Slow Baja - Maurice Merrick On The Slow Baja Vintage Expedition

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

In this episode, Maurice Merrick, who hosts the fabulous Horsepower Heritage Podcast, joined me to discuss his experience on the Fall 2024 Slow Baja Vintage Expedition. Maurice and Slow Baja Vintage Expedition alum Derek Boycks drove Derek's 1996 Land Rover Discovery. Upon arrival in Mexico, we stopped to procure our F.M.M. Visas; Maurice was deported because he forgot to bring his passport. We resolved that issue quickly and got Maurice across the border and back on the road. Just before we arrived at Rancho La Bellota, they drove over a rock and tore a hole in their muffler. The newly unmuffled Land Rover sounded like a menacing drag racer! Derek, a master mechanic, won the "Baja Is Right For You Award" for quietly fixing several minor issues on a number of vehicles, including a hazardous steering issue on my truck. Most importantly, he utilized some spare ignition parts from my Land Cruiser to rebuild the ignition on an FJ40 whose PerTronix had failed, so their engine wouldn't start. I was a guest on Maurice's Horsepower Heritage Podcast back in 2021. You can listen to the show here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/baja-tales-with-michael-emery/id1525657159?i=1000525723732 Find Horsepower Heritage on Instagram @horsepowerheritage YouTube: https://youtu.be/MuH7G4N-dYU?si=RmwPlcuJYfSsQPd7 SUPPORT THE SLOW BAJA PODCAST: https://buymeacoffee.com/slowbaja BUY SLOW BAJA MERCHANDISE: https://www.slowbaja.com/shop FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM: @slowbaja Slow Baja on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slow-baja/id1511808843 Subscribe to the Slow Baja YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@slowbaja

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. You know, I've long said it, ask your doctor if Baja's right for you. If you've been hankering to get down to Slow Baja,

you've got to check out the Adventures tab at Slow Baja. All my trips are there from my vintage extravaganzas in fall and summer to my fantastic winter expedition that's open to four by fours of any age. Now, of course, you can bring something old, but this trip is perfect for modern rigs. Got a go fast camper or a rooftop tent on your taco? Let's go. Bring your gal. Bring your best Baja bud. Bring your dog. This slow Baja adventure is for you. We've got whale watching. We've got beach camping. Raul at Rancho LaBiota is going to roast a lamb on a spit that will change your life.

You know, I take care of breakfast and dinner on these trips, and it really does take the sting out of camping. Great food, private campsites, ranch stays, good dirt roads, and extraordinary people are the ingredients that make up a Slow Baja expedition. To find your trip, check out the Adventures tab at SlowBaha.com. But don't delay all my Slow Baja expeditions sell out. So you've got questions, hit that contact button, ready to book. use that slow Baja boarding pass at slowbaha.com slash shop and I look forward to seeing you in Baja soon.

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. Thanks for tuning in to today's Slow Baja. This intro is coming to you. May sound a little difference. Coming to you from Chinanda, Nicaragua. That's right. I'm down here watching my son play baseball. He's in the

Nicaragua in Winter League. Bobby Baja is catching for Los Tigres de Chindega. We've got a rain out today, which has allowed me to get a little work done, stay inside, get some things done. and I hope you enjoy this podcast. My heaping dose of gratitude today goes out to Barbara Rainey and the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame, the Board of Directors, the voting members. Well, they bestowed a 2024 Industry Impact Award on Slow Baja in the Adventure category, and I am honored and humbled. Got to Las Vegas last week.

Had a chance to see some Slow Baja alums, Sal Fish, Kurt Leduc, got a chance to record a few interviews and picked up that award on stage wearing my Pith helmet and my suit. I kind of say, wow, that was truly an amazing experience. All right, today's show, Maurice Merrick, he hosts that fabulous Horsepower Heritage podcast, great stories about the people behind the machines. He came on the trip with Derek Boyks, who is the Slow Baja Baja's Awardee for the Slow Baja Vintage Expedition. And this recording was done 10 o'clock at night. after the Baja bound finish line Fiesta, probably had a couple of four delayses.

We are absolutely exhausted, but I think the conversation is a good one. I hope you enjoy it. And without further ado, Maurice Merrick, today on the Slow Baja podcast. This will be the volume that I speak in. And I don't want to pop my peas. I may even move my mic over here,

but pee popper. I don't want to be a pea popper or a, I don't want to give you, any plosives. Okay. Soes are bad. Well, I'm glad you're worrying about those things.

Oh, yeah. I always worry about those things. We're going to get right to it. I'm wearing your glasses. We've got Maurice Merrick of the Horsepower Heritage podcast talking about peepopping tonight on

Slow Baja in Baja with Maurice. And we've had a hell of a good week on the Slow Baja Vintage Expedition. And I just want to say, Hey, thanks for being here. Saludos.

Let's have a ching-ching with these big dumb glasses. I'll tell you what, this is a long time coming. Yeah. Take a sip of our beverages. Our hefty beverages. But you and I... You and I have become simpatico over the last, what, four years or so. Something like that.

