Back from a nice coastal trip

In the group this year were: Mextron, Mexitron's cousin, my two sisters, their daughters, a friend of my older sister, and myself, all in four vehicles. Weather was very nice, no rain, not too hot, on the coast anyway, and ocean temps from 65 to 70. Plenty of good meals, over half from the ocean. No surf at all except for an occasional double over ankles....


Started out with a bummer though. Going through TJ with me in the rear, I got pulled over for speeding (which I was, but going with the flow of traffic) It happened just before the Playas de TJ exit. The cop said I could pay the ticket now, or go to the station, I chose the station....he gave me vague directions "take the next exit, then make it right, you can't miss it" I did, going slow, saw no station ...He pulled me over again and said “this will be a 1,500 peso fine, and how much did I feel I should pay” I asked if I could pay via credit card, he said “no, cash only, and now” I was eager to get back on the road, and decided to play his game. I offered $40, He said “Senor, this is 1,500 pesos, $150 dollars, how about $50 dollars”. Although I knew I was being taken, I really did not want to wait hours for a judge, and probably have to pay the full 1,500 pesos, as I had been speeding….I paid him the $50, he never fully wrote out the ticket, and gave my license back.

Back on the road we made good time, slow through the towns and a good pace on the open road. It helped having two-way radios, the person in the lead could tell the others when it was safe to pass, even in blind conditions.

On the road:


Stopping off at La Virgen to pray for a safe trip, warm water, surf, and good fishing:


Several hours later, the beach:


A cool, and foggy morning on our first full day:


We’re, sorry your morning coffee will be delayed do to circumstances beyond our control


Now here’s something you don’t see every day; the Mexican Navy stopping by to scout the area out as a place to set up an encampment to try to put a dent in drug trafficking. I the scouting party was a guy with lots of medals and 3 stars on his lapel, another guy had 2 stars. The grunts all had machine guns.
Not sure what this will mean for future visits. The owner of the beach is fine with us camping here, but this may completely wreck the feel of the area
Incoming!


planting the sign


what is says


The fishermen stopping by for some conversation, Tequila and ice cold beers.

Mexitron; my younger sister, Libby; Bernie; and Enrique


Here’s a dog that adopted us for a day and a half. The closest fish camp is probably 8 miles away. We gave him shade, some water, dog briskets, dried deer meet from the fishermen, and left-overs from dinner. He returned the favor by barking and letting us know every time a coyote tried to get close to camp in the middle of the night Because he was white we called him Paloma. He had very beautiful golden eyes.





Trinity and Libby going after the big ones


The creatue from the Baja Lagoon



Some memorable meals:

Mmmm Halibut, He got grilled with bacon and rosemary



Mmmm Cioppino


Blackened halibut with red beans and rice


A parting group shot


Moonrise in the desert on our final night


Sunrise the next morning 85degrees, 7:00 am




A parting sunset sometime during the trip.


Back to the border around 3 on a Monday, traffic was backed up to the bridge, we all got in line by 1-2 cars before the Mexican cops closed the access ramp down. Wait was around an hour, very fast considering how backed up the traffic was. My two sisters got sent to secondary as they had some left over bacon in their coolers, but otherwise a smooth transition back to reality

[Edited on 9-4-2007 by Taco de Baja]

Taco de Baja Thanks for the pictures and the report.

Here is map of where it went down. Happened around 5:45 am.
I tried several time offering him $40, but he wanted more.



Incidentally, on the way home we saw lots of gringos pulled over in small towns, something I have not seen before....Maybe the cops have moved out of TJ and Ensenada to points south....

This was a good photo spot for me too! Is the federally landing spot near here?