Baja Explorations

 This is how I picture road tripping in Baja: in a VW bus. Our minivan was a pretty sweet ride, too. I was worried about standing out in my lovely new van, but the thing about traveling is that you're always afraid it's going to be so different, and it always turns out to be more the same than you thought. People are people...not to quote Depeche Mode or anything.  Nobody cared about my minivan!

In addition to the chickens and koi, there was a cat in our garden.  There was also a hot tub.  I should have taken a picture of it.  One day, Jimmy was filling it up with the hose.  So it's not hot, it's just filled with hose water, but Jimmy and Camilo presented the cold-hose-water hot tub to us with no apology or irony.  Just, "Here's a great hot tub for you guys!"

 Breakfast the morning after the big quinceañera dinner came from a car with a megaphone strapped to the top. OK, so that's different. The woman was selling corn tamales, so I had Jimmy broker a deal for 5 bucks' worth. The sweet woman also threw in two steaming cups of Champurrado, or Mexican hot chocolate, but not like you've tried in the States. It's thickened with flour or corn starch, so it's hearty.

 Araceli wasn't so sure,

 but when I explained that we were just buying breakfast out of a Ford Festiva, she was fine with it.

I felt confident about driving in Baja, so we loaded the directions onto our GPS before we left WiFi and set out for the LDS temple.  It was about a 30 minute drive into the city of Tijuana.  Victor helped me navigate the road signs.  When we approached the temple, armed guards were everywhere.  I don't think they had anything to do with the temple, and I don't know why they were there, but we asked one guy where the entrance to the temple was.  This was literally in the shadow of the building itself, and he said, "What temple?"  Um, the one RIGHT behind you!  This temple was only dedicated last year, and I remember wanting to go see it during the open house.  It's beautiful, and incorporates the Spanish Colonial style so prevalent in this area.

It's the only temple within a vast region, so there is a big kitchen set up for cooking and relaxing.

I really enjoyed seeing this.  We spent some time inside the visitor center, connecting to WiFi. I love how our European friends now know the world wide Mormon WiFi password: Pioneer 47. :)

After the temple, we wanted to drive down the coast, but not using the same route we took the day before.  We headed southwest through the interior, toward the D-1.  Along the way, at a roadside stand, we stopped for lunch.  Tacos al Pastor were less than a buck.  If fact, we all got drinks and a taco, and the total was nine bucks.  The tacos were so good, we went back for more.  So OK, 15 bucks for all-you-can-eat tacos for 7 people, with drinks and al fresco seating.  Too bad I don't know exactly where we were, or I'd go back!  Looking at the map, I thought we had traveled this extensive triangular route, but in reality, we had traversed a much smaller triangle.  Baja is HUGE!  It's 760 miles long.  You know I would have driven the whole length if I could, right?  A mere 15 hours each way?  Next time.

Another unscheduled stop was to see puppies for sale by the road.  They were so fluffy and adorable, we all wanted one.  It's a good thing they were papered and expensive, or we would have ended up smuggling a sleepy little fluff ball across the border.

We reached to coast and drove along the Pacific Ocean for awhile before the route took us inland over a mountain pass, coming out in Encenada. I loved driving up into the hills into the vineyard country.  I would have loved to explore more, but you can't see everything.  Just like the puppies, the kids were sleepy and missing the scenery, so I thought we might as well

We didn't stay in Encenada long.  It was too congested and touristy.  Too much traffic, so we did a quick shopping stop then drove northward.

Look at the gorgeous vineyards!  Oh.  Never mind.  It reminded me of all the incredible vistas I must have missed on all those bus tours in Europe when I was a teen.  There's only so much you can absorb!  The car is hypnotic, and the perfect place to rest up for the beach!