The connection with the reservation Bruce had made online from home went smoothly, no hidden prices attached and friendly, efficient fellows set us up with the car. It was the riding/driving that was a bit bizarre.
When Bruce drives, I am normally content to sit passenger and enjoy the scenery, maybe help a bit with directions, but usually I'm not at all inclined to "drive from the passenger seat.". This experience, however, was different. The Mexican drivers all go like quicksilver, darting in and out of little side streets, bouncing over potholes and speed bumps with no need for brakes. That was not Bruce's style. I felt it was going to take both of us to keep track of other drivers, pay attention to which roads we were on, and navigate potholes and other hazards. Even in the USA, we have only rented a car a few times, so we both feel pretty intimidated about not putting a single scratch or new squeak on the vehicle. Bruce got the hang of managing the car by the time we reached the end of the toll road from the airport. After that, it was not only the resident drivers to contend with, but also other tourists like ourselves, many of them in the Cabo frenzied rush to the next good time. The guys at the rental place advised us to shop at Walmart because Soriana would be packed. All the Mexicans have the day off and that is where they shop. As we watched the traffic flow and avoided obstacles, we also looked for the Walmart. Yep....there is was.....on the other side of the divider right about at the point where we hit some huge bump in the road. Access points to Walmart all seemed to be in the rear view mirror. While the bump sounded horrible, the car kept moving, no parts scraping on others or strange smells coming from under the car. By now, the traffic hemmed us in and we could only go forward. We opted to fight the crowds and avoid Walmart anyway. Oh, and crowded it was! Whole families out loading grocery carts, filling the parking lot, darting between cars. Between the Mexican Muisac and all the voices, it was pretty chaotic inside the store as well. We darted in confusion, trying to remember what we would need and wishing we had made a list. I was starting to feel vaguely like a "Beat the Clock" contestant when we came to the booze aisle. There it was! Our beloved Jimedor at a good price. We filled the cart. And then I spotted a full liter jug of Controy, the Mexican version of margarita ingredient Contreau, for a mere $9 USD! Excited with those finds, we hightailed it to the checkout stand and back to the crowded streets. Happily, we found no new dings in the car and no fresh liquids underneath it.
Once out of Cabo, things calmed down considerably. We saw the gringo crowd bulging out of the only gringo bar in town in Pescadero, all watching the SuperBowl and we opted for a quiet restaurant with Mexican patrons and staff. Enjoyed our first authentic Mexican meal before pointing the car toward our casita and settling in.
The next day we had to return the car. While Bruce recovered from the stress of driving the day before, I slipped down to the beach at dawn, surprised at the changes wrought by the hurricane. I didn't stay long and when I returned, Bruce was ready to roll. We made the mistake of traveling a road we were less familar with. Here too were hurricane-caused changes. Gone were the simple bumps and occasional rock. Instead, we found evidence of the amount of water that must have rolled down these roads after the hurricane. Bruce had to straddle what had been the water's pathways, not knowing if he would be able to cross it at the end, or simply find more water paths in the road. It was a relief to get to the highway in Pescadero.
Our first order of business was to buy fresh fruits and vegies from Fidel. We literally loaded three full armloads of goodies into the rental: ripe red tomatoes, beautifully firm poblano peppers, jalapeños, serranos, red bells, cauliflower, broccoli. Avocados and tangerines that did not look so pretty from the outside, but our experience last year taught not to be deceived. Fidel's avocados are the tastiest. And of course, bags and bags of grapefruit and limes to squeeze into drinks of Jimedor and Controy. And the final bill was under $20 USD. Then we gave a little Montana keychain with picture of a bear to Fidel. It was so dear the way he paused in his busy street side business to study it before holding it up to his heart and sincerely thanking us. What a sweetheart!
After unloading all those goodies back at our casita, it was time to make our way to Todos Santos. Along the way we looked for the hidden beach of my dreams, but only found roads scurrying into the desert promising to be worse than the one we took from our casita. We decided to head right to the rental car drop off spot.
Driving the Transpeninsular Highway is a much more familar experience. Other than converting miles to kilometers, wondering if the speedometer on the car was in kilos or miles and avoiding the no-brakes Mexican drivers, it was relatively simple. By the time we got to Todos Santos, Bruce had recovered his spirit of adventure and suggested we try to find Elizabeth, the daughter of Livingston friend. Uh, oh. We soon learned that Todos Santos took a bigger hit from the storm than did Pescadero. Hurricane winds battered this town for 10 hours. Huge gullies, more appropriately described as canals, carved a large wide ditch paralleling the main road through Todos Santos. After a first turn leading us to the abyss, and a second which helped us understand its length, and three forays onto unmarked one-way streets, we went back to the plan of simply returning the rental ASAP.
Happily, the rental car agent found no evidence of our big bump and declared all was in order. I offered to buy Bruce a celebatory margarita and he agreed to a beer, saying the bar-made margaritas in "tourist-ville" promised to be a "light pour." I was game to see what was served up. We and the people across from us there at the bar watched the bartendress pour m a really nice margarita. The rather "heavy pour" inspired comments from our bar-mates, who turned out to be from Libby, MT! Needless to say, I later enjoyed our 20min wait in the park across from the bus station, and we were both very relieved to "leave the driving" to the Aguila bus driver!
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