And I really... So, for your listeners who may not have heard your appearance, on my show. Well, that's everyone's listening to my show. I don't know how that podcast is done,

but I'm assuming it's done exceptionally well. Well, you know, there's been some drinking going on today, there has been. So you're going to have to forgive us

and give us a little latitude on this episode, but I somehow discovered you. I can't even remember how, but I reached out to you and you were very gracious and came on my show. and we've kind of been pals of her sense,

but this is actually the first time we've met in person on this trip. Well, it's remarkable. It's interesting that you say that. So the world of podcasting, I don't have any podcast buddies. You are it. And so we're going to have a little love fest here. But we talk with some regularity, and I was just surprised. Like, you know, you know people through their social media.

know people because you call or your text or whatever, but I was honestly delighted to finally freaking meet you. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. And we had a great week. We did. And I felt the same way. And, you know, it's so strange.

We live in this digital age where you feel like you know people. You do. And the minute I saw you, I just wanted to give you a big hug, which is exactly what I did. and I mean, I don't know that we're going to do a play-by-play here, but we should, I think, tell people one of the first things that happened when this trip began was that I got deported from Mexico. Well, I think one of the first things that happened since we turned on the microphones is you took over my podcast.

Oh, my God, I don't want, you know, it's like matter and anti-matter colliding here. I don't want to do that. No, honestly, we're just going to have a free, form, fun conversation because I really want to talk to you because you haven't been to Bahad a bit. Obviously. Yeah. Because you didn't know you needed a freaking passport and you didn't read the emails they sent you that said you needed a freaking passport. And so you showed up and I was highly distracted and I will freely take the blame for this. But when you said you didn't have your passport, I got involved with something else.

and you followed the entire group up to get your FMM visa. And as an employee of a, you know, you have a government ID. Right, right. You have a California driver's license. You have a government ID through your work, which we're not going to talk about. But you thought, hey, that's going to work. Sure. And then what happened?

Well, it goes without saying that you had a million things on your mind. you've got a big group of people to be responsible for. And one dumbass. And one dumbass. Dumas. Right. Jakuos' stunned. Dumas.

I never say dumbass. Sorry. Right. Dumas. Dumas. So you got one lung head who didn't bring a passport. And it wasn't for lack of reading. I guess I just kind of missed that section of your.

It's going to be more prominent in the next emails for sure. Your novella of an email. Oh, my God. Isn't that the truth? Sorry I didn't put in bullet points for you, pal. But this brings up a very important point, which is that anyone who travels with Michael Emery needs to be very careful about reading the fine print because there's so much to know in preparation for a slow Baja trip.

But I do try to say that the answers are all there. I do feel like I've given you the answer. And I'm not busting your balls. But so, unfortunately, in a group of 24 people who all went to get their FMMs at once, for the first time ever I saw a line to get an FMMM, which I've never seen before. And then we were in line, so there were approximately 20 or 24 people ahead of us. And then we were in line. And I got some directions, you should come over here.

No, you should go over there. And then here we are. and we're standing in line and our cars are over there. And before you know it, there is a private security guard who I'm going to just be blunt and said, had a heart on to flex and say, you know what, I am the authority today. You, sir, do not have a passport. I don't care what you have. I am deporting you.

So tell me how that went. Well, there was, when we arrived at the port of entry, there was a line of maybe Mexican nationals. Yeah, folks just off a bus. Right. So we kind of queued up behind them. And the second that this private security guard saw a bunch of gringoes, he started to flex. So he was kind of, he primed the pump, right? And by the time we got up to the front, he was pointing at the signs and sort of kind of telling us the rules in Spanish, expecting us to understand.

And, you know, I was nonchalant about it. I got to the front of the line and I presented a California ID and another government ID. And they were not impressed. And I was summarily deported. from Mexico, which means that I was led around the corner to a long breezeway, and at the end of that 100 yards or so, was U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and I had to explain that, yeah, I didn't have a passport on me, and the kind young man there said, yeah, they've kind of gotten strict lately.

Anyway, I was back in the United States. So we came up with Plan B, which is a little bit stealth and a little bit COVID. and maybe we don't go into that. Well, I will say that there was a plan B and the plan B involved. I have some Mexican-American staff who are, you know, resourceful. Resourceful would be a great first descriptor and they're fluent in both sides of the culture because they live on the US side, but they were born on the Mexican side, but born in the United States, but to Mexican parents.

And they called somebody's wife who's smuggling you into the country. Pretty much, yeah. Yeah, in the front seat of her nondescript silver sedan. Yeah. And you know what? We are back in business. Back in business. And you're going to cross the border heading north.

And you're going to get a little lecture for only having a driver's license with you. You're going to say, I have a passport and I can't believe that I forgot it. But, you know, in the old days when I came to Baja, I didn't have to bring it, and I never thought that through, and I'm sorry. And it'll let you in. I mean, I'm going to do even less than that. I'm going to talk as little as possible, and I'm just going to let them throw whatever they have at me. You might have to go to secondary.

