notes from baja – la garita
Sunday 3/16
South on Route 1 the respectable way. Full tank of gas, survived the Reform School Hotel, a nice easy drive, although slowed down some by trucks and no passing on the hills. Clouds gradually lifting.
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La Garita
Family run truck stop on the Highway around km58. Very pleasant family, man cooking meat and quesadillas on a grill, spinning plate in the air before serving, wishing you “Bon Appetit!”
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We eat quesadillas, beans and queso and drink coffee out of mismatched mugs. I try to get my coffee doctored with a capful of liquid from a small bottle that she pulled from behind the counter for another customer. It takes a long time to get them to understand “vanilla” (chaos of schoolkids on a field trip pit stop doesn’t help). After Sam explains “chocolat – vanilla,” they get it and bring a huge jug of vanilla from the back – not what I wanted. The little bottle behind the counter turns out to be damiana, an herbal aphrodisiac, and I still don’t know how it tastes (or its effects).
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La Garita has a pretty garden of pomegranates, an outdoor sink, toilets you have to flush with a bucket, a large silver hound dog with golden eyes, two black puppies that drink out of puddles and play sharing a stick, and an abuela that sorts dried beans on the back porch when customers are scarce. Very enjoyable.
