In the early 90s, shortly after my son, John, moved to Las Vegas
we made a road trip to San Felipe, Mexico never imagining the decades later he and his wife would buy a beach house there. It was a can’t-pass-up deal mainly because housing prices plummeted when the housing market went south so there were great deals to be had. They bought a stone place on the beach that sleeps 10 and
came with all the furniture plus a run-about vehicle. The only problem is getting because there is no air service. I flew to LAX and took Mokulele Airline to El Centro near the California-Mexican border and John picked me up on his way down from Las Vegas. The Mokulele fight was great… new airplane, great service, and awesome views. The world is so easy to get around.
San Felipe is 2.5 hours south of the border on the east side of the Baja Peninsula with nothing along the way but desert. It was Holy Week so the town was all abuzz with vacationing families many of whom were camping on the beach.
The sunrise on the Bay of Cortez was awe inspiring and worth getting up for. The tides are extreme so when it is high it is beach time. Time to walk the beach, sit in the sun, fish from the shore, go kayaking, and wait for the pina colada man to come along. When the tide goes out it
is time to go clamming for dinner, splash through the warm water pools, and walk the beach and sand bars. Life if good.
One afternoon we took a ride to the Valley of the Giants. Giant Saguaros, that is. The Giant Saguaros only grow in a limited area in Arizona, California, and
the Baja. They can grow to more than 40 feet tall and live 150 years or more. They are able to absorb and store water which allows them to survive in the harshest climate. From the car they look tall but it only with someone standing next to them is it possible to appreciate just how tall they really are.
The food in the San Felipe area is awesome. They sell giant shrimp along the road, John and Kim going clamming in front of the house, and there is a
place in the village where they go to buy fresh-made tortillas – so fresh we waited for them to be made. We went to a local restaurant for dinner one night. Dinner is a family affair. It is time to sit and talk because all the meals are freshly prepared so nothing is fast. In fact, a large family group came in and they had to shut the door because they could not cook fast enough to serve any more people at that time. And the margaritas were great while we waited.
Only problem was John and Kim had to drive me 2.5 hours back to the airport because I wasn’t staying the week. Driving through the border on the way down was a non-event while the wait on the way back was one hour and a bit more. BTW, we have crossed the border in Tijuana, Calexico, and Yuma and there is a significant wall in all those places and it has been there. I don’t know how much of the border already has a wall but there is already a lot of wall – and it hasn’t stopped illegals – they go over, under and around.
San Felipe is 2.5 hours south of the border on the east side of the Baja Peninsula with nothing along the way but desert. It was Holy Week so the town was all abuzz with vacationing families many of whom were camping on the beach. 