You might get a lecture. Which is fine. But you know what? You'll get back in because that's the law. I mean, I do have birthright citizenship, show. So let's talk about what happened after you got back in this fantastic country. We got on to the trip and got up to, well, first we stopped for tacos, which was, you know, busy. And then we got up to Raul's ranch, Rancho La Bayota.

Can you just kind of take the listeners through what it's like? You haven't been to Baja for a bit. You had that stressful thing happened, which was stressful. I mean, it was stressful. It was stressful for me, for sure. Sure. And you, again, you're our fearless leader, and you've got a lot to keep in mind and plan for. But we had a little bit of a frenetic, I would say, journey between the border and Rosarito.

Lots of traffic. Busy border wall. you know, all the stuff. And, but once we made the turn eastward to Valle de Guadalupe, which is the wine country of Bahá, things opened up. It got a lot less hectic, became very rural. And immediately, it was just tronquilo, right? Trankilo, Amigo. It was tranquilo, amigo.

Yeah. And we're climbing. You know, the altitude is rising. And we've got a belly full of tacos. Yeah. Everybody's satisfied from lunch and you just kind of slip into the slow Baja mode, I would say. That's really when it begins when you start to get dusty. And things kind of fall into place. Did Derek, so you rode with Derek Boykes, who's just an incredible human being. Obviously, he's a pal of years. He's a pal of mine for my previous car days when I was doing fun stuff at bring a trailer,

driving the Copper State rally. He saved my bacon. He came on the trip last year, and I was delighted that he was bringing you back. This year, did Derek make you ride with the windows down? Up or down, it didn't matter. Usually They were If it was up

It was just because there was a cigarette lit Okay You know But Derek's a terrific guy And can work on anything On four wheels Or two wheels or three wheels For that matter

Anything with an internal combustion engine This guy can make it run So he's a great guy to have a long And we Never run out of stuff To talk about Derek is a terrific guy. Well, it's not often you get to hear a little love fest for Derek,

who did, in fact, win the Slow Baja is Right for You award, which made him very, very, very uncomfortable. But Derek in our mutual love fest, Derek's a dude. And, you know, you don't often hear people talk about, well, I was just working on the 1908 Targa Florio winner. It's a pistons or something like, don't quote me, card nerds, don't quote me. But I think the pistons, he said, were seven and a half inches in diameter, which is astonishing.

Yeah, so he's that guy. So anyways, he brought you down here. And let's just be honest, in a piece of shit, Land Rover Discovery, I think he bought for $2,000 or $3,000 and then did an engine swap in it out of a junkyard, some other one. But he brought that same truck on the trip last year. And what happened? What happened? You guys hit a rock pretty early into the trip, and you split the muffler. Well, I have to note that although from first blush, his 1996 discovery one looks like a junker,

he's had that body off the chassis, and he's gone through the whole thing. And as you say, he's done an engine swap. So mechanically, it's terrific. But approaching Raoul's... Rancho we're on a two track and there's a Dodge pickup approaching us from the other direction and we all sort of make way so that means we all pull into a pasture to our left but a lot of dust is in the air and we and also the sun was low and in our eyes so what Derek didn't see was a pretty big rock right underneath the Land Rover.

I'm going to interrupt you with you. We've got some quads going back, because this is San Felipe, and we're sitting outside at the Stella Del Mar's beautiful restaurant, Matilde, and we're right on the beach, basically on a deck right above the beach. We've got some quads. This is San Felipe these days, quad side by sides, whatever. It's not really slow Baja here when it comes to motorsport. But anyhow, and back to you, they've ridden down the beach. So dust in the air, sun in our eyes, Derek's driving, and... And Raul's son, Ricky, is in that big Dodge pickup driving down the driveway.

And he was thrilled to see us all, but did not want to run us all off the road. But we did get out of his way because it was a big truck. Yeah, we pretty much all moved to the left into the pasture, which had been mowed recently. So, you know, it was kind of stubble. So we didn't think that there was any danger. But there were some rocks placed along the end. edge of the road there and Derek caught one, creased his center muffler, and eventually, I don't know if it was right away, but a hole developed in the muffler. So it's, I mean,

it sounds like somebody's playing, you know, somebody's playing dice in a tin can. Yes. Whenever the car is running. So it's pretty alarming. But actually, vehicles running just great. It's just an annoying sound. So let's get back to approaching Rebels Ranch. Yeah. You've just split your muffler open, but you take that long drive down the driveway after Ricky got out of our hair. Great, great guy, Ricky.

