Tijuana Gringo |
Michael Thomas |
Thursday, 4 January 2001 |
I say wow because I have lucked out... first, a ride yesterday got me several hundred miles from Mulegé to Guerrero Negro, with a pleasant stop in San Ignacio to see the mission and town, and... because then, here in Guerrero Negro, I discovered a fantastic place with fantastic people and once again I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE!!!!
I'm spending a second night here, in fact, but must leave tomorrow.
A short ways north of the gigantic eagle monument on the transpeninsular highway, not quite across from the new PEMEX gas station, a little place called La Espinita with rainbow flags yes on its sign out front, "just" a restaurant with a place for RVs and camper trucks to pull off in back (overnight camping free with dinner), and....
In a little while -- it's now eightish, maybe nineish in the evening -- I'll be going into town with the owner -- Kiko -- to a holiday party and farewell get-together for a writer from Spain whom Kiko wants me to meet, and... well, I will laugh and talk and dance and drink and just barely get to know a group of people I could have spent all my life wanting to meet and never get the chance if it weren't for the fact that late yesterday afternoon trying to hitchhike north out of Guerrero Negro two of Kiko's employees picked me up and suggested I stay at their place instead of trying to face the vast desert north of here, in the night. Not a bad idea, I thought.
Back up a little bit, gringo.
Okay, first yesterday.
My ride from Mulegé -- two of my paisanos gringos driving an RV -- dropped me in Guerrero at the bus station. They were going to buy supplies and then go camp at the whale-watching place. And me, at the bus station? Ah yes, you guessed it, no seats on any busses going anywhere. All sold out. Not only that but... a bus had broken down and a bunch of travelers were stranded there moaning and groaning. "Don't they know they should turn this into an opportunity?" I thought, but said nothing. Just got out of their depression there pretty damn quick. Bought some more water and a bit of food and headed out of town. I didn't want to see the whales -- I've sort of promised Maria we will do that together one day.
As I walked along in the late afternoon warmth, my thumb stuck out, no one picked me up. But I didn't mind. I had been riding all day, and liked walking. I walked all the way to the main highway and then, only then, Francisco and his buddy stopped in their little red minitruck full of shells, to give me a lift, only a kilometer or two, they warned me, but I thought, I felt, hey, this is better than nothing, eh?
Oh yeah. Turned out to be a WHALE of a lot better than nothing. WAY WAY way to go God for giving me this precious pair of nights and lingering day today here in a fragrant barren spot on the desert... why, I almost left this morning, too, even before dawn, but couldn't get a ride, heh heh, and stared at the stars fading from night into dawn and still tried to get a ride until I saw Francisco outside waving at me, and said okay I give up. Came over to the restaurant -- it must have been around nine a.m.
Kiko the owner came out from his kitchen and sat down and talked with me about my poetry and my interest in Mexico, and he doesn't speak any English and seemed to take quite a fancy to me, and my writing about Tijuana and Baja California and Mexico and well, I must say that after I heard his story I am quite impressed with him, too.
Here's a man who started off selling food on the sidewalks around the plaza in Guerrero Negro and then bought a wagon and sold more and now he has built himself a restaurant and hired employees and runs a campground and is building the first rooms of a motel and....
That's where I stayed. In one of the few rooms that are half-way finished. Well, the water was hot. Is hot. And the food... well, Kiko tries to make excuses and say he's only a cook, not a chef, but...
Well, it tasted pretty damn good to me. If you're coming down from California with a camper or RV you might want to stop and give it a try. Freeeeee overnight camp with dinner. Maybe he'll have the showers running by then -- under construction. There's a little store, too. And Kiko knows one of the original whale-tour guys -- I helped write their blurb in English. Ojo de Liebre Tours. They'll come and pick you up here with their van, or at any hotel in town.
The military camp around the big eagle is right nearby, and small groups of soldiers, two or three, sometimes alone, come in from time to time for beer or dinner. You gotta feel sorry for them, handsome young men far away from home and women, and it's the holidays, too, remember.
*sigh*
Ah, my boys, yes, I do feel sorry for them this time of year, Kiko says. But at least I give them a place to get away from the camp for a short while and have something good to eat.
Now, of course, aside from having had a set of good meals and good sleep last night and the party tonight and then more rest, well, my only worry is how long it will take me to get back to Tijuana from here. I absolute positively MUST leave tomorrow.