We Made it Back Alive

Raven and I kicked off the weekend by flying out of Oakland via Bart and the even better "Air Bart." If you have never visited the Coliseum Bart station it is a magical and scary place. After some delay at the OAK airport we finally make it to San Diego. We picked up our Chevy Impala rental car, aka PImpala, GImpala, or LImpala. We shot up to Pacific Beach to stay with Ollie for the night. I bet Raven that he would make us long island ice teas as soon as we got there and he didn't disappoint. After we knocked one back I threw Wild Boyz season 2 on the 65" plasma tv. I think the crew enjoyed it, but better than anything it really set the stage for the weekend. Ok, so driving through Tijuana in a brand new rental car might not seem wild to you but for two dorks who sit in front of computers all day it's definitely wild.

After wild boyz we headed over to Smiley's house for some beers. Smiley had the classic college house, equipped with kegerator and hot tub in the living room. I don't know how it happened but time really got away from us. By the time we headed back and fell asleep it was 4:30 am. I woke up the next morning at 11 am...I can't remember the last time I woke up at 11 am, it was at least college. We walked down the block to this local Hawaiian breakfast place and then hit the road. Leaving PB we stopped at a Walgreens to pick up sun screen, a case of water, Gatorade, and deodorant...what else do you need in Mexico? We crossed the border at about 1 pm and Raven kept the drive interesting with his Ipod that we rigged to play on the car stereo. The drive down the coast was unreal. No doubt some of the most amazing coast line in the world. We had no idea where our hotel was in Ensenada but we somehow drove right into the parking lot. Once there we got our single room with 1 king size bed (thanks front desk guy who was sure to say that out loud for all of Mexico to hear) an 8 pack of Tecate, ice, and a foam ice chest. Quick tour of the town and then we were off to the wedding. We had awesome directions to the church, somewhere in Ensenada. The only problem is that the streets HAVE NO FRIGEN STREET SIGNS! Again somehow we lucked out and found ourselves in the parking lot of the church. The Church was amazing. Very traditional yet modern looking. Later we hit the reception and drank our share of Pacifico's. After the reception we hit up an amazing taco bar, which we frequented several times after.

Sunday we drove up the coast and checked out a surf spot. We then headed down to a placecalled Maui just outside of Ensenada. There we grabbed a tall boy of Tecate and headed to the beach. Once the party got started Raven and I participated in a game of dirt field soccer....in sandals no less. I loved the large chunks of cement buried in the field. Fernando's family basically worked all day to provide one of the best meals I've ever had. Real fish tacos with shrimp, Sting Ray, salsas, fruit, and deserts.

The next day we headed back to the US. We hit every exit and even managed to spend every peso. We got so cocky we started to listen to our voice mails and ended up missing the critical turn off for San Diego. That's right, we blew the most important turn of the trip and got diverted through Tijuana. I'm no stranger to border towns but TJ is a different beast. All the signs might as well have been in Chinese. With slight cases of Montazumas revenge working against us, and no idea where we were headed, panic set it. There was a lot of deep breathing and swearing. We started driving up this mountain pass, shacks and shanty's below in the valley. California license plates were non existent on vehicles and I thought we were in for an interesting day. Finally we saw a sign for the Otay border crossing, which was "OH-Tay" with me. We got diverted through neighborhoods, took some educated guess turns and somehow, and I mean somehow, we hit the border line. It only took about 15 minutes to cross. Once inside the US we flew into the 1st gas station for a pit stop.

We didn't fly out till 2:30 so we went over to the Hotel Del Coronado for a bite to eat. Threw down a burger and then headed for the airport. All I have to say is god bless America! For all the bums out there who think they have it rough, I want to buy you a ticket to TJ. Tijuana makes a news paper blanket and bench look like club med in comparison. As always for more picture go to flickr.