And then we get to the ranch. And then you kind of realize the trip's starting. This is quite a dude and quite a place. Yeah, it's, Raul's ranch is in a bowl, and it doesn't look like much from the approach, but you're descending, and you, it's kind of a slow reveal as you go down the road. Yeah, it's a great, great description. And partly it's because, you know, we're following other trucks, and there's dust being kicked up, and over the radio, the warning crackles, horses on the loose.

you know, drive slow, use caution. So right away I know this is kind of a riding ranch. It's a real ranch. It's a real ranch. It's a real ranch. And as we descend the road, the shadows fall across us because, like I say, we're in this bowl. And we come upon beautiful trees and outbuildings, you know, a tack room with saddles along. side. There's a motorcycle, an adventure bike with UK plates, so I know that there's other travelers

here. And then... That German family, that massive... Yes, and... Overland vehicle. The German family traveling, by the way, from Canada down to the tip of South America and a giant man Volkswagen... Diesel four by four, kind of a military chassis, really, with a military radio body on the back, and it's completely custom, amazing rig. So we know we're like in good company, and then we meet Raoul. Yeah, that guy.

And what a gentleman, like the quintessential caballero. Yeah, no, he's a real cowboy. And I think he just loves having people come to his. ranch, honestly, especially people who get like him. And I think this group and Raul have some great similarities, synergies, what have you, that makes people say like, okay, like I, you know, I don't know how, and this is my 40th year coming to Baja, so I don't have any fear coming here. I've got lots and lots of experience. My amateur status is firmly in way of the in the rear view mirror.

No, no, but no, I always say I am an amateur. Like, I'm never turning pro because, like, I may have a lot of experience, but I still don't know anything. Well, so you maintain your humility as well as you. Yeah, I guess maybe that's a pleasant way of describing it. But, you know, like, I love introducing people to the things I've found and the people I've met. And Raul is, you know, a great first stop because he is so gregarious. And the ranch is very clean. and he's very proud that we are there

and he's you know there's a lamb looking at that ranch first thing in the morning who's now on a spit going to be our dinner which is wonderful and you know whatever but Roses there and Rodrigo's doing the cooking and Roses doing the serving

and it's just a beautiful way it's a beautiful way to say this is slow Baja yeah if you can picture a 1910s homestead in Mexico or Alza, California.

Right? Right. It's just that. It's cottages with rough mortar and brick. Yeah. It's an amazing blanche with guests warming their hands around it in the morning as they have their coffee. It's dogs

running and playing. Horses being great. I mean, it's the whole package. And it is kind of, it kind of transports you back to a simpler time, which is, again, something that's Slobaha is, that's one of your goals, right? I mean, I think so. I do, you know, I think it is one of our goals. One of the things, you know, Raul does have Starlink, but I don't tell people he has Starlink.

And so, you know, it just gets people kind of acclimated. to the ranch and gets them off their phone. And then as we're heading out on the, you know, the next morning, I say, oh, you know, there's a Starlink shed over there if you need to just tell anybody that you're, everything's fine and life is good. But you've already spent at that point probably 12 hours off of your phone. So you're starting into the withdrawal process where you're saying, oh, maybe I can live without this thing that I've been, you know, obsessing over for the last 10 years of my life.

And I think that's important. I think the digital detox thing is an actual serious thing that we need to address in our lives. I know I am constantly thinking about, oh, got to do this, got to do that, got to make this post and do that, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know, it's an addiction. And I just feel like you get to Raoul's place. He's so gregarious, so kind and thoughtful. And then the setting is beautiful. And the weather we hit beautifully and get your tent set up, get your cot going.

and have a little shorty tecate beer and start talking to the people who you're going to spend a week with and you know what? You don't need your phone. Yeah, and that first night was a terrific bonding. The group that you assembled for this trip was absolutely top-notch.

I couldn't have wished for a better group of people to spend time with. You know, I've been four-wheeling for, you know, half my life, and there's always one, right? Not on this trip. No, you're right. Well, there may be two. I might be related to them. I don't know.

Incidentally, I have to tell you, I asked Raoul if I could just set up my cot and sleeping bag in the barn, and he said, yeah, fine, no problem. And I was very comfortable in the barn with. the moonlight shining in the door all night. It was terrific. Well, on that, we're going to take a quick break here for a word from Baja Bound. We'll be right back with Maurice Merrick, the Horsepower Heritage podcast. If you're not following that one, you need to give it a follow. The link will be in the show notes.

But if you like, thoughtful conversation about cars and the people behind the cars, Maurice is your guy, Horsepower Heritage. You should definitely start with the Slow Baja podcast. And, of course, that is in the section of my website where you can see featured. I am featured on the Horsepower Heritage podcast. All right. We'll be right back afterward from Baja Bound. Here it's Little Baja, we can't wait to drive our old land cruiser south of the border.

And 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 traveler since 1990. 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, we're 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 Baja baseball gear deliveries. And congratulations to Guerrera Negro and Mule Ha, the Austenaros 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 baha.org, click the baseball in 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. Ready? Get back. I'm ready.

Michael, I'm like lunch meat. I was born ready, okay? I'm like lunch meat. How did I get to my age and have never heard anybody say that? I'm like lunch meat. I was born ready. You were born sliced and diced and under plastic. Hey, we're back with Maurice Merrick,

and we've had a really phenomenal week on the Slow Baja vintage. I'm so glad that you, I mean, I urge you to come. I, you know, got you. And I said, you and Derek are going to do it, and you were in, you're out. Derek was in, he was out, Derek had some friend that was coming that he put a deposit on and that didn't work out, but you made it. And you, and I'm just going to sing Derek's praises for just a second here. He's not sitting on the show with this, but he fixed this, he fixed that.

