I crossed the border at Tijuana about noon on Sunday, August 1. I pulled into the secondary area and walked to Migracion to get my tourist permit. They asked for my birth certificate and upon showing it the man stamped the form. I asked about not being able to pay because it's Sunday, and he said, "No problema!".

At Maneadero there was a military inspection and a Migracion checkpoint. The migracion guy looked at my paper and said nothing about it having no bank stamp.

The next inspection (military) was after El Rosario and was quite thorough. In fact, I noticed that all the inspections were much more thorough this year.

The roads are in great shape, other than about a stretch of potholes from Guerrero Negro for about 50 miles north.

At the GN/Eagle monument there were no questions regarding tourist papers, (I hadn't paid yet), and they only looked in my ice chest and sprayed my tires.

I spent the night at La Posada in San Ignacio, and had an outstanding fish dinner at Rene's, and delivered the annual bottle of wine to Victor, the waiter.

Watch out for the topes south of San Ignacio; they are not well marked, and will take you by surprise.

The next inspection was about 45 miles north of Loreto; these were the "Men in Black," I think it's the JPG. These guys are serious; with the soldiers I could joke around, but these guys don't smile. And they too are very thorough, looking everywhere, ashtray, CD cases, looking at the tiny pebbles on the floorboard, probably for marijuana seeds.

As I was pulling away, I noticed a young (early 20's) man with a surfboard on his truck being very animated with the "Men in Black," and I was curious. I saw him in La Paz and asked about what was going on. He told me they found a partially smoked marijuana cigarette in his ashtray (Stupid!), and were telling him what he had in store for him: prison, etc.. He said they nearly had him in tears. He finally offered the man in charge $50. As it turned out, the kid had to pay $100 to have his offense "overlooked." I told him that it could have been much, much worse, and that he probably got off cheap. By the way, I was waved through the military inspection at La Paz coming into town.

The weather in La Paz and Cabo was beautiful; very little humidity; a mild summer this year. I stayed at Hotel Perla (my standard), and relaxed and kayaked for a few days. Then I headed south; my wife was going to fly into San Jose del Cabo to join me for a few days. I went by way of Todos Santos and had a very nice drive; no checkpoints, no potholes. There is an area of construction about midway between Todos Santos and Cabo, but nothing serious.

Picked up my wife and went to The Cabo Bungalows for the night. What a lovely place; very tropical, and a few blocks up into the barrio away from the bedlam. They do have a website; their breakfasts are just outstanding, and the rates, for summer, are quite reasonable. The Honeymoon Suite has a beautiful view of Land's End. My wife took me to Damiana's in San Jose del Cabo; a beautiful place with excellent food, but a bit pricey.

Next day, we went back to La Paz, by way of Hwy. 1, stopping to visit the zoo in Santiago. We checked back into the Hotel Perla and had two lovely days and nights kayaking and eating well.

Headed back to Cabo via Todos Santos so my wife could see how that place has changed, and so she could see my "ranchito." We spent the night at Cabo Bungalows again.

The next day I had to take my wife back to the airport for her trip home. I stayed that night at Hotel Mar de Cortez and started my journey back the next morning.

The military inspection at La Paz was again, quite thorough, but that was the only one until north of San Ignacio. Spent the night at Hotel La Posada again and had an outstanding (and reasonably priced) shrimp dinner at Rene's.

Early the next morning, I continued north. Military inspection north of San Ignacio; not as thorough, but I still had to get out and let them look around.

At the Guerrero Negro checkpoint, I came to a Migracion check. He noticed I hadn't paid the fee, so he sent me back into town to the bank to take care of it. Military inspection at the permanent encampment.

Next inspection, again military and quite thorough, was south of El Rosario. Then another at Maneadero. Then I got flagged over for another military inspection at one of the toll gates on the Ensenada highway.

Detours because of construction led me through the "Sin City" part of Tijuana, which is quite an education if you haven't seen it. Came to the border crossing about 10;30 pm and waited only 5 minutes. After all the inspections in Mexico, I fully expected to be sent to Secondary, but no problem; I was waved through.

All in all, it was a super trip. The mild summer made it even more enjoyable. Freshly paved highways made for a much more comfortable trip. All the heavy duty inspections kind of got on my nerves after awhile, but .... that's Mexico. Interestingly, all the years I've been going to Baja, with all the inspections I've gone through, they have not once checked the kayaks on top of my truck.