The Score Baja 1000 Finished For Some Early Saturday Morning And For Others In The Afternoon And Evening. Those Of Us "Race Fans" Who Ventured Down South To Watch This Spectacular Race Came From Far And Wide. I Personally Met People From States Across The Western Us And Others, Like Jack And Linda From Borrego, Ca. As The Sun Set And The Dust Settled, Race Fans Disappeared Into The Desert Heading Towards Their Destinations...Our's Was The Big Jacuzzi At El Dorado Ranch.

The Jacuzzi At El Dorado Ranch Is Outside Of Town And Not Far From The Race Course...Our Group Quickly Changed Into Some "Clean" Clothes And Entered The Jacuzzi With The Portable Vhf Radio In Hand. We Continued To Listen To Wild Bill And Weatherman Give Continuous Updates About The Race. Although, Darkness Covered The Desert, It Was Still Anyone's Race. From That Huge 20 Person Jacuzzi, We Sat Intently Listening To Each Report Of Injury Or Crash Or Assistance Needed. And Yes, As We Sat Soaking We Thought About The Ironman Motorcycle Riders,Completing The Nearly 700 Miles Alone. We Were At Jeff Matthews Pit When He Had Just Finished The First 240 Miles And He Exited Saying He Was Done. His Team Convinced Him To Push On. We Spoke Of Scott Blasting The Pci/Orc Truck Down The Black Desert Night Eating Dust And Bugs And Pat Now Chasing Him In The Chase Truck. We Conversed About The Reports From Wild Bill About The Booby Traps And Possibilities Of Extreme Danger For Drivers, And We Versed Those American El Dorado Ranch Locals About The Race. Some Of Them Even Said They Were Heading Out Tommorrow In The Afternoon To Zoo Road To Watch The Race, We Chuckled And Mindfully Explained The Race Was Nearly Over In The San Felipe Area And They Have To Travel Many Miles To Catch The End...About An Hour Later, We All Loaded In The Van And Headed Back To The Camp At Campo Mosqueda...The Batteries Going Dead In The Handheld Radio, We Again Fired Up The Vhf In The Van, Wild Bill Was Sitting On Top Of Some Mountain Somewhere Broadcasting Like He Was In My Back Pocket...The Radio Blaring And Giving Minute By Minute Updated Reports. Forty-Five Minutes Later, We Arrive At The House, The River Water Smooth And Glassy, The Moon Bright And The Silence Forever. No Sounds Of Race Vehicles, No Dust, All Quiet, The Kids Now Tucked In And Asleep After A Day Of The Baja 1000. Only Friends On The Deck, The Shooting Stars, The Moon, The Sounds Of Nothing....Classic Baja!!!!!!!!!!

You're Far Too Kind To Even Mention Us In Your Re-Cap Of Your Race Adventure. Ready To Hear About Our Trip? (And What A Trip It Was!)

We Left Oceanside On Wednesday...Musta Been Noon-Ish Or Later Before We Were Actually Southbound For Real. Crossed The San Ysidro Border With No Problem And Took The Toll Road Thru To Ensenada Where, After A Quick Pit Stop At Calimax For Some "Essentials", We Made It To Estero Beach In Time For The Driver's Meeting. We Settled Into Our Hotel Room For A Bit And Shortly Thereafter, Headed Out For Some Chow &Amp; Hooked Up W/ Some Of The Locos Mocos Gang At A Street Side Taco Stand In Nearby Chapultetec. After Getting Our Fill Of Tacos, We Went Thru A Round Of "Hey, Got One Of These?" (Exchanging Stickers &Amp; Stuff) And Compared War Stories. We Were Plastered By The Time We Left There (With Stickers, Of Course) &Amp; Went Back To The Hotel For A Good Night's Rest.

