Final days of Baja
The great push North is nearly over. Within striking distance of the American border we come upon the Ensenada area, which was going to be our entry into Baja back in January, but now it is our exit. Before making our way all the way into the metro area, we took the time to do a little sight-seeing the La Bufadora Blowhole on the Punta Banda Peninsula just south of Ensenada.
Kerri now admits to leading me to the viewpoint directly above the blowhole, ensuring we both got drenched immediately upon arrival. “Have you really *seen* it if you did not get wet?” she asks. She is right of course.
We learned over the course of our time here that staying *in* the cities we want to visit has turned out to be a double edged sword. We want the authentic feel of Mexico with some towns, but the tourist-traps – such as Ensenada – have tended to turn us off when we spend too much time in them. So, we spent our work-week not far out of the big city, and in a much smaller community also on the Punta Banda Peninsula. Camping along the bay, under the palms, at Rancho Mi Refugio was our work-week.
Unfortunately, it was here that I decided to perform a little maintenance on the van’s refrigerator. What was to be a simple de-ice of the ice maker turned into me puncturing the coolant line and effectively killing the fridge in the van. Not only frustrating, but a costly mistake too as these fridges start at $600 … Argh! Van-damn it!
Even fridge-less, we continued our lives (who’d a thunk?). Finishing the work week, then taking a short Friday afternoon trip into Ensenada for Kerri to live out one of her many taco fantasies…
We did walk the touristy strip, full of trinket stores and pharmacies, to fulfill the Ensenada visit. Afterwards we drove another 12 miles North to camp at our final over-night destination of Baja; Playa San Miguel. 
A well known surfing spot, Playa San Miguel does allow overnight camping with vistas of the metro area to the South. Not the most scenic or private places we have stayed in the past few months, but it put us within 60 miles of the border and within 20 of our Saturday afternoon lunch reservation at Corazon de Tierra, easily the coolest place I have ever eaten in my life with all veggies grown on-site (in their own gardens) and meats from the locals.
Anyone who knows me, even in passing, knows I am not very adventurous in my eating, but on this day I ate sea urchin, a good portion of yellow fin, roasted duck, and a whole lot of greens that I would never have chosen on my own. Other than the fish, which I could not eat all of, I finished all six courses of meal over two hours and truly enjoyed it all.
Finally, and only after another hour of driving up to Tecate, and two hours of waiting in line, we crossed back into America just after our final sunset in Mexico. It is good to be back home, where streetlamps work and the roads are wide and smooth. We drove to the nearest Casino to camp for free on our first night back home.
After entering Baja through Tecate, I figured exiting there would be only slightly less of a wait than, say, Otay Mesa (though much better than Tijuana/San Ysidro). So I exited through San Luis instead. Between waiting in line and having the van searched, it was about 45 minutes. Better, but I should have used Los Algodones.
Good to have you back in the good ole USA. I enjoyed your Mexico travels, thank you for a fun and insightful adventure, and thanks for sharing.