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We woke up and had a quick breakfast of yogurt and granola bars. There was a coffee maker in the room so I made some coffee (not so good) and we hit the road headed north. Our plan was to visit Catavina, lunch at Mama Espinosa’s, and spend the night in San Quintin. Kelly fell asleep around 10, probably an indication that the New Year’s Eve party two nights previous had affected her since the previous night in GN was gloriously quiet.

CATAVINA

Just before noon we hit Catavina and pulled down a dirt road north of town to get a closer look at the crazy plants and rocks. Kelly had a great time climbing on rocks while Peter and I finally got a close look at the “upside down carrot” trees-the cirio, and the cardon which look like seguaro cacti but are HUGE. There were actually close to a dozen different types of cacti within a few feet of our car-hopefully we can get back and camp here some time.

DRIVE NORTH

We got to El Rosario around 12:30 and eagerly headed to Mama Espinosa’s. This time it was fish tacos for me and Peter and quesadillas for Kelly. Peter and I have agreed that we have never had a fish taco that we really liked before but these were great. We also tried once again for “Mexican coffee” and once again were served “regular” coffee with a pitcher of milk. All of the coffee we have been served has been good but not the special brewed-and-poured-with-steamed-milk “Mexican coffee” that we had read about. Sigh. While at lunch Peter suggested maybe we should just make a run for the border. The idea struck me as pretty appealing-we could be back in the USA that night and at Peet’s SD again the next morning. We agreed to see how it went since we knew we had a few more military check points to go and the first part of the trip had been very slow. On the positive side, once we hit the outskirts of Ensenada we knew that driving at night wasn’t going to be an issue like it was elsewhere in Baja due to the development (lights and the toll highway to Tijuana).

This was actually the emptiest we let the fuel go-getting bolder by the knowledge of where Pemex stations were located for our drive North. We filled up at the station adjacent to Mama Espinosa’s and drove on. We stopped only to switch drivers in San Vicente and when we hit the turnoff for the Bahia San Quintin it was still early so we made the decision to press on. We reached the outskirts of Ensenada just as it was getting dark and drove through a see of shadowy dirt as we made our way into town. While leaving Ensenada the previous week, we had spotted a McDonald’s so we decided to have a break, go to the bathroom, and give Kelly a break before making the final push to the border and whatever it was that we faced there (the “busiest border crossing in the world”). There was a huge new shopping mall with a brand new McD’s, Walmart, Home Dept, etc. We got the Mexican version of a Happy Meal for Kelly (can’t remember the name) and ice cream cones for me and Peter. Kelly finished her nuggets and headed for the climbing structure and made friends with a little Mexican girl there. It was with a little sadness that we got back into the car to exit Mexico. This time through Ensenada we drove past the port area so saw where the big cruise ships land-quite a bit fancier than the part of town we had seen on our first stop there. The toll road to Tijuana was just like driving an American highway-wide with lights, reflectors, etc. so we had not trouble with that night driving. Coming through Tijuana we felt a little nervous but it became obvious when we were getting close to the border-suddenly the cars stopped, nearly all had American (California) plates, and there were people walking on the freeway between cars trying to sell caftans (?) and snacks. After about half an hour we made it to the booth of our lane. The immigration official asked us a few questions and even he was impressed with how far we had come “Guerrero Negro, that’s a long way away”-and he hears answers to that question all day. It was a little strange for me because he Mexican and even had an accent so I kept staring at his uniform to confirm to myself that he was an American immigration official. Once again there was NO sign of any Mexican government presence at all-we were told we needed to surrender our tourist cards when exiting the country but to whom?

We drove on to our previous hotel in San Diego and even though it was empty now it was more expensive than the previous week but in any case it was a welcome sight. We got a room two doors from our previous room and were able to transfer Kelly from the car to her bed without much disturbance (she reported the next day that she didn’t remember it at all). I made a cup of noodles in the microwave and Peter ate a couple of granola bars as we sat in the near darkness and tried to readjust to our by now strange surroundings (i.e. the US).

Mexico, Travel

We woke on the first day of the year in Mulege. The woman at the hotel restaurant was particularly grumpy but we figured that nobody in Mulege got any sleep the previous night. After coffee we loaded up the car and headed North. Our first stop was Santa Rosalia-the former French mining town. We had a major disappointment when we found the French bakery (yes-Mexican baguettes) closed, presumably due to the holiday. We did manage to get a look at the Eiffel-designed church in town and some other really cool, odd buildings. Kelly was too hot or tired or too something (I’m sure she didn’t sleep so well either) so we got a quick snack.

