Baja Bound

CC put us up for two days. We had a great time sharing her mini mansion with her son, mother and three corgis (Mica, Liam and Rio). CC showed us around Capistrano Beach, OC. With her we visited our first Spanish Mission, San Juan Capistrano. It was fascinating. The remains of these missions dot the Californian coast, all one days horse ride from each other. She took us to lunch at a restaurant overlooking Laguna Beach. I took my first west coast swim in the afternoon and we ate supper with her son at his favorite sushi restaurant where they serve Coke in bowls.

We left the next morning for San Diego where we had a quiet night wandering around the harbour, seeing from the shore many old ships and a US aircraft carrier. We spent the night in a private room in a funky downtown hostel. It had no windows and was stifling.

Today, Mexico. I had the sense to get an oil change done on Parker in Chula Vista. The mechanic also changed the air filter, it was filthy. I had visions of us being stranded in the middle of the desert and decided upon preventative maintenance. As the miles counted down to the Mexico we were a little nervous as anyone is when crossing an international border. But out Lonely Planet guide was right, entering Mexico was no harder than navigating a fast food drive through. In fact, it was easier. We didn't even stop. Before we knew what didn't hit us we were in the Zona Norte, Tijuana, dodging taxis and pedestrians, trying to find a hotel. Driving is an experience in itself, the road rules in TJ are a little looser than in the US.