“We are going to take a vacation to Mexico” my mother told the five of us kids as we listened, most only half interested. She said that it was going to be our last family trip together because my sister was starting college in the fall. I do not recall the rest of that conversation as I was very young, but the outcome is permanently imprinted in my mind.
The next thing I do remember is all 7 of us piling into our brand new Chevy Impala and driving from our home in southern California towards the Mexican border, which was a couple of hours away (this was before the current problems made trips like this less desirable to take). We crossed the border and drove to Guaymas de Zaragoza, a port city on the eastern side of the Gulf of California notable to tourists for its warm weather and many undeveloped beaches. From there, we boarded a ferry, the Benito Juarez (I am not sure why I remember the name, but I do), headed across the gulf to Mulaje in Baja, Mexico. However, after a few of days of fun, somehow, we missed the return ferry to Guaymas, but learned that we could take the newly completed Baja highway and be back home in a day. This is where the trip took a really memorable turn!
We followed the directions and drove a couple of hours to the place where we were to connect with the highway. When we arrived all we could see was more dirt road. My father checked with some locals and found out that the highway was not yet completed, but that the asphalt was only around 30 miles away. My father had to be back to work soon and so we decided to go for it!
Unfortunately, that information turned out to also be incorrect – this was long before the days of cellphones and the Web, and no maps were available that showed the progress of the road construction in Mexico. We continued on and, at one point midway in our journey, we ran over a large cactus that was half buried in the sand and had transmission problems. Some ranchers were nearby and helped my father make the car drivable again (I never heard exactly how they did that with few tools and no parts). Another time my mother was answering nature’s call when a bull started heading in her direction. When have super-8 film of her running back towards us with the animal clearly visible in the distance!
At times we had to move large rocks to enable the car to pass the very rough dirt road. At night, my father and brother slept on the hood of the car, while my sisters, mom, and I slept inside as we had no camping gear. Along the way we passed a small village where my father was able to get enough gas and food to keep us going. We also met some Americans in a dune buggy going the opposite direction who updated us on how far we were from pavement (still over 100 miles) and gave us some foul-tasting water to drink. I am sure they thought my parents were crazy and, being a parent today around their age then, I can totally understand why!
By noon on the third day we finally connected again with the asphalt. My mother literally kissed the pavement, which was not very clean but mom did not care (we have that on film as well)! We ended up driving well over 200 miles on unpaved roads in the Baja desert, during the middle of summer, with 5 children, and few supplies. Later, we learned that there were 7 species of venomous snakes in the region and the car forever after had a layer of red clay that permeated the interior no matter how well it was detailed. This was no doubt deposited during the numerous times my brother was slow to roll up the window when wind gusts or passing dune buggies kicked up dirt and dust!
Mom and dad are gone now and that trip is just a memory from many summers past. As mom predicted it turned out to be our last trip together as a family and it was very memorable, though not for the reasons that she had hoped. Still, we persevered, worked together despite the occasional bickering, learned some important lessons, and have great stories to tell about it that never fail to entertain!
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