He created quite a miracle taking some spare parts from my truck and making an ignition from an FJ40 of my Mexican team. He made that FJ40's ignition work with a bunch of spare. junk from my truck. He truly is a genius. And today you guys had some spice. Yeah, we did. You know, we were doing a little four-wheeling in what I would call an estuary, a wetlands. And we had a king tide last night because...

This is the reason I'm laughing because, you know, I put in the work. Yeah. Pre-run roots. You know, I've eaten the food. I've driven the roots. I don't want any surprises. I drove that route a week ago. dry as a bone.

There's something like a 19-foot king-tied last night with the full moon, and that thing was wet and miserable. I mean, most of it was amazing. It flooded the low spots. It flooded the low spots of our trail today, and let's just say that at least five recoveries were accomplished in a half mile. Yeah, in one minute. Right.

And it was great. In a San Felipe minute. It was terrific. And by the way, at some point today, and of course you're worried about the big picture, which is getting everyone safely to San Felipe for the evening so that we can enjoy our dinner and toast each other and hand out a few awards. But you said to me at one point, I really should check that. the tides next time. And I thought, no, you don't have to do that.

Everyone wants to get muddy. Everyone wants to get stuck. This is how memories are made, right? There are some memories made today. There are some memories made today for sure. Damn right. Yeah. Yeah.

So you asked me about, we had a little bit of a spicy moment, which was that, you know, one of the things about water crossings and fording in, in. Offroading. Right, and off-roading, is that you kind of have to have that bow wave going, right? So that you're pushing the water away from your vehicle, particularly if you have a stock air intake and not a snorkel. Well, Derek was doing nothing wrong, but the vehicle ahead of us had, the vehicle ahead of us had left the water kind of just at the right time to have, sort of a backwash, and we sucked a little bit of water into his air intake. It didn't get into the engine, but it really confused his mass airflow sensor for a good 10, 15 minutes

so that the Land Rover was running very rough. But, you know, it worked itself out. Again, Derek is very good. He knows exactly what's going on. You can read the vehicle, and he said it'll be fine. and we just need to limp along, and that's exactly what we did. So the drama was actually no drama. Couldn't happen to a better guy.

As this Mad Max carnage is going on of like, okay, we're driving through this little river at this stage, basically, six-inch river that we're driving through, and we can't really go out of it. But as people are saying, oh, I don't want to go through that. I want to go up on the bank and kind of go around it. One stuck here. One stuck there. One makes room for somebody else to get by and they get stuck. And it's like, wow, wait a second.

We've got three vehicles down. Four vehicles. Five vehicles. Yeah, at one point. Cluster F. We had three stuck at once. In 10 yards of each other. Right.

And so. And nobody in the actual road. Everybody was on the edge of the. road for some reason, whatever. Everyone tried to bypass and none of the bypasses. Whatever have you. And all three of those recoveries were sort of triangulated. It was funny.

But they all came off without a hitch. One thing I would mention is for those of you who aren't veterans of off-road driving and recovery is what really saved us today was a kinetic recovery road. Yeah. Yeah. Those are pretty cool. And also soft shackles. Yep.

So these are items you can look up, but essentially a kinetic recovery rope is a rubber band. It stretches and then rebounds and pulls that vehicle out. And there's a specific weight rating on a kinetic recovery. In this case, it sucked that stuck-64 Land Cruiser FJ-45 pickup truck with an LSW. It's pulled that sucker right out of the muck. Pulled it right out, broke that suction. Kinetic recovery rope combined with soft shackles means that you're a, it's basically a no-risk recovery because the last thing you want is for something to break, right? It can often be the rope or cable that you're using for recovery.

Other times it's the anchor point on either. of the vehicles. But when a kinetic recovery rope or soft shackle brakes, it simply falls to the ground. It doesn't... Cut somebody's head off? Right. It doesn't fly in the opposite direction,

injure, or kill someone. You notice I had a lot of people back off of that thing. The only one that was in the impact zone was going to be Nathan. Absolutely. Nathan, my trip wrangler, and he's definitely expendable. So if somebody's going to get cut in half from a... It's a parted shackle.

Well. And then I'd adopt his dogs, so it'd be all right. And that's another thing, which is that, you know, in most events, there's a scrutiny right? You don't really do a scrutiny on Slobaha? No, no, you don't. No, no, there's no scrutiny. You rely on people to be adults and to have a properly set up vehicle.

Well, let's get on to some adulting that we did. Okay. We got down the path from Raoul's. We had such a fantastic dinner there. and then exited the next morning after a beautiful breakfast. And it's just a beautiful drive in and out both places. And he's such a proud Mexican, beautiful ranch and happy to tell you about his country and his love for his lifestyle.

