I think I found Jesus, he was hiding in my trunk when I got back from Tijuana.

Since I was so close, I decided to check out Tijuana while I was in the area. When talking to people at the hash yesterday, I found someone that was interested in going as well so I at least wouldn’t have to make the trek on my own. Sponge had not only lived in Mexico for a few years, but also had traveled quite a bit abroad, including India and Thailand as well as pretty familiar with the border town. We met at the Old Town Trolley Station in order to take advantage of free parking as well as the proximity to the places that we were staying. Getting across the border was quite easy. One knew they were in Mexico when they started getting hit from all angles by street peddlers that ranged from people almost literally trying to pull you into their store to kids selling little toys by trying to look sad and poor. It got old real quick when everyone pretty much had the same gimmicks and was pretty easy to ignore. I wasn’t planning on staying too long, but ended up hanging out for a while since I had a guide with me, I I seemd to avoid most of the tourist traps; and no, I didn't even want to consider anything to do with any donkey shows, so don't bother asking!. The food was pretty cheap and the beers plentiful. There was of course a lot of shopping with the expected ‘sell the gringo junk’ prices. Sponge was on a mission to find some colored blankets to use as car seats, but failed to take any measurements before heading out, so really wasn’t sure what size to get nor was able to really find anything that jumped out anyway, so we pretty much just wandered the streets. We of course saw all the expected tourist traps such as the donkey painted with zebra stripes, the seedy section of town, and all the prescription-exempt pharmacies. We left well before dark, so probably missed out on what really makes the town famous in the evening hours when the local US kids under 21 and the local military personal come in. On the way back while talking, we noticed a particular street name and location and realized that the Monday night hash was being held within a few blocks with a start time within the next few minutes. We bailed at the next stop and sprinted to the start, just in time to pay up hash cash, throw our stuff in the bag vehicle, and chat for a couple of minutes. Since Sponge’s father was the hare (trail leader) we had the inside scoop as to where the trail would end. Since we were both pretty tired from the trip and weekend events, we decided to short cut the trail a bit. We met up at one of the beer/drink stops that was a park pretty much on the grounds of the San Diego Padres baseball field. It was just past the outfield section of the stands. It had an awesome view of the field and was a great spot to enjoy the evening ambience. Sponge and I decided to make it an impromptu ‘song check’ and made the pack stop and belt out a rendition on ‘whip it out at the ball game’ before heading back out on trail. Everyone really enjoyed the view and even the little extra bit that we threw in. The on-in was at a nearby restaurant where we had pizza and of course a bit of beer. There were even two namings that night with the final results being ‘Blows in the Dark’ and ‘Goodie Two Boobs’. It would take too long to give the reason for the names, but they seemed to fit quite appropriately! After all the evening festivities were done, I decided to leave town to avoid early morning traffic and head towards San Jacinto State Park, my first climbing destination. Now the advernture begins