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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
Member Is Offline
Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Tecate Crossing
Headed to Ensenada on Thursday Sept 19 with two loaded pickup trucks full of personal items and a used washing machine.
Hit the Tecate crossing at about 12:30, the declare lane was blocked off by orange cones. Detoured to a regular lane, got the green light.....expected
customs guys to come running and flag us over......nope, all three of then were leaning against one of their shiny new Dodge pickups.
Drove through town, stopped at every stop sign, moved with the flow of traffic. Did not see any police cars or motorcycles.
No military checkpoints from Tecate to Ensenada
All in all, an uneventful crossing
PS: Dog was in the camper shell, no seatbelt, no doggy car seat. Cat was snoozing on the dashboard.
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sancho
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2524
Registered: 10-6-2004
Location: OC So Cal
Member Is Offline
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You're living on the edge, perro has no seat belt?
Gato not in an approved carrier, anchored by no less
than 4 points
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
Member Is Offline
Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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No Bite
| Quote: | Originally posted by sancho
You're living on the edge, perro has no seat belt?
Gato not in an approved carrier, anchored by no less
than 4 points |
I was trolling for the infamous Tecate Police mordita shakedown, but no luck.
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chuckie
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6082
Registered: 2-20-2012
Location: Kansas Prairies
Member Is Offline
Mood: Weary
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I use super glue on my cats feet until we clear the hill...
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by chuckie
I use super glue on my cats feet until we clear the hill... |
You cruel man! Bungie cords or suction cup shoes should do the trick!!!
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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beachbum1A
Nomad
Posts: 442
Registered: 6-17-2006
Location: Punta Banda, BC
Member Is Offline
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I was going to ask about the "used washing machine" but then thought better of it. 
Just do it!
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RnR
Senior Nomad
Posts: 836
Registered: 5-1-2010
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajaguy
Hit the Tecate crossing at about 12:30, the declare lane was blocked off by orange cones. Detoured to a regular lane, got the green light.....expected
customs guys to come running and flag us over......nope, all three of then were leaning against one of their shiny new Dodge pickups.
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The Declare Lane has been blocked by cones for a couple of years. They use the area as covered parking....
If you actually stop at the customs area office in front of the cones to declare something, you have to back up and then proceed through one of the
Nothing To Declare lanes.
Sometimes the agents standing around the two open lanes take a quick look, and sometimes not .....
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J.P.
Super Nomad
Posts: 1673
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
Mood: Easy Does It
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajaguy
| Quote: | Originally posted by sancho
You're living on the edge, perro has no seat belt?
Gato not in an approved carrier, anchored by no less
than 4 points |
I was trolling for the infamous Tecate Police mordita shakedown, but no luck. |
Too bad, you didn't get a chance to show them your Badge
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EnsenadaDr
Banned
Posts: 5027
Registered: 9-12-2011
Location: Baja California
Member Is Offline
Mood: Move on. It is just a chapter in the past, but don't close the book- just turn the page
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Tecate on the American side was full of delays at least an extra 40 minutes because of the US side repaving the road. I don't see why it is needed
but avoid it I would imagine for the next few days.
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8813
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Full Time Residents
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| Quote: | Originally posted by beachbum1A
I was going to ask about the "used washing machine" but then thought better of it. |
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bajabuddha
Banned
Posts: 4024
Registered: 4-12-2013
Location: Baja New Mexico
Member Is Offline
Mood: Always cranky unless medicated
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I had a WONDERFUL experience crossing at Tecate. After securing my FMM and driving to the new 'updated' electronic gate system, i pulled to the
gate-pole, and waited.... and waited... and a young official looking joven walked out after about 3 minutes, looked at me like a bull looking at a new
gate, and waved me closer to the bar. I crept foreward for maybe 6" and he signaled to 'alto', and nothing happened. He showed more perplexivity
(word? por que chinga no?) and then called someone on his cellphone, asking apparently why the gate wasn't working properly. After another 3 - 5
minutes, he gets a call back, looks at me, gives me the Universal Hand Gesture for 'just a moment', and Lo! and behold, the gate OPENS! So, i pulled
through. As i started down the hill he signalled me to stop and back up, and i happily waved to him, "thanks for letting me through", and proceded
through down-town Tecate.
Now, half-way up the 'Big Hill' and 5 or 14 stop signs and lights later, i had a Tecate Gendarme do a 'yoo-ee' right in front of me and turn on his
bubblegum machine on the side of the road. My sphincter factor is now a +5, and i, in the left lane and he on the right side of the road kept our
perspective goals in mind... Me, getting the Phouque out of Dodge, and he, doing whatever it was he was doing that had nothing to do with me.
I must admit, it was a memorable experience. One for the books. Stop by for a beer and i'll tell you why i was so concerned.....
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE......
bb.
