Baja Bound, Part 8

Lebec, California USA to Ensenada, Mexico

Dave and Lynne at the front and Peter and Dee behind.

It is now 11 days since we left our home in British Columbia.

We are up bright and early and ready to roll out of Lebec at 8am.

Anders and I decided we would drive ahead, because Lynne and Dave with their motor-home and Peter and Dee with their truck and 5th wheel will take a bit longer. So we drove ahead.

It's Sunday morning and the perfect time to drive through Los Angeles and San Diego. Traffic, yes, but not problems. We then all met later at the Albertson Store at El Cajon just past San Diego on the #94 Hwy.

Wine country in Mexico

Arriving in Ensenada

Here we shopped for the last little US things and headed toward Tecate and the Mexican border. We parked our vehicles and walked over to the Mexican side. We were met by a Mexican official and had our tourist visas stamped. Then we walked back to the USA and picked up our vehicles.

We were a little nervous, but Dave explained that most of the time we would just drive through. Well, Peter and Dee did. We got searched by friendly border guards,and then were sent on our way.

Dave and Lynne, got searched and were not as lucky. The border Guards decided that the 9.9hp motor Dave had with him for the boat, he would have to pay import duty on. They brought the motor last time no problem, but this time they through the book at them. It is not easy to know with all these things.

We were waiting and nobody knew what was going on. Lynne and Dave had to wait for the right person that would decide how much duty.....

Two hours later we finally see Dave and Lynne coming down the highway. Good, they did not end up in jail. We were so happy to see them again.

Dave filled up with gas at the Pemex station up at the top of the hill. All gas stations are Mexican owned and look the same. Usually they also have "servicios", washrooms.

View from our room

After all this excitement, we are soon

Dinner with Lynne and Dave

 on the road again on the Ruta Del Vino, the Vine Route.

Morning Walk around the resort.

We go through Valle de la Calafia

Dee, Lynne and Peter in the RV park, also part of the resort.

and Valle Quadeloupe on hwy #3 where large wineries have made their home. The towns close to the wineries are pretty nice, other then that, the area looks very poor.

The road from Tecate to Ensenada is very narrow and curvy with sharp drops off the pavement. The scenery is wonderful and the evening glow makes it all look good.

At about 6 pm we roll into Ensenada, a big city of about 280,000 people on the pacific ocean. Poor areas, tourist areas, local nice areas. We drove all through town to the Estero Beach Resort. We had a reservation and our room is fantastic with a view of the pacific.

Peter and Dee went to bed early, and we had supper with Dave and Lynne at the resort. We had some really good Mexican wine with dinner "Don Luis - Cetto"

During dinner Dave and Lynne informed us that their motor home needs new brakes and drum repair. We will stay here two nights.

Then next morning we took a nice long walk around the hotel grounds. As we were crossing one of the roads a gentleman stopped in his SUV and asked if we wanted a ride. We said no thanks, we needed the exercise. He promptly pointed out that I (Anders) could use some, but not Liz.

We chatted some more, and he introduced himself as the owner Antonio Novelo Silva. He owns this hotel and 4 more. A very nice man. His son Luis is the manager.

With the help of the front desk staff, Dave got a mechanic out to fix his break, they did a fantastic job, all for $150.00, Dave gave him $200. Great service.

Both of us loved Estero Beach and will stop there on the way back home.

More pictures from this part of the trip, click here.


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