Slow Baja - Jeff Honea Seeking Solitude In Baja

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

"Jeff's life is built around pictures, and he has been making, showing and selling art for more than 30 years. Whether it's making fine art paintings of Baja California or shooting commercial projects, Jeff's focus is on inspiring enthusiasm for the spaces, faces, and places that make up the world around us." Learn more @Jeffehonea.comFollow Jeff E Honea on InstagramMentioned in this episode: Slow Baja Winter Expedition Support the Slow Baja Podcast Buy Baja Bound Insurance Here

Yeah, I don't mind you, you know, prompting me, prodding me if you want to circle back on stuff. Listen, we're just free-formin. Got two turntables in the microphone. Hey, this is Michael Emery. Thanks for tuning into the Slow Baja. This podcast is powered by Tequila Fortaleza, handmade in small batches and hands-down, my favorite tequila. Well, if you've been listening to me for a while, You know, I'm an absolute minimalist when it comes to Baja travel, but the one thing I never leave home without is a good old paper map.

And my favorite is the beautiful, and I mean beautiful, Baja Road and Recreation Atlas by benchmark maps. It's an oversized 72-page book jam-packed with details, and now you can get it from me at slowbaha.com. That's right. You can get it in the Slow Baja shop. and in fact, you better get two, one for your trip planning at home and one for your Baja rig. And if you love maps and you can't get enough of them like me,

let me tell you about two sites I am absolutely obsessed with. Eastview MapLink and LongitudeMaps.com, whatever you're looking for in Maps, it's there. From the entire benchmark collection to Baja Wall Maps to custom maps, you'll find it all at LongitudeMaps.com or EV. maplink.com. You know I've long said it, ask your doctor if Baja's right for you. Well, if you've been hankering to get down to Slow Baja with me, you've got to check out the

Adventures tab at Slowbaha.com. All my trips are there, from my famed fall vintage extravaganza to my winter and summer expeditions, which are open to trucks of any age. You know, on a Slow Baja expedition, your meals are always included, which really does take the sting out of camping. And when we get off the trail, let me tell you, we have the happiest of happy hours. If good dirt roads, private campsites, ranch stays, great food and great people sounds like you're kind of fun. Well, you've got to check out the Adventures tab at slowbaha.com. But don't delay. These trips are small. They're highly immersive, and they will sell out.

And folks, just so you know, I am always here for you for your Baja trip planning questions. One question, 100 questions. The easy way to get me is slowbaha.com slash contact. And if you'd like to go to Baja and you don't want to go by yourself, you don't have a vintage vehicle, my winter trip doesn't work out for you, I am happy to talk to you about organizing and leading a private guided tour. I've done it. I've loved it. The pictures are over there at Slowbaha.com slash adventures. And you can check them out.

And if you've got some questions, let's talk. From the Shieldman recording booth, thanks for tuning in to today's Slow Baja. My heaping dose of gratitude goes out to Sal Fish. You know, Sal Fish is the godfather of off-road racing. He's just an amazing guy. And the Slow Baja Vintage Expedition coming up October 11th through 18th is a tribute to Sal and the first Baja 1000 that he marked with Mickey Thompson flying overhead dropping coke cans with notes laden down with rocks to tell them the course you go here, the course you go there. But Sal was driving around that Volkswagen thing and marked that course and started a new era of off-road racing.

We just had the Baja 500 here. And anyways, Sal, Sal, Sall, freaking fish, is going to be. be at the Slow Baja vintage expedition. I'm just super stoked to tell you. And we've got Kurt Ladook, Off Road Motorsports Hall of Famer. Kurt Ladook is going to be the sweep and the mechanic. So it's going to be a great trip. I don't want to tell you too much about it.

But if you got something old, do not delay. The trip is filling up fast. Jump in and you get to hang out with Sal Fish. I told him he's going to get to be the bartender. He's going to be pouring that Fortalays in. He's pretty damned good at it. And Kurt's going to be fixing everything that breaks. and telling great stories over those Rocky Talky radios.

So it's going to be a really fabulous trip. October 11th through 18th, in case you got something old, you want to join me. Hit me up quick, though. Do not delay. All right. Today's show is with Jeff Honie. And Jeff is an amazing artist. Does some beautiful, beautiful work.

And it's almost exclusively about Baja, which is amazing. And Jeff, I got to know him over the internet, but Jeff came on with. last trip. He came on the Slow Baja Winter Expedition with his dad. And I really got to know him a lot better. Got a chance to hang out and got to go to his house, have dinner, spend the night, and get up early

and record this podcast conversation with Jeff talking about Baja and his art and how much Baja just means to him. And, you know, well, without further ado, Jeff Honey today on Slow Baja. Hey, it's a Slow Baja podcast. We're in

Redondo Beach with Jeff Honey and I am delighted, you know, it takes a village to keep Slow Baja going. And after a lot of camping, a lot of road miles, had a lovely meal and got a chance to sleep in a good bed, big shower. And Jeff, I've admired your work for so long. It's so cool to be here seeing behind the curtain. It's great to have you here finally. Yeah, really delight. We had a good time.

