DAY 9
DAY 11
FINISH:
miles
San Ysidro, CA
6075.6
wasn't particularly interested in visiting any attractions. I was more interested in getting
a feel for the way of life in southern California. Attractions which I did take a drive
Studios, Warner Brothers Studios,
Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox
Studios, the Hollywood Bowl, Century
City, and Beverly Hills / Bel Air.
Sunday morning was the perfect time
to drive around this area, as traffic was
3 hours, I got on I-5 and headed south toward San Diego and Mexico. I had been to
San Diego before (in 1978), but never to Mexico. I was expecting to see distance signs
for "Mexico" or "Tijuana" far in advance, but the first sign didn't come until only 15
miles before the border. Once at the border, you have the option of bearing to the left,
to go through one of many lanes with no goods to declare, or to the right if you did
have goods to declare. I kept to the left, and as I drove past the booth, there was no
one there (all the booths looked empty), so I drove right on through. Shortly after
crossing the border, the highway splits, and I headed toward downtown Tijuana. The
streets were pretty narrow, with loads of people hanging out on the sidewalks. Since it
was quite crowded and dirty, I drove around Tijuana for only about 15 minutes, and
then headed back to the border. There was quite a line of traffic waiting to get back
across the border. Hundreds of Mexicans were walking between the lanes of traffic
looking to sell their wares. I thought to myself at first that this must be illegal, but then
I noticed that every single one of them was wearing a picture ID-badge. They weren't
pushy or threatening, but were very quick to jump at the opportunity of someone rolling
down their window. As I got closer to customs, I noticed a large message board which
warned people that it is common for contraband to be put in your car when unattended,
and that you should be aware of what is in your car and what you are transporting
across the border. It was around this time that I wondered exactly where the border
indicating this. Just after that thought
popped into my head, I looked on the
pavement and saw a row of small gold-
colored disks (about 2-3 inches in
diameter) going across the entire
highway - about 15 lanes of traffic at
that point. On the disks read "USA"
with "Mexico" right underneath it, and
a line drawn between the two. This
was the answer to my question. At
customs, I was asked only 2 questions -
"Citizenship?" and "What are you
bringing back from Mexico?" My
answers were "United States" and
"Nothing," respectively, and I was free
to go on my way. I was a little
This was only about 1.2 miles from the border.
though there was a small sign which lay close to the ground which read "Bienvenidos a
California." What did amuse me, though, was a sign which was located about 1 or 2
miles from the border. It was a huge yellow sign with the word "CAUTION" in large
black letters and depicted a family fleeing across the border. I spent the night in San
Ysidro, within view of the freeway sign which read "Last U.S. Exit" and almost within
view of Mexico.