Day 5: Entering Baja 2.0 March 8, Saturday

We got up early prepared to make a run for the border. The day was starting out with great weather for once. We walked out to the fields to let Tad stretch his legs. Our hosts were not stirring yet. We fired up the generator to make our egg sandwich breakfast after checking that generators were okay at the early hour.
We next needed a sanidump and luckily a cheap one was on the way to Mexicali where we were planning to cross. We spent a few minutes to gather our paperwork and prepare for the third degree.

 After reading that RV's would find it a bit tougher at Mexicali West, we headed to Mexicali East. Much more room for a larger vehicle. About 2 miles from the crossing, there was a long line but it quickly became apparent that the line was for trucks and so we sailed into the crossing in no time. We were directed to a parking spot but no one came over and the Spanish speaker in the group went to find out what we were supposed to do. He did that after stopping in the middle of the road blocking the exit so he hustled to get out of the way. Quickly we were in Mexico with no one asking to see our passport. Of there is a hard way, we found it. Getting the correct form completed couldn't have been easier but noooo, we had to turn it into an adventure with a couple of stops to try and find the correct office and realizing that it was back where we came from.
After a couple of aborted attempts to find the building and learning that we were going to be put into a line going back to the USA, we decided to park and walk. Our journey ended right where they had us park when we first came across the border. How easy it could have been.

Well, the next task was a currency exchange. Banks are closed on Saturday for the most part and we didn't want much more of Mexicali so we headed south hoping to find something in San Felipe. The ATM would not take our new bank card so we could not get Mexican currency. We did see a nice restaurant and grabbed a good meal that would suffice for lunch and dinner.
San Felipe was a lot less busy than the last time we were through but we did not feel compelled to play tourist. So we headed off toward our camp spot.
I read some of the book that Diana gave us until Comet wanted some lap time.
So far, we have not had any hassles and we found a quiet spot to camp over night at Campo Baluga.
We haven't had any wifi for a few nights so I am getting concerned about the duty I have to write comments on the NW Forest Plan due soon. Today, no Internet for the later part of the day. We will find some time and Internet to do that soon.