My girlfriend and I are also planning a trip to Baja (3 weeks in Dec/Jan) and are flying into/out of San Diego. We are considering riding south on Hwy 5 out of Mexicali and hooking up with Hwy 1 in Chapala. From there, we plan on continuing down Hwy 1, but we are definitely open to alternate routes. Dirt roads are fine. Does anybody have any touring experience on any of the minor roads? Vizcaino area? Bahia de los Angeles area? Coastal roads from Cabo back to La Paz? There seems to be potential for some interesting side trips and loops off of Hwy 1. We travel light and are in fine shape, but with our very brief vacation window we don't really have the time to lazily explore any old unknown road (although it seems Baja is ripe for this sort of travel).
We'll be set up to camp and cook, but hope to eat roadside meals as often as possible and take advantage of the occasional room with shower. Warm coastal or desert camping preferred over cold, higher altitude desert camping.
Although it sounds like the OP has probably read most Baja trip reports available online, this one is worth checking out.(
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?...c_id=2180&v=9V)
Also, Vik's pictures from his tour are amazing, and really jazzed me to pick the camera back up.