Crossing the border

Captain Bligh, er Larry, cracked the whip yesterday and I spent much of it organizing and and trying to make everything (I have to say it) shipshape. Nah, it was really my idea. I can be a bit of a neat freak; I can tolerate chaos just so long before my neaterizing genes kick in. Larry had spent several days installing an antenna for our new  and very much improved radio and yesterday was devoted to his latest purchase - a new and improved remote for the autopilot. We both had a good days work but I didn't get much computer time.

So, June 15

We had gotten an early start and after an absolutely beautiful drive on 94 toward Tecate and arrived at the border about mid-morning. Great! We knew all of our papers were in order and that this was supposed to be one of the "easiest" crossings.We should be in Ensenada by lunch time and then decide how far to go on before dark. Wrong.

As Larry had purchased  boat parts in the States we veered to the "Do you have something to declare?" area. Officials barely looked at our belongings or carefully prepared paperwork, but one officer had a problem with Buddi's 2 inch thick folder. We had spent many days and and many $'s in the States making sure everything was in order but this dipstick wasn't willing to okay her entry without first checking with officials in Mexico City.. I sat in a hot car with Buddi, entertaining all who went by and stopped to visit our perrico, while Larry stood in the hot office waiting for Mexico City official to call back. Around 4:30 Carlos, an officer from the immigration area, came over to me for the fourth or fifth time and (in mixed English and Spanish) told me to tell mi espousa we should "go away" for an hour as the official giving us problems would be off duty and we could just go through immigration...or we could drive to the Otay Mesa crossing, which was about an hour away, and enter Mexico there.  He was a cutie pie and I wanted to kiss him but didn't want to overstep my bounds. 

We were tired of just waiting and made the decision to go to Otay Mesa. There was no just turning around and heading back; we were now in Mexico and had to wait for someone to guide us through a gate that led to the American border and wait for an American office to permit us to drive back into the country we didn't realize we had left. We arrived at Otay Mesa at very busy crossing time and inched along slowly and hoped for the best. There were numerous lanes if one had nothing to declare and only one lane to declare. We were funneled into a large gravel parking lot with maybe 50 other vehicles, all waiting to go through customs. After a relatively short wait a young woman came up and Larry grabbed his trusty briefcase and took off with her. Buddi and I waited.

In about fifteen minutes they returned and our pretty official had us open the doors and our car top carrier and made a cursory check of our belongings. After looking at the paperwork once again and then engaging us in a conversation about the new car she had just won (bueno!), she ripped off a small green strip of paper, handed it to Larry and pointed us towards a gate. We weren't sure what had just happened but followed directions!

As we pulled up to the gate an officer/guard smiled, took the green slip, ripped off part of it and pointed to the next gate. At the next gate another officer/guard took the remaining scrap and waved us through.

Now, here's the amazing part! We are now in  Tijuana! No one has checked our passports or visas, no one has mentioned anything about Buddi although she was visible and as always vocal! This can't be right!! But we can't turn around and go back as we have clearly not entered Mexico legally. Besides that we are now in heavy traffic and not in the best part of town, to put it euphemistically; it's getting late and even with maps we are not sure what road to take to get to Ensenada, out immediate goal. Finally, for no particularly logical reason, we see a sign for Aeropuerto, whip into the lane that will take us there and get on a fairly decent road with less traffic. After several miles, just as we are beginning to think we need to stop and regroup, we see a sign leading us to Mexican 1 and Ensenda. Eureka!!

We're on our way