AstroGypsies

Return to Estero

It’s a hard act to follow, Ensenada, that is, especially staying at Estero Beach..the view out of our trailer window is about as nice as they come, and this time of year you have to the place to yourself pretty much, a few Canadians fleeing South. We left Jalama Beach and raced through Los Angeles and possibly some of the worst highways we have encountered..motion sick cats and the result were not pleasant. After a day of rest in Northridge I was so ready to get out..it’s the noise and this vibe, the no one looks you in the eye vibe..not nice. So off to San Diego we went to clear up a few things, pick up our mail from my wonderful brother and his family and a visit to the storage container to deposit what we didn’t need or use and pick up things we did miss..It seemed odd to have most of our worldly possessions in this 20′ x 8′ container..a whole life worth of “stuff” I wonder if I ever will really miss it truly..one day I’ll know if and when we unpack it all…I know for sure many things did not survive the trip out the road.

Hacienda la Lomita Winery’s Grenache

Mission Bay-San Diego

We were regaled with a night of thunder storms and heavy rain in Mission Bay. Great test for the trailer our first really heavy rain, no leaks, although one of the cats, Stinky thought the sky was falling, he was not impressed by the noise…we postponed our departure until good weather and it enabled us a visit to an amazing Mexican restaurant downtown with my lovely and talented cousin Bronle and some of the best food we have had North of the border at Bracero Cocina de Raiz. It was a delight to find the kind of flavours we had taken for granted in Baja here in San Diego..why is it so hard to replicate real, delicious Mexican cuisine in the USA? The salsas were sensational, the aguachile and my comfort food fix of chiliquiles..perfect..I know where to go for a fix in San Diego now! and an incredible Valle de la Guadalupe Grenache, El Pagano from Hacienda La Lomita…I wish I’d taken more pictures but we were too busy eating and smacking our lips;)..I did get a shot of desert..soft tamale with goat cheese cajeta…yum!

We also had the experience of a drive-up Vet..as I call it..mobile vets..Home Sweet Home..Dawn Ziegler DVM..Fitzy never quite seemed right after his bout with car-sickness going through Los Angeles, lost a bunch of weight, so she came out and did an exam at the RV park..what a wonderful experience..we had a prescription refilled for oral antibiotics..boys all have bad teeth and she was on her way..great service..great vet.

Yum….

We had are usual trip across the border in Tijuana, trailers and big rigs into the far right declare lane and then they take you to the gigantic X-ray machine..the cats were not too thrilled about sitting behind the lead barrier with all the beeping but better than getting a massive dose of radiation;). It seems to be the current way of crossing. We were considering going Tecate but had enough of windy roads..94 isn’t too bad but getting to the Valle de Guadalupe is very narrow..we need to check to see if they have finished part of the reconstruction of the road, if so, it could be a possibility for the next crossing. Customs gentleman did take a look in the trailer, front and what you can see of the back with the slides in, asked me how much it cost, smiled..told him we had 30 years to pay it off;) and that was it, never even asked if we were bringing anything in…met a lovely lady here at Estero that came through in Tecate and the military went through her A class complete with sniffer dog…different every time for everyone. All part of the border crossing experience..

The odd couple

Miffed about missing the fish-Snowy Egret

This is an amazing area for anyone who loves to watch and photograph birds.The migrating birds are out in full force here at the estuary with some new ones for me, Red Breasted Mergansers and a Pacific Loon…yes a Loon! I was so excited-I watched it snorkeling for an hour..only way to describe it’s way of fishing;)The Egrets have staked out their territory’s, the Great and Snowy, Blue and Little blue Herons as well, but no Reddish Egrets this trip. I love to sit and watch the interplay among them. The Osprey sits on his perch out in the bay and depending on the tide the variety of birds changes. I am wondering why all my bird shots have the birds facing right..hmmm…inland there is a resident Vermilion Flyctacher that graces us with his presence each night hunting bugs and a single Anna’s hummingbird has been hiding in the bushes all week..

Male Vermilion Flycatche

Anna’s hummingbird

We have had our food fixes this week, a trip to Valle de La Guadalupe for breakfast at the Cocina de Doña Estela, and a visit to Hacienda la Lomita Winery, a skip and a jump from Doña Estelas for that amazing grenache..(I’ll be bringing back a bottle or two Bronle) as well as multiple stops for tacos everywhere, fish were the first on the way out to Punta Banda on the right before the swimming pools..always delicious..there are few more stops to make before we head South. In the Valle we made plans to get the horses there for transport to the US in the next month or so..that red tape will be a new story I’m sure;) We still have a few more haunts to eat at this week before we head back to the wilderness that is Rancho Conception.

Am I loony? a Pacific Loon

Flock of Whimbrels and a few Long billed Curlews

Going back it will be nice to photograph my hummingbirds and visits with dear friends. We may even get snowed on with this years call for El Niño..we’ll see. It is such an special place and we are hoping to be able to return and visit frequently but there are many more places to see, and explore…and these views…I do think we will be in Ensenada every year for a good chunk of time..I haven’t photographed all the birds here yet or tired of a margarita watching the sunset;)..so stay tuned as the adventures continues..

Ensenada sunset