Did I mention that we were not the only ones that were malfunctioning? My trusty little Suzuki was having chain problems. I had bought a new chain and sprocket set before leaving Yuma however the mechanic at the shop looked at my chain and in spite of the high mileage on it, told me that it would make it down to the tip of the Baja and back. And I believed him. It did look very good. However it is possible to wreck a perfectly good chain in a single ride. I should have taken it with me. The reason I did not is because it was that extra straw that might break my Sunna's back.
So, feeling like a Mexican bus had driven over me, I limped slowly northward in fifth gear, since that is the one that made the least clunking when the chain was rotating. The links were not seizing up but the chain was stretched so it was not falling nicely into the sprocket the way it should, but banging into the teeth and then slipping into the grooves with every revolution. We stopped every 100 kms or less and lubed the chain like slathering vaseline on a baby's bum. Our last night in Mexico was in San Quintin, just south of Ensenada, one of my favourite places to camp. We pitched out tents beside a young father and his daughter from Chemainus, Vancouver Island. Then we kicked back to watch the sun fall into the Pacific.
The only down side to being far from town is that I had to give Michel his last injection. It wasn't that much different than immunizing my horses. At least for me. :-)
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