You came on the Slow Baja Winter Expedition with your dad, James. that was cool special time yeah it was it was really neat opportunity i've been going down for years and we'll talk a lot about that but uh hadn't really had a chance to show him you know what that part of my life is like and and to share the Baja experience with him and he ate it up he really did yeah it seems to me your dad's a button down kind of guy like he's he's he's a serious man i could see him observing all the time trying to improve the process and as my dad's a dad's a button down kind of guy like he's he's he's a serious man i could see him observing all the time trying to improve the process. And as my dad would say, that's like pushing on a rope, Jim.

You can't improve this process. This is slow Baja for a reason. Yeah, I think by the end of the week, he absorbed that, he felt that. And he hasn't stopped talking about the trip since. Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. Good time. So we're going to jump to it.

It's early morning. You've got to get to work, and I've got to get down the road. Tell me about where Baja came into your life. You're born in Colorado, Southern California kid. You grew up here. So let's just, how did it come into your life? Grew up in Southern California. Before, say, the college days and the post-college days,

when we were going down for surf trips for some fun, you know, across the border weekend kind of runs to K-38, LaFonda, and so forth, Rosarito. Way before that. Baja came into my life when I was a nine or ten-year-old in Robinson Elementary down the hill here and we had a reading and creative writing assignment where there was this box of stories,

nonfiction stories and the assignment was to pull something from that, nonfiction, read it, you know, digest it, and then turn that into some fiction. You know, so have some fun with, you know, building a story around something that was real. And the story that I picked out was an article, reprint of an article from Los Angeles Times. I want to say in the 60s.

And it was a story about Malarimo, the beach, the famous beach down there, off of Guerrero Negro, where basically the peninsula kicks out and into the Pacific and the Pacific Current dumps stuff from all over the world onto that beach. So anyway, these guys from Southern California had an adventure and went down and found all kinds of manner of things on that beach. you know, sort of a treasure hunt. So I was inspired by that, turned that into my own story of adventure and treasure hunting and trials and tribulations. Based on a Baja, I'd never met up to that point.

But that really stuck with me. And one of the things that really stuck with me was that I realized there was another California, more California. Yeah. Thousands miles more. A lot more over California. And growing up in California and, you know,

traveling with the family up and down into the Bay Area and back and the Sierra and the Central Valley and Highway 1 up the coast and all that. I just love California. I'm a Californian. And to know that there was more California with sort of this mystique really was stuck with me and sticks with me to this day. And there's a reprint of that article on the wall at the Malarima Hotel that I came across a couple years ago, which really kind of took me back. It was cool. So from those early days, you had that fascination. And what a great way to start thinking about that place.

What is washed up on that beach? That beach has called to me, you know, for 40 years now since I've been going to Baja. I haven't. My dad probably read that article, you know, and as I started going to Baja, he's like, oh, you've got to go to Malarimo. They've got fishing floats and whiskey and everything from around the world is washed up on the beach. Airplane wings and radios and whatnot, yeah. Yeah, so that place has called to me for 40 years.

I'm going to go this year. Trust me, it's going to happen. Now you've planted the seed. But you're a kid who also doodled and drew and made art. Yeah, I was, yeah. Where did that fit in your life? I was one of those kids that was always just drawing, you know, I guess the way of expressing myself and a way of, you know,

absorbing and digesting the world around me and the people around me. You know, so whether it was characters or just trying to, you know, record the landscape's around me, the town around me. Those kinds of things were always just something that I was doing. You know, got into photography a bit. So just kind of fell in love with making images

early on, making pictures. And, you know, that's, again, that's just a big part of how I exist in the world. I see pictures. I'd like to make pictures. And it's always just feels good to have, you know, a paintbrush

a pencil or a camera in my hand. Yeah, so at what point do you think you picked up that paintbrush and started doing something in earnest? Yeah, and actually, that kind of ties back to why I wanted to bring my dad on this last this last Baja expedition is he was the one in high school, or sorry, in college, he said, you know, you got some room for some electives. Why don't you take a painting class? And here's my dad and my mom, not really artistic people, super talented,

sharp, wonderful people, but not really, didn't really have any way of guiding me in art other than go for it. And I did and kind of have it looked back. And so that was another big reason. My parents have been super supportive of everything I've done in art and in my adventures. So, you know, I wanted to kind of show that to them and have them help experience that as well. So anyway, so that got going and, you know, kind of looking around for, for subject matter and things like that.

