BAJA 2005 MEMORIAL

 

It's November and the warmth and sunshine of Baja have called once again.  We spent Thanksgiving at our little house on the beach in Mexico.  As many of you know, my Dad was killed in a tragic auto accident in Mexico this Spring, on his way to our house.  It has been a very rough year for our family as we have tried to pick up the pieces and do our best to move forward as my Dad would want us to do.  It was a major undertaking to get my dad out of Mexico, so much paperwork and bureaucracy, and needless to say the language barrier.  With the help of many good hearted people along the way, we were able to bring my dad home, have a big memorial for him, and celebrate his life with many friends and family.

We hadn't been back to Mexico since Spring.  We were all a little apprehensive of what this trip would be like, with the loss of my father.  It was our plan this trip to build a roadside memorial for him where the crash occurred, sadly only 5 miles from our house.  We had a bronze plaque made before we left, a beautiful photo quality plaque that was computer engraved.  It's a picture of my dad in front of our house with the Sea of Cortez and islands behind him.  Anya and I built a small memorial for him on the road side out of blocks and cement, bolted on the plaque, painted it the same color of our casa, and decorated it with a bunch of silk flowers.  We feel that it turned out pretty nice, behind the memorial is a beautiful backdrop of various cactus, including cirrio.  We like to think my dad is smiling down on it.

ROADSIDE MEMORIAL AT CRASH SITE

My dad and the Baja Peninsula are synonyms.  He has been traveling the length of the Baja since the 1960's, before there was even a highway, all of it dirt.  Never ending kilometers of Baja washboard, rocks, and desert silt.  Cabo San Lucas was nothing more than a little fishing village then...how things change.  My dad and his friend Mike would ride their motorcycles from Ensenada all the way to La Paz near the southern tip of Baja (over 800 miles of off road riding).  Keep in mind this was in the middle of July with the temperatures in the 100's.  The funny thing is they had a great time, and rode it many times together.

This April my dad was headed back down to Baja to do some work on our house and plan his next off road Moto adventure to La Paz.  He had ordered a 2005 BMW Dakar motorcycle for his next adventure, it would be built in Berlin and be delivered in 6 weeks from Germany.  He was like a little kid, so excited for his new bike.  Sadly my dad was never able to see his new motorcycle, as it arrived on his birthday, a week after he was killed.  The motorcycle now sits in my garage, the engine has 650 miles that I put on it this Summer, and is ready to be ridden hard in Baja.  I hope to finish his trip to La Paz soon.  I can only hope that when I am in my 60's, I will have the grit, endurance, and strength to ride a bike to La Paz (all off road).  I'm just hoping to get the job done in my 30's (smile).  The man will always be an inspiration to me.

TAKING DELIVERY OF MY DAD'S BMW DAKAR...2 LA PAZ!

In addition to building the memorial for my dad, we had many chores to do at the house...as always.  Our friend Greg Armstrong took good care of our casa, he finished the tile in the house, put on a new roof, and layed cool mosaic tile in the shower.  The house is getting more and more dialed in.  My dad always liked being at the house, most of our trips down there together where race related.  We were always pumped to go down to Baja.  Every few years the Baja 1000 off road race comes by our house, and it is an amazing experience to be a part of.

FINISHED TILE IN HOUSE...THANKS GREG

This trip we brought along our usual quiver of Tech goodies, a new addition was a 4 Gig i-pod "Nano".  I'm really impressed with the Nano, the size is amazing, as it is small...almost too small.  It is easy to lose or drop because of the tiny size.  The sound quality is incredible, with excellent battery life.  It powered tunes the whole trip, in the car, on the beach, on the airplane... Once again, Apple has done a great job.  What cool new i-pod do you think is on the way from the R&D labs in Cupertino & Sacramento???  You know it's going to be good, I can't say anything more because of my Apple Non Disclosure (smile).

i-POD NANO PROVIDING MUSIC FOR OUR BEACH PARTY

After we cranked out our chores, we were able to paddle, fish, snorkel, and lay in the sun with some good music coming off the Nano i-pod, and of course some cold XX beers in our hand.  All in all it was a good trip, moments of sadness, but also ones of happiness and laughter...as my dad would want to see.  We will be in Park City UT for Christmas, and hopefully get in some fresh Utah powder.  This will be a rough holiday for our family without my dad, however we take stock in all the goodness and blessings that still surround us.  As we start a new year, we wish all our friends, partners, clients, & associates around the world...Happy Holidays from all of us at A Better Solution. ~ Chris

SUNSET AND GOOD MEXICAN BEER

THANKSGIVING EVENING

SIERRA DOING HER BEST TO KEEP UP WITH HOMEWORK