Abbey and I had been contemplating a trip South of the border for a while. Our apprehensions were mostly centered around the language and cultural barriers – I speak virtually no Spanish and Abbey is only marginally better. We finally decided to go for it when our friend Janell said she’d fly out and do Mexico with us. Janell is an extrovert and speaks fluent Spanish – just what you need for such a trip.

Oh, and if you don’t already know – Janell is my college roommate’s wife. She is the one who introduced me to Abbey on a last-second backpacking trip to Glacier National Park in 2014.

We picked Janell up at the San Diego airport in the evening and headed to Potrero County Park, just North of the Tecate border crossing, for the night. The campground was sort of a let down – it was expensive and the camping spots were really just a parking lot. Also, it was raining and cold.

In the morning, we drove to the Tecate border crossing and were over the border in seconds. There were no signs (in English or Spanish) saying we needed to stop and check in at a building, but we knew we needed to get our tourist visas approved somewhere. The Mexican attendant made small talk as he stamped our passports and tried to sell us hot sauce and honey.

We drove South into the Guadalupe Valley and wine country. The region is known for some really good wineries, and we indulged in several.

I don’t know much about wine, but I’ve seen the movie Sideways, so I like to think I know what I’m talking about. Our first stop was Casa de Piedra, and the combination of warm sunny weather, beautiful views, and good conversation made for a great day. Janell led some great banter with our host, Noa, and everyone was just soaking up the day. Salud!

We originally were going to stay at Playa Salamanda for the night, but when we got there, the host said it was closed because it was going to rain. Bummer, because the location was beautiful. It never did rain.

We eventually got to a campground on the South side of Ensanada that was sort of a dirt parking lot, but it was on the Pacific Ocean and we were the only ones there. We drank cheap Mexican beer and walked down the beach at sunset. There were sand dollars everywhere (or are they sand pesos?).

In the morning we drove to La Bufadora (The Blowhole), a gorgeous area on the coast where water funnels into a rock slot and geysers up into the air. There were also little shops set up with a variety of souvenirs.

Janell talked up one of the souvenir shop workers and discovered that we had just missed seeing whales. This is the view from his office. He kept calling Janell “Mi Reina.” Abbey and I just rolled our eyes.

Driving in Mexico was about on par with my expectations. The roads are really, really bad in some places, laws are more like guidelines, and people can be fast and reckless. I learned all the local nuances pretty quickly and we didn’t have any significant issues. Evelyn was a champ.

Interestingly, many, many cars in Mexico have California or Texas plates but it’s obvious the car hasn’t been in the US in years. One shop owner we talked to was boasting about the newer Texas SUV he bought for just $1,500. I don’t know how many stolen cars end up in Mexico, but now I’m curious…

Mexico likes their gigantic oversized flags. Ensanada had a massive one in their town square. The US should do this more, and not just at car dealerships.

For lunch, we stopped at a food truck selling Cuban sandwiches. It was the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my life. No exaggeration.

After lunch it was time for more wineries! We went to a couple before heading onward.

We drove down some pretty remote dirt roads in search of a campground (a real campground and not a tourist campground). Tree branches were scraping on Evelyn and I think Abbey and Janell were getting nervous, but then we found it. We were the only ones at the campground (which cost something like $3) and it was a beautiful grass opening with interspersed Live Oaks. Some of them were quite large.

The campground was next to a farm so we were deafened by roosters and cows in the morning. It was sorta cool. Sorta.

The next day we drove to the East side of the Baja peninsula near San Felipe. We also stopped to pick up more groceries and discovered that tequila is very cheap in Mexico. This bottle was about $6. Uh-oh.

We drove South out of San Felipe and then saw this sign of an abandoned beach community with “camping” spray painted on it. Seems legit.

We followed the sign to an abandoned RV park on the Sea of Cortez. The place was maintained and run by a guy named Reuben who lived in a camper at the top of a hill. He was exceedingly friendly and talked to us for about 15 minutes (in Spanish, of course). I understood maybe a quarter of the general topics that were discussed between Janell and Reuben, but I still found myself laughing since some humor transcends language barriers. I’m pretty sure Reuben is just squatting on the property, but no one seems to care. We certainly didn’t.

The abandoned RV resort had a very post-apocalyptic vibe. We decided to stay for two nights. The first night, we opened up our $6 bottle of tequila and polished off the whole thing. That’s saying something for three lightweights who don’t drink much. It was a fantastic night.

Janell taught us the right way to eat an orange – or rather – the right way to drink one. If you peel off the skin but leave the pith, you can cut a hole in the top of the orange and sort of squeeze the orange while sucking up the juice. It was yummy.

Not far up the beach from our campsite was a natural hot spring. It emerged from the sand, and was only accessible at low tide. We found it and walled it off to make ourselves a little hot tub. Kira the dog came and joined us. She mostly wanted to play fetch with a little green shovel and chase the birds. She was very friendly and smart.

Kira was completely deaf (her collar said so), and just started following us when we made our way back to camp. Her owner ended up coming down the beach on an ATV to pick her up and drive her back home. He said something to the effect of “She’s deaf and all she wants to do is play!”

There are lots of dogs just out and about in Mexico. Many are owned, but some are just street dogs.

Janell wasn’t thrilled when a Mexican street dog came up into the camper.

San Felipe looks like it used to be a booming tourist hot spot but now… isn’t. The streets were quiet and the only people on the beaches were local fishermen putting in their boats. We swung through the town center on our way out of the abandoned RV park.

We stopped to get breakfast pastries at this panaderia. The roof was actively leaking through a light fixture in the ceiling which made me uneasy – I generally know that water and electricity don’t play nice. I hoped that the pastries would make up for it, but they were only OK.

Leaving San Felipe, we headed North towards Mexicali. The roads were actually pretty nice here.

Janell saw a roadside taco place with a ton of locals around it. We U-turned to see what the hubbub was about. Good thing we did. I love that Mexico doesn’t have fast food on every corner. Rather, they have these little food shops with food that is better and less expensive.

Janell asked if she could take this picture and I think the guys got a kick out of it.

After staying at a campground that used to be a KOA, we drove into Tecate to do a little souvenir shopping before crossing back over into the United States. Abbey and Janell got some stuff for various small children.

The wall with Mexico, as seen from the Mexican side. It’s tall! It was about an hour wait to get back into the United States, which I guess isn’t too bad. The worst part was actually the road – there was a steep uphill portion and it was pretty miserable with the manual transmission and the stop-go waiting.

So, what are our overall thoughts?

The peak in Northern Baja tourism was about 15 years ago, and since then most places have fallen into decline and disrepair. Many campground water taps have turned salty. Only one campground we stayed at actually had hot water. Bathrooms anywhere are questionable. Litter is a problem. Drivers are reckless. Many places aren’t well marked or advertised and signs (if any) are ambiguous. Ethics can be questionable.

All that said, though, we had a great time. Baja is beautiful, the food is fantastic, the wine lovely, and the people friendly. An added benefit is the cost – it’s cheap!

Probably one of the biggest factors is the language/culture barrier. If Janell hadn’t joined Abbey and me for this trip, it would have been harder and probably less fun. You learn a lot from talking and interacting with the locals. Thanks for coming, Janell! Also, thanks for making all the young army men at the military checkpoints envious – A guy in a VW campervan traveling through Baja with two pretty ladies!

Cheers!