San Diego vacation – another education today – A Tragic One

[Booberdawg]

I started off my day driving to San Juan Capistrano to meet someone for lunch – beautiful day, drive, and scenery near the ocean by the way, and I came upon a checkpoint. I thought I might have screwed up my directions as I didn’t understand HOW I could be driving north, AWAY from Mexico, and come across a checkpoint?? Anyway, I was waived through the stop point and was assured I was correctly headed toward San Juan Capistrano by some people that I verified my directions with and so I went on to meet my lunch date. This was about noon when I went through the checkpoint and it only took about 5 minutes.

It was between 2:00 and 2:30 when I headed back to San Diego and I couldn’t help but notice that there were MILES and MILES and MILES of stopped traffic at this same checkpoint when I headed back home in the opposite direction?? Looked like maybe some fire trucks and an ambulance and a lot of commotion at one point, but none of it on the road and the emergency vehicles pulled off the road – so why all this traffic stopped for, I swear, the next 5 to 7 miles??

Tonight watching the news with my folks we find out there was an accident at that site involving someone speeding near that checkpoint at over 90mph and rear-ending a car that had 3 people in the trunk of the car and killed them all. Apparently they were illegal immigrants in the trunk being smuggled into the country.

*sigh*

Stories like this are apparently common in this part of the country.

I got the drill from my father that they were probably stopping every car and checking everyone at that point instead of waiving people through as they did when I drove through a couple hours earlier. Thus, why I saw such a difference in the traffic from when I drove through the same checkpoint at around noon. He also told me about how CA puts food and water in the desert for illegals trying to get into the country so they don’t die trying to get here.

On a happier note:

I’ve spent 2 weeks in So Ca now and met between 40-50 DUer’s, seen the sites of San Diego and LA, and have had a great time. I’m really pooped! I need to go back to Iowa to rest up from my vacation now. I need a couple days just to sleep! Or really – just sit on my BUTT and have absolutely nothing to do for a whole day or two. I have enjoyed this though and it’s been therapeutic after a long period of unemployment and being bummed out and feeling like I was in a rut. This vacation will be a good springboard from which to move forward.

What I’d REALLY like to do is sit in my OWN house and SMOKE! At my desk and at my PC, without having to go outside like I have to do at my folk’s house or the restaurants and the Lounges at the DU meet-ups the last 2 Friday nights I went to.

BTW, if you read this, thanks for lunch! :hi:

[henslee]

1. S.D. can be an unforgiving place.... closer you get to the border

cops get tougher... things get weirder the closer to Mexico. Its harder for them to get across now. Lots of tragedy in a border town.

I got a real kick out of Vincente axing his ambasador to the UN for saying what was on his mind... something to the effect that Mexico gets treated like shit by US.

[Booberdawg]

2. What confused me about coming across this checkpoint is that

I was driving AWAY from San Diego, was about an hour away driving NORTH, and farther AWAY from Mexico and the border. It's also a check point for drug trafficking according to my dad but I still don't quite understand why it is so far in to CA as it is. Everything is relative I guess.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

7. Because the scumbags who smuggle people shove them in

small places to get across, then let them out to move and they get into other cars to go elsewhere.
And those are the nice ones who just don't take the poor guy's money and slit his throat down in Mexico.

[Booberdawg]

8. huh?

What did you just say??

[henslee]

12. Boober, officially that is a produce inspection point, mostly...

I do not think it is immigration or border patrol run. That checkpontt was in full effect during medfly scare. I have seen it umannned. It may serve a greater purpose, of course. It is the major link from S.D. to the rest of the state unless you take some backroads which I am sure is done.

[Hillsey]

3. Hey Iowa -Anywhere near Davenport?

[Booberdawg]

4. No, I'm on the other side of the state

But welcome to DU :toast:

[newyawker99]

11. Hi Hillsey!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[SoCalDem]

5. Whenever we returned from Baja,

The checkpoint guys would ask our boys questions.. Maybe they though we were trying to smuggle mexican kids back:shrug:.. We always used to laugh about it..Our boys were blond. They would get a kick out of it.. We usually entered and returned through the other route...not SanDiego.. (wen't through Brawley).. That checkpoint is less crowded.

[Booberdawg]

6. Baja is Mexico, isn't it?

I just had to do a MapQuest to figure out where Brawley was. I still am not quite sure why this checkpoint I went through today was an hour further NORTH of San Diego and AWAY from Mexico.?? Why would not these checkpoints be closer to the border??

I'm sure there is a good reason, I just don't know what it is? :shrug:

[smallprint]

9. Because they catch more people that way.

If you look at a map, you'll notice that there's lots of places to sneak over the border, and lots of roads going north to travel on. But as you go farther and farther north, the roads converge. Around the roadblock at Camp Pendleton/San Clemente, there is ONLY ONE ROAD north on the coast side of the mountains. It is a natural bottleneck. Thus, most smugglers have to pass through there. Thus, it is the best place to catch smugglers.

All those smugglers are trying to get to L.A. and points north, where the $$$$ and connections are.

[Booberdawg]

10. Okay, that's what I was looking for

I knew there was a good reason.

And something tells me that as a white woman in my mid 40's I'd get waived though without much of a check ..........

uuummmhhhhnnnnn