Baja 2017, Maybe

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by StarvingHyena

More free advice .... get to the coast and continue on down 101 til just north of Ukiah ... look for highway 20 ( Capella exit). this is a pretty good cut over to I -5. Probably taking I-5 past Sacramento (heavy freeway traffic) is easier than 101 through San Francisco (heavy stop and go city traffic).

Good Luck Ron,

Tom

Ron, To embelish on Tom's free advice, CA-20 would be a "yes". Virtually all the bridges in the San Francisco bay area are tolls, charged in the clock-wise direction. So, southbound on the Golden-Gate, you pay.
Also, they charge by the axle, so it's not cheap. (A friend towing a trailered race car got charged for six axles a couple years ago; expensive lesson!).

[thoer]

And to add to Don's good advice, the Golden Gate bridge no longer has any sort of toll booths. Coming back from Northern CA this fall, we had to pay online before getting to the bridge. But we did get to see the

Lane Zipper

in action - very cool!

[Ron in BC]

Thanks for the advice guys. I've driven this route since I was a kid on a Honda 50, maxed out at 32 mph at the side of the road. And since then I've driven both routes many times. So I'm taking 5 and hoping for the best.

Going through Portland is never my favorite thing to do but it's a means to an end.

Mods: insulated floor, under bed and hatches; yes Leaky gap around the door; ugh. Poor little heater ran all night but did keep the interior acceptably warm.

Now, all I have to do is take the heater out to the truck and unthaw a door lock. Don't know why lock de-icer etc. doesn't seem to work.

Ron

[thoer]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

... Leaky gap around the door; ugh. Poor little heater ran all night but did keep the interior acceptably warm.
Ron

Ron, have you already tried to use of the round foam weather striping pushed into the weather striping mounted on the trailer where your gap is? We did that on our 17B and it helped a great deal. One of the things I am most looking forward to in the new 21 is the well sealed door!

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Going through Portland is never my favorite thing to do but it's a means to an end.

Ron

It won't take many miles to get through. Portland was in a micro-climate. As soon as you hit the city limit to the south, you'll be free and clear.

[Mary Strasser]

will watch your reports from Baja with interest. Having sailed there the past few years, we will go this year as campers, but the reception from the locals may not be so good to those of us with US license plates

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by thoer

And to add to Don's good advice, the Golden Gate bridge no longer has any sort of toll booths. Coming back from Northern CA this fall, we had to pay online before getting to the bridge. But we did get to see the

in action - very cool!

Guess will are all helping pay for the road zipper . Avoided going home that way in Sept. after the the previous year , don't worry they can take a picture of your license and sent our fee in the mail . As you said no more toll booths . Pulling a trailer they count the extra trailer axles besides the truck . We can just take off our bucket list . Pat

[barry]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Now, all I have to do is take the heater out to the truck and unthaw a door lock. Don't know why lock de-icer etc. doesn't seem to work.

Ron

Ron

I have a Ranger as well and used to have the same problem, barely 0 and the locks would freeze.

If you lift up the door handle you will notice that it's open to the inside of the door at that point, take WD40 and push the long nozzle tip up into the opening at that point and direct the nozzle towards the key lock area and give it a really good spray then put some into the lock as well. We've had minus 12 with wind chills to minus 20 here and no more frozen locks for me. Learnt this trick from the body shop where I took my truck after someone had broken in through the door. I mentioned the lock freezing problem to them and this was there solution; works like a charm and lasts a good 4 to 6 weeks before you have to reapply.
Barry

[captmath]

There is also one of these on the Tappan Zee bridge.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Going through Portland is never my favorite thing to do but it's a means to an end.

Now, all I have to do is take the heater out to the truck and unthaw a door lock. Don't know why lock de-icer etc. doesn't seem to work.

Ron

Ron, you were supposed to leave Kalama yesterday and travel through Portland. We haven't heard from you! Where are you and did you get there safely?

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Ron, you were supposed to leave Kalama yesterday and travel through Portland. We haven't heard from you! Where are you and did you get there safely?

I also expected to see something from Ron this morning . Probably the weather ,making it difficult for Ron ,to give us a progress report . Pat

[Ron in BC]

Naw, it's just Ron doesn't have much data for his phone so he uses free wi-fi at McDonalds.

Portland was fine on the highway. A few icy ridges between lanes but other wise clear sailing. 30 miles south of Portland signs of snow were gone, the fields are greening up and there were even a few spring lambs.

Valley of the Rouge State Park was warmer than Kalama, the water at the campsites was on so I could put water in the tank for the first time. Even the sani-dump was open so I guess it hasn't been too cold there.

