Welcome to Mexico!

Thursday, 9/7/2023

After a lovely breakfast of boiled eggs and toast, we took off from Cassa grande. The desert scenes changed with types of soil, sand, cactus, mountains, and sometimes crops. What type of crop? We were unsure. There were lots of trailer homes near Yuma, sitting out in the direct sunlight and heat.

We filled up with gas in Yuma for $3.89 a gallon, anticipating higher costs across the border. At 11 AM we crossed into California. The highway there was better. Now there were a few low plants and mostly sand. We passed the impressive Algodones Dunes. It was 97°.

The mountains now were huge, rounded rocks. At 1000 feet the temperature had climbed to 100°. We drove over the Tecate divide at 4100 feet and it was still 93° at that altitude. We took a scary side trip to Desert Tower. The narrow, rough road was lined by UFO repairman, old trucks, recliners, vans, RVs, fences, old boats, furniture, burned trailers, “slow, slow, slow!” signs, golf carts, ladders, baby strollers, traffic cones, junk metal, garbage bags, a 10 foot tall flamingo, mirrors, flags, lawn chairs, a 20 foot tall, metal peace sign, etc… all crowded together. We both feared getting robbed and couldn’t turn the car around fast enough!

I had missed seeing a turn off, so we took Highway 1 to get back to our planned route, avoiding the Interstate and hugging the Mexican border. We turned onto an uncertain side road and ended up having a delightful lunch at Lake Morena County Park. The temp was 91, but with the dry air and a light breeze it was delightful!

Along the secondary, two-lane roller coaster highway, we stopped at the post office in the tiny town of Potrero. The postal worker assured me that we could get to San Ysidro via highway 94. “Go about 10 miles and turn left 500 yards after the customs stop on Otay Road.“ Past customs?!? Plus, Google maps kept telling us “Turn back! Turn back!”

I took over driving on the steep, winding mountain roads, successfully avoiding my Ozark car sickness. Various times along the way we paralleled the snaking border wall, and we both received texts saying “Welcome to Mexico!” We were worried that the road would actually cross into Mexico. The customs station was closed. We kept winding close to the border and eventually we had to get on the tollway to get to our Airbnb.

We were following Google Maps again and wondered how “Frank’s Farm” would fit into this residential neighborhood well south of San Diego. We finally turned into the gate of “Friendly Farm.“ The property looked disorderly with various types of living situations, including a yurt. We opened the RV and searched for how to turn on the air conditioning. We unloaded our gear, but discovered rumpled bedding, ants, crumbs, dirt, hairs, dirty bathroom rug, and food that had run down the front of the oven. I started sweeping, but then we looked at each other and said, “No way!“

We repacked and found a hotel in Del Mar, California. We drove through San Diego traffic and paid an extra $10 for parking and $50 for the dog, but were relieved to have a clean and comfortable room. We heated up microwave meals in the room and watched football.

I was sad we had not taken a picture with my aunt Mim OR at the far southwest corner of the continental US. (We reached our goal!)