Chapter 2: Starting Over (a.k.a. Does 'Plan B' stand for 'Baja'?

Updated: Monday, 16 April 2012

Visit our friends at:

Rosarito Beach, Baja California, Mexico
Wednesday - Saturday, 5-8 August 2009

The Missions of Baja California

Google Earth Placemarks

Other TRIPS

Back again. This time during the week. To network and job hunt, hoping each contact gives me two more contacts. And look for apartments. And a dentist. And a VW mechanic. And shop for gifts. What a whirlwind trip. Got soooooo much accomplished. Way too much to write about. So just some quick notes & bullet points below. Surf was flat and my neck and spine are so straight from surgery that I can no longer do it. The VW had NO (!) oil in the engine. What the *&!?<*%$!

Immigras at city hall was closed after 1:00 pm when I went there for the FM-3 paperwork. But an abogado office was open for a free consultation.

Thank you Josué. And everyone else for being so kind and gracious. Gracias. Last week's trip.

Be sure and open the Google Earth KMZ for Baja Norté locations.

TURN MUSIC OFF HERE.

Maps

Fun Facts

Google Earth Placemarks

CLICKABLE Baja Norté map.

Ever wonder why Loreto, San Felipé, Los Cabos and other select Mexican destinations come into being and grow like crazy? It's not luck or coincidence. It's all very well-planned. Thanks to FONATUR, the "institution responsible for the planning and development of sustainable tourism projects." And with respect to the Baja Peninsula specifically, there is the vision of the Escalera Nautica, the Nautical Ladder --- a mega project. As of August 2009, this project was HALTED by the Mexican federal government.

Online researched the mega port project in Punta Colonet just south of Ensenada and contacted the environmental consultant in New York to see whether this on-again-off-again project is currently moving forward.

Southern California
Set terrain = 2x for best effect.

Missions of Baja History
Set terrain = 3x for best effect.

Something else I did not know --- just south of Rosarito Beach lies Calafia, a rocky point that was the dividing line between the Dominican (Father Santo Domingo) and San Franciscan missions and the location of Mission San Diego de Alcala.

Read text in these two images.

Open the above GE file for a comprehensive history.

Video Clips

LARGE (high-resolution) Apple Quicktime MP4 format	LOW (low-resolution) Microsoft WMV format	Description / Run Time (mm:ss)
8 ± Mb	1½ ± Mb	Puppy "Weddle" (00:25) at Robert's Motel belongs to caretaker Ricky from New Zealand, a dark-skinned, wandering soul with Maori bloodline. If you hear "that" accent, don't ever ask a Kiwi if he's from Oz. Oops.
20 ± Mb	3 ± Mb	Roberts Surfer Motel & Reef Break at Km-38 (01:03)

Way too much to write about. Back again in two weeks?

Photographs

Remember "Plan B?" How appropriate I should find this in Rosarito Beach.

Vista point at Camp Pendelton on Interstate 5 in San Diego County. See the tanks on maneuvers in the background?

Welcome back to Mexico. This time I found much cheaper car insurance --- different location & buy a block of days or a week.

Popotla main beach, artisanos vendors and Fox Baja Studios, Km-34.

Construction? Not construction? It's difficult to tell. First you have to locate the highway exit or free road turn-off. Than an entrance (thru a wash, under a bridge, with a sharp turn at a triple fork, no signs and then up then hill around a blind corner).

Then get by a guard to get to the sales office or construction trailer. Then speak Spanish. Very tedious and time consuming. Perseverance and determinations are must-haves. Realtor friends are a great help. New subdivision infrastructure abounds.

So I also wandered out. Drove about. Walked up to strangers and asked how they were. An introduced myself. In most cases, conversations lasted an hour, like with Sylvia & Wally (a retired civil engineer) building two of their eight houses.

Selling? Yes. Always.

Construction restarted at La Elegancia just north of the Km-38 surf shop & Mario Restrepo's real estate business --- both lie in the shadow of the giant Savior Jesus statue.

Out and about town. Back and forth many times.

On the road. Timing and geography and new leads meant much driving and taking advantage on an opportunity WHEN it happened.

About 200 miles during three days trying to make as many contacts as possible and hand out business cards --- about 50 in all.

La Fonda is now developed.

Islands

Back to Roberts Motel at Km-38 for the first and third nights for US$15. Not pretty. But cheap, friendly, safe.

My non-bathroom $15 room.

Km-38 Surf Shop. Helping peel stencil off shot glasses that were sand-blasted with logo.

Shop owner Jacinto in back and my teenage surf instructor, Ché in front.

Km-38. Three dollar lunch at the next-door taco stand.

Weddle and friend enjoying Canine Café treats.

Full moon. Strong tides. Moon in shotglass.

View from above the Jesus statue.

Camping at Km-71 south of La Fonda at Octavio's campground on second night. Clean, US$10, mostly vacant, pretty flat beach break. What a sunset! All for myself.

My own almost-private sunset-into-the-sea about 7:45 pm.

Followed by a full-moon rise about 9:00 pm.

Typical two-taco, one-beer lunch for $3.50 plus $1.50 tip.

Bahía Cantiles, an American expat hangout. Two evenings. Met Jamie Reynolds there, a Costa Rica & Fiji surf contest producer.

Even though I've driven the toll highway to the TJ crossing many times, I still managed to miss the border turn crossing turnoff. Good thing. Seconds later I saw the 3-hour backup. Kept going to the Otay Mesa crossing that I've never used.

What an adventure ... construction detours, missing signs, traffic, got into the Century Pass lanes, escorted back out by a dude on a bicycle. And, as expected, I got pulled into secondary inspection. Again. No biggie. Just an extra 30 minutes wait on top of the 50 minutes in the main line.

Wackenhut Security. Private security services. Transporting caught illegal immigrants back to the Mexican border?

Blacks Beach, San Diego on the way back for about three hours.