2021 NORRA Mexican 1000 + marooon's trying to go north!

A few weeks ago, we went down to San Felipe to see some of the NORRA race coming back up through town. Just a short day trip with me, the wife, and the two youngest.

We headed south through Tecate. With a shell on the truck, we ALWAYS get waved into the inspection area. A quick glance by the officer, and we were on our way. No issues heading down the Rumarosa, no traffic. No issues at the checkpoint at El Chinero. My wife's uncle has property in El Dorado, so we were able to go into the finish line area at the race. We saw our NORRA friends, and honestly, realized that we were happy that we didn't do the NORRA race this year. It was a bit of a bummer. No real festivities to speak of (understandable with the COVID restrictions in place), and a pretty mellow gathering of a handful of people. It was neat to see that the race WAS actually happening, but without a lot of the participation and fanfare, it validated our decisions to not do the race this year. Regardless, it was good to be there. Good to see the event happening, and good to experience a sort-of return to normalcy. Hopefully next year, it's back to the normal NORRA fun race festivities!

We camped on the beach at Pete's Camp in the back of our truck, with our new AirBedz air mattress, which was AWESOME.

The next morning, for the start of the race, we headed out on the road just south of El Dorado (on the mountain side), and went to watch the race where the course crossed over Zoo Road. We stayed for a few cars coming by, saw a couple of nice clean jumps, and a lot of extremely cautious crossings as well. A couple of Video links below....

We decided to get on the road, and based on the data we saw on the border wait times APP, we settled on the Mexicali East crossing. We tried to follow the instructions on Discover Baja's site. Turns out, these are WRONG. You cannot go into the Ready or SENTRI lane when approaching from the EAST. You must go down, make a u-turn, and approach from the west. There was an officer there who yelled as us for trying to squeeze our full size truck between the very narrow barricades. We ended up heading the half mile or so west, then making our u-turn, and approaching from the west. Here's where the fun starts.

As we were 3-4 cars from making the North-bound turn into the READY lane (by the way... why haven't I got SENTRI for my 1.5 year old yet???!?!?!), a car approached the READY lane entry from the EAST, tried to make the turn in, and the officer on his bike immediately stopped them. He got into the lane, and told them to go make the approach from the west, like everyone else. The female driver of the car was NOT happy, and got out of her car and started yelling at the officer. He then moved the plastic barricade in FRONT of the lane, thus blocking her (and all of us) from going in. She continued to yell at him. Her passenger got out of the vehicle to yell as well. Eventually a third person got out to yell.

At this point, the lady moved the barricade HERSELF over into the SENTRI lane. Now people can't get into EITHER the READY or SENTRI lane. Lots of horn-honking ensues. I decided that if there's ever a time to start recording video on my cell phone, THIS is it... (VIDEO LINK BELOW!!)

This circus continues for what seemed like 10 minutes... lots of yelling, attempted driving through barricades, attempted driving INTO the officer and his bike, and just an overall chaotic situation. All the while, there are NO cars entering SENTRI or READY lanes. The driver eventually got out again, went and MOVED the barricade blocking the SENTRI lane, and went into SENTRI, rather than READY. I'm SURE that she got pulled out of the line at the mid-point, or got sent to secondary, but we didn't get to see that aftermath. After how she was treating the Mexican officer, I'm fairly certain that she didn't just get waived through!!

It was quite the experience. Our crossing took just over an hour and a half, including the time that this crazy lady delayed us.

Overall, a good trip, fun times, tacos, racing, and we STILL got home in time to pick up the older kids from school. All in all, a successful trip.










NORRA Video 1
NORRA Video 2

Video of crazy lady crossing border

Quote: Originally posted by WestyWanderer

... sounds like the cop got a wild hair that day and decided to mess with people!

Sounds like a case of Karenitis.

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo

I love what you and your family do, and I am glad you share your trips with us! However, that photo of your daughter on your lap makes me cringe. There are so many ways that things can go very wrong, very fast with kids (or pets) on your lap while driving. I try to avoid being a downer on this forum, but I felt the need to speak up this time!

Understood, and no worries! We don't do this on any roads, etc. This was inside El Dorado, literally driving from the security gate to the other side of the parking area. Maybe less than 5 mph for a couple hundred yards. Buckling in their car seat for that was NOT an option (after a 5 hour drive from San Diego) for such a short ride. And this was a better option than the back seat where they could open the door.

And in case people say I'm being a cowboy because "it's Mexico"..., I'd do this in the states too.

I do appreciate your concern for our safety!

Quote: Originally posted by aburruss

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo   I love what you and your family do, and I am glad you share your trips with us! However, that photo of your daughter on your lap makes me cringe. There are so many ways that things can go very wrong, very fast with kids (or pets) on your lap while driving. I try to avoid being a downer on this forum, but I felt the need to speak up this time! Understood, and no worries! We don't do this on any roads, etc. This was inside El Dorado, literally driving from the security gate to the other side of the parking area. Maybe less than 5 mph for a couple hundred yards. Buckling in their car seat for that was NOT an option (after a 5 hour drive from San Diego) for such a short ride. And this was a better option than the back seat where they could open the door. And in case people say I'm being a cowboy because "it's Mexico"..., I'd do this in the states too. I do appreciate your concern for our safety!

I can't figure out how she was able to work the gas and brake!....great trip report, gracias

Quote: Originally posted by PaulW

Somebody should tell Baja Bound to get their directions fixed for the crossings.

Quote: Originally posted by aburruss

We tried to follow the instructions on Discover Baja's site. Turns out, these are WRONG.

Quote: Originally posted by David K

Quote: Originally posted by PaulW   Somebody should tell Baja Bound to get their directions fixed for the crossings. Quote: Originally posted by aburruss   We tried to follow the instructions on Discover Baja's site. Turns out, these are WRONG. This is not Baja Bound.

AND.. it turns out from other comments in this thread... they aren't NECESSARILY wrong... just "sometimes wrong".