Ensenada has not been a dream destination for us. It just seemed like an easy place to get to from out of California, and since my birthday was coming up, we planned a quick, easy 4-day get away. Haha, nothing ever seems to be as easy as we think it should be.

Originally, Sannie chose San Diego for my birthday weekend. Good choice. I have never spent any time there and I have a good friend living there I could visit. But, once I mentioned Ensenada just being south of the border within a couple of hours, our plans changed. Of course they did; we love travelling in Mexico!

Our plan was simple; fly into San Diego (we had already purchased the tickets) and then rent a car to drive down to Ensenada. Sannie changed our departure time so we could get there earlier. The Uber ride to SMF from Elk Grove was relaxing, quick, and was actually cheaper than us parking at the airport. We took advantage of my Priority Pass to have breakfast in one of the two lounges at SMF. Which, by the way, was in the other terminal. No problem, though. We caught the shuttle. Our trip was going great. And then we landed in San Diego.

San Diego in February was beautiful. We kinda hated to leave, but Mexico! Street Tacos and Margaritas were calling us from beyond. Now all we had to do was get to the car rental place, hop in and take a stress-free, leisurely drive to our latest adventure. We couldn’t wait.

We took Uber to the off-site car rental and waited our turn in line, anticipation of another relaxing weekend ahead. That is until Sannie noticed a little sign on the TV that said, “No rentals allowed to go into Mexico”. “Adventures with Steve -Ensenada style” was under way!

WTF? CapitalOne didn’t bother to mention that when I booked the car. NOWW WHAT?? We already booked 3 nights at an AirBnB. As happens so often, we just shook off the little issue of not having a plan and started tossing out ideas together. Get to the border and take Uber from Tijuana. Should be easy enough.

We grabbed an Uber to head back to the airport to sort things out, come up with a good plan. Our driver thought we were on the right track and told us to take the trolley to the border. He changed directions for us and dropped us off on Washington Street.

I promise you, we aren’t criminals. Well, at least we don’t to be criminals. We did earnestly try to pay for tickets to ride the trolley down to the border(San Ysidro), but the machines at the station didn’t work and we were desperate. We figured we could hop on and pay the attendant. That’s how it has worked for me in other countries. That’s not how it played out. There was no attendant. We rode for free. Well, except for maybe not guilt-free.

The border crossing took no more than a half hour. We arranged for our Uber to Ensenada and were soon headed down the coast. Our driver was awesome! He and I practiced each others’ language during the hour and a half trip and he stopped for us at a bank and then at one of his favorite roadside taco stands. Ahh, this is was headed the right way. Our next stop was at a great 2 bed AirBnB, with a porch, just across the street from the beach. Too bad there was no running water.

Our host told us water is on its’ way in 15 minutes. 1.5 hours and several texts later, it was getting dark and we decided to punt. We weren’t going to take the chance of staying without a toilet or shower. Fortunately, Sannie used to travel a lot for work and has great perks, including free upgrades and stays, with a major hotel chain. She booked us a room and we were moving again.

The view from our room was beautiful. Up on the 7th floor, looking out at the ocean, just outside. So nice. Except, of course, the awful smell that ruminated throughout the room the next morning. It was time to pack, again. One floor up. Not a bad trip. And no foul odor. The hotel was great. Not only did it have a rooftop (sorta) heated pool, but they also gave us a ride into central Ensenada, where we explored on foot.

Our favorite stop was our first. A bar tucked away in the central district, called Bar Andaluz. It has great service, and prices, for the margaritas and Mojitos we had been waiting for.

In just the 2 days and 3 nights we had there, we managed to fit in a lot of margaritas, tacos, and fun excursions. Our favorite was a privately chartered boat that took us out whale watching. After 2.5 hours on the sea I was accepting that whales just weren’t going to be part of this trip. We were ecstatic to not be disappointed. Our captain’s skillful eyes caught glimpse of swirling water about 80 feet off our bow. First one, then two Grey Whales appeared.

Bufadora

When you go to Ensenada you’ll hear about and be expected to go to La Bufadora. It’s not technically a geyser, but who the hell cares? It’s awesome! Bring a light raincoat and experience it fully. While there you definitely want to indulge in a Michelada, some stuffed oysters, and then grab a bite to eat at the Cerveceria Transpeninsular near the geyser.

Tequila Tasting

Just off the pier, about a block away, where the cruise ships dock, is a tequila tour & tasting site that is well worth your time. “Doña Engracia” Tequilera gives a fun, informative tour with generous tasting of their whole line. Drop in to learn about tequila and mezcal distilleries throughout Mexico. It’s well worth it.

Getting Home

Sunday morning came quick and we packed up for our journey to the border. We gave ourselves about 6 hours to be safe. That was plenty of time, which we don’t mind having extra time to spend in a lounge at the airport, instead of rushing and worrying. I’m not saying we didn’t have anything to worry about. The border crossing was not what we planned on.

The line into the US Border crossing was about 2.5 hours long. That was going to seriously effect our chances of arriving on time. We had to take a chance on a little sketchy proposition. For just $20 US each, we could be escorted into the border crossing that would promise to get in within 10 minutes. We thought, “what the hell?, Another adventure with Steve & Sannie!”. Our short cut was worth it. Not 10, more like 30 minutes, and that beats the heck out of 2.5 hours. We made our way through customs easily and then (eventually) found our way to catch the tram back to San Diego. And even though we downloaded the app, we found ourselves without tickets. This time there was an attendant. Lucky for us, he was in a good mood and tried to help us purchase tickets. Nope. He couldn’t figure it out either, so he just let us ride for free.

Back at the airport, we had enough time to enjoy a lounge before heading back to Sacramento. Our Uber driver was late, but we still made good time to get back to Elk Grove, where I packed my bags into my truck and drove up to Redding. I made it by a little after 1:00am and fell quickly asleep, and dreamt of our next big adventure: Budapest, Hungary.