And bringing it back to family again, one of the things that we would do as a family was take these long road trips throughout the southwest, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona. And that's when I kind of got inspired by and kind of found some of the Southwestern artists, you know, Kee's, Bloom and Shine, those kinds. And that was sort of gave me some early inspiration

and guidance and kind of how to approach representing the landscape. Hey, if you need to take a long road trip down to Baja, you're going to need some Baja Bound insurance. So we're going to take a very quick break, and we'll be right back with Jeff Honey, talking hard. Here at SLOBaha, we can't wait to drive our old land cruiser south of the border. When we go, we'll be going with Baja Bound Insurance. Their website's fast and easy to use. Check them out at BajaBound.com.

That's Baja Bound.com, serving Mexico travelers since 1994. A big thanks to those of you who've contributed to our Baja baseball project. You know, we launched our gear deliveries on my winter expedition. Michael and Matthew from Barbers for Baja were along for the ride, and we got to deliver that critically needed baseball gear up and down the peninsula. It was really, truly amazing. And on my last trip, I got to go to the state baseball championships and see some of our alums playing, some recipients of the recipients of the

Baja Baseball Gear Deliveries, and congratulations to Guerrera Negro and Mule Ha, the Austeneroes and the Cardinalitos won silver and bronze at the state championships. Big stuff. And it's really fun to be there and fun to see them. All right, well, please help us continue this vital work. Make your tax deductible donation at the Barbers for Baja. Click, barbers for Baja.org, click the Baseball and Baja link. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really do. It is so amazingly gratifying to be able to give these kids this chance to keep playing this sport. Keep them on the field. Keep them out of trouble.

Please check it out. Baseball in Baja link at barbers for Baja.org. Thank you. I want to tell you about these new rocky, talky radios that I absolutely love. Heavy duty, beautifully made, easy to program, easy to use. We had 28 people, 15 trucks on the Slow Baja Winter Expedition. And you can hand these radios to anybody from a 14-year-old kid to an 80-year-old, and they'll know how to use it.

They are that well-designed. One charge lasted the entire week. We are never out of range. I happen to upgrade to the accessory whip antenna for my radio and for my sweeps radio, the Donovan Brothers. We were never out of contact. I can't say it strongly enough. Rocky-talkie radios, rocky-talkie.com.

Check them out. Slow Baja. approved. Hey, we're back with Jeff Honi. We're taking a quick break here to talk about Baja Bound because you need great insurance to be able to get down the road in Baja. Your work, your work, we talked a little bit about it. Interesting the way I was thinking about it. Maynard Dixon is so, I don't know, present in your work, the ghost of Maynard Dixon, San Francisco artist who was married to Dorothea Lange and lived, oh, I don't know, block and a half from where I lived in San Francisco and I always thought about their place and that that relationship and Dorothea

Lang was a huge huge influence on my photography and wow you know what what what when do you think you saw those images and said oh wow somebody saw the world that way and then processed it however you process it that there are I don't want to say similarities but there are there's just you know every painter who comes after something else has something from painters before them, if you ask me. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, a couple of things.

Sorry, that was booming there, wasn't I? Yeah, another artist that he didn't mention yet would be, you know, Ansel Adams. Sure. And how he, you know, portrayed the West and nature and landscapes and things like that, really strong, powerful images. So definitely attracted to that and felt like there was something in that for how I want to make art. But it was after I had been, maybe we can even kind of go back. So going to Baja and mainly, you know, in the early days for surf trips and such like that, I had said,

over the years, my reason for going to Baja changed to where, you know, now I go down to paint. I don't even bring a surfboard. And oftentimes I'm spending most of my time on the Gulf side, the Gulf of California, Sierra Cortez side of things. Because what I found there more than anywhere else is that, you know, where you have the desert coming into that impossibly blue sea. And like I said, you know, kind of bombs go off in my head when I see that every time. It's kind of like, you know, you come over a rise, you know, at, in Bahia Concepcion and enter into that bay there by Santis back. There, you know, there's that one spot. you come over the hill and it just every time i just i kind of start giggling because it's just like i

can't believe something like that is a place we could be in a place that i can you know have the opportunity to paint um so as i was going to baha more and more and um you know exploring other artists and kind of seeing how they're approaching things i came across major dixon's work and that's when i started to make the connection because the way he um handled form and line um And, you know, there's a certain amount of drama and mystery in his work that at least I see. And that really resonated with me and how I see and try to approach, you know, what I'm doing with the paintings of Baja. So primarily I paint Baja. I live here in Southern California and there's great scenery all around and I see pictures everywhere I go.

And I've had wonderful opportunities to, you know, to go to different continents and different countries and things like that. but it's always been Baja. And people ask me, like, why don't you pay something that, you know, local and whatnot? And I do from time to time, but it just doesn't, it's not the same. It's there's the magic isn't quite as strong. I think I was saying earlier, when I'm in Baja, you know, when you talk about inspiration and how do you talk about inspiration? And when I'm down in Baja, I feel like I can hear the angels sing much more clearly.

