Mexico Day Trip (Plaza Río Shopping and Tijuana Cultural Center)

Jessie was going to a dentist in Tijuana for the first time and asked Tori to come with her. After Tori made an appointment to get a teeth cleaning at the same time, I decided to tag along so we could all explore the area afterwards. We parked at the border to walk across the San Ysidro Border Crossing, but we hit a long line to cross. A tour guide in line behind us said he had never seen it this long before. It took an hour to cross since we discovered that everyone was having to fill out a form when presenting their passport. The dentist office sent a free taxi to pick us up and drive us to their building in the Zona Río area. 

While Jessie and Tori had their appointments, I walked over to check out the nearby Tijuana River. The concrete aqueduct reminded me of the river in Downtown Los Angeles as I crossed over the pedestrian bridge. I then walked over to the Abraham Lincoln Monument on Paseo de los Héroes, one of Tijuana’s largest and busiest streets that is known for its sculptures placed along its large roundabouts. The U.S. gifted the statue of Lincoln in 1981 and Mexico gifted a statue of Mexican President Benito Juárez that sits in Pantoja Park in Downtown San Diego. Walking back, I stopped at the Cafe de la Fonda across the street from the dentist office and enjoyed a Mexican Coke and Carrot Cake Cookie on the shaded patio. Tori joined me there for a coffee after her appointment ended first.

After Jessie's appointment ended, we walked up the Paseo de los Héroes, passing the Monument to Emperor Cuauhtémoc, sculpted in 1975. (Cuauhtémoc was the last emperor of the Aztecs when Mexico was under siege by the Spanish Conquistadors. He ruled for a year before being captured by the Spanish and eventually executed by Hernán Cortés.) We then entered the large open-air Plaza Río Shopping Mall where we stopped for candy at Super Dulces and Tori bought some clothes at High Street. The mall includes a Sears department store. Despite the bankruptcy and only six stores remaining in America, Sears Mexico is still running strong under different ownership with 93 stores across Mexico.

Leaving the mall, we passed the roundabout with the Monumento México, two sharp metal spires that form the letter "M" to commemorate Mexico's Independence. The local nickname is Las Tijeras (the Scissors). Across the street, we entered the Tijuana Cultural Center where a street festival filled the esplanade circling the OMNImax CECUT dome. We could see that the iconic exterior of La Bola (the Ball) was under refurbishment as we walked past the vendor stalls and the musical stage. Inside, Jessie stopped for Rosemary Coffee (surprisingly good) at the BRAGO Cafe, before we walked through the Botanical Garden filled with Pre-Spanish Mesoamerican sculptures.

The Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT) opened in 1982 and has two museums, Museo de las Californias and Museo El Cubo. We bought tickets to the art museum that opened in 2008 and named "The Cube" after the new square building that contrasts with the older La Bola IMAX Dome. In the Cube Lobby, a group of ballroom dancers swirled to the music. Two of the three galleries were open and we started with their current exhibition of modern art on the 1st Floor before moving up to the traditional ceramic art on the 3rd floor. We crossed the street to eat at Plaza Fiesta but everything was still closed. It was full of bars and nightclubs prepping for a busy Saturday night.

We walked back toward the dentist office and stopped at Los Remedios Cantina for Margaritas. Tori and Jessie both ordered the Mushroom Quesadillas while I had the Carne Asada Torta. It was so good! After our meal, we took a taxi from the restaurant to the PedEast Border Crossing. With our last bit of cash, we bought a bag of Churros for dessert while we were waiting in line. It took only 45 minutes total before we exited Customs. This was the first time ever that we had a longer line to enter Mexico then it took to cross back over into the States.

Camping in Erendira, Mexico

I went camping down in Mexico this weekend with Kurt, Dave, Joe & Suzie. We drove down Friday night to the town of Erendira in Baja California. It is a 4 hour drive from San Diego and about 60 miles south of Ensenada winding through the small mountains. We didn't get to Coyote Cal's until midnight but we stayed up til 3am drinking beers after we set up our tents.


Saturday morning, we drove south down the coastal dirt road to an ancient volcano vent where the lava had flowed into the ocean. There were nice tide pools and little waterfalls caused by the high tide pouring over the reef. In one narrow channel of the reef, waves were powering through and funneling up the beach. It was fun to watch the bigger set waves crash through. Further down the beach in the distance, we could see a large spout of water repeatedly shooting high in the air so we decided to go check it out.




