20 January 2007
Vincente Guererro, Baha California, Mexico - population: rural (?)
Posado Don Diego RV Park
Dear Friends of Barbara and Charlie (B/C) ...
Humphrey here. This email covers the drive through Tijuana, Ensenada (within easy access from San Diego) to Vincente Guererro, 183 miles. We stayed here one night. As the map indicates we are on the west or Pacific Coast side of the Baha. Again this is being sent belatedly from La Paz.
A condo under construction, one of dozens along the beach south of Tijuana. Note the highway curb, the no parking sign and cell phone tower. Just about everyone has cell phones and coverage is available in most cities and towns. US cell phone contracts do not cover Mexico but Mexico coverage is available.The extent of development through out the Baja is impressive. First because just about everything you see dates from about 1980 and second because a building boom continues. It was just retired Vincente Fox who gave priority to development of the Baha and it is coming to pass. The Baja is held as a land of opportunity like our old west and people from elsewhere in Mexico are flocking in. Capo San Lucas and La Paz have a labor shortage while the rest of Mexico has a surplus.
A fleeting glance from the highway of the Fox entertainment studios south of Tijuana at which the Titantic and Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed, among others.
Look closely and you will see large fish pens in the bay. They are not salmon pens as in the Puget Sound but tuna pens.
A small highway-side town with typical dirt shoulder. A broad set back has been reserved for highway development. Reflected in the window is a caravan “trip tic” provided by Adventure Caravans that lists by mile distance: towns, topes (speed bumps), vados (dry fords in flooding - they don‘t commonly have culverts for water to pass under the highway), pull-outs, turns, toll booths, military check points, Pemex gas stations, and landmarks and views.
The countryside is picturesque desert and limited crop land with a spine of mountains down the middle of most of the peninsula. The scenery is not unlike the US west. Note that the roadway, with 10’ lanes, doesn’t have shoulders. The roads have been engineered with a good foundation so we found little structural failure and the pavement was generally very good.
Dinner at the Posado Don Diego RV Park at the end of a long first day. Left to right: Barbara, Al Irvine and Teri Oelschlager, and Dot and Art Seaman who are in training to become a Tail Gunner. The vacant chair has my ubiquitous travel vest draped over it. The owners of the Park and restaurant are a family from Los Angeles with one Mexican member which permitted them to buy the business some 25 years ago right after the highway was built through here. During the trip we’ve had many good group dinners (generally with a choice of entrees) which was included in the price of the caravan. The restaurants and RV parks we’ve stayed in have been well selected, the meals generally very good, the margaritas generally generous, and no one has experienced Montezuma’s Revenge. We use water from our storage tank filled with RV park water and chlorinated with Clorox. Barbara and Scout use bottled water bought along the way.
These newsletters are getting a little long, I’ll try to shorten them up but I’m trying to answer some common questions we‘ve found people have. I welcome your questions, drop us an email.
Next: on to Bahia de Los Angeles.
… Humphrey, for Charlie and Barbara
