Day 32 - The Gaunlet Part II

Last day in Mexico.  We were up early, and off to the world's busiest border crossing - Tijuana.  But not before another toll & military checkpoint just leaving Ensenada.  This one went smoothly, and we were back on our way in no time.

As we approached the border, the guesstimate game began.  I guessed the longest, at 2hrs.  This was based on typical stories I'd heard in the past.  Matt & Vicky were at 1.5hrs and 1hr respectively.

If you haven't seen pictures of the TJ border crossing, or experienced it for yourself, you'd be in for a shock.  Vendors littered the approach, trying pry away those last few pesos left in your pockets.  Picture three lanes of traffic, and movable displays on either side of every lane.  Then you had the stationary vendors on the far right side.  Food, drinks, clothing, pinatas, paintings, etc, etc, etc.  Getting a drink here is a bad idea.  With no washrooms in site, and a looooooong wait ahead is not a pleasant concoction. 

 Once across the border demarcation line, the vendors are gone and three lanes split into five, then 7, then 10. The crawl through the vendors turned into a dash for the border, as vehicles shoe-horned their way into the optimal lanes - sometimes making new lanes.  The final number of lanes/booths open was 24.  With all this traffic, we didn't see a single RV or trailer.  Hmmm, did we miss a sign?  No turning back now.

We got to the booths, gave our info, and then were asked to pull ahead and park.  Another search of the trailer, no big deal.  We had to be at the wrong location though, because there was no place to pull over.  The border guard directed us to make a left turn after the booth (the exit to the highway was right) and park facing oncoming traffic.  Great, I'd have to back into traffic to get out.

We had to wait about 5 minutes before two border guards came over to search the truck & trailer.  We all stepped out, but I remained with the truck at the request of one of the guards. As he looked, he asked me a few questions.  When finishing up, he asks "Any guns?"  I laugh a bit and respond "No, we're Canadian."  Luckily he had a sense of humour and laughed along, then said, "OK, you're good to go."

When we were back in the truck and ready, the two border guards blocked traffic so we could back up and get on our way.  The 14 lanes of cars we blocked off weren't too impressed.


Back in the USA, I checked into a trailer park for the night on the South end of San Diego and dropped Matt & Vicky off at the bus station.  They were heading back to BC the following day, and wanted to stay in the city.  We'd meet up later for drinks.  BTW, this is New Year's Eve (yeah, yeah, I'm waaay behind).

Set-up the trailer, did some laundry, then headed into the big city.  Drinks had to wait though.  First, we had a show to attend.  Those of you familiar with Red Bull, will also be familiar with their sponsorship and production of extreme events.  If you read my blog entry on the tour of the USS Midway, you may recall I referenced the set-up. This year on New Year's Eve, San Diego would see a tandem jump of a motorcycle and a snowmobile in the yacht club harbour.

Fog rolled in and out of the harbour all evening, and people all around were questioning whether or not the event would happen.  And, if it did, would anyone see it.  Well, as if by magic, the fog mostly rolled out just before go-time, and off they went.

You still couldn't see the entire run-up and landing due to some light fog remaining, but we were in a great location to see the landing.  Of course that's the most important part.  Anyone can launch a bike or snowmobile, it's the landing that counts.  They hung in the air for what seemed like hours, but both landed safely.  A new world record distance for both.

The youtube video can be found here.

And more here
After the show, we funnelled into the streets of San Diego with about 5-8000 others.  Could have been more, that's a conservative estimate.

We walked up to a few pubs, but most had a New Year's special on for $50+.  We finally found one of the brew pubs only charging a $10 cover.  Good enough.  Or so we thought.  Took 20 minutes to get a server, then we had some of the worst beer I've ever tasted.  EVER.  Wow, this stuff was bad.  We only had couple - second for me was not theirs - and a bite to eat, then headed down to the USS Midway for a fireworks show.  Unfortunately, the fog had rolled in again, so the show was a bust.

Not wanting to get on the drunk train (last tram of the night), we said our goodbyes and I headed back to the trailer.

I was looking forward to getting out of the city tomorrow and into some mountain biking & moto terrain.

Day 31 - The Night the Lights Went Down in Mexico

Our last night in Mexico had to be in the town.  Luckily there was a trailer park within about 10 blocks of the touristy shopping area of Obrera.  It is also the home of Hussong's Cantina, the birthplace of the margarita.  We saved visiting Hussong's for the last night so it would be a special treat.