I don't have a BUCKET LIST, but I do have a F***- IT LIST a mile long!
86 - 45*
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Udo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6346
Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
Member Is Offline
Mood: TEQUILA!
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MY experiences through Tecate, have been uneventful. Trailer, boat, or stuff or top of the FJ. Always went through with a green light, and no cops in
sight.
The only cops I ever did see were the ones that sometimes direct traffic to the border crossing into the US.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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Chupacabra
Nomad
Posts: 476
Registered: 7-11-2013
Location: La Jolla, CA
Member Is Offline
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I never go go Tecate anymore to cross...only two lanes + no sentri + no ready + no commercial lane = longer waits than Otay.
Weekday crossings at Otay after 6PM have been reliably under 1 hour for me lately, often less than 30 min...
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Chupacabra
Nomad
Posts: 476
Registered: 7-11-2013
Location: La Jolla, CA
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Chupacabra
I never go go Tecate anymore to cross...only two lanes + no sentri + no ready + no commercial lane = longer waits than Otay.
Weekday crossings at Otay after 6PM have been reliably under 1 hour for me lately, often less than 30 min... |
Of course y'all are talking about crossing *into* Mexico. If I actually read the thread carefully I would know that, wouldn't I...
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EnsenadaDr
Banned
Posts: 5027
Registered: 9-12-2011
Location: Baja California
Member Is Offline
Mood: Move on. It is just a chapter in the past, but don't close the book- just turn the page
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You are dead wrong. I have crossed Tecate, Mexico side into Tecate, USA side in less than 10 minutes in afternoons during the week. I have Sentri,
and that lane in Otay has only one or two lanes and takes at least a half hour at that time. Tecate has a problem with a long wait on Sunday evenings
from what Border Patrol told me it is because people do not have proper identifications, i.e. Passports. | Quote: | Originally posted by Chupacabra
I never go go Tecate anymore to cross...only two lanes + no sentri + no ready + no commercial lane = longer waits than Otay.
Weekday crossings at Otay after 6PM have been reliably under 1 hour for me lately, often less than 30 min... |
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Chupacabra
Nomad
Posts: 476
Registered: 7-11-2013
Location: La Jolla, CA
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by EnsenadaDr
You are dead wrong. I have crossed Tecate, Mexico side into Tecate, USA side in less than 10 minutes in afternoons during the week. I have Sentri,
and that lane in Otay has only one or two lanes and takes at least a half hour at that time. |
That's a hell of a long drive (time + gas) to save 20-30 minutes of wait time at Otay. Once across, you waste even more time and gas getting back
from the middle of nowhere.
It used to be faster, but from my perspective crossing at Tecate just doesn't make sense anymore if you live near the coast.
Of course, Tecate is a nice town and I've enjoyed some nice dinners at the restaurants along the central park.
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EdZeranski
Nomad
Posts: 290
Registered: 11-4-2008
Location: Ocean Beach/Borrego Springs
Member Is Offline
Mood: Si! Como no???
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which one???
| Quote: | Originally posted by Udo
MY experiences through Tecate, have been uneventful. |
Last time through I was stopped for "running a stop sign" When I asked which one I was told "The one you didn't see". He let me go when I told him my
fist time through Tecate was in 1964.
EdZ
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
Member Is Offline
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I've returned North thru Tecate on most of my recent trips. But, unless you are coming from the East, I do not see the benefit for crossing there
headed South. The new facility at SY seems to work very well. For those of us that travel up and down I-5, I just do not see Tecate as a Southbound
entry point simply because of all the additional driving.
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EnsenadaDr
Banned
Posts: 5027
Registered: 9-12-2011
Location: Baja California
Member Is Offline
Mood: Move on. It is just a chapter in the past, but don't close the book- just turn the page
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Well shoot you live in La Jolla, depends on where you want to end up. If I am heading to East County, Tecate is the best crossing for me. | Quote: | Originally posted by Chupacabra
| Quote: | Originally posted by EnsenadaDr
You are dead wrong. I have crossed Tecate, Mexico side into Tecate, USA side in less than 10 minutes in afternoons during the week. I have Sentri,
and that lane in Otay has only one or two lanes and takes at least a half hour at that time. |
That's a hell of a long drive (time + gas) to save 20-30 minutes of wait time at Otay. Once across, you waste even more time and gas getting back
from the middle of nowhere.
It used to be faster, but from my perspective crossing at Tecate just doesn't make sense anymore if you live near the coast.
Of course, Tecate is a nice town and I've enjoyed some nice dinners at the restaurants along the central park. |
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norte
Super Nomad
Posts: 1163
Registered: 10-8-2008
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | | Quote: | Originally posted by EnsenadaDr
You are dead wrong. |
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You sound a lot like DavidE. Are you guys married? (heaven help us if you are)or related. Seem to be the two wo are always right and every one
else is wrong.
Just my small observation
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