It was Sunday, our new friends David and Maria gave us a lift in their van up the sandy hill out of the campsite in the beautiful Saldamando beach. When we arrived to the toll on the highway a guy wearing an orange vest waved to us and told us to get off the road. As we were walking our bikes on the sidewalk a policeman approached us. I told him we were really sorry and we didn’t know we could’t ride our bikes on the  Autopista de Cobro, and luckily we got away with it.

It was lunch time when we rode into Ensenada, but we couldn’t really afford any of the tempting offers to stop at the numerous restaurants along the boulevard Lazaro Cardenas, so we continued the beautiful ride along the beach until we got to the traffic mess of La Reforma Ave. After asking for directions a few more times, we finally found Calle Paseo Pacifico and stopped at Mini Mercado Javi’s where the owner let us use his phone. La Señora Delia greeted us and showed us to La Casa del Ciclista. A few minutes after I had unpacked it felt like home.

We found out about this place on Warmshowers.com, like coachsurfing but for touring cyclists. Gerardo, a Doctor who now lives in Riverside CA. is an avid cyclist and loves to share his house in Ensenada with cycling nomads like us. There’s no way to express in words how thankful we are to Gerardo and specially to Delia.

Jose, Delia & Canica

La Señora Delia is a wonderful woman. Originally from Veracruz, she started working when she was 15, and became manager in a “curiosity store” where she got to meet Marilyn Monroe. She lives next door and looks after Gerardo’s house and the guests. Everytime we pass by to say Hola she offers us food. Last night we had Papas con Chorizo while Jose, her husband, listened to the Dodgers being beaten by the Phillies on his very loud radio, and Canica, the chihuaua dog, watched us eating away the cookies for desert.

A few days ago, we shared the house with Emi and Nicholas (http://grab-a-wheel.org). They’re riding from Vancouver all the way to Tierra del Fuego on their bikes loaded with home made panniers, plants, and plastic lunch boxes for handlebar bags. I cooked a spanish omelette (my Mum’s recipe) at Delia’s and had a very nice evening enjoying their company and stories from Japan. We hope we’ll catch up with them somewhere again along the road down south.

But in the meantime, we’re still here. Life goes slowly by in Ensenada while we wait for my new cycling shoes to arrive. We make the most of our off the bike time by using the slow internet cafe around the corner, reading our South America and Adventure Cycle-Touring books, cleaning and adjusting our bikes, eating fish tacos at Taco Bob’s (as in Sponge Bob Square Pants), becoming masters of the home made Burrito, daydreaming, siestas, and enjoying the lovely weather and the hospitality of La Señora Delia and his wonderful family.