Notes From the PanAmerican

rockandroll

Adventurer
Like half of the active posters here in this sub-forum we're a couple heading down the PanAmerican Highway for the duration of 2011. We left directly from San Francisco on 1/4/11 and expect the trip to take one year (15 months is the new estimate!).

Here's our blog: PanAmNotes.com
"Like" us on Facebook: Here
Twitter: @LPribbeno

Our names are Logan (27) and Brianna (25). We had been living and working in San Francisco for the last 4 years. We both learned quick that city living and cubicle work was not sustainable for either of us and started to save simultaneously for a major trip and relocation. Also, we are recently engaged and will be getting married in Costa Rica! This trip is our nontraditional honeymoon.

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Brianna and Logan in Big Sur California

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The Beast newly pieced together in San Francisco​

Our equipment, a 2003 4x4 Tundra equipped with a 2007 Palomino Bronco 800. So far we love the setup. ExPo was a major help in the preparations and you can read more about them here: Tundra Preparation and Camper Preparation. Our theory on the equipment was KISS (keep it simple stupid). No lift, no off-road lights, no custom bumpers, as little bells and whistles possible. (Nothing against them, I had them all and more on my beloved Wrangler I sold to help finance the trip). Time will tell, but I am pleased to have this as our 4x4 camper all for under $19k.

Right now we are staying in San Diego and plan to enter into Mexico on 1/15. We hope to get a bit of distance between the border and us in the first day and stay at Coyote Cal's in Erendira, Baja California, 78 kilometers south of Ensenada. We are very excited for Baja. Talk safety all you want, we're both big fans of Mexico, having visited more than 10 times in the last 10 years. :sombrero:

Happy to answer any questions and receive suggestions. We'd also love to meet up with any fellow overland travelers while on the road.

Subscribe and enjoy the ride!

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The Beast playing in the sand in Costa Rica​
 
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X-plorenow

Adventurer
Good luck to both of you, and congrats on your engagement. I am very jealous, I wish we could take a year to explore. I will also be pin San Fran in 6 months. Hope to see you around.
 

Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
Glad to see that we have other people doing the same trip!!! You will love it.

Stay tuned for more info - I am putting together a permanent thread with the border crossing info.
 
Christian............real happy to hear that you're putting something together for the C.A. border crossings. I swear I read all these threads and it doesn't worry me, it just makes me cross eyed and my head spin. So, thanks in advance. Be safe.

Jerry
 

silvElise

Adventurer
Congrats on realizing your joys in life and doing it......
Also congrats on your engagement!

Cant wait to see what coes of this thread.
 

defrag4

Road Warrior
Another couple out of San Francisco down the PanAm! :smiley_drive:

Something about this city just makes us want to drive as far south as physically possible

Will be following closely!
 

rockandroll

Adventurer
Baja California Top 4

We ferried to Mazatlan last night using TMC Ferries ($300 for a Tundra and 2 people, they let/requite you stay in your car/rv). In a sentence: we loved Baja. Interestingly, 90% of the folks we ran into were Canadian and mostly an older crowd (65 year old average). Here is our top 4 spots for any overlander looking to explore Baja.

# Bahia Concepcion (Playa Santispac) - $5/night. Gorgeous, dispersed camping right at the water's edge. This area has bathrooms and supposedly hot showers (we never found the showers, although we didn't try too hard). If you can make it to this place on a Saturday night you're in for a treat. There is a restaurant/bar (Ana's) on the beach and all the campers (mostly 50+ years old) sure know how to party!

# San Ignacio - we stayed at Rice & Beans RV park for the electrical hook ups, but we recommend staying closer to town at Camping Petates (right by the lagoon). From there you can walk to town. Pay a visit to the lady who runs Casa Leree (a blue colored hotel near the town plaza) and she'll give you free hiking maps for the area.

# Coyote Cal's (Ejido Erendira) - this is a gringo run hostel/camping site, $10/person. They've got a nice crowd during the weekend, it's a great/remote area to spend a few days after crossing the border. 8 miles of dirt/gravel road to get there, but it's not bad at all. You can rent surfboards/mountain bikes/etc and you can't beat the view from your campsite, check out the website: http://www.coyotecals.com/

# Playa Telcote (Near La Paz) - Free dispersed camping on the beach. Picture's worth a thousand words:

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Hope this helps you in your planning and adventure seeking,

PS. Thanks for all of the comments! And yes defrag4, there seems to be something about San Francisco that makes a person want to drive to the ends of the earth. Go figure.
 

rockandroll

Adventurer
Alcapulco Update

After ferrying across to Mazatlan, we've spent just over a week traveling down Mex 200. Many of the beachside restrants along the way will let you camp out back for a small fee. While we have found some hidden gems, the quality of the road and overnight stops leave us envious of Baja. None-the-less, we press on at an accelerated pace to arrive in Central America with ample time to explore the more distant cultures. Here are some pictures of Mex 200 in Central Mexico. We hope to be crossing into Guatemala by 2/17.

We're stationed here north of Alcapulco for the 3rd day now at a campground with electricity. Everything is holding up quite well with the equipment, the only failure so far is the 120AC-DC charger for our Duracell Powerpack 600. With a current overnight low of 70 degrees, the thing we're most thankful for is the A/C in the truck camper, something I debated removing (due to weight and elec usage) while back home!

What else do the fine readers of ExPo want to know?
 

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