Puerto Nuevo Lobster Run

Two weeks ago, I made a lobster run from San Diego to Puerto Nuevo Mexico. It was a fantastic time!

The coffee shop phenomenon has reached Tijuana years ago, so there are plenty of places to get a good cup of Joe. My friend’s favorite place is Blue Luna.

From here we drove through Rosarito, past beautiful ceramic stores and an enormous Jesus statue to reach Puerto Nuevo an hour and a half from the border.

Puerto Nuevo is a very small town with numerous restaurants serving lobster and seafood. There are a number of Villa Ortega restaurants throughout. The nicest one is probably Restaurant Villa Ortegas overlooking the ocean in the southwest corner of town with parking.

There are mariachis, waiters are in uniforms, it is very clean, and views are amazing. Good Instagram photo opportunities. It probably also cost the most in town. We ate there because it was my wife’s first time to Puerto Nuevo. When I go with my best friend, we tend to hit one of the smaller establishments. Almost all will give you rice, beans, tortillas, and salsa to go with your lobster. At the Villa Ortega’s it was $36 for large lobster and all the fixings – which my wife and I shared.

In comparison, when my friend and I went a couple years ago to a smaller place, restroom in backyard, no air conditioning, view of buildings across the street, we got 3 small lobsters each (6 halves!) the usual fixings plus tortilla soup and a beer for $18. We literally could not finish our last halves. There is beach access, but it is a steep walk, and not a beach to layout on. There are lots of vendors and lots of people asking you to come in their shops or park in a certain spot. Very much like the Tijuana of old.

On the way back, we visited a couple ceramics shops, stopped in Tijuana for some churros, walked along Revolucion, and then crossed the border before dark.

Tips: CASH ONLY. I did not see any restaurants or vendors in Puerto Nuevo that take credit cards. Villa Ortega has a sign that says cash only. Bring sufficient cash that you are comfortable with bringing – dollars or pesos are fine. If you pay in dollars, expect a crappy rate from the vendors, but nothing too obscene. I used dollars the whole time, my friend went to Costco in San Diego and bought pesos. We both did fine.

Returning across the border, takes a long time. Otay Mesa may be a better choice depending on conditions. It’s not that long of a detour. But check your driving directions for updates.

If everyone in your car has a global entry pass and your car is registered in the Sentri program, then you can use the sentri lanes and save a ton of time on the way back. However, things change all the time, so please research the global entry pass and Sentri lane requirements on your own. This goes with passport requirements as well and any U.S. government advisories.

If you are driving, look into buying Mexican auto insurance in the U.S. before you cross the border. There are a number of places in San Diego to buy it for a day or however long you will be in Mexico.

Have fun!

Coronavirus Best and Worst of Road Trip

A road trip during coronavirus?! It was awesome. Here are the best and worst situations we experienced on our two-week roadtrip from Los Angeles to Olympic National Park. Let me say, that we felt safe at every hotel we stayed in as they all had coronavirus measures in place. 

Seattle

Stringent coronavirus checks

Most - Hyatt Place in Emeryville - asked us 3 coronavirus questions before they let us check in and gave us a handout on covid measures at hotel

Least - Bars - once you had a beer in your hand masks came off

Covid breakfast (every place except 1, staff handed you your breakfast items)

Best - Seattle - only place on entire trip with hot breakfast - scrambled eggs and bacon or sausage.

Worst - Redding - lots of cold choices, but we were allowed to grab our own food

People wearing masks

Most - Olympic National Park

Least - Stockton and small towns in Washington

Reliable bathroom opportunities

Most - rest areas along interstate 5

Least - California gas stations (many were "out of order")

Park experience

Best - Mt. St. Helens - very few people there due to coronavirus - I saw pictures from last year and observation decks were packed with people.

Mt. St. Helens

Worst - Cape Flattery - it is located on Indian Reservation and the reservation was still in Phase 1. We were turned back after an hour drive by police since we were not locals.

Dining

Best - Pastini - first sit down meal in 4 months! Seating was outside. All servers wearing masks, tables were wiped down between guests.

Worst - Oyster restaurant in small town - owner not wearing mask

Coronavirus precaution Items I brought

Best - hand sanitizer I placed in doors of car

Worst - wipes - never used them. We were very good about hand sanitizer and never saw a necessity for these.

Other coronavirus observations: many elevators had spots on floor where you were supposed to stand for social distancing purposes; one hotel said most were operating at 40% capacity or less; one gas station in WA gave out gloves so you could pump your gas; traffic was great- everywhere - even going into and out of San Francisco at rush hour on a Monday; and everywhere we went most people wore masks similar to what we see in Southern California - most people do, but there is that tiny minority that refuse.  Only in a couple of  businesses we found mask wearing lax and we abruptly left.

Being on the road filled us with a sense of freedom that we had not experienced in the last four months. I am ready for another one.

Take care and be safe.

Me at Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park

10 Tips for a Puerto Nuevo Lobster Run

“Three Lobsters for $16!”

My friend and I were wandering the dusty narrow streets of Puerto Nuevo hearing offers left and right from a score of men trying to lure us to their restaurants. $16 was the best offer we had heard so far. The clincher was not the included promise of beans, tortillas, chips, salsa, and tomato soup, but the one free margarita or cerveza to go along with the meal.

