Heading into Baja 2011

Day one:  Tuesday, November 8, 2011:

We crossed the border at 10:30 am.  The border guards gave us a green light but the military stopped us for an inspection.  For the first time my guitar case was opened - he must have heard how fabulous my new Pii is.  He tapped on all the walls and ceiling and needed instruction to open the fridge, the door to the bathroom and the drawers.  Then he complemented us on our pretty motor home and left.  No problem. 

The road south from Tecate goes through wine country and the whole wine route was dry, the grapes looked more than somewhat parched, of course it is fall so maybe that’s how vines are supposed to look this time of year.  Its just that in previous years this whole area has been very green and lush when we have passed through it in December or January.  We had lunch at our usual spot, the gas station at Guadalupe.  We had a nice chat with the gas station attendant we met there last year.  He worked in the BC interior a few years back and his English is quite good.  He would like to come back to Canada to work but he does make good money at the Pemex and he has another job as well, he has a big family to support.  We rushed into Wal-Mart in Ensenada and then into Costco to get yet more “essentials.”  The motor home is really loaded this year….  We really need to cross the border earlier in the future to make it a more relaxing drive as we get toward nightfall.

It was a beautiful sunset, a big red fire ball dropping into the sea. We hoped the light would last till our arrival at Posada Don Diego in Colonia Vicente Guerrero (km 173 just before the gas plant).  However, it was a bit too far into darkness for my liking by the time we rolled in about 6:00.  While there are often big billboards advertising the RV parks, they are set off the road allowance and none of them have any night time illumination, so they are impossible to see once the sun sets.  We stayed at Don Diego’s in 2005, the first year we came down with Baja Adventures Caravan so we really only had a vague idea of its location.  I guess I should say Lorne had no idea and I was the one with the vague idea.  Its my job as navigator to have vague ideas….  You really have to know where you are going once darkness falls as the streets in these communities are buzzing with traffic this time of night; all going at great speed.  Many approaches off the highway are disastrous for our motor home, with abrupt jumps from the pavement to the sand.  And of course turning around in our motor home is not the easiest thing to do particularly given the unreliable approaches to the highway. 

We decided against staying at the fairly isolated beach at El Pabillon south of San Quintin as we haven’t seen a single camper or motor home since we arrived in Baja and we always like to camp with others.  There were no campers at Don Diegos either, however there is a restaurant open till 9 pm and then they have a night watchman so we felt comfortable. 

We had a nice chat with the proprietor, a young man with excellent English whose name escapes me.  He was born in San Diego, his mother is American and his father Mexican.  When an aunt purchased the property thirty some years ago, the family moved from the US to work at the RV park and restaurant.  As a child they had no television or movies so his US relatives sent lots of movies, all in English.  They always spoke English in the house and Spanish at school so he really does have excellent English.  They offer free internet, electricity, water and showers.  I do have a note I made in our guide book that the water is salty here, but we have full water tanks anyway from Potrero, where we camped in the US Monday night before crossing at Tecate. 

Driscols is an ever expanding operation here, employing many locals and supplying berries all over North America.  Prima tomatoes are also here big time.  Development is very apparent with lots of homes under construction and new small businesses; the market stands south of town are turning into little shops, and a Mexican Wal-mart is about to open.  They have a big, very beautiful, bridge crossing the big arroyo in town.  Annual wash outs led the locals to petition the governor for design improvements which led to this new bridge.  This one has to be the best we’ve seen in Baja yet.  It even has protected pedestrian walkways on each side as well as decorative sides.  There is an election next year and unfortunately this governor and president cannot be re-elected due to the limitation on terms being only 2, making a maximum of 6 years in office.