Damn, I can’t believe it’s been five months since we’ve taken out the Airstream. Sometimes life gets in the way of living.  Speaking of living, the old girl Sara is still alive.  It has been 7 months since she was diagnosed with Transitional Cell Carcinoma (bladder cancer).  The drug she’s on must slowing down the growth.  She has had several real bad days that had us thinking it was the end.  Then the next day she seemed fine.  One of those bad days was on this trip.  Now we are home and she’s fine.  She has us on an emotional rollercoaster ride.  We are pretty certain this was her last Airstream trip.

Potrero is in San Diego County; what we call East County.  A part of our county that we do not get to much.  In fact we’ve never been to Potrero until this trip.  It’s a pretty county park with a campground that has 39 sites with electrical hook-ups and water.  There’s not really much to do. The big draw is Tecate, Mexico which is less than a ten minute drive away.  That was the focus of our short trip.  Unfortunately the Tecate Brewery is closed on Mondays, so that was a big let down. When I was on the internets boning up for the trip I know I read Sundays are the day they are closed.  Oh well.  I also learned a few interesting things regarding Tecate beer.  Tecate is owned by Heineken.  They also own the brands Dos Equis, Sol, Bohemia, Superior, and Carta Blanca. The Tecate that’s imported to the USA is brewed in Monterrey.  The Tecate brewed in Tecate has more alcohol and is brewed with spring water.

I’m slightly embarrassed to admit this…I had no idea there is a Tecate, California. The only thing that separates it from Tecate, Mexico is the wall.  The moment we crossed the border there was a buzz in the air.  You could just feel it wasn’t an ordinary Monday, instead we stumbled into a National Holiday, Día de la Revolución.  It is celebrated on the third Monday in November, near the official day of November 20th. There was a parade and all kinds of celebrating going on.

A dollar goes a long way in Tecate. The first shocker: it was only five dollars to park all day in a lot right on the border.  We had an authentic meal at Taqueria Los Amigos.  A typical open air street restaurant with flies buzzing all around. They had a nice little dining area and waitresses, but it was still a taco stand.  I think it’s ingenious how they serve the food on plates covered with a plastic bag.  My “save the world” wife of course thinks it’s a waste.  We had a carne asada burrito, two carne asada tacos, and a Sprite for seven dollars.  At El Mejor Pan de Tecate we bought a baguette, three pastries, and a coffee for four bucks and change!

 

 

 

Thank you to everyone that has bought my book Summer of ’78 A Road Trip.  If you have not yet, please consider doing so.  A few weeks ago I did a podcast to promote the book. Click here to listen to it.  I think you’ll get a kick out of it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!