If, like so many of us, you’re stuck at home right now, you might be missing that feeling of exploration and discovery. This is a good time for you to revisit our Desto3 postcards, get inspired, and you might even find yourself with a new potential destination on your radar for the future.
While the Desto3 team is sheltering in place, we are dreaming of our next “Desto” which we hope will take us to Micronesia (Fuji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea) and then on to Australia and parts of Asia.
In the meantime, we are pleased to report that the prestigious international online publication “The Big Smoke” has signed on to re-publish our latest postcards so that people can travel vicariously by reading about our adventures.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve been to Mexico. Mexico was my first, (in 1970) and as of last week, my last, foreign desto as a matter of fact. I talk to people all the time now who say they’re afraid to go to Mexico and I always think (but don’t say), “What are you afraid of, really great cheap Mexican food? Glorious, untrammeled beaches? Excellent designer tequilas? Fabulous shopping adventures? Spectacularly helpful and friendly locals?”
Upon closer investigation of their fears it’s almost a given. These people are afraid period. Ninety nine percent of them don’t even have passports which is shocking to me, especially here in San Diego. How can you not have a passport when you live minutes away from a foreign country? So, they CAN’T go to Mexico now because, as of a couple years ago, you cannot cross the border with just a drivers license; you have to be in possession of a passport to get back in to the US. How sad and limiting to willfully deny yourself the glories of foreign travel! Then again, there’s always the Travel Channel and if you’re a ‘fraidy-cat-couch potato, there you go, fire up the Samsung flat screen (or the old Trinitron if you still have one, and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you do) and “go” abroad. The rest of us will be down in Rosarito Beach where your Desto3 team was last weekend courtesy of our neighbors in San Diego who own a condo ON THE BEACH down there. Tell THEM you’re afraid of Mexico and watch them split their sides laughing. They go down every single week, from Friday to Sunday. For all of the above plus a resort condo with amenities that are beyond 5 stars and $45 massages including tip.
SUNSET AT ROSARITO BEACH
Yes, there are travel warnings. You won’t want to sashay into one of the rural Mexican states down in the interior looking all gringo and dumb for instance, but then again, have you checked the murder rates and mass shooting data in the good old US of A lately? Don’t do it. If you’re a ‘fraidy-cat, you’ll never leave your casa again. My point is, there’s death and mayhem lurking EVERYWHERE. Just don’t be a dumbass or a jerk and you’ll be plenty safe and have a great time. Enough said about the undeserved fear and loathing of our neighbors to the south (credit Hunter S. Thompson), you didn’t come here for a lecture on your travel phobias and my derisive comments about paranoid geezers. You came here for hardcore travel info.
LUXURY CONDOS AT ROSARITO BEACH
Here it is: it will take you roughly 35-40 minutes to get to the US-Mexico border from north county, San Diego. On a Friday night, expect traffic. A significant number of clever US citizens who work in San Diego now live across the border in Tijuana because it’s so much cheaper. For the most part this seems to be a phenomenon of the young people who are still working, but on the other end of the age spectrum you’ll see a whole lot of older people making the weekend migration down to their digs in Rosarito. Our neighbors who do this every week have owned down there for more than three years and that’s a lot of border crossings. Rosarito is another 30-40 minutes south of Tijuana but with the new bypass it’s quick and you don’t have to go through the town of Tijuana (unless you want to). There’s a bunch of construction going on in Rosarito Beach and I’d say that it’s about 50-50, U.S. expats and Mexican nationals building both luxury condos and private, individual haciendas — some of them spectacular in both size and grandeur.
Honestly, if I had an extra half mil laying around, I’d consider it myself and let all my friends go down whenever they felt the urge. I know some surfers (offspring) who would fight you for it. (Note to self: buy that lotto ticket!)
But, what’s there to do down there in Rosarito Beach if you don’t surf? Well, I’m glad you asked. We spent a whole day in the luscious Valle de Guadalupe wine country – I know – yes, Mabel, there’s a wine country down in Mexico and it was like visiting the Napa Valley back in the way way back when the roads were unpaved and the housing tracts didn’t exist yet. In other words, rustic, quaint, and oh, so special. The vineyards of Via de Guadalupe are just as meticulous, the wineries themselves (we went to four) served up a variety of tapas and tastings, enough to put Sonoma to shame, and the personnel were savvy and gracious and absolutely NO pressure. And, no attitude. It was refreshingly untainted. And, if you want to know where all the bees are…they’re in Mexico. The non aggressive variety. We made a truce and snacked on good things to eat while the bees swarmed our jam pots.