The Sun Came Up And.We Didn't! We Lazed Our Way Back Toward Ensenada, Taking In A Monster Breakfast (And A Truck Wash (For Tips) At Las Cazuelas En Route To Contingency. Picked Up Our "Stinkin' Papers" From Bfg Central, Made A Quick Round Of The Dog &Amp; Pony Show (Ran Into A Lot Of Friends We'd Met In Years Prior...It Was Great To See Our Canadian Pals Again - We Knew Them Last Year As The "Canadian Hummer Team" - This Year They'd Bought A Jeep, Sight Unseen, A Week Prior To The Race &Amp; Ended Up Finishing Second In Class - We're Just Sorry We Couldn't Hook Up W/ Them After The Race...Read On To See Why!?!) After That, We Blasted South Toward Our Location Up Near The Observatory. On The "San Telmo Road" About Halfway To Rancho Meling We Went Through A Pretty Good Whoop And Bill Heard A Tire Rub. Now We Were "Loaded" (We Had The Alaskan Camper On The '69 Dodge Powerwagon, Fully Loaded W/ Camping &Amp; Radio Gear &Amp; "Jack The Wonder Dog") But We've Never Heard A Tire Rub...After All, There's Bilstein 7100's On It, 35" Tires W/ 14 Or So" Of Wheel Travel. Another Vado And It Rubbed Again So We Pulled Into The Nearest Flat Spot We Could Find Where Wb Might Be Able To Assess The Situation. Turns Out The Front Hanger To The Right Rear Leaf Spring Had Decided To Let Go And Was Just Hanging Together By One Of The Rivets. The Other Three Had Broken Off. We Enjoyed The Company Of Some More Of The Locos Mocos Gang (Dang, Those Guys Are All Over The Place!) While We Worked On Our Situation And We Maintained Radio Contact W/ Them As They Made Their Way To Their "Spot" Well Into The Night. Bill Was Able To Affect Temporary Repairs And Get Us On The Road Again In No Time. We Made It To Meling And Duane Told Us We Got Her Last Room (So Good To See The Rancho Operational Again &Amp; In Such Capable Hands!). With A Borrowed Drift Punch (Graciously Loaned To Us By The Honda Gang That Was Staying There That Night), Bill Was Able To Get Another Couple Bolts In There (Despite Having To Stop And Eat Dinner...Duane Wasn't Taking No For An Answer That Night) &Amp; That Spring Hanger Was Good To Go Again. We Slept Hard That Night, Despite The Overwhelming Feeling Of A Kid Anticipating His First Trip To Disneyland (Or As Wb Would Say, His First Wet Dream... - Pig!), Warmed By A Hot Shower &Amp; The Room's Woodstove.

Friday Morning We Were Up Before The Roosters First Crowed And Hit The Trail Before Sunrise. About Two Hours Later, We Arrived At "Picacho Guillermo" (Wb's Secret Radio Spot Near The Observatory). The Last Mile Or So Of Our Route Took Us Over A Newly Hand-Hewn "Road" Amid Thick Manzanita &Amp; Lots Of Boulders. We Jacked Up The Alaskan &Amp; Began The Monumental Task Of Setting Up All Our Gear. We Were Here For The Long Haul And We Knew It. Two Antenna Masts, Four Radios (We Could Then "Work" Four Different Frequencies Simultaneously) A Celebratory "We're Here" Beer, And We Were Open For Business. The Race Was Already Underway...Motorcycles Having Taken Off At 6:30Am And Four Wheeled Vehicles Shortly Thereafter. We Had Such Incredible Coverage Of The Course From This Spot - Nearly The Entire Course Was Within Earshot. We Settled In &Amp; Did Our Radio Thing, And As You All Know, We Were Up To Our Ears In "Traffic". For Example, Wb's Typical "Busy" Location Averages About 10 Pages Of Notes (And That's Not Counting The "Mental" Notes) And Between Us At This Race We Ran 40 Pages Of Notes. As You Might Guess, Or May Have Heard, This Years Baja 1000 Course Was Tough As Nails. As It Would Turn Out Later, Only A Select Few Finished And The Average Speeds Were Down 10 Mph From Previous Runs.