Wow. Wow. But there must be some clues that you're sending to your body that's like, okay, I'm going to this place, which I have this affinity for, and then I'm going to do this thing, which I love, and I'm going to do this thing in this place, which I love, and the tacos are good, and the beer is good, and the margaritas are lovely. And the light is so amazing. And that's, I think, just, you know, looking for those scenes, looking for that light. I just saw you on the week we spent together. every time I looked over, you had the old Voidlander and you're taking a photo of something,

or you're just looking. You could just see the wheel. I could see the wheels turning of an artist taking it in. I appreciate that. Yeah, yeah, how can you talk about art at all, especially in the natural landscape and not talk about the light? The light is, yeah, it's magical.

I don't know what other way to put it. And to that end, so pursuing, continuing, to go down there and my wife who's also been incredibly supportive of all these adventures. She usually comes along with me too. You know, Lisa's terrific on that and she actually has, you know, it spent time in Baja even before I did. So I guess there was some of the connection there, among other things. And we found our way down to Toto Santos and met up with some wonderful people there. And so I was represented in the gallery there for.

several years and still maintain contact with them down there. So, you know, and it gets to kind of a whole other aspect of the Baja experience for me. And I know you talk about it quite a bit, but the openness, the friendliness, the generosity seems to come through stronger for me. Yeah, for us there. I don't know what it is. And maybe it's because of the energy I'm putting out when I'm there, but the generosity and the support and the friendships that we've made down there have been, you know, really priceless. Yeah, having dinner last night with your wife, Lisa, and she was talking about her childhood experiences growing up here in Los Angeles and her dad hunted in Baja. And again, Baja in the early, you know, 60s, 70s, a lot of sportsman stuff happened there. You know, you had the great fishing tradition, fly-in fishing, one of the great destinations of the world, hunting, bird hunting, some were hunting, mountain mountain goat and deer, of course.

But birds primarily, and her dad was a quail hunter. And how that affected Lisa, she was his quail dog, as she said. So she had to be with her dad doing that very rigorous form of hunting. You're climbing, you're up and down, bushes, this and that. and then when a quail flushes and you shoot it, you really have to track it and figure out where it went, and it's going to drop into something where you can't see it. So I'm trying to picture your lovely wife as a youngster

running around picking up quail and putting them in the back of her game pocket on her vest or her jacket. Yeah, yeah, I know. I wish I was there for that. I've enjoyed the stories. And yeah, a real special connection, not only with her and her dad, but with her experience in Baja as well.

You know, strong memories around that. And I had the fortune to be able to go out and do some of that as well and kind of experience Baja in that way. I mean, I've had so many great opportunities to experience Baja, and I guess it's because I seek them out. Another great adventure I had was with a college buddy who became a pilot and had a little Cessna. We threw our mountain bikes and sleeping bags in the back of that

and Bush piloted all the way down. the peninsula. Is that when you tell your parents about or you don't tell your parents about? I think afterwards. Yeah. Afterwards. Well, let's jump into that big surf trip. You, you checked out of your post-college life, you know, pick it up, tell me the story about when you decided to, your boss had said, Jeff, what are you doing, man? And you said, you know what? I'm going to think about it and get back to you. Yeah, I think, you know, the echoes of that, that article from long ago Oh, we're still ringing in my ears. And I...

You're out of college. You went to college, and then you're out of college, and you're in the corporate environment. I did that for a bit. A creative and an advertising agency. Yes. Yeah, it did that. And it was a good start coming out of school, but at the same time, it wasn't the right fit. And it was too much the analytical and numbers side of things.

So I kind of figured out that, well, it was good to come out of college and get a job. It was... I had to, you know, figure out things for, you know, what? but I, how I should be spending my time in my life. So yeah, so it kicked out. A buddy of mine was in a similar, similar mode, a little bit burnt out from the corporate thing. And we had just this, the surfing adventure bug. So bought an old Ford Bronco 2 off a buddy, got it off of them pretty cheap, mainly because

the car wasn't supposed to even make it to the border. Yeah, 99,000 miles and it was all used up. Right. But loaded it up. up, you know, a few surfboards on soft rock, soft racks on the top. And, you know, pro grade right there. You're starting off really top notch. It was low budget. It was, yeah, it was bubblegum, duct tape for sure. And an old map, which I've got over there in the corner all marked up, you know, auto club map. And I've laminated surf spots of Mexico that we bought at the local surf shop.

There you go. Not real precise. There you go. But if you do. But if you do. dots on the map, and we said we'll see how many of those we can find. So, yeah, drove our way all the way down the Baja Peninsula, camping, eating lobster right off the fishermen's boats, camping on the beach, camping in the dunes. What year was that, would you say? It was 91. 91. It was 1991, yeah.

Yeah, I just had a terrific adventure. And that's really, I think, when the world's kind of merged, this desire to make art, to paint, to explore. express things that I need to express and the Baja adventure part of it. But so yeah, just we've got a huge dose of all of Baja. You're glossing over some stuff. I mean, you really, like, you know, poked along and found those spots. Yeah.