SAN IGNACIO

The next town North was San Ignacio which we were also interested in seeing due to the interesting mission on the square. It was a nice afternoon with Mexican famililes hanging out on the square and visiting the mission. We had a picnic of tuna and crackers since nothing much was open.

The drive North was beautiful again-spectacular wildflowers in a desert full of seguarro cactus and Yucca/Joshua trees. We also experienced our first military checkpoint-so far so good-just took a quick look in the back and asked a few questions.

GUERRERO NEGRO AGAIN

We arrived in Guerrero Negro around 5 pm and stopped at the nice hotel which we had breakfasted at previously (La Marinella) and got a room. It was a little much ($50) but definitely the nicest room we have had in Mexico and there even seems to be hot (warm?) water. Unfortunately the pizza restaurant proved to be closed for the holiday so we decided to eat at the restaurant at our hotel. We had a very good meal of halibut and carne asada.

Mexico, Travel

In the morning we headed to the restaurant in our hotel for the bottomless cup of coffee (and some eggs topped with slices of ham and possibly American cheese). It tasted slightly better than it looked. The coffee worked though.

Then we wanted to stay in our room for another night and confusion followed. There was some Spanish confusion, but mostly it was a procedural problem. It seemed that 2 other people needed to check out before we’d be allow to stay. They wouldn’t be able to tell us for another hour or so.

We drove out to the Mission. The Mission was closed but cool looking. It was up on a hill too and looked out over the palm trees and the river. We spent some time on a small lookout nearby looking at the vista.

Back at the hotel we were told staying another day was ‘no problem’. So we headed for the beach.

We drove south to the Bahia Concepcion. The road wound along a coast with beautiful coves along the way. The concept of beach camping started to become clear with many of the beach fronts filled with RVs and 4WDs. The beach was then turned to a parking lot. It wasn’t particularly appealing.

Hungry (“100 times hungry” said Kelly) we stopped at a restaurant built right on the beach called Bertha’s. We were the only people there but it took about 30 minutes to get quesadillas. I tried quesotacos which, at least at this establishment could be described either as quesadillas with meat, or tacos with cheese. The food was easily the worst we’ve had but at least it allowed us to proceed to the beaches. We finally made it to El Requeson beach, described as “one of the 10 best beaches in Mexico”, which must mean that there aren’t very nice beaches in Mexico. It was pretty but full of campers and the wind really had picked up. We walked out to the islands which were attached to the beach via a sand bridge and Kelly was able to do some sand play while Peter and I relaxed. On our way back North we stopped at Coyote Beach which was recommended by some Americans at the restaurant. We got a nice spot on the beach to ourselves and Kelly played in the waves until the sun disappeared.

Back at the hotel we were able to get Kelly to nap and Peter and I were able to enjoy a beer on the patio outside our room while we worked on this journal. It was nice to be able to get Kelly a nap and not have to be hanging out with her. Peter and I also took turns taking little walks around town. When he came back he had news that there was a big party being set up at the gymnasium a block away (it was New Year’s Eve). This would prove to be a problem.

When Kelly woke up we took a walk around town and finally decided to eat dinner at our hotel. When we went into dinner around 7 there was one group ordering and the rest of the restaurant was empty. By the time we had ordered, the whole restaurant was full of Americans out for a nice New Year’s Eve dinner. We ate steak and some kind of fish we’d never heard of in front of a fire, and finally had a couple of margaritas (good). When our bills came, we got celebratory crowns and horns-it was actually a fun, festive atmosphere.

The very LOUD music of the party started around 10 pm, just after we got Kelly to sleep. We managed to fall asleep for awhile but woke up just before midnight and heard them playing a Mexican version of Auld Lang Syne. The loud music went on and we finally slept again for awhile. I woke up some time later and the music was still going on-I checked my watch and it was 5:20. It finally ended around 6:00! Now that’s a party. We had it pretty bad but there was a hotel adjacent to the party which must have been unbearable.

Mexico, Travel

Yes, there was no hot shower, even after letting the water run a LONG time as suggested by the hotel keeper. We ran into him outside while packing up and asked “Is there anywhere around here to get a cup of coffee?” He directed us inside and we had a very pleasant cup of coffee (probably called something like “cafe americano” with him and his family. He showed us pictures of a recent road trip he had taken “down” Baja, and we made simple conversation with his wife (who spoke no English) and daughters (who spoke some). We headed out feeling renewed by a night’s sleep and the warm feelings from a very sweet family.

