Days 5 and 6 - Into Mexico at Tijuana

We were going to spend day 5 in San Diego seeing the zoo, but the rain that has been so needed in the area decided this would be a good day to show up. This isn't a big deal. Since we're having dental work done in Tijuana, we'll just add an extra day of rest before the procedure and pop up to see the zoo before we head on out.

I have to admit, this was the easiest border crossing I've ever made. Even in Europe in the 1980s, the train would usually stop at the border and someone got on to pretend to check your ID. I believe they let me sleep through some, but if I remember correctly, the trains and busses usually stopped at the borders. I didn't drive across any borders back then. Way too easy and cheap to hop the trains.

When we got to the Mexican border, there were signs directing us for different things. We're planning to stay within the 20-mile buffer zone for now until Bruce's gums heal and we get his temporary dentures, so we didn't pull into the vehicle importation lane. We'll go back to the states, visit the San Diego Zoo, and probably cross somewhere around Arizona or New Mexico for the trip down. Tijuana is for dental work, resting, and sightseeing.

I dug around and made sure I had our passports, US drivers licenses, and the title and registration for the truck ready. There was no stop for immigration to check and stamp passports, only a customs area. Since we had nothing to declare, we went through the lanes of nothing to declare. There were several lanes for inspections and several aduanas inspectors hanging around. A few inspection lanes had cars in them. Like most of the vehicles entering the country, though, we were just waived on through. We were then in Tijuana. We crossed the US Mexico border without even stopping. We just slowed down, and even that wasn't slow enough to adequately flash a passport at anybody. We barely even hit the brakes. It took me a while to realize we had already crossed, and nobody was going to look at my documents. Very anticlimactic. I felt like Officer Obie with his twenty-seven 8x10 color glossy photographs. (In case you don't get it, listen to the song "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie.) I'm sure it will be different going the other way.

Driving in Tijuana is much more agressive than in San Diego. It made me think of Ecuador on quaaludes. The same clusters around traffic circles; the same relaxed rules about the lines being suggestions in certain heavily traveled areas. Just not the same crazed urgency for moving forward. Yeah, a few cars blew their horns when the light changed, but they waited for the light to change.  And there wasn't the mad dash to fill the space if an opening could possibly be viewed between cars. And, statues in the traffic circles! There was one of Abe Lincoln, but my camera wasn't ready.

As should have been expected, my phone service died with a loud beep once the border was crossed. I was using the GPS on my phone. An online GPS program. Not my brightest move. We drove around for a bit, hoping some epiphany would occur, when we accidentally found a mall. Since malls usually have places with free wifi, we pulled in and went to ----- (wait for it) ----- Starbucks! I left my computer in the car and just used my phone, so I didn't have the hostel I wanted to stay at saved (and I couldn't find it), but I did find a hotel for the night, though a little more expensive than I was planning on. Still cheap by US Standards, though. Before leaving the mall, we exchanged some dollars for pesos, picked up a nice $4 Spanish-English dictionary (since I left mine in Ecuador), and put service on the phone for Mexico. No Claro in Mexico apparently, so we went with Movistar. I got the chip for my iPhone and a month of unlimited talk, text, and SMS throughout Mexico (including to/from the US), 1 GB of data for Facebook, e-mail, and various other apps that I don't use, and another 1 GB of data for general internet usage for a whopping $22 USD, and that was with a poor exchange rate.

Let me preface this paragraph by letting you know, I am being sarcastic here (just for folks like me that might not get that right off the bat). We came across the stereotypical Mexican that people have been warning us about. You know, those ones that will steal you blind in the border towns? Here's our story of that -

Parking at the mall is paid. You enter and take your ticket, pay at the grey kiosk machine, and put your paid ticket into the little arm thingy that lets you out of the lot. We inserted our parking ticket into the Kiosk, and it told us the cost was 5 pesos. The smallest thing we had was a 50 peso bill. (I had given all of my change to the bathroom attendant. I have no clue how much change it was. I really had to pee!) The machine supposedly took those bills, but it was being persnickety to us. A gentleman was trying to help us get it to take one. We were not holding up a line at the kiosks. The one beside us was free, with people just walking up, doing their thing with no wait, and leaving. A random lady reached over Bruce's shoulder, put a 5 peso coin in our machine, and was gone before we had the chance to thank her. Yup. Gotta watch 'em.

We got to the hotel I found at the mall before check-in time, so we went across the street to eat. Awesome meal! I got grilled lamb chop, enchilada, chili relleno, frijoles and something else with a soda to drink. Bruce got steak, ribs, enchilada, frijoles, and something else with a soda. The total bill came to about $20. This seemed to be an almost upscale restaurant, though not posh. Like a TGI Fridays but not a chain and without the sports bar.