Yeah, we did. Yeah. Without any surf forecasting or anything else. So it's very haphazard what you're going to find, which probably necessitated moving along if there was no surf wherever you were. but pick that up a little bit and unpack it. Yeah, sure, sure, sure. But yeah, it really was.

It was going point to point, you know, along the dirt roads that run along the bluffs. And sometimes they ended and you had to turn around and find your way back to the highway and figure out how to get back to the coast. But we tried to stay to the coast as much as possible. And had just the most incredible time. And you said that that Bronco 2 that had been so decrepit that your friend was, was trading it in on something for almost no money. Once you cross the border with four boards on top,

everything started working. As soon as it clicked 100,000 miles, everything started working. Yeah, and it sounds like that. You know, it's good storytelling after the fact, but it really was a charmed adventure. Was it the two-foot-tall-furted tall, virgin of Guadalupe decal that you put on the back window?

What was it that made that big work again? I think it was the porcelain or ceramic. You know, monkey on a surfboard, porky pig, you know, coin bank that we picked up at the border on a previous trip. No doubt, no doubt. All right, but you got all the way down to La Paz, you got on the ferry and across the mainland and pick it up from there. You just kept on going. We did, but yeah, even ahead of that, you know, we wanted to get to the tip of Baja. We got to Cabo.

We checked into La Paz on the way down to make sure we had a spot on the ferry. And that was, I think we tried to do that on Easter Sunday, which was just madness. So it was a good, good dose of life down in La Paz. And then we looped our way around to the west side because there was, you know, Cerritos and Padrido over there by Toto Santos and Pescadero that we wanted to surf and we got some really, really fun waves there. But pass through Toto Santos, which, you know, another one of those things,

it was like, okay, we're going to keep going here, but this is something that, a place I need to come back to. And eventually we did. or a different chip but yeah as you say then loaded up hang on for a second

there aren't a lot of places in Baja where you see 100 year old buildings so when you see you know some of La Paz has some of that

and then when you see that kind of the center of Toto Santos and you see the you know crumbling sugar cane mill and some beautiful old buildings it does speak

and now it's built up and polished and there's beautiful tourism tourists there and women and white linen gazi dresses that are, you know, walking around poking their heads into stores in Javier

Placencia's Cafe and whatnot. But I can't imagine. I saw it in 2001. You saw it in 91. Yeah. Yeah. Can't imagine what, what it was like then. It was, it was sleepy and quiet. Yeah, for sure. Sleeping and quiet. Um, but there was something, I don't know, there was, again, there was a good charm by it, you know, it's, it said, you know, you got to, it was one of those places, you, you must come back. And, and so glad that we eventually did. Um, And yeah, even since we're talking about Toto Santos, just a shout out to Michael and Eric and Pat at Galaure to Toto Santos. And John, it was at the Toto Santos Inn.

He's since moved on from that. But those are some of the people that we still, you know, remain friends with and who have been just super generous and supportive over the years. So underneath this epic Mexico trip of 1991 that ended for you, I think you turned around south of Puerto Verde somewhere? Yeah, so we took the ferry across the mainland, through Mazatlan, and all the way down to Port Escondito. We wanted to get to Port Escondido and surf the famous wave there.

Got some of that, got our hats handed to us. Surfwise? Surf wise, yeah. And even that town then, it was like the Wild West, you know, it was all the people who wanted to prove themselves. and you'd see guys with bandages on their heads and arms and slings and stuff like that. And, of course, we didn't go anywhere near that kind of stuff. But, yeah, it was a terrific adventure.

And then made our way back up through Waxaca and got to see Monte Albán and, you know, some of the historic stuff there, which is, you know, kind of mind-blowing and really cool. And worked our way up through Mexico City, which was just an unbelievable, you know, and I know it's become very popular. And it's another place I'd love to get back to because the energy there. and the pace is just... And the art, and the architecture. And the art and the architecture, yeah.

Yeah, got to go spend some time at the Palace of Fine Arts. So here we're on a surf trip, and we spent, you know, a day just looking at art and architecture. Surfers aren't dumb, folks. Not all of them. Underneath all that, there was a girl, right? There's still, there's a girl on your mind, right? There's always a girl, yeah. Yeah.

Jackson Browns, it's something like, you know, without the girl, there's no song. Something to that effect. That's a good song. 30-something years now with Lisa? Yeah, yeah, going on 32. Yeah, my right or die, if you said, you know, so to speak. Hang on here, we've got a little street sweeping coming. Monday Street sweeping.

