oxxo - 8-20-2010 at 11:30 AM
Made the 1200 mile trip from SoCal to Cabo on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
Crossed at Tecate. We parked on the street on the Mexican side near Immigracion. No problems. What's new is that you no longer pay at the bank
across the street from Immigracion. They send you 3 blocks toward town to pay at Bancomer across the the street from the downtown plaza. 180 day
tourist visas were 262 pesos each. Immigracion has you fill out a paper and then take it to the bank to pay and get the paper stamped. You take this
back to Immigracion and he issues the visa. Be aware that Bancomer doesn't open til 8:30 am. We had to wait around 30 minutes for the bank to open.
I don't know what they have you do if the bank is closed.
Road work. The roads in Baja Sur are in much better condition than the roads in Baja Norte. There was a lot of road construction in Baja Norte, more
than in Baja Sur. In Norte, the detours are primarily rough graded dirt. In Baja Sur, the detours are primarily paved. The significant construction
is south of Tecate for about 20 miles. We were driving an Escape Hybrid and the detour south of Tecate was no problem. However, I would take another
route if it has been raining. Also, I would not recommend taking this detour if you are towing a trailer or driving an RV. The only other
significant construction is for about 20 miles south of Todos Santos. The 4 lane is complete from La Paz to Todos Santos and they are now working
south from TS to complete the 4 lane to Cabo.
Guerrero Negro. We were going to stay at Caracoles but they were full! I never expected that in August! So we stayed across the street at Cowboys
for 500p. Cowboy has added in room WIFI that was very fast. Very convenient. Had a wonderful meal at Malarrimo.
Cd. Constitucion. We drove right down the middle two lanes around 12:30pm. We kept the speed at the posted 40kph. We came to a full stop at each
stop sign. We were very polite to pedestrians. We saw numerous local police and Federales. No one bothered us (we have California plates). We
found a great taco stand at the north entrance to town run by a mother and her daughter. It is the first taco stand on the right as you enter from
the north. What is unusual is that she makes the tortillas fresh for you right before your eyes! YUM, YUM, YUM! 12 pesos each for either fish or
carne asada.
Traffic was very light south of San Quintin. We had to stop at each checkpoint along the way, first time ever. They wanted to know where we were
coming from, where we were going, and the purpose of our trip. We were waved on each time without an inspection.
As always, a very enjoyable trip. The Boojums were in bloom. It's good to be back home.
[Edited on 8-21-2010 by oxxo]
Bajahowodd - 8-20-2010 at 01:00 PM
While I have done it, I haven't made that trip with a single overnight stop in several years. Just wondering how many hours you spent on the road each
day.
oxxo - 8-20-2010 at 03:33 PM
It is about 10 hours from Tecate to GN and about 12 hours from GN to Cabo. We usually spend the night in La Paz, but didn't this time because of the
longer daylight hours. We share the driving. It is two long days of hard driving. I don't recommend this to others, but it works for us.
willyAirstream - 8-20-2010 at 04:21 PM
I'm coming down in 2 weeks from Colorado, pulling a 24' TT. Do you recommend crossing at Tecate and if so, which road from there? I'd like to avoid
construction and bumpy roads 
ThX
Bajahowodd - 8-20-2010 at 04:25 PM
I really think oxxo already told us. I'm sure there will be other opinions, but the road between Tecate and Ensenada is not fun right now. Consider
crossing at Otay and heading down Blvd 2000 to the toll road.
willyAirstream - 8-20-2010 at 04:30 PM
This is my first time, so i needed details, which you provided. Thanks!
Bob and Susan - 8-20-2010 at 05:01 PM
willy
take 70 to the 15
then straight south
cross at tj
avoid otay mesa
too complicated with a trailer
road is good
TMW - 8-21-2010 at 09:02 AM
Thanks for the excellent report. I was wondering about Constitucion since I'll be doing three trips down in Oct and Nov. Thanks for the tip on the
taco stand too.