While I cannot speak to a night life down in Rosarito, we had a lovely dinner at a nearby spot that rivaled any posh eatery in San Diego and for about half the price. Down the road and across the street there were several clubs blasting techno but we did not venture inside. “Chicas Malas” will have to carry on without my patronage and I’m pretty certain they’re as good with that decision as I am. Nobody wants a gray haired chubby granny climbing up the pole. Are you feeling me? We went back to the condo for a few rollicking games of Rummycube. (Eat your heart out, J-Lo et al.)
Our second whole day in Mexico we did a little early Christmas shopping. Of course you’ve got the usual Rue de Crapola merch but you can also find some bargains on finely painted ceramics and tiles and pottery. A surprising number of local artisans will craft custom orders in jewelry, glassware, etc., too. While you watch if you care to do so. Pablo got a massage at a very nice massage spa, clean, beautiful and professional for half what he pays in the states while I picked up a few trinkets and practiced my dusty college Spanish. As per usual, the locals are happy to help with language needs and everybody in Mexico speaks excellent English. Before going home we stopped in Puerto Nuevo for a lobster dinner. It was about $US180 for 6 lobsters + fresh made tortillas, rice, beans, guacamole and margaritas. The very best lobster I’ve had in many years. It’s what Puerto Nuevo is there for. Dozens of lobster restaurants. If you want my personal recommendation shoot me an email via the site. I don’t want word to get out because the wait is long enough! Seems everybody in Rosarito knows where the very “mejor” lobster is. And, our friends are thusly informed so we had a little wait in line but it was well worth it.
All in all I can tell you that everywhere we went we felt safe and welcome and valued as tourists. Baja is not your grandpa’s Mexico no mo. Dig out your passport or get one and head to our neighbors in the south for a delightful slice of easy international travel. Note: Each hombre or mujer can bring back only 2 bottles of spirits so pick wisely. If you like sipping tequila you will want to put your money there. The wines are good, really good, but you can get equal quality at home for around the same price. It’s all about the tequila when you are importing. And, if you drive across the border we highly recommend getting a Global Entry pass. You’ll fly through the special line with barely a polite look-see while the plebian tourists can wait in border re-entry lines for hours and even have their vehicles searched before crossing.
Smith Rock State Park is located in central Oregon’s High Desert near the communities of Redmond and Terrebonne. Its sheer cliffs of tuff and basalt are ideal for rock climbing of all difficulty levels. Smith Rock is generally considered the birthplace of modern American sport climbing, and is host to cutting-edge climbing routes. The park contains the first U.S. climb rated 5.14 (8b+).
Welcome to Desto3’s new series, ADVENTURES IN PORTLANDIA. Or, as we like to think of it, A YEAR OF LIVING WEIRD. (For those who do not know…the city’s motto is “Keep Portland Weird”.)
Portland, Oregon is the 26th largest U.S. city in terms of human population (a little over 630,000 residents) but it is #8 in terms of popularity as judged by the numbers of people choosing to move there. (If you trust the people at the PEW Research joint.) Portland’s growing popularity and its growing population is a very hot, hot, hot topic among Portlanders. Many are not exactly thrilled with the changes to the city that such quick growth brings. Many say the TV series, Portlandia is to blame for the population boom, making the city look just too, too cool to resist. Historically speaking, that is just hogwash.
Portland’s population, dating back well into the mid-nineteenth century has experienced many cycles of manic growth. (One such spurt saw the population of the city triple between 1900 and 1930 and in that time the city’s deserved reputation as an edgy and cool place got well established. It’s cool still.
