Officially 6 1/2 days in on the road trip. With the unfortunate event we experienced the last night we were in Valle, we were feeling a bit shaken, but as ready as we could be to take on the longest leg of our entire trip. Bring on the 10 hour drive, Baja Norte!

We left Guadalupe right at dawn, definitely feeling the extra glasses of wine and pulled pork sandys we drowned our sorrows in the night before. We hopped back on the wine country dirt roads and headed for Mexico 3 highway before reaching Mexico 1.

Entering Ensenada

Our first “city” after wine country in Mexico was Ensenada. It was our first time this trip we got to see the beautiful Pacific ocean. As we hit city center, the difference of driving in Mexico was an immediate shock. We hit blinking green lights, hidden stop signs from mini to large forms, cars using their blinker to indicate it was safe to pass instead of them turning, and many more fun surprises driving through.

MEXICO DRIVING TIPS

As Kyle kept his hands on the wheel, Leigh quickly Googled “Mexico driving rules” to try and quickly pickup on the new ways of the road. How did we miss this one on the road trip preparation?

We stumbled upon a few helpful tips that got us through and we thought were worth sharing:

• Blinking green light = A quick head’s up that the light is about to change and a “yellow” light is coming.

• Yellow light = Basically a red light, so just stop at the yellow to avoid giving the police an excuse to pull you over.

• Left hand turn signals = Two possibilities: 1) Someone is actually turning left or 2) Someone is signaling you to pass them, and it’s safe the other way to do so. The confusion between the two could easily end up in a fender bender.

• ALTOS (stop signs) & crosswalks = We suspect they hide the stop signs on purpose or they are all installed as an afterthought. Most are small in size and placed to the right AND left sides of the road. Again, another police run-in opportunity to avoid. We made sure the co-pilot was always on “stop sign finder” duty in every town we passed through. “ALTO! ALTO!!”

San Quintin & El Rosario

Next up were the towns of San Quintin (fun fact: the world’s largest producer of tomatoes) and El Rosario. El Rosario (not to be confused with El Rosarito, Santa Rosalia, and a few other similarly named towns in the Baja) would be the last big stop for gas before we embarked on the ~360 mile stretch of desert on a two-lane highway with no service stations or cell service. Sound like an adrenaline rush, right?

We enjoyed these beautiful views while we could before pit-stopping and stretching our legs for the next long leg ahead.

GETTING GAS IN MEXICO

Getting gas in Mexico is a feat in itself. We used our handy print-outs to learn the lingo and understand conversion from gallons to liters (litros, and ~4 gallons = 1 liter), a first of many conversions we needed to learn quickly living in Mexico.

A few more pro tips we learned from our fellow road-trippers:

• Make sure the attendant starts the gas at “0” to not overcharge you for extra litros.

• Each time we paid for gas, we used a credit card so we could verify the transaction amount. We had read that others have been ripped off paying in cash (handing a 500 peso and having the attendant claim you handed them 50 pesos).

• Ask the attendant to show you the amount they are entering into the credit card machine, if paying with card. Then you can confirm the amount on the machine matches the amount on the pump before your card is charged.

• Set up texts for your credit card transactions. By doing so, you instantly receive a text for any purchase made, which also started giving us some confidence in our pesos conversion!

• Have small bills/coins on hand, as most attendants wash your windows without prompt and expect a tip for doing so.

SO. MANY. CACTI.

After our fill-up, we made the sharp turn inland and buckled up for the next phase of our drive. We started with palms and green, tropical scenery. The roads were quiet, uninhabited, and smooth sailing through the morning hours.

However, this quickly transformed into rolling hills and steep mountains and shortly after a dry, rocky desert. Less green, more tan and miles of cacti as far as the eye could see.

We saw so many different types of cacti. Some tall and skinny, some short and stocky… some with 2 arms, some with 20. They were quite interesting, but after a few amazing photos followed by hours of winding desert highway without enough songs downloaded offline on Spotify, we were ready to run into anything new.

Punta Prieta, El Rosarito

Well, we ran into something… not a cow (thank goodness!). But our first legitimate Mexican checkpoint!

As we neared the next city limits and saw the Marines ahead, slight anxiety settled in. Even though we had nothing to hide, we still could not help but wonder if we had everything necessary to “pass the test” through the checkpoint.

Per some other blogger’s suggestions, should we give them the candy we bought to get them on our good side? Maybe bottles of water? Or is that too much, and we should just smile and wave? Cue the “We’re The Millers” moment. We opted to just act normal, as we are, and hope for a quick and easy experience.

We stopped and the guard who approached our window was super friendly. He looked so young. We did not have to get out of the car, but he did ask us to roll down our windows. When he noticed Kennedy in the backseat, he immediately became our friend and cracked a smile. He pet Ken, she (of course) growled, and on we went. Hallelujah!

Guerrero Negro

Baja California: Have A Happy Journey. Now entering: Guerrero Negro.

We drove up to our bright pink hotel for the night, The Halfway Inn. A blonde haired lady and her tiny poodle were out front, so we figured we were in the right spot. This was a Talk Baja Facebook group recommended great place to stay and crash at the halfway point down the Baja.

After check in, we found a safe & secured parking spot out back (mucho importante after our debacle last evening!), and flopped onto the bed to celebrate our conquer of the Baja Norte drive. The Halfway Inn was a cute and quaint, eclectic yet basic, with just enough Mexican charm (and only $50 a night).

After unloading, we wandered to the watering hole located in the lobby where a few other gringos had bellied up. Kennedy joined us. We found our previously mentioned winery/Facebook friends, Mary Ann and Randy from LA. We met more couples, Paul and Cindy, who were also from Colorado and heading south, and Kurt and Margaret from Houston who joined in on the conversation with their dog Diego.

Shortly after, another lady, Kelly, heading to Todos Santos, grabbed a drink and started chatting with us. Mary-Ann recommended the margaritas, and the recommendation did not disappoint. We had a blast for a few hours sharing stories from our journey thus far and hearing other’s stories embarking on the same adventure, some for many years in a row.

They were a great outlet for all of our emotions and had great advice to give us. Ken took herself to bed, literally, while we continued to have fun drinking margs, munching on chips, guac & chicken quesadillas until the late evening. We even bought a little bracelet for Leigh from the bartender, supporting his wife’s jewelry making business, to remember this part of the drive.

We had a great evening making friends and creating memories on the road.

Up next… Baja Sur!