Ensenada

San Diego is an interesting place. It's the last establishment of American civilization as the Mexican border approaches. That said, there doesn't really seem to be a clear border. The city officially ends with one of America's largest naval bases, but suburbia continues beyond that for another 25km. Those 25km represent an interesting gradient from English speaking Americans to Spanish speaking Americans & Mexicans. Within the last 3km of the border, you'd be hard pressed to find a sign in English.

In any case, my last night in the good old U.S. of A. was spent between an R.V. packed K.O.A. campground and ironically, a Mexican restaurant. I'd have more symbolically preferred McDonald's, but my group had other ideas.

Crossing the border the following day was a bit of a surprise. Despite my best efforts, I could not find anyone who cared to look at my passport. Cars were flowing south by the hundreds and not a single one was being stopped. To my left was parked a line of cars at least 1km in length, waiting to head north.

Tijuana only received about an hour of my time; enough to see some peculiar, but very touristy sites. This included a donkey, painted like a Zebra. I thereafter headed east and inland to the smaller, understated town of Tecate; home of the world famous Tecate brewery. I spent the night in an $18 motel - it was worth every penny.

I continued east the following day through a sizable range of mountains. My hopes of of seeing the nearby national park were quickly dashed when my well-paved and popular corridor turned into an impassable patch of sand. I did an about face and after 80km of mountainous riding, returned to the every charming Motel Paraiso in Tecate.

Yesterday, I rode southeast down an Alternate route to the coast and the town of Ensenada. The road brought forth 3 incredibly challenging climbs atop desert mountains, all of which revealed stunning vistas. On the more thrilling side, there were four converse descents into beautiful valleys, the last of which brought me into the Valle de Guadalupe - one of Mexico's winery regions. Faced with the opportunity, I spend the equivalent of 80 cents to sample 7 varieties of Don Juan wine. The final 30km of my 113km day were a little tipsy, but I made it safe and sound to Ensenada where I requainted with Mike, Kelvin and another tourista, Judith.

Today, I continue South, destination: unknown.