The hotel was good. It was on a quiet street, clean, and the continental breakfast included scrambled ham and eggs, chipped beef hash, and pastries. Still, we changed hotels for the one I initially wanted today. This one was a little more than we wanted to pay for the area. (Again, still cheap by US standards.)

Bruce has surgery on his teeth tomorrow. He will be having them all removed and fitted for dentures. Send good thoughts our way, and I will do another blog post after he heals and we start exploring again.

Day 4 - Big Sur to San Diego

We started out this morning backtracking. We (meaning I) wanted to see more of the elephant seals and see if we could get some better pictures in better light. We did, and there was a representative from Friends of Elephant Seal in the rookery. He gave me lots of information. Apparently, these are pups who are not yet old enough to mate. They will be here for about another month, until the adult males come down from Alaska and run them off the beaches. There are both male and female pups here, but only the males do the chest butting. The oldest ones of these pups is about 4 to 5 years old, when they start growing their long nose.

Apparently, the South American version is larger, so I'm looking forward to seeing them in Argentina. The guy from Friends of the Elephant Seals is the first person I've run into up here who knows where my little town of Puerto Lopez is. He even asked if the Mandala was still there! Here are some pix and videos for your enjoyment!

This guy was adamant about not being ignored. So, I obliged him.

In the San Simeon/Cambria area, they really like their scarecrows. This was one of my favorite displays.

Soon afterward, the rains came. It was still pretty, but we weren't going to do much stopping. Even on Santa Claus Lane! In our defense, he apparently stayed inside, too!

And, I couldn't sing the song. When we crossed Ventura Highway, there was no sunshine.

The day began with the elephant seals and ended with dinner with a long-time, very dear friend and her family who I just met face-to-face for the first time this evening! An excellent day, even if it did rain on my parade!! LOL!

Day 3 - Mill Valley through Big Sur and Why Monterey Made Me Cry

Today was another really awesome day, in spite of being really disappointed in one part of it.

We started off toward the Golden Gate Bridge. While making a detour to the Recreation Center to get a sticker for the truck window, we came across a deer. She wasn't concerned at all about vehicles, so we just sat there taking pictures of her for a bit.

Got some nice shots of the bridge even though the fog hadn't lifted all the way.

While we were driving through San Francisco, I was amazed at how much it reminded me of Guayaquil. The architecture is very similar, houses stacked up on the hill. Just brighter colors in Guayaquil!

San Francisco:

Guayaquil:

Guayaquil seems to be more colorful and with less fog!

I was so excited to be going back to Monterey that I decided to forego a lot of San Francisco this trip and head on down south. Monterey is a very special place to me. It's the first place I went when I left home. It's where I rented my first apartment, bought my first vehicle (a little red moped), where I got married the first time, and a lot of firsts. In many ways, Monterey of the early 1980s holds a more special place in my heart than the town where I grew up. There are some places in Monterey that hold very special memories.

One such place was the cliffs by Fisherman's Wharf. On countless days, I would walk down the hill from the school or the barracks, across Lighthouse Ave, and perch in a little crevice in the rocks on those small cliffs. Many times, a sea otter would be in the area. I would frequently buy a cheap little ball to toss out to him. I could sit and watch him play with the ball for hours. Eventually, he'd get tired of playing and let it drift. It would usually drift up to the rocks, and I would climb down to retrieve it. If it didn't drift to the rocks, well - I was much younger then. This was such a special place for me that even having some guy flash me there one time didn't ruin it for me. This was where I developed my love for marine mammals, and sea otters are still my favorites.

I was expecting things to be updated. I'm not naive enough to think that my favorite place to get fried squid rings and french fries would still be there, but I did intend to check. I've been craving them since I left in 1983. So much better than the calamari you get anywhere else - and TENDER!

So, we pulled into Monterey. Del Monte Ave is much wider than it used to be, but that's okay. Lots of new places. But still okay. The Naval Postgraduate School doesn't appear to have changed at all. The lot on the other side of the street is more groomed. Still good.

We get to the Wharf, and the cliffs have been leveled. Instead, there is now a concrete walkway with benches and such. Kind of a non-green park up against the bay. I cried. Fisherman's Wharf has lost its feel. You don't have to guard anything from the seagulls. In fact, there weren't that many seagulls to be found. A few, but they kept their distance from people. I was looking forward to getting squid and fries on the wharf and fighting the gulls for my fries!

Cannery Row was like just about any tourist area you come across. In fact, it reminded me of Naples, Florida, all the way down to Bubba Gumps at the waterside. They have painted and rehabbed the buildings and overhead walkways, though, - and added a John Steinbeck statute and wax museum, which I really should have expected.

