Crossing the Border

Worth it?

To wake up with a view like this, seeing the Sea of Cortez for the first time, what’s the value of that?

We met the group in the desert of southern California the day before our trip south to Mexico.  The late afternoon sun was giving us one last beautiful sunset as we prepared to tow our home into a foreign country for the first time the next morning. 

After a good cup of coffee or two, and one last equipment check, we set south for the hour drive to the border.  We knew getting there was the easy part of the day.  Paved roads, signage, and the comforts of our home country.  Crossing the border in Mexicali would immediately put us into a large city full of traffic and people hustling about their lives. To help ease the nerves and uncertainty for those of us crossing the border for the first time, each rig was equipped with a short-range radio to communicate traffic issues, vehicle problems, military checkpoints, and most importantly bathroom breaks.

Our Caravan hosts, Steven and Alexis, had us so well prepared that the border crossing was easy peasy. It might have helped that with eight rv’s arriving at the same time, it seemed the Mexican border agents were just as excited as we were, to get us through!

Even the traffic of Mexicali, while challenging for a few lane changes, was not nearly as difficult to navigate as we anticipated. It was comparable to towing the Queen near the larger city in the United States. Now, that we were safely in Mexico, it was time to settle in for a two-hour road trip south to the town of San Felipe and where we were going to spend the first few days of the trip.  

Traveling Hwy 5 took a bit of getting used to as this major highway is much narrower than we are accustomed to in the states, with many places having no shoulders at all.  Trucks coming in the opposite direction were especially fun to navigate around while negotiating the inches each vehicle had to maneuver inside of to avoid each other while staying on the roadway. 

Truthfull, while the road wasn’t terrible, it also wasn’t “relax and eat a sandwich while you drive” nice, either.  Every time I thought about having a snack, a slalom course of potholes would appear, and both hands were back on the wheel. 

Our first place to stay would be Pete’s Camp, a full hook up campground right on the beach.  This would be a great place to explore San Felipe and learn more about the culture of Mexico, the rules of traveling here and learn more about our fellow travelers.  One of the things we loved about our group was the variety of generations and stages of life represented.  We had vacationers with and without children, full-timers working from the road, empty nesters, and some returners from last year’s trip that had so much fun, they were back again.   It was a great blessing to share these experiences through the eyes of the young, and the still young at heart.

Learn more about Pete’s Camp here: 

https://petescamp.com/

San Felipe is a neat small fishing town that is a stopping point for most travelers coming to or from the border. It’s a perfect place to rest after a long day of travel, resupply, and get acquainted with our family for the next two weeks.

It was time for a wide variety of tacos.  pescado,(fish fried is much better than grilled 😊), camarón (shrimp), and barria or quesobirria (tender beef or with cheese option and an awesome dipping sauce) were among our favorites!  The language barrier really wasn’t an issue here as it seems to be human nature to respect someone who is trying to speak your language.  With that respect, my limited Spanish, a strong smile, some pointing, and a bit of English thrown in we did just fine!

The crew out for tacos in San Felipe

Although we would not recommend buying a “gently” used car from anyone in San Felipe as we saw many of them driving out into the ocean during low tide to retrieve their fishing boats 😊

Sunrises like this make us forget about the hesitation we had in taking this trip

Our first sunrise over the Sea of Cortez was amazing and consistently seeing them in new places is one of our favorite parts of traveling.  The different sounds that accompany it, the tide coming ashore, the birds crashing down looking for fish, it all help put our worries, doubts, and fears into perspective.  Nature continues to do its thing day after day as it has for many years, whether we are paying attention or not. 

I am always reminded of the consistency required to do something great and create lasting impact.

Next week:

Baja Is Huge!