Having escaped the sand trap and bailed on our plans for The Wall we head for the Baja Sur, the Southern half of the Peninsula. After another military checkpoint (nothing makes us feel safer than 16 year olds with machine guns by the way) we come upon a gigantic Mexican flag, a military base, and an official crossing into the Baja Sur. Here we are stopped and asked if we have any produce or plants on board. We say no despite the Christmas Tree in plain sight by the dash, pay the 20 pesos to have the bottom of our van sprayed with something, and we’re on our way. (more…)
Author: Eric
Wetsuits Really Seal in the Flavor and Don’t Leave Your Rocks in the Road!
Well, quite a lot has happened since we last posted. We have transformed from American climbing dirt bags to Baja surf bums. Christmas has passed as well as the New Year and our first border crossing! We’re in it now, that much is for sure. Let’s see if I can get the blog up to speed from this blazing fast ~400 kbps connection! After we left Vegas we went to Joshua Tree for some climbing and visited Niccole’s brother Kyle and his wife Chantelle. Kyle is stationed at the 29 Palms Marine Base right outside of Joshua Tree so we spent about a week or so out there in the desert climbing and hanging out with them on the Marine base. (more…)
Splitter Weather, 40 Pitches, Bum Fights, and Mustard Gas
Just a quick update. Vegas has been treating us well. After enduring the unseasonably low temps and fleeing the snow that plagued us throughout the beginning of our trip, we finally got the kind of weather that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside… like you swallowed a kitten (thank you google).
Build Costs
The following is a complete breakdown of the materials and cost for building out the van from scratch. The first table is an overview. Any item in bold in the first table has a more detailed table below covering individual items and associated costs. We spent a total of $7,354 purchasing the van and outfitting it entirely. These numbers do not include any mechanical repairs that were done to the van prior to leaving. We spent close to 5k more replacing the head gasket and having the transmission rebuilt among other things bringing the grand total of the van to approximately 12k.
