06 26 07 443 W, 2 I - + 8 - 9 1/24/2007 -- La Paz
After a miserable night of being thrown around the ship's cafeteria in high seas, we finally arrived to the port of La Paz, Baja Sur. I was jumping out of my skin as I scrambled down to ship's belly to meet my XR. Good News! It had faired 100x better than I had for the night. I found the bike upright and seemingly grinning at me. We were both anxious to rip it up! La Paz was still familiar to me so I made my way quickly to the highway out of town. This year I would head directly to the coast and then head south to Punta Pescadero by way of a dirt road that wound through the divisive mountains of southern Baja. I was so close to Paraiso I could taste it! Every mile brought me and the XR closer to the salty aire of the sea. Every mile brought me closer to my friends.
Within an hour of leaving La Paz I was greeted with the beautiful visage of the Sea of Cortez. I stopped in quiet admiration - just long enought to realize I had missed the turnoff for the dirt road south. Oh well, I've made worse wrong turns in my tenure on the XR. Taking a deep breath of salty air, I turned around to find the first dirt road south that would lead to my friends.
I had only passed it by 5 miles or so and it was thankfully obvious that this was the road I wanted. My eyes could follow its sinuous path all the way up and through the rocky crags. With a twist of the wrist the XR broke the rear loose on the kind of terrain that it was built for.
I've never felt this confident on dirt before so I twisted the throttle and zoomed towards the house, at times hitting 60mph. My excitement was growing and could barely be contained. The last 2 days had been some of the best and thrilling riding I have ever done. My heart was in my throat. The memories of that sickening ferry ride were soon extinguished by my anticipation.
I screeched to a halt right in front of the house after a prolonged stint at WOT, just to let everyone know that me and the XR were near.
My friends ran out of the house to greet me with an ice cold Pacifico and I knew again, at last, the true definition of Paraiso.
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