Hey, we took a little break for some street sweeping here, beautiful Redondo Beach. Yeah, so we were just talking about there's a girl, and I always laugh. I should have Slow Baja singles, you know, the next hinge or, what have you, for people who need somebody in their life with sentry or global entry that has the same affinities for Baja. I think that might be future expansion. But you met a girl who has a Baja connection and you've raised your kids in Southern California. How's, you know, kids and sports and all that your girls are out of college. Now my kids are out of college. Like, how did Baja fit in your life when you were raising a family? Was there any time there spent exposing that with your kids to

that. Yeah, and it was a little less consistent that I would, um, would have liked, um, but at the same time, wouldn't trade, you know, the experiences and the things that we did, uh, for anything. So, but yeah, there were, that was a bit of a little gap there in the, in the, in the Baja times with the family, but we did, um, early on, we're getting the, the, the group, we have two daughters, getting the girls down to LaGria, which is, is where Lisa's family had, had, um, it's a hunting club and Estero. So, yeah, on the way out to a limbo fedora there. So got them there, so they got to appreciate that a little bit. And then we did get them to Toto Santos a few times to get out and explore down there,

meet our friends, and visit the gallery and do all that great stuff, which is really neat. So they have a sense of what the Baja is about. But then there was a break of a few years where we weren't able to get down there as much and, you know, doing other things. So now when you're going with Lisa, how do you approach? You're going to go for art, as you said. And I see more than a dozen surfboards in front of me here. And you're leaving those home.

You're going to go basically experience Baja quietly. You're going for the solitude, which I still think is an amazing part of Baja. The solitude. I always say the desolation on our doorstep. But it's real and it still exists. And you're sniffing that out. You're on the beach at six something in the morning after our last day and Behea de Los Angeles watching the sun come up and checking the light and making

photographs. So how do you, and Lisa, how do you talk about it? How do you say, okay, we're going to go. I know you just had a great trip to the Valle and had the greatest food you've had in a while. So just talk about where Baja lives in your life now with you and your wife and empty nesting. Yeah, it's, you know, it's been neat to kind of reconnect with each other and with Baja. that way. In the last few years, I've been able to, you know, with her support, either go on my own, just go do art trips and go camp, you know, in a palapa at Campo Archalon and just make art

for a week and try not to get blown off the beach. But, or with her. And so they become sort of little scout trips because then I bring her back and we get to do things together and I can shore where I've been and, you know, have it kind of plotted out. But she's super adventurous. The full peninsula trip we did a couple years ago where it drove all the way down, reconnected with our friends in Tos Santos. And then she flew down and met me there. And then we drove back together. And so we had to be alternated, whether it was hotels and camping, and hotels and camping, all the way back up the peninsula. And that was cool because we went to places neither of us had been before. We found our way up to a lot perisima. Nice. Yeah,

it was really beautiful because I really wanted to see that, Pilon, you know, Ceral Pellon and all that. And once again, while we're there, the only other people that were there at the time have become super close personal friends here. Wow, going to Baja, making friends. Exactly, yeah. So again, it's charmed. It's just, it can't even describe and I count my blessings every time. because it just keeps getting better for us, more memories, more friendships, more adventures. Well, I'm looking into the driveway here, and neither one of you have particularly macho Baja rigs.

Now, you can drive all over Southern California and see Baja ready rigs parked at every Starbucks, and they've got the stuff, they've got the rig, they've got the 35-inch tires, but you two have a couple regular, and Lisa's got a beautiful Jeep, but nothing macho, and you've got a two-wheel drive Tacoma

which I told you were going to get stuck in one part on the trip. I think you did get stuck there. I proved you right, yeah. Yeah, but you got through Baja on a two-wheel drive truck with your dad on some very street tires. Nothing, no big butch mud terrains or... Nothing over the top. Yeah. You know, it's a stock off-road model, so it's got a little bit of the enhancements and a little bit of extra clearance, but, yeah, nothing fancy.

So can you talk a little bit about that that you went everywhere you wanted to go? We did. And some of that comes back to the things we were driving way back when we were in our 20s. When I off-roaded a Toyota Corona on 13-inch wheels, yeah, 165s. I think we connected on that. You know nothing about airing down or a Volkswagen van knew nothing about airing down. Yeah, use the swing-out table in the interior as a max track to get out of some sand in San Felipe. Dad was pissed.

It was a big tire burnout on his table. I had to buy him another one. Oh, my God. That's hilarious. He taught me a lesson. But no, pick it up. Yeah, I mean, one of the, you know, the first long trips that Lisa and I did when we were engaged was to Bahia, Los Angeles. And that was before the new road and all that, of course.

In her, I want to say, 1984 Honda Prelude. And in the perfect truck. Dodging some potholes at, you know, the speed that was probably not recommended. And I still can't find that part of the road that we went a little bit through the sagebrush on because there's no shoulder on any of those roads. But somehow I found a shoulder. Almost lost a wife. Yeah. But pulled it off.

And so I think, you know, and, you know, watching how a lot of the locals get around kind of just like if you just pay attention to what you're doing and be thoughtful about what you're doing, yeah, it'll be all right. I have a file on my phone of all the best, most worn tires I've seen in Baja with the cord showing. And people are still driving that stuff. And again, so your two-wheel drive truck is probably, obviously, newer and in better shape and better cared for than any rancher's truck that we're going to run into, run into on some desolate stretch of the roads we were driving. Yeah. So I always, you know, be mindful of that, not to be too intimidated about that, but also at the same time, think about what you're doing. and if you should get stuck, make sure you've got water and things like that.

