Friday - February 15th
Neither Jill nor I have been to Tijuana Mexico.... so this was to be a new experience for both of us. We prepped by confirming we had our valid passports with us... didn't want to get stuck in Tijuana! We drove down with Kenny & Cathy and their friend Wayne Addison to Mexico - starting in Dana Point at Wayne's nice home overlooking the Dana Point harbor - driving past San Diego to Tijuana. We had to stop and buy 'extra' Mexico driving insurance for your car before entering the country. There were no stops, no officers, nothing at all... just drove right into the country. But there was a HUGE line of cars trying to get into the US. There is a startling abrupt change as you cross over the border. I've been in many third world countries around this globe...
Mexico is right there with the 'best' of them. Shanty towns like Capetown South Africa, cheap building materials, dirt, poverty, lack of respect for property, everything one might expect in an underdeveloped nation... but this one is just yards away from the US. They have the same resources, same land, same everything... but why can't the people/government of Mexico escape the abject poverty of a third world country. I purport it is the allowed corruptness of the government, and the lack of freedom. The dichotomy between our two countries was appalling!
We continued on down the West Coast of Baja all the way to Encinata. A most excellent drive! Beautiful seascapes - marred of course by the poverty along the road... but Beautiful no the less.
In Encinata we stopped at a 'Turtle' restaurant for a little light lunch before doing some shopping and site seeing around the city.
There was a HUGE Mexican Flag flying - commemorating some of their past Presidents. Wayne stopped to ask a marina about getting his sailboat worked on - more shopping... then back up the coast. 
We stopped on the way back to Tijuana at a small area called La Mason... in this small community was an out-of-the-way restaurant. Actually this eatery was our main goal for coming down to Mexico (well that and so Cathy could pick up some prescription drugs cheap in Tijuana...)
The 'La Fonda' restaurant had a great atmosphere, wonderful food, fantastic view, and we had good company to enjoy a meal together. I should have went for the Lobster... I had a small taste of Cathy's and it was wonderfully sweet and tender. 
This picture is very funny if you know how much Jill LOVES Lobster...We got a kick out of the 'pet' chicken - the fattest chicken you've ever seen. He didn't want much of our food... who could blame it. It obviously had enjoyed many snacks in the past.
On the way back - we stopped in Tijuana for 'Drugs' - and we given a great view of the back streets of Tijuana by our Tour Guide Wayne - the main road was closed for construction and we got to see the 'underbelly' of Tijuana. Very impressive (NOT).We found an open Pharmacy, purchased out drugs, then headed back to the USA.
All day long Wayne was looking for a very klitchy tacky gift to give Cathy's brother Ronny for his 'Man Cave' in his new place. While waiting for an hour in line to get back through US Customs and Immigration - we finally found the perfect gift for his 'Man Cave' - the vendor knew exactly what Wayne wanting...
We switched back to our car at Wayne's and returned to our Hotel in Costa Mesa! Long day - but a great experience!
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1 comment:
Your thoughts on Tijuana were well put. I thought exactly the same thing. I still "cringe" when I think of the place we ate food. I just wanted to eat authentic Mexican food and boy was I sorry. That Lobster dinner Jill had looked wonderful. The is one fat chicken.
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