31 March ‘07
Saturday
We all knew that the day was coming and today was it…the day we pass back into the states and leave the Baja behind. The campground director in San Felipe told us that it would be best to leave early in the morning on Saturday or stay for another whole week. Well ready or not, we didn’t want to stay for another whole week because of the week long HUGE 24/7 celebration that was about ready to start. It was a holy celebration that the Mexicans really get into, and it does run day and night. They expected the beaches to be covered entirely with tents and the campground would be sold out as well. That was enough for us, we were out of there. Our drive to Mexicali would take us along the top of the Sea of Cortez and skirt the mountains on our left. The road was really pretty good, and the views all along the drive were wonderful. They even had one of the many cross country road races going on and the course took them pretty close the highway we were on. We only saw one car that was going full-out, but that was exciting as it was. Our directions that we received from those that had experienced crossing the border at Mexicali were pretty straight forward. Fact is, we were to follow the same highway (which as we arrived in Mexicali turned into a major street) all the way to the “border fence” and then turn left and follow that fence to the border crossing. This is too much of a good dream. The road took us directly to the “border fence” and as I turned right toward the border crossing, I found myself facing head-on with a car that was “in my lane”. The look on his face was something to behold…Us in a very large motor home, and another behind me, looking down onto the hood of this little car. Something had to change! We had turned onto a four lane road that had two yellow lines dividing those 4 lanes, and there were NO arrows indicating that we were going onto an ONEWAY street, but behold the truths of MEXICO… Quickly a few words through the windshield of our motor home to the little car below, “OK, I NOW “SEE” THAT WE ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY, BUT YOU HAD BETTER BACK-UP SO THAT I CAN GET US BOTH OUT OF HERE !!!” As I crept forward, he backed up and finally I was able to swing into a parking lot on the corner and swing wide enough to make a full “U-Turn” and back onto the road going the right way. The only problem was, Phil and Kathy, being directly behind us, tried doing the same “U-Turn” DIDN’T MAKE IT !!! Oh my God, it happened again. I quickly found a spot that I could pull into and ran back to see if I could help. I was wearing my “flip flops”, which I soon found out are not the right kind of shoe to wear while running, when I heard that sound that I know nobody wanted to hear…a siren. Sure as heck, there he was, a motorcycle cop with his lights blinking and standing there with this big smile on his face. Kathy and Phil were as fast as Louise and I were when we were handed the same “U-Turn” fate, in getting their car unhooked and backed out. The cop was great, because not only did he have a sense of humor, he even directed traffic around Phil’s motor home until it and the car were free and parked in front of were we were parked. Of course the cop followed him over and with his lights still flashing he listened to our explanation in regards to “NO ONE WAY SIGN, AND THOSE DOUBLE “YELLOW LINES”… His reply was “No Problema” and he gave us in Spanish and sign language, to follow him…WE WERE TO GET A POLICE ESCORT to the border…”WE LOVE MEXICO !!!!”
Saturday
We all knew that the day was coming and today was it…the day we pass back into the states and leave the Baja behind. The campground director in San Felipe told us that it would be best to leave early in the morning on Saturday or stay for another whole week. Well ready or not, we didn’t want to stay for another whole week because of the week long HUGE 24/7 celebration that was about ready to start. It was a holy celebration that the Mexicans really get into, and it does run day and night. They expected the beaches to be covered entirely with tents and the campground would be sold out as well. That was enough for us, we were out of there. Our drive to Mexicali would take us along the top of the Sea of Cortez and skirt the mountains on our left. The road was really pretty good, and the views all along the drive were wonderful. They even had one of the many cross country road races going on and the course took them pretty close the highway we were on. We only saw one car that was going full-out, but that was exciting as it was. Our directions that we received from those that had experienced crossing the border at Mexicali were pretty straight forward. Fact is, we were to follow the same highway (which as we arrived in Mexicali turned into a major street) all the way to the “border fence” and then turn left and follow that fence to the border crossing. This is too much of a good dream. The road took us directly to the “border fence” and as I turned right toward the border crossing, I found myself facing head-on with a car that was “in my lane”. The look on his face was something to behold…Us in a very large motor home, and another behind me, looking down onto the hood of this little car. Something had to change! We had turned onto a four lane road that had two yellow lines dividing those 4 lanes, and there were NO arrows indicating that we were going onto an ONEWAY street, but behold the truths of MEXICO… Quickly a few words through the windshield of our motor home to the little car below, “OK, I NOW “SEE” THAT WE ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY, BUT YOU HAD BETTER BACK-UP SO THAT I CAN GET US BOTH OUT OF HERE !!!” As I crept forward, he backed up and finally I was able to swing into a parking lot on the corner and swing wide enough to make a full “U-Turn” and back onto the road going the right way. The only problem was, Phil and Kathy, being directly behind us, tried doing the same “U-Turn” DIDN’T MAKE IT !!! Oh my God, it happened again. I quickly found a spot that I could pull into and ran back to see if I could help. I was wearing my “flip flops”, which I soon found out are not the right kind of shoe to wear while running, when I heard that sound that I know nobody wanted to hear…a siren. Sure as heck, there he was, a motorcycle cop with his lights blinking and standing there with this big smile on his face. Kathy and Phil were as fast as Louise and I were when we were handed the same “U-Turn” fate, in getting their car unhooked and backed out. The cop was great, because not only did he have a sense of humor, he even directed traffic around Phil’s motor home until it and the car were free and parked in front of were we were parked. Of course the cop followed him over and with his lights still flashing he listened to our explanation in regards to “NO ONE WAY SIGN, AND THOSE DOUBLE “YELLOW LINES”… His reply was “No Problema” and he gave us in Spanish and sign language, to follow him…WE WERE TO GET A POLICE ESCORT to the border…”WE LOVE MEXICO !!!!”