We got set-up in the new trailer park by late morning, then headed into the fray.  We took in a wine tasting at the Santo Tomas winery, browsed through some flea markets, had lunch in the park, toured a museum, and perused a local art gallery.

The sun was now on it's way to bed, so we stopped into a small sports bar for a quick pre-dinner beer.  They had free wifi, so we couldn't resist.  About half-way through our beer, the power went out.  Not a single person in the bar seemed distressed in the least.  It was like this happened all the time, so we didn't worry either.  The staff quickly delivered candles to every table to try and save the evening.  Another five minutes passed, and the power has still not returned.  Some of the customers decided to leave, others enjoyed the peacefulness of the low light and reduced sound level (no power = no music).

We decided on leaving as well, since the wifi was the main draw to this place, and that was now unavailable.  Upon exiting the bar we find the entire street is void of lights.  Police cars block the entrance to some of the streets.  Water was flowing on some streets.  There hadn't been any rain lately.  The first guess was a water main break and the power was cut for safety reasons.  Second guess was a fire.

The search for power began.  We walked street after street in low light.  Thousands of people shared our seemingly aimless march towards the unknown in every direction.  Hussong's was only a few blocks away, so we headed in that direction.  When one access point was cut-off by police, we selected another.  We eventually came within a half block of Hussong's and encountered the source of the power loss.  Military vehicles and personnel had the street blocked off and taped.  Smoked billowed out of one of a building directly across the street from Hussong's.  No margarita for us.

We joined the spectacle for a few minutes before resigning to go for a late dinner.

Luckily our chosen dinner spot had power.  We enjoyed a lazy meal, then stopped buy a small cafe for a final drink before heading back to the trailer.  Power still hadn't returned to the area by the time we left - 5 hours and counting.

Despite the situation - no power, Mexico, night - we didn't feel the least bit threatened.  Perhaps this is just the way in Baja.  Perhaps it's different then mainland Mexico.  Perhaps the travel advisories are wrong.  Whatever the case, I wouldn't hesitate to visit Baja again or recommend it to anyone else.

Day 30 - Captain Hook

After the too brief taste of whales the day before, I insisted on a whale watching tour.  Matt and Vicky had been before, so I wasn't expecting them to go along.  Well, Vicky wasn't having any of that.  If someone was seeing whales, it was her.  Matt also jumped aboard, so we loaded into the truck and headed to Ensenada.

There was plenty free of parking right near the marina, so we dropped the truck and headed over to see what deal we could make.  Turns out there were no deals.  Everyone had the same price.  No group discounts (or at least not for just three people).  No worries, $25 wasn't overly expensive for a 4 hour tour....a 4 hour tour......

We settled on none other than Captain Hook, a transplanted Texan.  An English speaking captain was ideal, since there would be no translation issues.  We still had about 2 hours before the tour started, so we wandered through the town and picked up some lunch for the 12:00 tour.

Who can resist visiting a Mexican dentist?

This sculpture was near the marina.

Named "Whale Man".

We were told to show up right at noon.  We offered to arrive early, but the woman who sold us the tickets (the captain's Mexican wife) said "No, twelve o'clock OK".  We should have assumed the time was flexible, and very unlikely to leave on time.

We arrived 5 minutes early anyway, and were told we could load onto the boat.  Her son was preparing the boat, and would be there to help us aboard.  It was a decent sized boat, and we were the first to arrive, so we checked out the facilities and viewing options.  There bow was a large flat deck ideal for viewing, but not so comfortable.  The stern had a couple of plastic deck chairs and away from the wind, but no great viewing.  Between was an enclosed 'lounge' area with a love seat and rocker chair.  Perfect for what should be a cold ride out to the ocean.  We selected this space, and would move out to one of the decks later.

We waited about 15 minutes before another 4 people came aboard.  We figured this was the last minute stragglers and we'd now be on our way.  No so.  12:30 comes by and Matt decides to take a walk up to the pier and see what the hold up was.  The captain's son says we'll be going shortly, just waiting for the captain to finish up something.  1:00 comes and goes.  I head back to where we bought the tickets.  The wife says I just missed the Captain, he should be on the boat and heading out any second.  I rush back to the boat to find a half dozen more customers aboard plus Captain Hook & his son.  I'm not late though.  They're working on the engines.  It's not until 1:30 (90 minutes late!!!) that we finally depart.

