Tijuana: The Happiest Place On Earth...aerial photos (OT)

Search
Go

Discussion Topic

Return to Forum List
This thread has been locked
Messages 1 - 19 of total 19 in this topic
Chaz

Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 21, 2009 - 02:01am PT
That's right. "Tijuana, The Happiest Place On Earth, Where A Kid Can Be A Kid".
Looking east from Playas de Tijuana:


Looking west into the Pacific:


Looking south, down Paseo Costero:


Faro de Tijuana (Tijuana Lighthouse) Fence is US / Mexico border:


Faro and Plaza Monumental (lighthouse and Bullring by the Sea) Fence along the palm trees is the US / Mexico border:


Plaza Monumental de toros, the second biggest bullring in Mexico:


Border Patrol agent talking with someone on the Mexican side:


A little ADAM-69 on the border:


mojede

Trad climber
Butte, America
Oct 21, 2009 - 03:00am PT
Very cool kite pics, once again, sir Chaz...
Mighty Hiker

Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Oct 21, 2009 - 03:28am PT
That's cool! Do the border people wonder what you're doing, or are you careful to keep the kite well on the US side? Or is it so carefully watched that they don't care?
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Oct 21, 2009 - 04:22am PT
hey there chaz... say, yep, i'm another loyal fan... :)

thanks for the aerial shares again...

have not all downloaded, but i'm expecting to be surprised and well pleased, art-wise and creativity wise... :)

thanks so so much---seing things from new angles sure makes one think more... and on all kinds of stuff, too...

(hey,yeah, and does the border patrol ever wonder, or not... or the other side of the border, as well?) i know some of us have asked you before...
just curious... they seem NOT to chase you away...

:)
mooser

Trad climber
seattle
Oct 21, 2009 - 09:33am PT
Great shots, Chaz. I know that area by car, and on foot, but those are some views I've never seen. Very cool!
Brunosafari

Boulder climber
OR
Oct 21, 2009 - 10:47am PT
Those are fascinating Chaz, and I'm amazed you can make these shots in the current political climate. Did you take any flack? I was born to a Navy family in Chula Vista, one of five boys. One of my earliest memories was the Mexican maid my parents hired to help my "single Mom," who didn't even have a driver's license at the time. Kind Juana, taught us some rudiments of Spanish. and to this day I love Mexico, Mexicans and Tijuana. Your thread title is poetic if glossing. I think of it as a place which presents humanity often at its humbled best....and blatantly, at its worst.
Ray Olson

Trad climber
Imperial Beach, California
Oct 21, 2009 - 10:51am PT
sweet Chaz,

my backyard, my neighbors to the south.

I grew up right there, we used to ride our schwiinn stingrays to
border field, then hike up to old U.S. military bunkers built into the side
of the hill facing the pacific. the military had build a neat tram thing up
the sorta NE slope to get materials and supplies to the bunkers, fun place
to play and be a kid, for sure.

no fence back then, that seems kinda new.

thanks 4 posting
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Oct 21, 2009 - 11:30am PT
If you can't get happy in Tijuana, chemistry isn't the answer for you.
quietpartner

Trad climber
Moantannah
Oct 21, 2009 - 02:23pm PT
Great pics!

I wonder how many strong swimmers have crossed the border lately?

Klimmer

Mountain climber
San Diego
Oct 21, 2009 - 04:24pm PT
Chaz,

These aerial images are just too good. And the location is incredibly sensative with Homeland Security/Border Patrol all about!

I think you are going to get a call from the CIA, NSA, or HLS for your services.

"Either you work for us or you quit."

By the way, if you take two images in rapid succession, with just a little distance between the positions with over 40 -60% overlap you can view them in 3D with simple stereoscope glasses.
noshoesnoshirt

climber
Arkansas, I suppose
Oct 21, 2009 - 05:04pm PT
Nice shots once again.

Thanks for sharing.
bluering

Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
Oct 21, 2009 - 05:18pm PT
pretty cool.
Brunosafari

Boulder climber
OR
Oct 21, 2009 - 07:41pm PT
So Chaz, you hooked me with those great shots. I'm trying to understand the gist of your extended Title? Is it a reference to some other literature, or are you being sarcastic or do you mean it?
Thanks. Bruce

edit: i.e., "where a kid can be a kid."
Chaz

Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 21, 2009 - 09:39pm PT
In the mid-90s, I was tending bar in a Mexican restaurant, working with a bunch of young immigrants (I was the old man at 35). Seemed the thing to do for them every weekend was to go to Tijuana. Even if they had to wait until midnight to start the two-hour drive.

I asked one guy one time what goes on in Tijuana in the middle of the night, like what do you guys do down there?. He said "Tijuana is the Happiest Place On Earth", which of course comes from the Disneyland slogan.

I never thought TJ was a very happy place. We always make it a point to drive through Tijuana as fast as possible, in order to avoid having to spend any more time there than we have to.

Last time I walked around in Tijuana was about thirty years ago. Mom, Grandma, my sister and I walked across at San Ysidro to buy piss-purses and switchblades.

Some Joker spots me, and runs across Avenue Revolucion (six lanes of Tijuana traffic) shouting "Hey Heepee, hey Heepee. You want to buy pictures of my sister. You want to buy whole pound of marijuana for ten dollars". I was sporting long hair back then, that's how I was mistaken for a Hippy.



