The Other Side: Journeys in Baja California

""We came of age together,"" says the author of another very personal exploration of Baja California (see above). Botello, a San Diego pediatrician, divorced mother of two and author of Adventures with Kids in San Diego, parallels her developing romance with the Mexican man who became her husband and the voyages across the border, to ""the other side,"" that shaped her sensitivity to the Mexican way of life. She takes the reader along on a series of trips, from 1978 to 1993, that include not only vignettes of often amusing culture clashes but also glimpses of the developing romantic relationship. Like others enamored of the old Camino Real (now known as Mexico's Highway 1), she mourns the decline of Baja's ""wild spirit."" Like many memoirists, Botello seems to recall improbably lengthy stretches of dialogue complete with adverbs (""I said softly""; ""said Chuey gravely""; etc.) from decades before--a trait that's likely to irk the skeptical. Still, she deftly and humorously juggles family, career and relationships in travel that is both geographical and spiritual, and in this lively journal, she pays tribute to the many faces of Baja and its people. (Sept.)