During prohibition especially, Portland was a wild and lawless town. You can still visit underground tunnels and secret chambers in many of the old buildings in Portland that functioned as speakeasies and passageways for the patrons to arrive and depart without detection. If you take a walking tour or a bike tour of Portlandia your guide will proudly point out the many buildings that served up sex for money to the locals and the itinerant port of call workers back when and they will also assert that Portland’s sex trade business is reputed to be ever booming to this very day. Another quirky distinction of the city, oft cited by proud citizens, is the vast number of strip joints in Portland. (More per capita than any other city in America.) We have not researched these claims and part of me (the part that’s been to Vegas) thinks this is impossible, but if true, it’s not the in your face kind of industry that one finds in Nevada the second you cross the state line. The only naked Portlanders I’ve seen with my own eyeballs so far were the several hundred folks riding bare-assed across the Tilikum Bridge one fine Saturday afternoon en masse as a contingent of the famed Annual Naked Bike Ride. (Completely accidental siting.)
We here at Desto3.com have a commitment to integrity so we shall make an effort soon to report with some other eyeball witnessing, just so you know, you know. Stay tuned to this channel. We’re on the job for you.
Meanwhile, what we can already report from personal experience, Portland is the kind of town where you can find a mural like this on a main drag building and on a given Sunday morning in the parking lot out front you might be fortunate enough find a spectacular live music performance* going on absolutely FREE to the public. If this is weird…sign me up!
This will be a great year, folks.
*This band is Portland’s Bright and Shiny, Not certain what the genre would be called but the vocals are some kind of Leonard Cohen and The Boss. Lyrics are killer.
Thousands of Swifts headed down a chimney for a good night’s sleep
Salt Spring Island (also Saltspring Island)– Galiano Island – British Columbia Gulf Islands – Canada
Get to the Gulf Islands by inter-island ferry (the ferry from Seattle to Victoria is passenger only, but you can take a car on the ferry from Anacortes, WA, just an hour’s drive from Seattle). You can also take your car (and bikes) on the inter-island ferries for a small fee. If you plan to bike the islands however, one critical thing you must know is that the Canadians do not know the meaning of the word “flat”.
Side note about international traveling and interpretation challenges: Once, a long time ago, your Desto3 team was in Mexico. The topic of “procrastination” came up along with the attendant frustration that U.S. and Canadian folks generally experience when their Mexican neighbors tell them that something will get done “mañana” and of course, it rarely gets done the following day. Our host, a guy who knew a guy who knew El Presidente told us that the president of Mexico explains to non-Mexicans that the misunderstanding about “tomorrow” is one of misinterpretation. U.S. citizens and Canadians translate “mañana” to mean “tomorrow”. What it actually means is “not today”.
We think the Canadians have a similar language, (shall we say), “looseness”? with the word “flat”. In Canada when they tell you that a bike ride is “flat”, what they really mean is, “the steepest climb will be no more than 14%”. I’m not kidding. You may think you are relatively fit. Just be mindful that even a short climb at 14% will tucker you out. And, if you are riding a rental bike with a racing seat, bear in mind that such an incline for any appreciable distance is not friendly on the lady parts down south, if you get my drift. This may be TMI but, be forewarned and adjust your wardrobe and/or request a gel seat. (Your cooch will thank you.) #learnedthehardway
Saltspring is the largest of the Gulf Islands and the most populous at just over 10k inhabitants, (most of them artists and/or celebrities). The posh people don’t arrive and depart via ferry with the plebes; they fly on the never-ending parade of seaplanes in and out of Ganges. From Desto’s ocean-front digs at the Hastings House a little bit out of the main town, we could watch the planes land and take off almost every 20 minutes all day long. Lots of coming and going on Saltspring among the swell set.
Other than people-watch and envy the wealthy, I’m not sure what normal people (read non-bikers) do on tiny islands like this. We observed a few people carrying golf clubs so there must be a course around. (You’re on your own to check that out. Don’t drag your sticks there until you do. I probably don’t have to tell you that, do I?) On Galiano there’s a kayak rental outfit but you will be in open ocean waters so bring shark repellent (that’s a joke). (I think.)
A gazillion or so art galleries exist in the proper towns and also sprinkled about on both Salt Spring Island and Galiano, but we seemed to be the only “customers” whenever we stopped to look. How they pay the rent is a mystery, or perhaps they are all trust fund baby artists and the last thing they worry their pretty heads about is filthy money. A few of these galleries were actually unattended and you had to summon somebody from afar to accept payment of whatever chotchke you wanted to buy.