Friday Night Melted Into Saturday Morning &Amp; We Took Turns Catching A Few Winks (Very Few!), While Outside Temperatures Dropped To The High 30's. We Stayed Cozy Warm W/ A Portable Heater &Amp; When It Shut Off, That Meant It Was Time To Re-Fuel The Generator. Later On Saturday, Everything Was A Blur (Through Crossed Eyes) And We Finished Up Our Race Duties...Helping Get 244 Chase Out Of The Predicament In Which He'd Gotten Himself While Freeing His Race Vehicle (Race Mile 392 - Aka The Scene Of The Previous Night's "Stuck Party"). Locos Mocos Sent A Guy Out After 244 Chase (Dang, Those Guys Are All Over The Place!) And 244 Chase "Bill" Was Now Added To Our List Of Baja Amigos. We Played Some More W/ The Radio (We Nerds Just Can Never Get Enough) And Were Pleased To Hit The Parc (Palomar Amateur Radio Club) Repeater On Mt. Palomar Where Ellen Talked W/ Some Friends From "The Club". They Were All Amazed That We Were "Making The Trip" To The Repeater &Amp; Intrigued How Propagation Was Effected As The Thick Fog Rolled In To N. San Diego County. We Chatted W/ Weatherman As He Left The Mountain, Hell-Bent To Make It To The Awards Ceremony (His Son, Scott Et Al, Had Won Their Class And More) And While Doing So, We Got A Call From 804 Chase. Geez, The Race Had Been Over For Hours. Everybody Else Was Headed To Some Sort Of Party &Amp; There We Were, Kickin' It On The Mountain. Seems As Though Their Race Vehicle Had Been Out Of The Race Earlier On &Amp; The Crew Was Out For A Little Adventure And Got Themselves A Little Lost. We Told Them To Remember The Spot They Were Currently Transmitting From, That We Were Gonna Be There In The Morning &Amp; We'd Help Them Get Outta There...Somehow. Wb Cooked Dinner While Ln Got Together Some Wood To Feed The "Indian Fire" That Wb Had Started. After Something Warm In Our Bellies &Amp; A Little "After Dinner Drink", We Hit The Sack Hard...And It Wasn't More Than 7Pm!!!

We Slept For Over 12 Hours (Is That What They Call A "Much Needed Rest"???) And Awoke To The Quiet Of The Mountain. Nothing More Than The Slight Breeze Through The Pines (And Our Own Heavy Breathing! (Leave That Up To Your Imagination!) The Smell Of Coffee Replaced That Of Pine, Manzanita &Amp; Dryness. Wb Went To Power Up One Of The Radios &Amp; Hmmm, That's Kind Odd.No Power. We Had Run Individual Chargers To The Two Isolated Batteries The Entire Time The Generator Ran. We'd Used The Entire 5 Gal Can Of Gas During The Race So Wb Had To Siphon Gas From The Truck's Tank To Fire Up The Generator Again And Get Those Batteries Charged. While Doing So, We Talked W/ Some Folks In San Felipe (Even As Far South As Santa Maria), Making Sure To Mention About Our Contact W/ 804 Chase And Their Predicament, And Ln Checked Into A Parc Amateur Radio Emergency Services Net (Every Sunday 8:30Am On 146.730 Mhz). Wb Made A Yummy Breakfast &Amp; We Slowly Broke Down Our Massive Set-Up, Hesitant To Leave This Gorgeous Spot. Throughout The Morning We Gave Out A Shout For 804 Chase &Amp; Talked Up Their "Situation" W/ Those Heading North Out Of San Felipe. The Antenna Masts Were Down, All The Gear Was Stowed And Secure &Amp; The Truck Was Running &Amp; Ready To Leave. The Only Thing Left To Do Was To Put The Dog's Water Bowl In The Camper. Right As We Were Ready To Do So, We Heard 804 Chase, Loud &Amp; Clear, Call Out For "Relay 12" (That's Wb's Bfg Designator). Needless To Say, We Answered Up &Amp; Asked If They'd Found Their Way Out. Well, They Hadn't So We Coordinated A Set Of "Back-Ups" W/ The Crew Out Of San Felipe (Rafael From Pete's Camp Serving As Alternate "Relay"). "D.Q." Was Put In Charge Of The Search &Amp; Rescue Operation, As We Had To Get Off The Mountain. He Headed Up A Posse And, Along W/ Others, Brought Them Additional Gas &Amp; (We Were To Learn Later Via A Follow-Up Phone Call Tuesday To Their House In South Bay San Diego) That They Talked Them Out (Isn't Radio Wonderful!) To The La SaldaÑA Chase Access Road To The Hwy 5. Having Passed On The Search Duties To Dg Et All, We Finally Left Our Spot About 1Pm &Amp; Still Had To Stop At The Rancho To Pay Our Bill From The Other Night. After A Nice Visit W/ Duane (Dang, She's A Hoot!), We Departed As The Sun Was Setting And Headed Toward The Highway. We Were Just Cruising Along, Reflecting On The Race Events And Hit The Valley Floor Near Rancho Rincon. This Is Where It Opens Up &Amp; Is A High-Speed Run.