It was blowhole formed in the reef about 50 feet from the ocean. A warning spray of mist from the hole would be followed by an explosion of water of varying sizes between a waist-high gout of water to a pillar of spray high over our heads. It sprayed water at regular intervals and we could stand right next to it or jump over it. A group of dirt bikers came up to check out the blowhole and one got soaked as he was posing for a picture. The picture was pretty cool as it looked like a still from a Jerry Bruckheimer film of the hero trying to out jump an explosion right behind him.





We then drove north to Long Beach to go surfing. It is a nice sandy beach with lots of dunes but it was pretty windy. Kurt and Suzie took naps on the warm sand while Dave, Joe & I went out in the water. It was small but I caught a few long waves. The water is much colder down here because the warmer currents bypass this area and the colder water rises up from the ocean depths. Afterwards, we drove down to a secluded cove that blocked the wind to hang out for the rest of the day, eating sandwiches, tossing a Frisbee, and relaxing.


Saturday night, Suzie made an amazing dinner at our campfire on the beach. She took pieces of chicken and vegetables and sealed them with a little white wine in aluminum foil packets. She set the packs directly on the hot coals for 30 minutes and they came out perfect and steaming. The chicken was very tender and the vegetables were delicious.


On Sunday, I stayed at the camp while the rest went out fishing on a boat. I would have liked to go, but I get seasick like crazy on those little boats bobbing out on the ocean. They caught a lot of fish while I hiked out to the rocky point full of pelicans and sea lions and then walked down the beach to check out the "Vortex". It is a natural formation of swirling concentric circles set in the stone face of the beach cliff.


The drive home in the afternoon was the only bummer of the trip. It started out with hearing the sports score updates for the Padres & Chargers while we drove north. The Padres had lost the last two games to force a one game playoff in order to clinch the Wild Card and the Chargers blew a 16-6 half time lead to lose the game against Kansas City. The border crossing wait is always a nuisance but our two cars got separated due to the heavy traffic. Dave and I were waved through to the main border crossing but Joe, Suzie & Kurt who were behind us got diverted by the Mexican Police to the Otay crossing. They ended up getting home 2 1/2 hours after we did.

Justin Surfing in Puerto Escondido, Mexico

My youngest brother, Justin, went on a surf trip to Puerto Escondido, Mexico this month. He got some great pictures taken of him surfing during the great swell.


Here are two shots of him getting barrelled.


YouTube Video of Justin Unsworth's Surf Trip

Cactus Stock in Mexico

Cactus Stock was a blast! Rosie had a gig with the band, Skanic, as one of their back-up singers so I went with her and Jeff down to Mexico for Cactus Stock. It is held south of Ensenada in Baja California about 20 minutes from La Bufadora (The Blowhole).


There is a windy dirt road the last few miles with some shear drops and sharp turns as you cross over the rocky ridge to get down to the Kennedy Ranch. It was very scenic spot with jagged cliffs rising out of the ocean and the weather was perfect. We set up our tents and joined the party.


A few bands were playing on the cliff stage with people hanging out or going into the ocean. I went ocean kayaking with Jeff, but I lost my favorite pair of sunglasses when we capsized while catching a wave into the beach. Bummer! At sunset, we all hiked up to Crow's Point with the rest of the crowd to cheer as the sun dropped below the horizon.


At Crow's Point, I met a cute girl named Liza who I hung out with for the rest of the night after she invited me to have some dinner at her friends' campsite. After a while the bonfire started and more bands started playing on the main stage. Everyone started to gather around the fire and on the dance floor.


Rosie did a great job singing and Skanic had a fun set. After the Belly Up, it was the second time I had heard her sing with them. I got pretty plastered on Tequila through the night. I drank three-quarters of a bottle of Hornitos. I had never had it before but I really like it. It is very smooth. Not as good as chilled Patron, though.


I was so dehydrated in the morning that I got two really bad hamstring cramps in the same leg when I tried to get out of my tent. I was writhing on the floor in pain for awhile. Heh! It took till Wednesday for the soreness in my right hamstring to go away.


After a morning hike, Rosie, Jeff & I had breakfast burritos at Estella's Cantina before packing up to go home. On the trip back north, we stopped for lobster in Puerto Nuevo.