Right. Old days of score racing, you need to have three days of supplies, sleeping bag, water, all that. These days, they just call in the helicopter when they break down and they're off in a half hour. When you're painting, do you go to Baja and paint on location? Do you set up an easel and just make the scene? Are you just really looking for inspiration to come back and interpret here in the garage studio? That's a great question. I normally do a little bit of everything. As I bring my field easel, do some on location planar sketches, never really intend to make them any final piece. I wouldn't call myself a planar painter. But I use those for reference and for exercise. And it's a wonderful way just to be in the moment there. And then I also do a fair amount of photography and bring back a lot of reference to bring into the studio like you see behind us. When I do have more time, because usually I'm there for a week, two weeks maybe, you know, when there's more time,

that I'll do complete pieces down there and looking to do that much more in the coming months and years. Your dad, you had your dad on the trip. He's 80 years old. How did that work for you to spending that time together in your truck, spending that time together? We don't do enough outdoor activity. We spend a lot of time driving and eating.

True, true. How did dad do with the whole thing? You know, he did really well. I think he was, at first, when I put it to him, he was a little apprehensive. And the more he thought about it, the more you could tell the more excited he was getting about it. And then I think when we got right up into it, then he started getting a little bit nervous again. And I don't know if it's because of, you know, whether he felt like he was up for it or if he felt like we knew what the hell we were doing or maybe a combination of all three. All for sure.

right um but uh no it was it was it was it was really neat to obviously to spend time with him just him uh together um showing him the places i've been showing him places i hadn't been to yet because you know that's one of the great things about the trip like that it's you know it's going down the dirt roads i'd driven by and said what's down that dirt road and now i know um and you know getting out and driving on the beach and driving in the dunes and pushing ourselves a little bit on that. The one thing I do wish is that I kept trying to have him take the wheel on the dirt and he was a little apprehensive. He didn't want to mess up my truck and I kept telling him that's what it's for. But anyway, he, I think he gets it. And certainly in a way that you can't get just from me

trying to tell stories and share paintings and pictures and things like that. And I think we, and we got to know each other quite a lot as well. At this advanced age. This advanced age, you know. 50-something with an 80-year-old dad. Right. Yeah. You know, a deeper appreciation for him and all he's meant to us.

My mom as well. She wasn't on this trip. I've done a road trip with her, a cross-country road trip with her years ago. So it was kind of neat, too, a little bit of symmetry there. We've got to have that experience together. Did he have apprehensions of eating gas station burritos? You know, he really didn't. He's pretty adventurous in that regard.

He was anxious about, and I guess it never came to pass, about having octopus. Okay. We didn't have that. I kept telling him it's really terrific. Gonna have to fit that into the next trip, make sure we have some octopus. It's really terrific. Yeah, I tend to shy away for it from like animal, human. After you've seen my octopus teacher?

That and some other things, yeah. Yeah, it's hard to break away from. They're fascinating. They are. So we won't have any octopus on the trip. But let me tell you when you have octopus and shirt rib tacos, oh my gosh. I feel sorry for those octopus, but there you go.

Yeah, I hear you. I hear you. Speaking of tacos, those were the best tacos I've had in Baja. Every stand we drive by probably has very good tacos. Some of them are better. And as I've accumulated personal firsthand knowledge, of different taco stands and what they do better. You know, I'm obviously trying to expose my slow-baha friends to that.

But just the last day, you know, was so educational for me. We're in the one Pemex in Bahia de Los Angeles that does have burritos. They didn't have enough for our group. The owner, after she sold the last burrito, said, hey, across the street, Biria. I'm like, I don't know if I have time for beeria or one beerie or whatever, but I went across the street and ordered a couple Casabiria tacos, and it was amazing. And so we delayed the departure longer as people milled across the street, mozied over, and ordered more case of beerias. I came back and shared the tacos and shared the knowledge.

And it really was, that's a place I'll go to every trip now. If I'm coming into or going out of Beheia de Los Angeles, I'll stop right there at Tacos Lido, no sign, directly across from the Pemex on the inland base. Bayside closest to town. So again, the tacos are really amazing. And, you know, as I say, they invented Mexican food in Mexico. That's a good point. Yeah. Yeah.

And, you know, I go all the way back to the very first fish taco I had at a little spot north of LaFonda. You know, we went into town for supplies and gas and was like, oh, come on, let's get a fish taco. And, you know, having never experienced anything like that, I was like, that sounds like the weirdest thing ever. Not being a big fish eater at the time. And of course, I had one and it changed my life. I'll never forget it. I think we need to leave it right there, Jeff. Life-changing fish talkers. What's the best way for folks to see it a little bit of what you do in your art and all that? Yeah, sure. Instagram is the best, most current. And it's Jeff E. H-E-H-N-E-A. That's how I found you.

