Archive for February, 2010
Posted on February 5, 2010 by angela
Our friends Becky and Jennifer have an aunt who owns a hotel and restaurant in San Felipe – George’s Hotel and Bar. It’s a great place to relax and the staff is really friendly. If you stop by, you might get to meet their aunt Rafaela. Chevy is a bit of a character, and you’ll probably meet him too. Since Becky and Jennifer called ahead (and obviously put in a good word for us,) we got a sweet deal. As a bonus, George’s restaurant has the best chilaquiles I’ve ever had.
San Felipe seems to be set up for ex-pats and attracts mostly Arizona and California visitors. Other than fishing, it’s also a prime spot for off-road types to start their Baja adventure. The sort of place where dune-buggies, ATV’s and dirtbikes are more common on the downtown streets than regular cars.
This should be the height of tourist season, but the roaming vendors seem to outnumber the visitors 100 to 1. We’re guessing either the economy and/or fear of crossing the border seems to have kept most Americans away. We wandered the beaches and the town for a couple of days feeling like we had the town to ourselves. I know there are many American towns suffering from the economy too, but it was a little sad to see how the lack of tourism can effect a place like this.
I’m guessing when Spring Break rolls around the town will be hopping again.
Posted on February 4, 2010 by angela
We have read and been warned about the roads in Mexico and now we know first-hand. The road from Ensenada to San Felipe is in poor condition. Maybe it has been the recent rain, maybe just disrepair. Not only are there major potholes (hot tub size in some parts,) but there are areas where the road has just fallen apart or disappeared. Occasionally there is a cone, a few rocks and a hand painted arrow directing you off the highway and onto a dirt road. The dirt road is single-laned, and there is no one directing you or the oncoming traffic. And, it really isn’t a road so much as an area cleared of cacti so that you can drive through the detour. Still, the potholes on the paved sections are the only places to really watch out.
After a few hours of mostly avoiding potholes (there are so many it is impossible to avoid them all,) the bus developed a new rattle. Jason hopped out once to check it and thought it was just a newly-missing bolt on the front pan. After driving a little further and the noise getting louder, we stopped again only to discover the shock under the driver’s side wheel had rattled completely off. The bolt that was supposed to hold it on was still there, but part of the shock itself blew out. Jason semi-repaired it and put it on backwards so it would hopefully stay put a while. He mentioned something about figuring out how to re-assemble the shock and adding it to The List. Bode and I ate lunch and played games in the bus.
The roadside is littered with all sizes of tires debris, treads and shredded rubber, so we are clearly not the first people with problems on this stretch of road. No whole tires – just remnants of disintegrated tires. Baja road-kill.
Also, there was some snow on the mountaintops on our drive across the peninsula near Mike’s Sky Ranch. If there’s snow in Mexico, we’ll find it.
You know it was a good movie when…
We’ve been waived through about 4 military checkpoints, but on our way to San Felipe they said they wanted to do an inspection. Jason and I hopped out and I opened the sliding door to get Bode. Four armed military men waited while I tried to get his attention. Needless to say I was a little flustered when I couldn’t and tried to explain that he couldn’t hear me because of his headphones. Forgetting all Spanish, I resorted to the international headphones sign complete with look of fear on my face. They laughed it off, and then one of the men (and his gun) got into the car and sat down beside Bode to see what was so engrossing. Bode was clueless and continued to be entranced by the movie – even giggling at one point.
A cursory look around the inside of the bus was all it took before they waived us on, reporting to the others that the boy was watching Robots. They were still laughing as we drove away, making the headphone sign and all.
Later, we asked Bode if he had noticed the four armed men around the car, or the guy sitting next to him in the bus. Nope. I guess he’s so used to stopping for repairs that he didn’t even look up.
Posted on February 3, 2010 by angela
We stopped at a few wineries along the route to Ensenada that couldn’t have been more different. LA Cello is a big Italian-owned facility with Napa-inspired facilities and a large tasting room. Close by was our favorite, the small organic Dona Lupe. It is housed among farmlands in a red stucco house. Inside they sell homemade cheeses, marmalade and sauces.
After sampling only a couple, Bode picked out the quince-pineapple marmalade and declared it the winner. They gave us some crackers and a knife and sent us to the back deck. With the kid occupied with jelly, we shared a tasting of 4 red wines. We were the only people there, so sometimes they forgot to come out and give us the next pour. That was ok, it was a beautiful place to linger and we were in no hurry.
We’ll just say that the wines have a different quality than what we were accustomed to in Northern California. Still, the entire experience was awesome. Wandering muddy Mexican back-roads looking for vineyards and getting the bus absolutely filthy? We may never go wine-tasting on paved roads again.
When we got to Ensenada, we hit the beach. The Pacific breeze kept things cool, but it was a good place to get out and run around.
