Mexico, mainland or Baja?

[dogre]

These short days at 48 degrees north are beginning to drive me crazy. Time to unleash 'Homer's Roamer' for another road trip.

I'm figuring to hit the road around New Years. We will head over to Richland, WA, catch the interstate to Twin Falls, ID, then jump onto Hwy 93 and head south toward the Grand Canyon, do the tourist thing (never been there before), and then head south to Mexico.

My question to those of you who have done Mexico trips is this, should we head for Baja or is the mainland more scenic? We have been hotel hoppers in Mazatlan, Guymas (sp?), PV, etc. in the past. We are more comfortable in small towns and now that we have our Toybox we hope to get a more realistic view of Mexico.

Your suggestions are eagerly requested. Good towns, bad towns? Great experiences you might wish to share? Boondocking in Mexico? Please share your experiences.

Thanks for looking.

Dave Oglevie

Chelan, WA

[mission mike]

Hi dogre The last two winters my wife and me have driven down to Baja Mexico from B.C. Canada, we took the I-5 through Washington, Oregon and California, we had a great time and met lots of nice people on both sides of the border. I know Mexico gets very bad news stories in your press, but quite honestly we have never ever felt threatened or in danger, we drive alone, but follow a few Baja safety tips, never drive at night, or camp alone in some remote beach or desert area, If you do go I would recommend a good travel guide book, we have "Camping Mexico's Baja" by Mike and Terri Church, it has lots of useful information, And I know they have a Mainland Mexico book too. You asked about places to avoid, we stayed away from Tijuana on our second trip down and crossed at Tecate, much easier, also someone from this Toyota Motor home site told us about the great campsite at Protero on the California side, its only about ten minutes from the border crossing into Mexico, we did our paper work needed to travel in Baja the afternoon before the day we crossed, so it was plain sailing the next morning and got an early start with no delays. You say you want to stop off at the Grand Canyon on the way down, what would the weather be like there in January? also we would like to take a look there too, but figured the weather might be better in March on the way home. I hope this might be of some help to you. Mike

[McShank]

I won't be getting to Mexico anytime soon but I can tell you that the road into the north rim of the Grand Canyon is closed in winter to auto traffic. It gets snowed in real deep. The south rim is accessible all year long at Tusayan and there is a full hook-up campground inside the park called "trailer village" that stays open through the winter. There is bus transportation all through the park with a stop at trailer village. There could be snow on the ground and the night temps will be in the 10's and 20's in mid winter. If you go to the canyon be sure to see the 40 minute Grand Canyon movie at the Imax theater before you enter; it will really give you a much better appreciation of the overwhelming views from the rim.

McShank

[McShank]

I won't be getting to Mexico anytime soon but I can tell you that the road into the north rim of the Grand Canyon is closed in winter to auto traffic. It gets snowed in real deep. The south rim is accessible all year long at Tusayan and there is a full hook-up campground inside the park called "trailer village" that stays open through the winter. There is bus transportation all through the park with a stop at trailer village. There could be snow on the ground and the night temps will be in the 10's and 20's in mid winter. If you go to the canyon be sure to see the 40 minute Grand Canyon movie at the Imax theater before you enter; it will really give you a much better appreciation of the overwhelming views from the rim.

McShank

[dogre]

Mike and McShank,

Thank you for sharing your knowledge (border crossing, nice campsite, and thoughts about the Grand Canyon. I read an interesting story in the November 29th travel section of the NY Times (available free on line at www.nytimes.com, then search the site for "Grand Canyon") that claims the best time to see the canyon is in the winter. No crowds, decent weather for hiking, and easy to get rooms at inns in the park.

I hate crowds. We made the mistake of trying to visit Lake Louise in Alberta during prime time this past summer. Never again! Way too crowded. That is why I want to visit the Grand Canyon in the winter. The south rim is fine with me. I think I'd like to hike down in and overnight to get the full experience.

Again, thank you for sharing your experiences. I hope to hear more about Mexico from other 'Toyhome' owners.

Best Wishes,

Dave Oglevie

Chelan, WA

[bajadulce]

Comparing Mainland Mexico and baja are like comparing the continental U.S. to Alaska. Baja is an expansive wilderness and a frontier compared to the much more populated Mainland (especially the coastal regions). Obviously the border towns and tourists meccas such as cabo don't represent the true baja, but off the beaten path baja is pretty isolated from the world. If you're into primitive camping and getting far away from civilization, "outback" baja is pretty tough to beat. The world as seen at night pretty much sums up what baja represents:

CLICK THE PIC FOR THE BIG PICTURE!

Florida, Mexico, and Hawaii are good places to go for the winter. Sounds like you've managed to do what it takes to make this happen!