60 Mph And No Steering. (Zip, Cero, Nada!)

So We're Just Cruising Along, Trying To Stay On Top Of The Washboard When Out Of The Blue, The Truck Starts To Drift To The Right. There's A Big Open Field On The Other Side Of A Barbed Wire Fence About 10 Ft Off The Road. There's About A 4-6 Ft Drop Between The Road &Amp; The Fence Line. Ln Thought Wb Was Getting A Bit Tired When All Of A Sudden She Hears Him Say "Stop It! Stop It!! Stop It!!!". (Note: This Was Not An "Oh, Shit", "What The Heck", "Hold On" Or Anything Remotely Close.Just Three Times - Louder &Amp; Louder And Louder!!!- "Stop It!") Wb Felt The Truck "Lifting Off" (He's Been Over Before &Amp; Knows The Feeling) But Ln (That's Me!!! - Not Chopped Liver.I'm The Love Of His Life &Amp; He's Driving Me Off The Fr______ Road?!?) Had No Idea What Was Transpiring Other Than We Were Going Over The Embankment And Headed Toward The Field. You've Got To Remember, I'm Ridin' W/ Wild Bill Here! Who Knows Where He's Goin'?!? Just As We Got Within What Seemed To Be Inches Of The Barbed Wire Fence, The Front Wheels Decided To Turn Sharply To The Left, Causing The Truck To Plow And Lift Off The Ground On The Left Side. &Iexcl;Casi Voltearnos! We Both Felt The Presence Of The Big Kahuna As It Must Have Been The Hand Of God That Pushed That Left Side Back On The Ground Again. With What Momentum Was Left (Wb Knew Better Than To Hit The Brakes In A Situation Like This), The Truck Came To Rest Perched On The Embankment As Though We Were Re-Entering The Roadway (Front Wheels On The Road's Edge &Amp; Rears Still In The Gully Between The Road &Amp; The Fence). Wb Shut Everything Off (Electric Fuel Pump, Lights, Radios, Ignition, Etc) And Made Sure Ln Was All Right. What Did He Mean? I Just Thought I Was Along For Another One Of Wild Bill's Off Road Adventures! We Got "Jack The Wonder Dog" Out Of The Camper (Poor Guy Had Radio Gear Tossed All About &Amp; Around Him &Amp; Was Trapped By The Breadboard Which Had Jumped Out Of Its Home - Good Thing All The Drawers &Amp; Cupboards Get Tied Shit On These Boonie Bashing Trips) &Amp; Wb Assessed The Situation, Finding That The Tie Rod End At The Axle End Of The Drag Link Had Broken. Were We Having Fun Yet? Deciding That We Should Try To Move The Truck To A Level Spot, We Inched Our Way Across The Road To The Entrance To Rancho Rincon So We Could Pop The Camper If We Had To Do So There For Night. Getting There Was No Easy Feat As Ln Held Under The Wheel Wells &Amp; Kicked The Tires To Steer Them In The Right Direction. After Several Attempts We Finally Made It &Amp; Wb Pulled Out His Magic Box Of Tricks (Tools). Upon Further Inspection, He Saw That The Tie Rod End Wasn't Actually Broken But Had Merely Separated ('merely' My A___.Are We Not Talking Steering Here?).