Then we went into town. It was a a bit touristy for our taste, but it is a good place to warm up on our Spanish. Here we found the blaring nightclubs, drunk Americans, and touts trying to convince us to buy trinkets, wrestling masks, and other Mexican-themed junk as we passed each storefront. We passed on all opportunities for “a special offer just for you.” Saying “no, gracias” becomes tiring.
Later, we found the area we dubbed Gringo-Land where there were nothing but U.S.-based big box stores and fast-food restaurants. Most of the cars in the parking lot were from the States. We took care of some business, like getting new cell phones ($11 for a new SIM card and away we go – bye bye US cell phone companies,) and Bode spent some time at the fast-food restaurant play structure (free Wi-fi!) Here, instead of trying to learn Spanish, he was trying to teach the other kids English – poorly. I kept hearing him telling the other kids “hello means hi.”
We met a new friend via Couchsurfing – Alfred. He welcomed us and fed us homemade tostadas and guacamole. He kept saying it was just a little something – no trouble at all – but the meal kept growing and growing. We ate until we almost burst.
He also gave us some great information about Baja. He’s traveled quite a bit and has been considering a job offer in Dubai. He has family around Houston, so we talked about familiar places too.
Alfred projected photos and maps of Baja on the wall to show us where we should go. Bode thought this was pretty cool. He wanted to use ‘Street View’, his favorite Google maps application, but Baja doesn’t have street views yet. So, he showed Alfred our hometown, and where we used to get ice cream.
The next day we headed to La Bufadora – the Blowhole. It’s the tourist thing to de here and we just couldn’t pass it up. While the attraction was semi-impressive, the tourist area was a little sad. Not many tourist and lots of vendors. The best part of our visit was El Campo #5. For $6, we camped by ourselves on top of world. Beautiful view and sunset to die for.
Posted on February 2, 2010 by angela
We stayed with the very generous Jean in San Diego for a few more days and wrapped up some final details before leaving the country.
Mexican car insurance. $108 for six months. Check.
Copies of all important documents. Check.
Extra bus parts. Check.
Multiple trips to the Post Office. TJ’s. One last Indian food buffet. Huge stash of rice milk for Bode. Check. Check. Check. Check.
We also had time to see several of our California friends one more time too. An excellent way to wrap up our warm-up lap around the U.S.
After all of our encounters with bad weather, we were in Southern California just in time for the biggest storm of year. So, without further hesitation, it was time to leave Lady Liberty behind and head further South.
Tecate was our first destination, but we did everything wrong. The guide books and other folks all tell you to cross first thing in the morning and take care of all the ‘headaches’ and drive away as quickly as possible. We’re late sleepers and we goofed off all the way. We showed up at 4:30 pm with no real plan. We thought about staying on the US side of the border, but we just didn’t see any place worth stopping. Miles and miles of nothing followed by an imaginary line and a large Mexican city pushed up against the border.
There was no waiting at the border crossing and we were waived right through, so we just drove right in. No passport check or anything. We parked the bus (we were told earlier there would be no parking anywhere) and got out to get our tourist cards (only needed for long stays.) Again, no problems and no waiting. We were the only people in the immigration office and the officers were friendly and helpful and spoke perfect English.
It was getting dark, so we had to find a place to stay in Tecate to validate our cards the next day at the bank. Our hotel was sort of institutional-feeling, and for some reason they decided to mount all the fluorescent lighting about 12 inches off the ground. Strange, but we didn’t complain for a place right in the center of town with gated parking for $22.
We walked around Tecate a while and Bode got to start practicing Spanish with the very friendly restaurant owners at dinner. Later, Bode did express some concern about the weather, “Dad, you said it would be warm in Mexico…and it is not warm! You were wrong!” Just a few more days, we told him.
He also had innocent but expansive questions like “what’s a border?” and “what’s poverty?” and was introduced to watermelon Popsicles with seeds. It’s a whole new world.
The next day we decided to explore the town a bit more. Tecate is a completely average Mexican town and that’s why we picked it. No touts trying to herd people into blaring bars. No major tourist stuff or crap stores. Just a regular town with a pleasant central square and shopping district.
There are lots of dentists and doctors offices here, so if you’re interested in medical tourism this seems to be an easy place to do it.
We considered the Tecate Brewery tour, but we decided to skip it and head out to Ensenada via the Ruta Del Vino. That’s right – Mexican wine country.
The drive was scenic and fun and was made more exciting by our sub-par Spanish. We are learning this the hard way.
J: What does ‘peligroso’ mean?
A: Beautiful
Jason steers through a treacherous mountain curve.
A: AHHHH! Dangerous! Dangerous! It means Dangerous!
J: Well, it was a beautiful, dangerous curve. Look! More beautiful curves ahead!
The drive was through lots of green farmland and mountains. It reminded us of the Big Island in Hawaii, and not at all what I was expecting in Baja.
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