San Quintin, apparently, is one of the main flower growing areas in the world - but you won't see open fields of colorful flowers. Instead there are acres and acres of industrial size greenhouses, and they bus workers in from surrounding areas. Not as pretty as fields of flowers, but interesting - next time you get flowers sent to you, remember San Quintin!
One section we both remembered was the beautiful Valley of Santo Tomas. Ejido Uruapan is in this valley, with its camping and swimming resort owned by the ejido, which this time was full and lively, even though the weather was cool and cloudy. There is a winery and beautiful scenery leading both into and out of this valley, and we remembered appreciating it on the way south as well.
Ensenada was in full tilt for the holiday weekend, with horse-drawn carriages mingling with cars, trucks, buses and even ATVs on the main highway, and everyone out on the street shopping.Once we got through Ensenada, we passed into new territory, following the toll roads to Tijuana rather than back through Tecate the way we came. The beach is full of development and resorts – half-built condos for Anglos – I wonder if the housing bust has had even greater effects down here?
In Rosarito, there was a giant plastic Jesus on the hillside, with a light on his head. I thought, when Jesus said he was the way the truth and the light, I don’t think this is what he had in mind!! The beaches were packed with spring break campers from both Mexico and probably the US. More ATVs in the streets, and lots and lots of people. 
Coming into Tijuana we saw THE WALL, and the lights, and the cleared area… still, there were loitering people nearby who looked like they wanted to brave it anyway. Tijuana is a huge city, and we just skirted it as we drove along the border, passing the infamous River District, where hundreds perished in floods several years back. The poverty didn't look as severe as it used to - maybe the road is just faster and we didn't get a good look, but in general, there did not seem to be as much desperation in Mexico as I remember from past visits. And there is definitely a growing middle class, as we saw from the families camping on the beaches for vacation during Semana Santa.
As we neared the border crossing and traffic became very dense, a couple of Tijuana policemen motioned us to the side and told us we didn’t use our blinker to change lanes. Bullshit. We are almost 50 feet long when we are towing the Jeep behind the 31' RV - no way is it even possible to change lanes in slow and heavy traffic like this without using our blinkers! This was a setup for “mordida” – they wanted a bribe!! I argued with the guy in Spanglish for a while – I was pissed!! Finally, we gave him our license and asked "what now?" He said he would give us a ticket and we said "OK." Then he said we’d have to go to the police station to pay it, and we said, “Okay!” Suddenly, he changed his tune, lost interest in us, and sent us on our way. No ticket, not even a warning. Apparently the idea of going to the police station scares most Gringos into paying the cop then and there. Hmmph. 
Tijuana is famous for dirty cops, and I guess with good reason. To my delight, the road, with traffic creeping along at about one mile an hour, circled around to an overpass with a great view of their little “operation”! When we got within view, I got out my camera that has 10x optical zoom and started snapping close-ups of those bastards. Guess what? They had pulled over ANOTHER RV!!! They were targeting RV’s, playing on RVers' fear of driving in Tijuana, on their fear of Mexican jails, perhaps their naivety, and definitely on their cash!! I was so mad, I yelled “MORDIDA!” out the window and Devin about had a heart attack – reminding me we were still in Mexico… oops. I kept taking photos until they BOTH noticed me. They looked pissed. I hope they are really worried!! It warms my heart to look at their faces – he he.
After such a wonderful trip, it’s too bad that our last taste of Mexico was the pit they call Tijuana. Traffic, corrupt cops, and trinkets, churros, and crap!!! Lining the road to the border were all sorts of vendors banging on our window and trying to get us to buy their cheap pieces of crap – I didn’t have a good attitude by that time because of the cops, and I wish I could say I enjoyed the zoo-like carnival, but I was just annoyed. I saw tee shirts that said unspeakable things – well, some were things I wanted to tell those bad cops – ha!
Let me pause here to say that I respect most policemen, and if I get pulled over in the states, it's probably because I was doing something wrong, and I always admit it and apologize. Everybody forgets and speeds once in a while, or forgets to use their blinker, or does something stupid, and I figure if I'm caught, I should admit it and pay the fine. I'm a pretty safe driver, so I haven't been pulled over in a long, long time, but just admitting fault and being polite often takes them by surprise and they just give a warning. The good cops, anyway. I had a housemate in Yosemite who was a law enforcement ranger and he told a story about pulling a guy over, asking if he knew why he was pulled over, and the guy said "because I was going 50 in a 40 zone." 
My housemate was so taken aback by his candor that he thanked him, and just gave him a warning. It's stupid to argue with cops - they know you know, and you know they know, and it just wastes everyone's time. If you were speeding or otherwise breaking a traffic law, suck it up and pay the fine! But this was a different story - these were NOT good cops, serving the public, keeping the highways safe. They were serving themselves, and keeping their pockets lined with bribe money! Grrrrr!When we got to the border, we were pulled into secondary, sort of. I guess they usually go through RV’s, and a nice woman came in and took our oranges and avocado, while someone else went through our outside compartments. It only took a few minutes then we were set free – we were back safely in the US!! How will we get used to driving over 40 mph again?
Turns out it’s fairly easy. Devin said he’s already lost his edge, though, and is already using the entire lane. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Tsk tsk. We pulled into Campland on the Bay and got the last campsite that would fit us – this place is way more of a zoo than ANY of the beaches in Baja during Semana Santa! But it’s another kid heaven, and it’s fun to watch the kids enjoying running around. The people across from us seem to live here – they have a golf cart with spinners on it. Ha. It takes all kinds, and we are really not the trailer park kind, but it’s good to have internet access and a place to stop while we get our bearings again, visit with family (yummy brunch with Darby this morning in Old Town, tasty dinner with Sam and Paul the next day), and figure out what to do next.
Go back to Day One of Baja Trip
- an exhaust system that not only increases power, but gives our model of RV 7% better gas mileage!
which has digital gauges letting you know fuel economy - allows you to figure out optimum driving speed/rpm for best mpg
lets us know what our tire pressures are at all times (keeping tires properly inflated can make a big difference in fuel economy)
(for filling tires using our batteries and keeping them at optimum pressure)
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