We stopped at a Baja institution, Mama Espinosa’s in El Rosario, for lunch. The lobster burritos and fish tacos were really quite good. Leaving ER is supposedly leaving “civilized” Baja for the wild south.

We finally started to make some time on our drive, even though it was much hillier than expected. It was a landscape filled with rocks and cactus. There were no gas stations. No ATMs.

We weren’t sure we were going to do it but we pulled into Guerrero Negro just before dark (now about 6 since due to the time change as we entered Baja California Sur). GN is a bustling place, or at least it was Friday night of the New Year’s weekend. The town itself was hard to deal with-a busy divided road and it seemed like we were always on the wrong side. We selected a hotel to try and secured a room which was kind of natty Spanish but clean enough. Of course a group of rowdy young men checked in next door but they left around 9 and we had ear plugs to help when they returned very late. On our way to the bank we spotted a pizza place so decided to try pizza in order to break up the relentless “Mexican food”. The Hawaiian pizza we got was actually quite good, though we still went to sleep feeling a little sad-GN is not a very picturesque place.

Mexico, Travel

We drove into Mexico with plenty of expectations of what it would be like. Only 20 miles south of the Peets we sat drinking coffee earlier in the morning we entered Mexico (without having to stop for anyone) and most of those ideas proved wrong. I thought that being so close to San Diego — to the US border — at least the first part of Mexico would be more American than it was. Perhaps more american, in reality, translates to more crappy. But things around it were instantly Mexican. The cinderblock constructions of half completed buildings, the roadway with fast moving trucks and woman with grubby children running across it.

But initially, or at least for the first hour or so, we were isolated in our car and its sealed windows. Tijuana passed by on the left, the multiple walls and fences of the border to the right. Our first contact with anyone was the toll collectors as we took the 1D motor way south to Ensenada. We paid for the tolls in US dollars.

ENSENADA

At Ensenada we swung hard right and pulled up down the road from Immigration office to get our tourist card for travel south. It turns out that either every piece of information we had about what we needed to do for our card was wrong, or there was a good local scam going here. We had to pay a fine ($5 each, but not Kelly) for not getting our card at the border, and pay another $5 each for the forms needed to pay our fine! In addition we had to pay for our cards ($25 each). The worst part was the 2 hours it took to get the forms, pay our fine at the bank (of course the fine needed to be paid in cash) and get the authorities to stamp it. And there were only about 5 others trying to do the same thing.

We drove around Ensenada looking for a bank for a while until finally finding some place to park. The scene was pretty crazy. Out of the car we walked down the street to find a restaurant but soon entered the touristy zone (you could tell: it was labeled with a sign, it was full of bars with thumping music, and people started to beg or try to sell us necklaces) so we beat a retreat to what looked like a nice enough little restaurant a few blocks back.

We ordered and Patty and Kelly headed to the bathroom. I sipped my bottle of coke. Then suddenly I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. A rat, a big fury one, came flying by and headed towards the back of the restaurant. Right then Patty and Kelly came out of the bathroom and stepped into its path. It stopped. They stopped. Patty considered whether she was going to have to kick it. Kelly looked it straight in the eye then leapt up into Patty’s arms. The rat spotted an opening and headed left (with the restaurant staff in hot pursuit), Patty and Kelly headed right.

SAN VINCENTE

We drove south, no longer with a toll road, and the progress slowed. One town after another brought the speed limit down and suspension busting speed bumps made sure you kept to them. It seemed we’d never get anywhere.

With the sun setting low we decided we’d had enough for the day so decided to find some place to stay. It happened to be San Vincente. The hotel owner was really nice and had three little girls. We checked into a pretty bare room which seemed to not have hot water, but was basically clean and cheap. We walked across to the local park. The frontage roads to the highway were dirt filled with activity, children, stray dogs, pickup trucks coming and going.

We picked up some yogurt at a market, Kelly ate a hotdog from a roadside stand, and I had one of the best tacos I’ve ever had a taco sta

Mexico, Travel

“What are you doing for Christmas?” asks my co-worker.
“Heading south.”

Truth is, we plan to drive south until the water temperature is over 80 degrees, or we run out of time, or land. We’re headed to Baja California, leaving Christmas day. We have two weeks total, including 10 days of Mexican car insurance to play with, a 2001 Toyota 4Runner to get us down there, plus an almost four year old to entertain the whole way.

And we’re not stopping at no Lego Land.

Mexico, Travel