, but now it's done and we won't have to worry about getting pulled over for something so silly.

[caption id="attachment_5372" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Good Citizens[/caption]

 Now that we've had them on the bike for a week, Jamie loves them & I'm still getting used to them. As you can see in the pictures they sit much higher than the Rescue Pegs, so the first couple of days I felt like my knees were hanging out by my ears...but I'm slowly getting used to the feel of them and in the long run it will be safer for both of us.

I guess the next best thing will be getting my own bike.......right!?

PEACE