Got out of there. And then we got to, for you, just for you, Horspower Heritage podcast host, Maurice Merrick, we got right into the thick of the San Pedro de Matier Hill Climb, which was kind of interesting. You know, we got up the hill. Well, maybe I got ahead of myself. We got up the hill to Rancho La Concepcion, and then on the way down the next morning,

we got into a hold so that the hill climb, the first five motorcycles could go by, and we had to hold for that, so we did get a chance to see some hill climbing motorcyclists. I think it must have been their first run. They must probably have a couple of runs to make. I don't know. I'm assuming because the guys that went by us were not at nine or ten tenths.

No, definitely not. They were more like seven or eight tenths. Yeah, they were holding back a little bit. Not quite sure why we sort of came in, as you say, in the middle of things. But it was fun to watch them go by and they were glad to have us kind of cheering them on. But the important thing was getting up to Rancho La Concepcion. So you get all the way up this dirt road, way up this mountain. St. Pedro de Matere, this cool kind of learned, erudite hippie couple that, you know, runs this ranch,

and they're making a fabulous dinner, and they've got lights on the trees, and they've got tables set up for us, and they're so damn nice, and people get up there and get there. We got up there in the dark, sadly, that was part of some problems that had occurred, but we got up there in the dark, my fault, and we didn't get to see the sunset from their deck. We did see it from the road getting there, but they're such wonderful people. And then, you know, had a lovely night and the sun came up and you're in this beautiful place. Well, that's what I was going to say is that this was a case of delayed gratification. Maybe.

That's a nice way of putting it. Thank you, Maurice. Well, I mean, again, you emphasize this, but I'm going to reiterate it, which is that if you're down for a slow bow, you need to be down for contingencies and unplanned events. Yep. And it also kind of separates the wheat from the chaff in terms of participants because people who are okay with that are going to be good travel companions. We had a lot of those.

We had a lot of those on this trip. People who are very good travel companions. But let me tell you about rancho companions. Concepcion from my point of view. I mean, you're a great host, but for me to, you know, make camp in the dark, I'm cold, it's been a long day. We've had a long, long drive. And by the way, not a bad drive. I mean, Derek is a great companion, but.

Just work. By the, we're tired. Yeah, sure. Like any road trip, you know, you've got some fatigue factor. And so I make camp. I go pretty much straight to bed after dinner, and I wake up in a small apple orchard, the least expected locale or environment, the least expected environment in Baja, California, right? I got apple trees all around me.

I walk short distance, I don't know, 200 meters to an overlook. where that couple has built a secondary remote cabin that you can rent. It sleeps to. It has a picture window. And it has a terraced wooden deck overlooking the most amazing canyon. And then the desert beyond. Yeah. And then the sea beyond that or the ocean beyond that.

Right. Which is astonishing. It's a million dollar view. Yeah. Multi. So those little surprises kind of made up for a little bit of an, arduous day prior. Yeah, and so then we moseyed on down the hill, and it's got, I think, a six-kilometer

entryway in dirt, which is fun, not quite spicy. I had it in, I think, four low just to make sure I didn't get stuck because I was leaving the group, and we got up and got down, and we're now heading out, and we got all the way down to San Catene and took a drive down the beach. People just don't get to do beach drives very often, do they? No, they don't. It's just fun. It's just fun.

In the U.S., really, Florida is the only place you can sort of do some unbridled beach driving. And we had a bunch of vehicles on a bunch of different tracks at varying speeds. And everyone was responsible, was careful, and considered of their fellow travelers. Yeah, it's a nice, low tide, lots of room. Yep, lots of room. And, you know, there's a little bit of hooning. That's okay. Chalk.

Right, shock. Yeah. Not unexpected. And it was, the mood was exuberance. Absolute exuberance, because I think we had been through. a lot of heat and cold at night and, you know, setting up camp and moving, and all those things are great. But when we hit the beach, it was just this freedom all of a sudden in a, it was just like

a collective exuberance. Let it rip, baby. Yeah. I mean, just let it rip, yeah. Let it rip. Yep. So into camp, which is. Pretty cool spot. Terrap Peninsula, beautiful nature preserve.

And I feel very lucky that we get a chance to stay in a place like that. Waves are crashing right there where we're camping. Fun. I think Chuckie did get out and do a little surf in the next morning. And then we got off for breakfast. We had a nice sand drive getting out. Took a little while. The thing that I forgot to even address was John Alderson.

who offered up, I reached out to John and said, hey, do you know anything about this little seafood shack in La Chirera? I'd like to talk to the owner about having them host a fiesta for us. And John said, I would host that for you at my house. So I showed up at John's house with 24 of my friends. It's a pretty nice house. Pretty nice party.

Pretty nice staff putting things on. I don't even know if you have to comment on that. Maurice, but I would assume you agree. I agree, and what I would just say is that the landscape prior to arriving at Johns, and kind of the immediate environment, is volcanic and desolate. Yeah.

So you don't expect to hop out of your vehicle, all dusty and tired, and go through a portico into this amazing property and be greeted by a heated pool. Yeah. And dive in and have a margarita and splash around and just be reinvigorated. So it was exactly the right thing at the right time. So that happened.