Tuesday, I didn't get a second look from any of the Border Patrol guys after the initial chit-chat. It was obvious I'm an American as soon as I open my mouth. I had asked some Border Patrol guys last time I was there in August if they would have a problem with me flying kites, and I got the answer I wanted. I won't ask them again.


I was hoping for a bit more northerly wind, so I could actually get the camera over Mexican airspace. The kite was most certainly flying directly above Mexican territory (kite and camera are separated by about 100' to help damp vibration). Next time there, I'll time it so I'm flying the kite during a bullfight, and I'll have the camera a couple hundred feet higher. Hopefully, I'll be able to get shots of a corrida de toros in progress.

Mr Olson, those bunkers are between the fences now, and they don't let us near them.
Prod

Trad climber
Dodge Sprinter Dreaming
Oct 21, 2009 - 09:43pm PT
Pretty cool stuff.

Do you have a pic of your rig? Is it home made?

Prod.
hooblie

climber
Oct 21, 2009 - 10:02pm PT
i've spent nights on the ground next to the border in three different locations. it's a patriotic thing to do, watch the invasion. i don't know what goes on at norad, probably a lot of swivel chairs and coffee, but i'll tell you border patrol have their work cut out for...us.

my wife volunteered her services at several migrant health clinics while studying for nurse practitioner at uc san diego.
dreaded sister in-law came for a week so i left them the car and took public trans to the mexican bus, bailed at la rumorosa,
and hiked into canon tajo for an oldtimes sake walkabout in one of my favorite stomping grounds.

on the return trip i got to tecate about bedtime, less than 1/4 mile into the states i threw down my bag under an oak tree.
peaceful homecoming, for about an hour. i can hardly decribe the chaos that reined throught the middle of the night.
unseen footfall in the tall grass, bouncing headlights, brodies and dust, choppers and searchlights. pssst, andale andale.

come dawn peace in the valley, tweetybirds a little groggy. the only reason i didn't end up hosting either of the teams in contention
was that my tree was just too starkly obvious. though i'm sure the infrared image of my chagrin and despair was duly noted.

later, after my wife left for assignment in alaska, i had the subaru packed to the absolute gills. the key was in the landlord's mailbox
and i had a monster throbbing tooth ache, begging for sleep in anticipation of an alpine start to cross the basin ahead of the traffic.
wifey had been handing out free meds like candy for years, and i found myself facing $300.00 upfront
at each of three government funded ER's. (the gas budget to catch up with my wife's meds)

i knew better, i was just checking. sure enough i'm passing chula vista headed for a 24 hour drugstore in T.J. where penicillin
is seven bucks over the counter. as the freeway necks down for the border proper, there's plenty enough lane chaos,
but to add to it here comes a half dozen border rushers, against the traffic, between the lanes.

to my great relief i didn't have to unpack the car at the secondary inspection while i writhed in anxiety for having lied to the agent
about my role as a drug smuggler. i guess it's an international exchange program. i just wish the policy decisions
regarding our immigration and their healthcare solutions weren't being made quite so unilateraly,
by kids in tennis shoes hunkered down on avenida de los insurgentes

at my local liquor store i can buy any cap on display, choosing carefully which mexican soccer team i'll find myself defending
Ray Olson

Trad climber
Imperial Beach, California
Oct 21, 2009 - 10:48pm PT
yes, Chaz

I figured the bunkers would be off limits now.

first time I went up there was in the early 70's

with my old man and it

was pretty laid back and deserted then.

the old gun mounds standing in silence

still bolted to the concrete floors.

it was cool, you could climb down inside

these two story pill boxes and wonder.

my dad used to cruise out there on his Harley,

his third.

then, on the trip back,

he'd let me drive...

no way was I even old enough for a license.

don't need to tell ya how much fun that was...

thanks for the views, and the memories Chaz.

very cool pics.
Chaz

Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 22, 2009 - 11:37pm PT
Mr Milktoast,

The Border Patrol doesn't have an audience way out there like they do in Border Field State Park, so they don't have to make so much of a show of patrolling the line, or even build a fence.

Where the border hits the coast, the Border Patrol is out in major force - on the weekends when there are Americans around to see what they're doing. (B.F.S.P. closes their gate during the week, so you gotta walk about a mile to get to the border then) But during the week, when the park sees four visitors a day (counting myself), Border Patrol staff is greatly reduced. Part of putting on the show.




Prod,

Check out this MacWorld feature http://www.macworld.com/article/143411/2009/10/snapshotkite.html?t=106?lsrc=twt_macworld

His rig is about what mine looks like, minus the active stabilization and video aiming. Scott's on the cutting edge of this. The photo in the feature (Statue Of Liberty) is one of the best KAP shots ever.


EDTI: This was the first flight of my new Pentax W80. I was hoping to test fly it around home first, but it didn't happen like that.


EDIT mas: I had this song running through my head for a good part of the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16B5Xm8_IKw

The video starts with a bitchen' aerial bullring shot, for like a minute.



EDIT mas, otro vez: This is the song I should have been thinking of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdpllAHo0ng

But I didn't remember it until just now.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

climber
. . . not !
Oct 23, 2009 - 12:28am PT
Looks chill despite all the death and destruction going on .
Messages 1 - 19 of total 19 in this topic
Return to Forum List
 
Our Guidebooks
spacerCheck 'em out!
SuperTopo Guidebooks

guidebook icon
Try a free sample topo!

 
SuperTopo on the Web

Recent Route Beta