The four summits were all clear and Siskiyou was a non event. Very little snow at the side of the road. Traffic cam photos look worse than it really is.

Stopping at Rolling Hills shortly. Been shedding layers of clothing all morning.

Love the California warmth.

Ron

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Naw, it's just Ron doesn't have much data for his phone so he uses free wi-fi at McDonalds.

Portland was fine on the highway. A few icy ridges between lanes but other wise clear sailing. 30 miles south of Portland signs of snow were gone, the fields are greening up and there were even a few spring lambs.

Valley of the Rouge State Park was warmer than Kalama, the water at the campsites was on so I could put water in the tank for the first time. Even the sani-dump was open so I guess it hasn't been too cold there.
X
The four summits were all clear and Siskiyou was a non event. Very little snow at the side of the road. Traffic cam photos look worse than it really is.

Stopping at Rolling Hills shortly. Been shedding layers of clothing all morning.

Love the California warmth.

Ron

Hi Ron ! Welcome to California ! Pat

[Donna D.]

Cool! Glad it was a non-event getting through Portland

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by thoer

Ron, have you already tried to use of the round foam weather striping pushed into the weather striping mounted on the trailer where your gap is? We did that on our 17B and it helped a great deal. One of the things I am most looking forward to in the new 21 is the well sealed door!

I haven't tried that yet because I've never had to or realized how much of a gap there was. Maybe the gap changes with the temperature.

Originally Posted by barry

Ron

I have a Ranger as well and used to have the same problem, barely 0 and the locks would freeze.

If you lift up the door handle you will notice that it's open to the inside of the door at that point, take WD40 and push the long nozzle tip up into the opening at that point and direct the nozzle towards the key lock area and give it a really good spray then put some into the lock as well. We've had minus 12 with wind chills to minus 20 here and no more frozen locks for me. Learnt this trick from the body shop where I took my truck after someone had broken in through the door. I mentioned the lock freezing problem to them and this was there solution; works like a charm and lasts a good 4 to 6 weeks before you have to reapply.
Barry

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it. Hopefully I won't be dealing with frozen locks anytime soon.

Ron

[Ron in BC]

Decided on the free parking lot at Rolling Hills Casino over the paid RV park. Even has good free wi-fi, a bonus.

Tomorrow it's down to Rio Vista to buy Mexican car insurance. It's starting to look like a decision has been made.

Ron

[StarvingHyena]

Hi Ron,
I have been doing a little research on entering Mexico with my trailer. Entrance to Baja. Will you please talk about required fees and insurance for Baja. Seems they differ for Baja verses other Mexican states. I'm confused.

Maybe being Canadian, you won't be hit with the $10,000 fence building fee.

Tom

Wow! You guys have been ripping up the asphault!

[hermenator01]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Yup, right time frame. Just moving with the flow through my favorite Everett-Olympia corridor.

We usually overnight at the last rest stop in WA but it's cold so we decided paying at an RV Place, Camp Kalama, was a better option. I'd rather have an electric heater than the furnace cycling on and off all night. Must be getting close to Portland because the amount of snow on the ground is increasing.

Should be heading through Portland in a.m. and stopping at Rogue River.

Ron

Hey Ron ,Herman here I see you're on your way south again
Good for you ! We ran in to you and your wife last winter at Roque river park.We are not going south this winter as we need to wait to see what Audi is going to do about our Q5 TDI diesel issue. We need to keep the km down for now. We do fly south in the middle of Feb. for a couple of weeks. Where will you be around the end of Feb. Maybe we'll stop by for a coffee.
Take care and travel safe.
Herman and Carla. Summerland. BC.

[Carla Jean]

Back to Quartzite, after River Island SP and Havasu City SP, we will be at Quartzite for the rally. Looking forward to meeting more Escape owners and just hanging out for a couple days with our Aussie, Max.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by StarvingHyena

Hi Ron,
I have been doing a little research on entering Mexico with my trailer. Entrance to Baja. Will you please talk about required fees and insurance for Baja. Seems they differ for Baja verses other Mexican states. I'm confused.

Maybe being Canadian, you won't be hit with the $10,000 fence building fee.

Tom

Wow! You guys have been ripping up the asphault!

Hi Tom, yup crossing into Mexico tomorrow.

Tourist Card; not needed for border hopping but needed for further South. About $30 for 180 days.

Car insurance is quite variable. Quite cheap for basic legal amount to $320 for 21 days which what we paid today. That's for full coverage, same as home, and includes road assistance.

Ron