So then we had this spicy little dirt sandy drive to get into Terre Peninsula, a nice sleep with the sound of crashing waves. the next day and out the way we came. Lots of sand again and managed to get everybody through without getting stuck and La Parcella 12 for our lunch was a stupid crazy place. And Enrique, the chef, just slinging this and slinging that and it was lovely. I won't ask you to comment on what you had, but I think a good time was happening. by all and multiple plates were had by most. I mean, I'll just tell you, I had Langostinos, lobsters with peppers.

It was fantastic. It was totally unexpected. Some beef stew. Our chef was so excited to have us. He was really proud of his kitchen. Yeah. It was a great experience. Well, I had the petuga, and I had the.

the chichironi's and I had these are all things that he recommended I had Machaca which was terrific but these were all things that he pointed to and said you should try that you should try this and it was just again a wonderful way to eat got down the road I'm trying to remember how our trip went Maurice because it's getting late here we're into the wee hours the wee hours on slow Baja so we're gonna we're gonna push towards the finish line let's talk about getting down down to the desert in Catavina. That camp out in the cactus was something.

It was, and I've spent a lot of time in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, and northern Mexico, northern Sonora, Mexico, the state of Sonora. And the landscape is not dissimilar to that, but lots of incredible piles of stone. Yeah. And, you know, it's as if a volcano, blue and just deposited these amazing rock formations. I don't know the particular...

No, I think it was a massive giant that just piled them up. A giant just was playing with pebbles. Oh, oh, a giant of that nature. I mean, I don't know. Sure. I mean, could have. Could be, could be. Could be some alien overboards, you know.

Catavina. God, what a landscape. And we arrived about an hour and a half before sunset. We arrived in daylight. Yeah. For a change. Exactly. Plenty of time to set up camp, but your locals had already started a campfire against a huge boulder that reflected the heat of that fire.

Remind me of her name. Linda and her husband. Linda and Sergio. Sergio, yeah. It's just lovely. Linda and Sergio had dinner going, some asada, some sausage. Yeah. It was wonderful.

We all had time to set up camp, take some excursions out into the rocks. Nathan explained some of the native plants, which are amazing. And by the way, I would say, you don't think of this as a forest, but it really is an adapted forest. Yeah, absolutely. So that's an interesting way to, you know, if you think of it that way, it, it's, it's sort of opens your mind up to the ecology there. And then wonderful dinner and a very peaceful rest overnight there. And we woke up, by the way, I woke up at 4 o'clock of the morning under a blanket of clouds.

It was a little bit dewy out. Yeah, for sure. But it had kind of insulated us, which was nice. Yeah. lovely and then off to a local cafe there for a fabulous breakfast and down the road we ended up going down the one and got on to dry lake shapala and that was just a scene out of mad max he made such beautiful footage out of that that i had a chance to see this morning again you know like i am slow baha and i never grew up doing anything dangerous in my childhood like

You know, my dad was pretty buttoned down. We didn't do that stuff. We didn't go fast on our bicycles. I didn't have a motorcycle. I wasn't doing dumb stuff in cars until, you know, I was probably out of the house. Well, I was doing dumb stuff in cars. Dad, I don't think you listen to the podcast. But we got out and pre-ran the entire lake to see how the lake surface was.

And once we did our pre-check, we turned around and then said, hey, ho, let's go. and people went. People went as fast as they were comfortable going. And I think most people had a pretty damn good time, and there was a few of the folks who did get after it. Yeah, definitely about six or eight rigs really put the hammer down and made the most of that experience. And others just pulled off to watch the show.

Close course, professional drivers do not attempt. Your mileage may vary. ask your doctor, Fahas, right for you, was in full effect. All I can say is it was cinematic. You know, you're on a massive dry lake bed. You're on a massive dry lake bed.

On the horizon, mountains. Yeah. Very rugged mountains. Purple's and pinks and oranges. on the slopes. And all you see are high horsepower four by fours, cutting the most spectacular rooster tails of dust you've ever seen. Yeah.

It was epic. Yeah. And back and forth and having a good time. And nobody ran into anybody or even came close to running into anybody, which was my goal for that. And we took our smiling, dusty faces. and boogieed on down the road and ended up camping at La Poma in Gonzaga. And that was just, again, got everybody into the water, which was just lovely, over to the Sea of Cortez now.

And people got out, got a chance to get in the water. And I thought, you know, again, pre-ranet last week, stayed there last week. I got way laid by Will, who was down on the end in that big van who made dinner for us. And when the restaurant staff looked out and saw the only three cars there were having dinner together, they just closed the door. So I went up and said, well, these guys are supposed to be open. And I went up and they're like, no, no, we're not serving anymore. I'm like, damn it, I need to eat your, you know, several things. So I know when I bring my group here next week that this was good, this was good, this was good.