The algorithm knows. It does, yeah. And then there's the websites. This is basically the same, jeffeehoney.com. They'll be in the show notes, folks. Jeff, it's been a real delight getting to know you well after following your work and loving your work online. Getting to actually know people in person is really terrific. I'm just so touched and delighted you brought your dad.

I can't say that sincerely enough, given what's gone on with my dad and all that recently. So it really warmed my heart. I hate to say, like, you know, there's the old Africa. proper, you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go further, go with a group. What did that feel like traveling with a group for you? Was it, was it a net net positive or was it a, huh, I wish we could move a little quicker or how would you describe that? I'm sorry to like put you on the spot about more. Oh, not at all. Not as self-promotion. I'm so glad. Actually, I'm really glad you asked about that because when I started hearing about these trips that you were putting together

and, you know, even just connecting to this whole slow Baja thing, the ethos, the spirit of it, what have you, just completely, that's how I see and how I, you know, like to think I see Baja. So, and to understand that there's sort of this community and groundswell building around that, I find really exciting. So when you started putting these trips out there, I looked at that as, that would be a really neat, different way to experience Baja. not only with, you know, like I said, getting a little deeper than I've been over the years and, you know, and learn some of the ins and outs that you're always trying to get from people, you know, you're always, you know, you're always asking for, like, what's a recommendation for this or that? And so having that sort of part of the program. But one of the main reasons, I've said this to a few of the people that were on the trip,

is one of the main reasons I wanted to do it was to be around people like us. I guess you'd say. There's that dating app idea again. But the people that, and again, you know, like us, it's in that, you know, the sense of curiosity, the openness to amazement, the, you know, and I guess, you know, whether it's a, you know, a deep, you know, in a many-year-formed relationship with Baja,

like some of the people who've done the racing and things like that, to others who maybe have, they've never been, just have heard of it and thought it sounds like a cool place to go. But, you know, having that little bit of curiosity and interest and passion for Baja, that's who we were around. And super intelligent people, super interesting people, super nice people. I think that was what I was hoping for and it delivered in spades. So it was a nice compliment.

Now, I think the next trip I'm excited to go, just me and Lisa and have at it by ourselves and choose your own adventure. But as far as, you know, the spectrum and the collection of adventures I've had in Baja and the experiences, that would that fit in wonderfully. Well, now you have alumni privileges at Ranchula Bayota. If you want to go back there, you just need to ping Raul on Facebook or WhatsApp and you get to come back. as a Slow Baja alum. So, hey, we're really going to wrap it up. Thanks again.

Been terrific. Appreciate your hospitality, and I'll see you down the road. Thank you so much. See you soon. Cheers. Well, I hope you like that show. Jeff Honey, he really does some beautiful artists. So great to get to know him better and get to know his dad, James, on the Slow Baja Winter Expedition.

You know, you get to know people a little bit on the Internet. You get to message back and forth. But getting out and hanging out and staring into a campfire with somebody and how. having a sip of Fortaleza well, that's just a next level experience. So again, if you're hankering for that experience, get something old and joined on this little Baja vintage. All right, well, let me tell you, if you like what I'm doing, you got to drop a taco in the tank and support the show.

Please, poor favor. You can do that at slowbaha.com slash donations. Make a donation, whatever you can afford. I greatly, greatly appreciate it. And again, if you don't have any tacos jingling around in your pocket, I understand. But do get over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and drop a five-star review and tell people while you're still listening to the show and what Slow Baja means to you. It really does help people find the show. And that does have some positive effect somewhere, I'm sure.

All right. Well, there's good stuff in the store. New hats are coming in. White T-shirts are coming in. The store is going to be closed for a little bit while I'm traveling, but we'll have it back open with much more stuff. So check it out at Slowbaha.com.com slash shop. Slowbaha.com slash shop. And to wrap it all up, I'm going to tell you about my friend Mary McGee and her pal, Steve McQueen.

God, Steve loved Baja. And he said, you know, Mary, Baja is life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting. You know, people always ask me, what's the best modification that I've ever made to slow Baja? Without a doubt, it's my Shielman seats. You know, Toby at Shield Man USA could not be easier to work with. He recommended Averio F for me and Averio F XXL for my navigator, Ted. This Ted's kind of a big guy.

And Toby was absolutely right. The seats are great and they fit both of us perfectly. And let me tell you, after driving around Baja for over a year on these seats, I could not be happier. Sheelman, Slow Baja approved, learn more and get yours at shielman.com. You know, I'm all about keeping things simple, traveling light, and finding the really good stuff. And that's why I've been wearing iron and resin for years. It's not just clothes.

It's gear that holds up in the dust, the salt, the spilled tacos, and still looks good when you roll into town. Made in small batches by folks who care, no flash, no food. fast fashion, just the kind of stuff that gets better, the more you wear it. Check them out at iron and resin.com and pick up something that'll last the next thousand miles.