This Called For A Shot But All We Had Left Was Vodka (We'd Never Gotten To Our Bloody Mary's As We Were Still Chasing Down 804 Chase). The Bottle Of Oso Negro Had Been Safely Stashed In The Sink In The Camper And Now It, Along With Everything Else In There, Looked As Though It Had Been In A Blender. Somehow, It Survived &Amp; Was On The Floor Of The Camper (Between The Legs Of The Metal Stepladder)...Anther Miracle. We Each Had A Shot And Then Got To Work. Out Comes The 2&Frac12; Lb Maro &Amp; For The Next Hour Or So, He Pounded The Socket Back Around The Ball While I Held The Flashlight (Big Help, Eh?). He Gave Us Double Insurance By Tying Baling Wire Around The Tie Rod End As A Fail-Safe Repair. The Only "Damage" To The Truck Is A Scratch The Begins At The Left Front Of The Camper Window About 5' High &Amp; Arcs Up To About 6' And Then Back Down To The Bottom Right Rear Corner Of The Camper. If You Do The Math You Can Figure Out Just How Far "Over" We Were As We Grazed The Tops Of The Metal Stakes Of The Barbed Wire Fence. (Holy Mackerel!) The Stars Were Incredible That Night And We Admired Them W/ A Local Friend Who Happened By As We Were Finishing Up. Ln Kicked Herself For Not Bringing The Telescope Each Time A Shooting Star Whizzed Overhead (And For Not Finding Wb Any Sooner In Life!) With The Repairs Affected We Paused A Moment Or Two (Or More!) To Thank Our Higher Power, And We Headed Down The Road. Wb Double-Checked The Fix As We Fueled At San Telmo Pemex. Since It Was Already Well Past Dark, We Took It Easy On The Drive Back To MaÑEadero Arriving About 10Pm. We Grabbed A Key To A Hotel Room At Locos Lobos (Run By Our Friend, Jay, It's Just East Of Punta Estero Turnoff On The Bufadora Road) &Amp; Pushed On To De-Brief W/ Dave Walter, Bfg Relay 5 (Bfg Central). Two Hours, A Couple Sandwiches &Amp; Cold Ones Later, We Headed Back To "Locos" For A Well-Deserved Shower And A Serious Sleep Session (And Yes, Mom, We Said Some Real Prayers Of Thanks That Night!). Neither Of Us Stayed Awake Long Enough To Hear The Other Sawing Logs But We Both Felt Sorry For Any Other Guests That Might Have Been There As We Were Both Snoring Hard That Night!

Monday Morning We Woke &Amp; Visited W/ Our Friend Jay, Who's Really Doing A Nice Job Of Putting Locos Lobos Together. If You're Ever In The Neighborhood, Stop By &Amp; Tell Him You Heard Of His Place From Wild Bill &Amp; Ln. By 10Am We Were Off To Catch Up W/ Our Friend Nancy Shearer Of Spirit Racing At Her Place In Punta Estero. She Made Breakfast For Us &Amp; We All Un-Wound After A Long Race Effort. Dave Called Us Customs On The Satellite Phone To Inquire About The Border Wait And When He Told Us That It Was 3 Hours Long, We Opted To Pile In Nancy's Golf Cart (There Were 5 Of Us Plus 3 Dogs, A Cooler &Amp; Our Toys - It Was Quite A Sight) And Go Out To The East End Of Estero For A Fiercely Competitive Round Of Bocce Ball. We Caravanned North In 3 Vehicles Headed For The Crossing At Tecate. The Line Was Backed Up All The Way To The Traffic Circle East Of Town By The Bomberos Stop Sign At 5:15Pm. Luckily, It Moved Pretty Well Considering Its Length &Amp; We Were Back In The Us In Just Under 50 Minutes. One Vehicle In Our Group Was Asked For Photo Id &Amp; They Poked Briefly Through Dave's Motorhome But All We Got At The Gate Was "What's Your Citizenship?" And After We Both Responded "U.S.", We Were Waved Right Through. Maybe Wb Crosses So Often That They Have Him In Their Computers As A "Frequent Flier"???

I Know I'll Fly W/ Him Again!!! It's Always An Adventure!