The populace in general seemed pretty laid back giving some credence to the persistent rumors about great local (although still illegal) pot farming on the Gulf Islands. Your Desto team did not get approached by anyone asking if we wanted to buy some mary-juana, but I guess we have to face the unseemly reality that it has been a while since we fit the demographic for illicit drug use and nowadays the kind of drugs we take are all covered under Medicare Part D anyway. Still, rumor has it the local herb is spectacular if you believe the “kids” in food service jobs. We always do. They know everything.
Canada looms above the United States with more land mass (slightly, even adjusting for bodies of water) but with only one tenth the number of people to inhabit it. Canada around 36 million plus a skosh, and the U.S. at over 324 million*.
*(Geopolitical note: these figures may change abruptly, even reverse depending on the US election results come November as many Americans threaten to leave the US in the highly unlikely event that Donald Trump wins the presidency. I think to date at least seven (7) people have threatened to move out when Hillary moves into the White House. (Bye, Felicia!)
Setting politics aside for a moment let’s talk about Victoria, British Columbia. Wow, what a city! Visitors to Victoria cannot be faulted for imagining that most of the 36 million Canadians are visiting downtown Victoria on any given summer day. Canadians don’t have Hawaii but they do have Vancouver Island (where Victoria lives) and sometimes they even call it, “the Maui of Canada”.
Currently – perhaps the decline in the Canadian dollar is to blame – the Canadians are spending their tourist dollars locally and thus, the hoards had descended upon their glorious version of tropical paradise just in time for Desto’s visit. We didn’t exactly see the Hawaii comparison. Desto found it more like the little town of La Jolla north of San Diego. La Jolla in Spanish means “The Jewell” and much like Victoria, it is bustling with tourism and pretty over-crowded any place you think you should see. Both cities have attracted a full time population of retirees or pensioners for a similar reason – a relatively good climate with no pesky snow to shovel.
It was our observation that the geezers are sequestered someplace safe in Victoria, as they are in La Jolla. Even though the census figures report lots of them, they aren’t cruising the nightlife. In fact, because both cities are close to a number of colleges and Universities there’s a disproportionate number of young people out and about. If it wasn’t for the ubiquitous bumper stickers in La Jolla claiming, “LA JOLLA, home to old people and their parents”, and the casual nickname for Victoria, “Victoria, home of newly weds and nearly deads”, you COULD think both cities were almost diverse (age wise anyway – both of these cities are painfully not diverse culturally or racially). We think Victoria must hide their oldies, too. We didn’t see one walker in 4 days total. Truthfully, the only old people we saw were, like us, on bicycles, so maybe the city screens for “fit” citizens, no matter their age.
Speaking of fitness, lots and lots of people bike there. The whole of the island is bike friendly and getting even more so by the day. And biking was why we went. We met up with some locals (two young couples from a previous bike trip in Normandy/Brittany last fall – Hi, Tom, Lu, Nancy and Alex!) We had three grand rides in just three days, most of it on car free bike paths.
Eating was our #2 priority and we did plenty of that. (See trip notes for recs.)
We didn’t “do” the Butchart Gardens. We just didn’t. Sue us. (You’ve seen one spectacular city garden, you’ve seen them all.)
One day we spent a better portion of the afternoon watching (with a few hundred other bystanders) the greater Victoria B.C. Fire Department liberate a scared raccoon from a treetop in the city center of downtown Victoria. No fewer than a dozen buff fire personnel and a full-length hook and ladder were employed in this endeavor. It was a lot more entertaining than you might think. Really.
Raccoon in a tree
A tiny note of trivia, maybe true, maybe apocryphal, Vancouver Island has no sewage treatment plant. None. Of any kind. They just release their sewage into the ocean like a third world country. Think about that while you chew on your very delicious oysters from the many oyster bar options.
It’s what happens when you plop a guy “with a gifted eye”, (Ansel Adams may or may not have said this to our Pablo; no way to check on the veracity of such a claim now, so let’s just go with it.), down in the middle of the Oregon desert with a couple of pretty decent cameras and enough food and water to last three days.
Old Abandoned Church
Are these photos too abstract for you?
I recommend that you learn to appreciate the abstract. It will make you appear smart. Smarter than you actually are. No kidding. In social psychology research the ability to decipher abstractions is associated with higher intelligence and greater levels of maturity and empathy. Concrete thinkers may lack this ability and typically think in terms of black and white. Not the greatest.
