Better late than never… We finally entered Mexico yesterday on December 4!
Backing up a few days… We arrived in San Diego with people to see, places to go, and things to do. The most important “thing” was to get our Mexican car insurance. That was taken care of with a visit to the Discover Baja Travel Club, where they set us up with insurance and answered loads of other questions.
Quinn fills out the Mexican tourist permit application
We got to hang out with Jen’s cousin Rob and his family on two separate occasions – once where they took us to a great seafood restaurant near their house, and then a couple of days later when they cooked us a wonderful meal and we stayed in their guest room. Thanks very much to Rob, Kayla, Lindsay, and Jordan for sharing their home with us!
The weather last week was perfect for a little beach time.
We also visited another of Jen’s cousins, Pam, and her boyfriend Dave who treated us to dinner at a nice restaurant that also offered a great selection of local microbrews. They also hosted us for a relaxing evening at their home which we very much appreciated.
On Tuesday we met the KA-Lite team on the UCSD campus. After a very productive discussion about our experiences installing the software and the FLE team’s future plans for the product, we went to a vegan restaurant on campus for lunch. It was great to meet them all in person after working together virtually for the past few months. Liz even invited us to her house where we shared a lovely dinner and we caught up on our laundry. She also got us free admission to the aquarium, which in addition to fish had a fantastic and comprehensive display about climate change. Outside were a number of interactive renewable energy exhibits, some of which featured NREL maps. Go NREL! Liz also got us discounted admission to the amazing San Diego Zoo which, like the Denver Zoo, features a train!
At the aquarium
This water table at the aquarium was a big hit.
Climbing on Elephants
Train!
On Wednesday morning we headed toward the border. We decided to cross at the town of Tecate rather than Tijuana, having heard that it was less crowded and easier to cross. Plus, that put us on Mexico’s Ruta De Vino, which traverses Baja’s wine-producing region. Who knew Baja had wineries?
The Cetto winery in Baja
We only had time for one winery stop along the way, but we did pick up a few bottles. We also discovered that tagging along on a wine tasting tour isn’t exactly how Quinn would prefer to spend an afternoon. Surprise surprise!
We spent the next day in Ensenada grocery shopping, writing web updates, and getting a Mexican phone number for our phone. It took us a few hours to figure it out, but we were finally able to finish the unlock process on our iPhone and purchase a SIM card for it from Telcel. We now have our very own Mexican phone number with a data plan! Woohoo!
Sounds like things are pretty cold up north (my friend Ed reports -20 in Summit County this morning – brrrr.) It’s not exactly beach weather here, with temps in the 50s and low 60s. We’ll be headed south soon for warmer climates!