And, I was looking forward to seeing the Monterey Aquarium. When I was there, there was a little marine rescue organization that would eventually grow into the Monterey Aquarium, known worldwide for their conservation work and lauded as one of the best aquariums in the world. It's a sprawling complex. So big that they should have a lot more exhibits than they do. But, they would have to remove a few gift shops and turn off some of the television sets showing what the animals in the exhibit were doing sometime in the past. There was also an area where food vendors gave samples of their offerings that you could buy in stores and such. Not like a restaurant coaxing you to eat at their place, but like the samples you get at the grocery store. In fact, the one we sampled was to buy that particular brand of tuna. They mixed it with pico and served it with chips. But the exhibits they did have were well put together, if not well lit. Here's the flamboyant cuddlefish.

A colony of sea lions used to inhabit these rocks. I decided to leave the rest of Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Carmel to my memories, so we left, heading to Big Sur.

South of Carmel, I decided to break the law and step into the ocean. From what I could tell without getting out in there, the waves are about like some of the beaches in Ecuador.

Big Sur did not disappoint. It was beautiful then, and it's beautiful now. Here are a couple of shots.

A huge herd of elk along the side of the road!

And, elephant seals!!! I really don't understand the people who were on the other side of the parking lot taking pix of the sunset and ignoring these guys! As the only other person taking shots of the seals said, "That sunset sucks compared to these guys!"

Sing it, Sister!!

And, to top it all off, when we stopped for the night in San Simeon, I got my big, tender squid that I've been jonesing for since 1983! With a glitch, another awesome day!

Day 2 - Crescent City to Mill Valley, California

What an AWESOME day!!!! Did I say today was AWESOME???

When we started out, it was foggy. I was sure we were going to have problems. This is the beach on Hwy 101 coming out of Crescent City. Beautiful, but foggy.

We hit patches of blanketing fog throughout the early morning, but it did finally clear up. Just in time to see these random golden bear statues on the bridge abutments in the middle of nowhere. One on each corner.

Then, we made it to the Avenue of the Giants! They were AMAZING! The fog had mostly lifted, and it was just beautiful. Back in 1982, I camped with friends somewhere in the Redwood Forest. I don't remember them striking me with such awe back then. Maybe we just weren't in the right place. Just for perspective, this wasn't the largest tree we saw.

I couldn't reach the top of this downed log.

And, Bruce had room to spare in this hollowed out spot in the tree.

I love the way some of the trees had bark that had buckled up into different designs. Some that we drove by looked like they had faces on them. I was just waiting for them to start talking to us.

And, just because I like pix from the ground to the top of the trees - This one is a very long way up!!

And, just so you're aware, the trees have the right-of-way up here. They grow so close to the road, and if they start encroaching on the roadway, the white line just gets drawn around them! Did I say this was AWESOME!!

We even drove through a couple of them. This is the Shrine Tree. Yes, it is still alive, and most of the separation is natural.

Now, I'm going to try to post video of us driving through the tree. This is my first time posting video on here, so wish me luck. I have learned something today. Video doesn't view well sideways, and unlike pix, I can't just rotate it when I get it on the computer! Sorry about the beginning, but I do eventually have to rotate the camera and bring it inside the truck. If you listen closely, you can hear when we scraped the mirror on the tree!

The guy had carved some treehouses out of some logs. Bruce was happy to take a break in one of them! Look at that smile!!

We were having so much fun, we decided to cook our own lunch instead of stopping to eat! The defroster works great, except for cooking frozen burritos. Good thing I had already nuked them before we left!!

This is me in a hollow log at the Chandelier Tree (another drive-through tree - not nearly as cool as the Shrine Tree in my opinion)

We finally made it to CA-1, the Pacific Coast Highway! Beautiful views! The Pacific is still my favorite Ocean! Sorry, East Coast and Gulf folks.

We stopped in Ft. Bragg (not the military base) to visit Glass Beach. Glass Beach used to be a dump. Over the years, the ocean has smoothed and polished the broken glass into little pebbles. I was expecting it to be more colorful and for the glass area to cover more of the beach. People were going there picking up the glass. Normally, I would be all for picking up broken glass off the beach, but these are a little bit different.

Then, we headed back inland toward Highway 101, through wine country (We'll hit that more in depth some other time. Might need a designated driver! Any volunteers?)

The stickers on the window are starting to build up, and we're just getting started!

Can't wait to start again tomorrow!

Day 1- Tacoma, WA to Crescent City, CA

Well, after getting a late start, we did make it to California. As planned, the day was primarily driving with no sightseeing - that starts tomorrow.

The "Welcome to Oregon" sign on I-5 was a bit disappointing.

The bridge it was on was pretty cool. Shame the sun was straight on.

The "Welcome to California" sign was much better, but it was almost dark when we got there.

There were some awesomely huge trees by the road - right next to the road - probably couda touched the if I'da given it a good try, but it was way too dark to take pix. Can't wait to see them in the light when we hit the Avenue of Giants. Tonight they seemed so much bigger than I remember from 1982 when I went camping somewhere in the Calfornia Redwoods.

I'll try to post again tomorrow, and there should be much more to talk about.