Day 1 [August 2]:
Me and the guys (Josh S. and Jon) met up at Josh's place in Santa Ana. We drove south on the 5 fwy spying on the hotties and playing w/our CBs until we got to Oceanside, CA. The traffic was too much, so we backtracked to the 15 South and drove to the Map Center (in San Diego) for a Topo of the Sierra Juarez N.P. From there, we headed to Chula Vista for some additional supplies, groceries, magazines, auto insurance, and finally our hotel room. At the hotel, we met a guy who was down on his luck wanting to buy my truck. Sadly, his whole family lived in the Economy Inn (Chula Vista, CA) - a place that cost me $80/night. I wonder what kind of deal they were giving him on the monthly basis? Anyhow, we partied a little before heading to the infamous PAPAS AND BEER in Rosarito Beach, Mexico! We left 2 of our rigs at the hotel (a safe place) before heading off south of the border. Once crossing the border, we got a little turned around in Tijuana, so we decided to cruise through town before taking the "free" road to the beach. We got to the beach in a little over 45 minutes, and the place was practically deserted. Just a couple of people here and there who were walking to the store, to the carnival, hanging out and talking w/friends, etc. We had to find a restroom because the guys needed to go real bad. So, we pulled down this side street and then pulled a quick right taking us past the Rosarito Beach Police Station.
There was a lady police officer standing at the roadblock as we made another right and parked in front of the PEMEX (gas) station. Suddenly, Josh and Karim bolted from Jon's Explorer - Josh going into the men's room, and Karim slipping into the night... We though everything was good when Jon returned from the restroom. He was ready to go when we asked, "Where is Karim??" Just then, Karim (our ride-along friend) emerged from the alley with the female cop. This police officer walked up to me asking if I spoke Spanish. I replied, "Si" Then, she started yelling at Karim, explaining in this motherly tone how people aren't allowed to pee on the sidewalks and street corners. She then told me that for 4,500 pesos or 15 hours behind bars, Karim would have to pay up. I told her that I was sorry for Karims' decisions, and that we would prefer to go to the police station, requesting his ticket, and that we would pay it back in the 'States. She looked boggled that I knew citizen's rights in Mexico, and then she started talking money. Karim slipped her a $20 bill, and she issued him another motherly lecture before stuffing the money in her pocket and handing Karim over to us.
After getting back onto the main road, and parking in front of Papas and Beer at the gated lot, we paid our $5 and entered the bar. Papas and Beer is a nightclub set on the beach of Rosarito. When you first enter, you are presented with this killer volleyball court with two large bars on each side of the court. A dancefloor across from the entrance along with two more dancefloors and bars upstairs makes for a venue that can easily hold 1,000 people comfortably. We got to Papas at around 9:15 p.m. and the place was practically empty. There was a mechanical bull which attracted the attention of the small crowd of 50-something American's and a few Mexican-nationals. After sitting near the bull, watching the American's goof off, the MC took the stage and began encouraging the crowd to come up to his elevated platform, and "Compete for free Papas and Beer 20th Anniversary T-Shirts." Our own Josh S. was one of the contestants who braved the growing crowd of around 200+ people to dance like a Chipendales guy. After losing miserably, he returned down to the volleyball court with the rest of us, and watched the other contestants. By midnight, there was something like 500 Americans packing this place in. I won't go into what the contestants were doing by this point, but you can use your imagination! It got pretty darn interesting! By around 1 a.m. we were getting tired, and we decided to pull Jon's lifted Explorer back onto the main road headed north back to Chula Vista for our first day of adventure in the Baja backcountry!
