For our last stop in Baja we headed to the beautiful Valle de Guadalupe from San Felipe. Highway 3 was a little rough in the desert but the bigger potholes were patched and passable. Once we got closer to Ensenada the last section of the highway was pretty twisty with cars passing you on blind corners and trucks getting pretty close on the narrow strips. Ensenada was busy and tight and Google tried sending us down steep side streets. After a little under four hours, we finally made it to the RV Park at Rancho Sordo Mundo. A very nice spot.
Luke, whose parents founded the ranch, came by to collect a donation and gave us a ton of info on places to go. The ranch is a non-profit school for the deaf. Donations are greatly appreciated.
The Encuentro Guadalupe hotel across the street gets $400 for a room but we had the same view of the vineyard behind the park for $20. Score. Cooking on travel days is no bueno, so we ventured into the town of Guadalupe for a wonderful traditional Mexican meal at Sarmientos, the restaurant at Vinos Fuentes. Miguel, the winemaker stopped by our table to welcome us to the area, provide a little history of the Valle (founded by Russians ex-pats) and insist we come back for tastings the next day. On Wednesday, that’s just what we did. After a visit to La Ruta del Vino Museum for a map, we headed back to Vinos Fuentes with a free tasting and a lively conversation in Spanglish. After Vinos Fuentes, we drove across the street to Monte Xanic, a beautiful winery with very nice wines, interesting architecture, and great views.
Those views!
We could have stayed here all day but Luke gave us a pretty long list of places to see.
Our last stop was the stunning Las Nubes. Really good wines and we received a great explanation of the tasting in English.
After the tasting, we ordered a couple of glasses and cheese plate to enjoy on the deck.
More great views.
The next day we got back on Highway 3 and crossed back into the U.S. through Tecate. No wait at the border but did get inspected and the California Department of Food and Ag confiscated some things from RV fridge that we may have forgotten to declare. Fortunately, we avoided the $300 fine. Lesson learned.
Awesome. Thanks for all the tips. Great photos, makes us want to jump in the RV & get on our way to a new adventure in our golden years. Grateful you are back in the states.
Thanks, Mom. You guys need to get back to Baja.