So it's Baja. You know, it's 7 o'clock at night. Nope, we're closed. even though, you know, like you're here asking to order. I get it. I get it. So we had a lovely dinner. Well, I got to hand it to you for the pre-run activity that you do because it makes a difference on the trip, I think. I mean, I try.

You're smart to do that. Try. Now, I got to backtrack for a second and say that when we were on the dry lake bed, Derek's behind the wheel of the Land Rover Discovery. Both of our front windows are down, and he rolls into. to like five donuts at about 4,000 RPM in third gear or something like that. I'm glad he has the full skills to do that stuff. And the cab of his Land Rover is just a dusty mess, and I can't see a thing and we're spinning. And then he stops and the dust clears and that's fine.

but so you can imagine but by the time I got to La Poma the only thing I wanted to do was kick off my boots and get in the Sea of Cortez and that's exactly what I did which was pretty damn fun it was a good

a good time was had by all again we have Mitch the international Fortaleza representative who's just coming up with a cocktail after another cocktail after another cocktail of pouring more Fortaleza here that most of America has seen the last three weeks,

and we're pouring it here. And another fabulous dinner, we'll say that. Fish dinner was lovely at La Poma, and then we got out of there, and it was supposed to be the easy button today. And we had this carnage, just this carnage of trucks and cars and stuff stuck. We did discuss that earlier, so I'm just going to get you to, like, sum it up for me and take me home,

because it's a pretty good week, and you haven't been to Baja for a while. So your perspective on just you're a car guy, and your core, you're a car guy. We had such great cars. We had wonderful car owners. The people were awesome. I'm not looking for pat on the back,

but I thought the scenery was pretty damn good. Bringing home for me. I mean, this is the kind of trip that, whether you're a four-by-old, for aficionado or a veteran traveler or you enjoy the desert or the beach or the mountains. You're a foodie. It doesn't really matter what your bailiwick is. You're going to find something on a slow Baja journey.

And I would add that because the group is not vehicle specific, and this is really important, veteran four-wheelers will understand this. The fact that it's not vehicle specific means you get a really good mix of people. And you learn a lot about different rigs, which is interesting to me. So to bring it home, I would say, expect the unexpected. And you asked me something, I think, on day two or three. You said, what should someone bring on a slow Baja trip? And I told you they should bring a good attitude and a sense of flexibility.

And that really sums it up. I mean, just enjoy it. It's a journey. It's not always going to go as planned or as you might expect. But that's really the charm of it. Yeah, some days you don't know what plan A was, but plan B was okay. But plan C was really good. You really knocked it out on a plan C.

And some days you might. might exhaust the entire alphabet. Yeah, well, I don't know about that. Speaking of exhausted, I think we are exhausted, and so I want to say thanks for making some time to talk about Slow Baja and your experience on the Slow Baja vintage. I've never talked to anybody at all my trips. I'm so delighted to have you here, so delighted to have been on your show and have you on my show, and I think you took over the whole dang thing.

But Maurice Merrick, if people want to follow your podcast, listen to what you're doing, highly recommend that you do. Where's the best place for folks to find you? Well, the website is Horspowerheritage.com. Instagram, the same. And, of course, on YouTube, I do a lot of different stuff in addition

to the podcast. So if you like to look at cool videos of cars and kind of every situation and scenario, you can check it out on YouTube. But the podcast is kind of soup to nuts. It's a lot of motorsport stuff.

An eye on classic cars in general. And the people behind them. And that's what I love. Yeah. And my tagline is... Great people stories. The people and stories behind the machines. And that's really what it's all about.

So, Michael, thanks for having me on. This was such a treat. And what a great week. Yeah. Link will be in the show notes, folks. I think I stole that from Maurice on his podcast because he's so well put together. But we really did have a fabulous week. And it's now about midnight here in Baja.

We've got to have one more. tequila at the Fortaleza Land Cruiser FJ80 and say good night. So good night. Adios amigos. It's been a good fun time. Thanks, Maurice. Much gracias, amigo. We did it. Well, I hope you enjoyed that one. My heaping dose of gratitude goes out to you for still listening at this stage. Do me a solid. You're still listening at this stage. Do me a solid. Get on Apple or Spotify. drop a five-star review. Tell people why you like this podcast. Tell people why they should be listening. I appreciate it. It really does help people find the show. And that is important. 150-something shows in now.

Please take a second. Review the show. All right. The Slow Baja shop has a fresh batch of t-shirts. It's got a solid selection of hats. The stickers are in, patches, pins, all that stuff. Got a bag or two, canvas bag or two left. So it's the holidays. Show your support. Buy some merch. Keep me going, keep me doing my thing. You can always drop a taco in the tank, too. That always helps. And again, as I come to this point of the show, Mary McGee, off-road Motorsports Hall of Famer, she had a friend Steve McQueen, one of the coolest cats who ever walked this planet.

Steve loved Baja, Steve loved Mary, and Steve said, Baja's life. Anything that happens before or after? It's 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 Sheal Man seats. You know, Toby at Shield Man USA could not be easier to work with. He recommended Averio F for me and a Vero 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.