Vancouver is pretty laid-back, but this is ridiculous.

Forgot to mention the third crew member

One of the biggest flags you'll ever see

looms over the harbour

Hundreds of pelicans congregate on the outer break wall

There were two viewing areas we didn't originally consider.  When we were coming up to the first spotting area, the Captain looked back to Matt, Vicky & I, and said the view from the helm was one of the best "come on up if you want.  Or, you can go up top".  Up top?  We didn't even notice the third deck.

Took this picture after the tour.

Note the obvious bench seat above the captain (red jacket)

I didn't need to be asked twice, and headed straight to the top.  Vicky decided she'd brave the ladder as well and joined me.  Matt headed up to the helm deck.

Great view from up top :)

You can see blowhole spray well before the whale itself.  Everyone was on spray watch duty.  Didn't take too long to spot our first whale of the day.  The captain quickly headed over.

It was difficult to time the surfacing and get good pictures.

Getting closer

Perhaps even better than the whales, were the schools of dolphins that accompanied them.  It was nearly impossible to get a good picture of them.  They're just so darned fast.  When we were near the whales, they constantly played alongside the boat.  When leaving the whale, they'd play for about a half mile before dropping pursuit.

Barely got these two.

Two more just after a whale had surfaced in the distance.

We stayed with this whale for about 20 minutes, then went searching for a pair who were reported to be in the area.  It didn't take too long to find them.

They were stingy about showing their tails, and Matt was the only one to get a clear picture.  I got two blurry shots, and that's it.

Picture of the day?

We tracked down one more and watched him for a about 15 minutes before he lost us.  It was time to head back in.

About half way back to the harbour, we spot about a hundred dolphins in three groups.  A few had a play in our wake, and we also passed a lone seal feeding in the deep waters.

We travel back to the campsite in darkness and fog.  The fog was so thick at times, that I had to drop down to under 15kph for safety.  Some cars just pulled off the road.  It was an interesting drive, but we arrived without incident.

We'd have dinner in the trailer tonight.  And of course a couple of cervazas.

Day 29 - The Gauntlet

Just a short drive (9km) from our campsite was TINY town of La Bufadora.  What makes this scenic town relevant, is a natural "marine geyser", AKA blowhole, that provides oohs and ahhs throughout the day.  The town lies at the end of highway 23, and only locals have access to the town roads beyond.

 Just a few hundred people live there, but hundreds more line up for a chance at some of your disposable green-backs.  It's a virtual gauntlet of vendors selling cheap food, t-shirts, Mexican toys, and prescription drugs.  Yes, that last one you heard right.  Vendors hounding you about buying anything you would or could ever need in the Rx department.

One of my "idiot list" items was to eat a Churro.  I had reservations, since I'm a strict vegan when it comes to food.  After looking at the list of ingredients, I figured they were safe.  Here was the opportunity, so I had a go.

It's basically just a donut.  They're cooked as a long rope, then chopped up into 4" strips, bagged, and served like french fries.  They weren't too bad.  Both Matt and Vicky also had a taste.

We gazed at all the shop fronts, but bought nothing else.  Onto the blowhole.

The only time to see the blowhole is at high tide.  That's when the force of water is greatest, and reaches the highest heights.  Vicky had looked up the tide tables before we left that morning, and we timed our trip accordingly.  Matt had looked at some videos before hand, and said it didn't look that impressive.  It was impressive in person.  So, these pictures will NOT do this natural attraction justice.  You'll just have to imagine being there.

These kid are about 50 feet above the ocean surface

On the highest surges, I did get sprayed with water.

Almost as much as the kids in front of me.

The guy on the right is standing where

 I took the first three pictures above.

He moved right after this picture.  Soaked :)

High tide had passed,

but a few decent sized bursts were still occurring

After this, we looked around the town, then headed down to the shore for lunch and a paddle in the water.  It was a bright sunny day, and the water felt great.  Though too cold for a proper swim.  Vicky was the only one brave enough to go completely into the water.  Her and I also briefly saw a couple of dolphins far out in the bay.  Matt called BS on us, as we only saw them for a short instant.  Did we imagine them?

Ended our day with a beer on one of the patios and took in the scenery. 

Off in the distant ocean we could see whales surfacing, and whale watching boats chasing them.  Great end to the day.