Canada to Baja and beyond

[seahaul]

So.... covid and borders and everything else. We decided to leave work and go. I had built the truck, a Toyota Tundra, OME suspension, Firestone riderite airbags, carriage works shackles, Method wheels, BFG all terrains etc. But what camper? Covid shut down all the manufacturing and my eye was on a four wheel camper but in Canada there is one distributor and in Vancouver where taxes are high and supply is limited. The better choice is an overland explorer camp-x, but hard to get and expensive. As it turns out one was available, due to no overland shows. The cost was the same when considering a Redarc manager 30, full composite construction with zero wood, and a Truma hot water system and heater. The dometic fridge was not our preference but was included so let’s go! We drove to Red Deer where we loaded up number 15. Here we go! the next issue is leaving Calgary. We sold everything and stored a few tools in a trailer because tools are irreplaceable. Several months forward we need racks, Erik at Overland Explorer was amazing and shipped everything we needed to Vancouver in the nick of time and we ship Hilda (our Tundra) to Blaine Washington. We can’t drive across the US border but we can fly to Seattle to get her. Once united, we head south towards Portland where we plan to avoide taxes and hit up Dasmule .. Mule expedition outfitters. Stay tuned.

 

[billiebob]

Amazing, I never considered shipping the vehicle and flying into the states. Should be quite an adventure.

 

[seahaul]

Got to Portland and installed some jewelry in the parking lot at Mule Expedition Outfitters. Amazing guys that helped out a bunch. I pre-ordered a Alu-Cab 270. The folks from Overland explorer had sent us the brackets and only had to do slight drilling mods, everything else literally bolted on!

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we stayed the night just south of Portland at a rest stop so we could be close to the city.

 

[billiebob]

Got to Portland and installed some jewelry in the parking lot at Mule Expedition Outfitters. Amazing guys that helped out a bunch. I pre-ordered a Alu-Cab 270. The folks from Overland explorer had sent us the brackets and only had to do slight drilling mods, everything else literally bolted on!

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we stayed the night just south of Portland at a rest stop so we could be close to the city.

I am amazed !! Congratulations and Best Wishes on your journey !!

 

[umpqua]

Got to Portland and installed some jewelry in the parking lot at Mule Expedition Outfitters. Amazing guys that helped out a bunch. I pre-ordered a Alu-Cab 270. The folks from Overland explorer had sent us the brackets and only had to do slight drilling mods, everything else literally bolted on!

.View attachment 622877

we stayed the night just south of Portland at a rest stop so we could be close to the city.

In Portland. Let me know if you need a shower. Good luck.

 

[Trail Talk]

Congratulations on your adventure from another OEV fan, will follow with interest. The Molle Racks look great!

 

[seahaul]

From Portland we headed south through Death Valley, which completely blew our minds! We drove the entire loop but only spent one night. Will be back for more !!

 

[umpqua]

Yeah, DV is surreal. Saline Valley Hot Spring. Decadare Canyon. Eureka Sand Dune. Alabama Hills is great as well.

Where do you plan to cross into MX?

 

[greg.potter]

I have been there twice but feel like I have barely scratched the surface - I definitely will be back- perhaps a few times!

Great photos - looking forward to following along virtually.

From Portland we headed south through Death Valley, which completely blew our minds! We drove the entire loop but only spent one night. Will be back for more !!
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[Trixxx]

Looking forward to hear if you made it into Baja. Doing some reading, it looked like travel was closed til November 21st, but may be outdated.

Wife and I are hoping to pull our trailer down through Baja for a week over Christmas, but it’ll depend on what’s open and the state of the pandemic at that time.

 

[seahaul]

While we really wanted to spend some more time in Death Valley soaking up those views and sunsets.. it was time to point further south. We took the CA 247 down to Palm Springs and CA 86 to our stop for the night in El Centro. Found a cool spot on iOverlander, the Superstition mountain off road area. There were a few others campers out there on a Monday night riding their ATVs until dark, was pretty cool how they had lit up their vehicles with all sorts of colourful lights. Overhead jets were practicing formations, we heard they were the USN Blue Angels. We planned to cross at Mexicali the following day, Nov 3rd.

 

[smlobx]

Subscribed!

 

[seahaul]

We made a last minute appt to get our windows tinted in preparation for the hot desert sun. In El Centro, these guys were super friendly, great to get us in last minute, and a quick install to get us on our way to the border that day before noon. Xtreme Audio and Tinting. We also filled up the camper with fresh water, love that there are water stores all over Baja to get safe drinking water. Supreme Water on Imperial Avenue. With fresh tint and fresh tanks of water we headed to the border. Admittedly a bit nervous as not sure what to expect.
It ended up being super easy. They took a peek in the camper, asked where we were coming from and where we were going and waved us through. We parked to the left beside the immigration building and went inside for the next step, to acquire our FMM. Noone was there and we had them in hand in less than 15 min. The officer was very interested in how we got our vehicle across the Canada/US border but after explaining a couple times he was more interested in telling of his travels to Toronto the previous year. FMM stamped and we are IN. We were so excited ... big step in our adventure. First stop San Felipe. Decided to stay at Pete’s camp for couple nights and celebrate the fact we had made it to Mexico! The camp was really quiet and we were 1 of four campers on the beach. The restaurant was a good place to use the wifi and grab a semi warm shower. Woke up in the morning to dolphins swimming in the distance... not a bad start....

 

[1leglance]

Great to see you had no problems getting into Baja and ready to follow along for more.
Thanks for posting!

 

[billiebob]

I agree ^^^

Very cool to see travel is possible, even cooler to see how little congestion there is. I have always loved travelling in the shoulder season.