Day 7: Tecate!

It’s our last day in Mexico on the CSC Baja 2016 adventure tour and all I can say is: Wow! This has been one of the best rides ever.

I was up early at the Old Mill Hotel in San Quintin, and so was everyone else. I thought we would roll north for an hour or so and find breakfast, but J and Mark were out walking around the Old Mill and they had a better plan.  They found the owner of the restaurant on the other side of the Old Mill (it’s Don Eddie’s), and they talked him into opening early for us.   Tony (the owner) called his helpers in early and they prepared, to borrow a phrase, a veritable feast.  We had two kinds of Mexican scrambled eggs, green corn tamales, coffee, freshly-squeezed orange juice, tortillas, Mexican squash, and more stuff I can’t remember.  It was incredible.   I asked Tony to figure it all up (including the tip) and divide the number by 14 so we could all chip in evenly.  He did some heavy-duty calculating and arrived at $8.  I successfully negotiated old Tony up to 10 bucks a pop and everyone (including the two ladies in the kitchen) left in good spirits.

Oh, and in case you are wondering who’s who, here’s a photo of Mark (taking a photo, actually)…

…and here’s one of J…

Here’s a photo of Dan the K (aka Dan 1)…

This is Doina checking out the view…

Here’s one of Doc Juan…

Juan is quite a character. He grew up and went to veterinary school in Mexico, and he is now an American citizen with a veterinary practice in the US.   Juan has helped me a lot on this trip.   I have issues with a pinched nerve every now and then, and back home the quick fix is an expensive doctor visit and an expensive co-pay for the only thing that really works (and that’s prednisone).    Here in Mexico, you can buy prednisone over the counter for $6 a box.   Juan was my translator when we stopped in a farmacia yesterday, and those pills sure did the trick.

This morning, when Juan saw me, he asked me how I was feeling.   “I’m feeling great, Doc,” I said, “but the only problem I’m having is when one of the guys asks me how many miles we’re riding today, I start pawing the ground with my right front foot to count out the number…”

We had another special treat today. As we were tooling north on Baja’s Transpeninsular Highway in Santo Tomas (about 50 miles south of Ensenada), I spotted two motorcycles coming toward us heading south.   Down here, you only see three kinds of bikes.   There are 125cc Honda pizza delivery bikes in the bigger cities.  There are Harleys out on the open road (they are always ridden by German tourists riding EagleRider rental bikes).   And there are adventure bikes.  Usually, the adventure bikes are BMWs with the odd KLR thrown in.

When I first spotted the two bikes mentioned above, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.  The two bikes coming in the opposite direction were RX3s!   How about that?

It turns out the riders were none other than our good buddies Abe and Greg, who rode with us on last year’s CSC Inaugural Baja Run.  They have been following this year’s adventure on the CSC blog, and they rode down from San Diego to meet us!

Here’s a shot of Keith (who rode with us last year and this year), Abe, and Greg.  What a treat!

We rode directly through Ensenada (always tricky, as it’s a big city), and then we picked up Mexico Highway 3 (the Ruta Vinacola) through the Mexican wine country.  We stopped at the L.A. Cetto vineyard.   It was fun.   Here’s a shot of Dan 2, Mike, and Dave…

Willie bought some Gouda cheese and we snacked on it before we left the vineyard.  I told the guys they should eat more of it…you know, it’s “gouda” for you.   I think the folks on this ride will miss my corny jokes.

We have been eating too well on this trip.   Fish tacos, combination Mexican plates, chicken tacos, burritos, Mama Espinoza’s, Tony’s fish tacos (the best in the world), sea bass, and more….I think all of us have put on a few pounds.   We’re in Tecate tonight (right on the border), and there’s a Chinese restaurant across the street.   So, this evening we had Chinese food.  It was good, too.   The buffet was $6.  Wow, yet again.

Everyone is in high spirits.   Cigars and beer appeared and the smoking lamp was lit in front of our hotel a few minutes ago…

Here’s one last shot tonight…my faithful RX3. I sure love that bike and the adventures it has taken me on.   Good times.   I can’t wait for the next ride!