My road trip is sadly coming to an end. This last week has been full of adventures.
It all began last Tuesday when I left San Francisco for Los Angeles. I got a late start and made a few stops along the way (including a beautiful oceanside run along the shores of Pismo Beach – I couldn’t resist) but I made it to Jane’s house without having to battle any LA traffic.
After a good night’s sleep, I headed off for the real adventure. I spent a night in Carlsbad with a college friend, a night in San Diego at Becca’s new apartment and then headed down to Mexico.
Mark picked us up on Friday afternoon. Becca and I met Mark in Costa Rica and I haven’t seen him since we parted ways in Granada, Nicaragua a month and a half ago. It was so wonderful to see him again and it was even better to be back on the road with my two traveling compadres!
Our drive down the Mexican coast was quick and easy. Mark’s family owns a small, rustic house on the beach between Rosarito and Ensenada. There is no electricity and very little running water but the views are spectacular, the area is desolate, the sunsets are stunning, the beach is vacant the surf is good. Our days were spent lounging on the sand and playing in the ocean and our evenings involved scrabble and dominos by candle light. It was a perfect weekend getaway.
Our drive back into the US didn’t go over very smoothly. When we reached the on ramp for the border lines, it was closed. We were detoured around and ended up getting lost in a shady neighborhood in Tijuana. As soon as we figured out where we needed to go, two Mexican policia pulled us over and shook us down. It was really scary but luckily, we got out of the situation completely unharmed. However, I was freaked out. They made Mark get out of the car and open the back of his truck. One cop stayed in the back and searched through all of our stuff – and when I say all, I mean everything. The other cop searched through the entire cab. He pulled dirt off the floor of the car and inspected it, he lifted all the floor mats, checked all the little compartments in the doors and center console. He made Becca and I show our ID and then looked through my purse. It was crazy. My heart was beating so loudly I thought he could probably hear it. In the end, they didn’t find anything (because we didn’t have anything) and they didn’t try to take advantage of us in any way.
When we separated from them, we tried the border on ramp again and this time, it was open. But, our problems didn’t end there. At the border we were sent into secondary inspection after a drug dog sniffed the back of our car. Apparently we had lunch meat in the cooler that we couldn’t bring into the states because it had been opened. And, little did we know, there’s an entire department of people who have to dispose of the meat for you. (I think it’s all a little weird too.)
So, after 4-hours, we arrived in San Diego at 5:00 last night. I chowed on a little bit a pizza and then hit the road again, arriving at Jane’s at 10:00pm.
In just a few short minutes, I’m heading home. I leave for London in 9-days and I have a big weekend ahead of me so this week is going to be dedicated to a little bit of decompression and rest and relaxation.
Many loves and thanks for this wonderful week belong to: The Road Gods, The Goodpeople, Silverado, Laughne, Darce and Aaron, Becca-Becca, Jere, Markie, what the hell – the bachelor party (whoa!), El Campo, USC for kicking ass and creating an interesting evening in Rosarito and the tequila bottle that went completely unopened (thank goodness!).
And Then There Was One ... 