My friend and I used to go on an annual lobster run south of the border and taco runs more frequently until the drug violence and kidnappings reached a fever pitch in the late 90’s. Since that time, we had talked wistfully about returning but never did. Until last year, when we walked across the border to good Old Revolution for some tacos and beer and to see what had changed.

A lot.

There were fewer American tourists not of Mexican descent there than in the 90s. The restaurants and bars were relatively empty during our day trip. But the cheap beers and delicious tacos had remained the same. After this trip, we felt good about driving to Puerto Nuevo. It helped that each of us had coworkers recently visit with nothing but good things to say about their experience.

In the end, we were served more delicious lobster than we could possibly eat, ate fresh paletas for dessert, saw great sights new and old, and met many friendly people.

There are a number of things that you can do to help ensure that your trip is successful:

1. You need a passport or a PASS card to visit Mexico.

2. You need to buy Mexican insurance before you leave the United States and keep it in your car during your trip. You can purchase it online or at a few places in San Diego.

3. Drink bottled water – never tap water - or risk Montezuma’s revenge.

4. Check to see what your cell phone plan covers in Mexico. With my Verizon Unlimited Plan, I was surprised to hear that calls and data were covered in Mexico.

5. Map out your trip before you go to Mexico, making copies to keep in your car in case you lose cell service. We indicated our destination as Villa Ortega’s in Puerto Nuevo.

6. If you do use your phone, driving apps are great albeit a little tricky as the streets in Tijuana seemed purposefully confusing.  Waze did not work for me once across the border. However, Google Driving Directions did. It really was a lifesaver when we missed our first turnoff after crossing the border and found ourselves deep into Tijuana where I’m sure few Americans ever venture.

7. Take the toll road. It is faster, smoother, and feels safer.

8. Once in Puerto Nuevo, just know you will pay for parking. The streets are few and narrow and are a pain to drive.  Save yourself time and frustration and pay for parking in one of the first lots you see.

9. There are lots of lobster restaurants in town, all with different specials. Villa Ortega’s has multiple locations throughout the town as they claim to be the original. We ate at one of these.

10.. A second option on crossing the border on the way back is to cross at Otay Mesa. It usually can save you a bit of time.

Have fun!

5 Great Things To Do In Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park are amazing adjacent wilderness areas that are 100 miles closer to Los Angeles than Yosemite and a lot less crowded. Below are five great things to do when visiting these magnificent parks.

1. Visiting the biggest trees in the world. If you are traveling to these national parks, then you must visit the General Sherman Grove and/or the General Grant Grove. The trees a truly magnificent. While the General Sherman is the biggest tree, I enjoy visiting General Grant Grove’s more due to the stories attached to its various trees, especially the Fallen Monarch which had once served as saloon.

2. Hiking Morro Rock. It is a very short, strenuous, half-mile hike that has spectacular views of the Great Western Divide and sheer drop-offs on either side of the trail. There are 400 stairs on the trail. Think of it as a 20-minute Stairmaster. Huffing and puffing to the top, we all enjoyed it, even our teenage boys. It is not to be missed.

3. Drinking milkshakes and root beer floats at Lake Hume. Lake Hume is a gorgeous blue jewel surrounded by a pine forest with a back drop of snowcapped mountains. As if this is not a strong enough lure to entice you to visit the lake, there’s a very large Christian camp here with a host of facilities that includes a snack shop with great burgers and at least a dozen of flavors of ice cream for shakes, floats, and malts. The camp also has one of the best general stores in the two national parks, rents paddle boats and kayaks, and allows fishing with a permit.

4. Hiking to Topokah Falls. This is a 4.4-mile hike that follows the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River. Walking through that granite valley, my son said it was one of the most majestic things he’d ever seen. It is a leisurely hike, although you are in full sun for the last quarter mile to the base of the falls. Sunscreen, hat, and water are necessities.

5. Driving to Road’s End at the bottom of Kings Canyon. Kings Canyon is the deepest canyon in the United States. Yes, it is even deeper than the Grand Canyon. It is also one of the most remote wilderness areas in the world. This is because the road to the bottom of the canyon is closed from November through April. This means that nature can run amok for six months out of the year without human interference. When I told the ranger that I saw a bear in the parking lot, he said, “Oh yeah, they are all over the place down here,” and walked away. In Yosemite, bears cause mass hysteria with rangers following them and hordes of tourists trying to get their picture during the day or banging pots and screaming to scare them away at night. In the canyon, there are a number of great really short hikes to Zumwalt Meadows, Roaring River Falls, Grizzly Falls, and a beach just off the Road’s End parking lot. Also, at Cedar Grove Lodge in the canyon, you can eat a hot lunch and take a shower.

One thing that I have not done is visit Crystal Cave in Sequoia National Park located in the southern end of the park. I have heard good things about it, but have never made it there.

I hope these tips on where to go and what to see when you're in Sequoia and Kings Canyon entice you to go and stay longer than just one day to see the towering trees. These are beautiful areas, uniquely different from Yosemite, that take time to discover all their natural treasures.

Happy trails!