We Finally Reach Cabo
Hacienda Encantada, Cabo
You will forgive me if my prose is a little lacking today. I walked into a steel staircase yesterday and knocked myself flat. I'm pretty sure I have a concussion. At any rate, if I say anything that doesn't make sense, drop me a line and I'll fix it when I get my senses back.
Monday January 14th 2013 through Tuesday January 15th 2013– Cabo San Lucas
We got up around 7 am and got packed for the trip to Cabo. We had to stop to get gas and I had to find the one Starbucks in La Paz because Susu didn’t have decaf at the B&B.
Then we tried to find our way out of town. Have I mentioned that the street signs in Mexico are few and far between? We saw a sign that said “Cabo San Lucas” and turned. We followed the road all through town (a city of a million people) until it finally came to a highway crossing. After the first sign, we never saw another sign.
If we went straight, we ended up on an unpaved road. I didn’t think that was the route to Cabo. We turned around and went back to the intersection. A right turn took us east. We could see from the map that Highway 1 goes down the east side of the peninsula. We drove along for several miles with no signs. It just didn’t feel right to me.
I turned around and headed west. We retraced our steps and finally found a sign that said “Cabo San Lucas.” It took about half an hour to figure out which way to go.
The highway turned into a freeway, with two lanes in either direction and a wide divider in the middle. This could be I-5 through the Willamette Valley. There wasn’t a turn anywhere. Of course, the vegetation was different. This was the Baja I expected. Sand, sage brush and cacti. We were in the dessert.
The road was so good and straight that I drove at 80 to 85 miles an hour all the way. There are speed limit signs, but no one pays any attention to them. Apparently they are more of a suggestion than the law. I’m told that the police will stop and ticket you for speeding, but in the thousand miles we’d driven down Baja, we never once saw a police truck.
That’s another different thing about Baja. All the police drive big American pickups. I think I may have seen one or two police cars in the city, but out in the country, it’s all trucks. Passenger cars don’t last long on these roads.
The freeway led us across the peninsula to Todo Santos. Todo Santos has developed into an artist colony and a favorite place for surfers. We were in the off-season, but it still was a cute little tourist beach town. Palm trees and tropical plants, very Mexican architecture, no high rise buildings. What’s not to like.
And, as an added benefit, it sits right on the Tropic of Cancer. It really is a tropical town.
Half an hour or so down the road, we finally came to Cabo. It had been a long, hard trip. I don’t know that I would care to make it again in one hop. The next time we bring the car down, we’ll stay at Guererro Nego, the half-way point, for the night.
We tried contacting Heidi on our cell phones, but couldn’t get a hold of her. We drove up to the Hacienda Encantada anyway. The valet took our car and left us with our bags, standing in the lobby. He told us we had to check in at the front desk.
Monday January 14th 2013 through Tuesday January 15th 2013– Cabo San Lucas
We got up around 7 am and got packed for the trip to Cabo. We had to stop to get gas and I had to find the one Starbucks in La Paz because Susu didn’t have decaf at the B&B.
Then we tried to find our way out of town. Have I mentioned that the street signs in Mexico are few and far between? We saw a sign that said “Cabo San Lucas” and turned. We followed the road all through town (a city of a million people) until it finally came to a highway crossing. After the first sign, we never saw another sign.
If we went straight, we ended up on an unpaved road. I didn’t think that was the route to Cabo. We turned around and went back to the intersection. A right turn took us east. We could see from the map that Highway 1 goes down the east side of the peninsula. We drove along for several miles with no signs. It just didn’t feel right to me.
I turned around and headed west. We retraced our steps and finally found a sign that said “Cabo San Lucas.” It took about half an hour to figure out which way to go.
The highway turned into a freeway, with two lanes in either direction and a wide divider in the middle. This could be I-5 through the Willamette Valley. There wasn’t a turn anywhere. Of course, the vegetation was different. This was the Baja I expected. Sand, sage brush and cacti. We were in the dessert.
The road was so good and straight that I drove at 80 to 85 miles an hour all the way. There are speed limit signs, but no one pays any attention to them. Apparently they are more of a suggestion than the law. I’m told that the police will stop and ticket you for speeding, but in the thousand miles we’d driven down Baja, we never once saw a police truck.
That’s another different thing about Baja. All the police drive big American pickups. I think I may have seen one or two police cars in the city, but out in the country, it’s all trucks. Passenger cars don’t last long on these roads.
The freeway led us across the peninsula to Todo Santos. Todo Santos has developed into an artist colony and a favorite place for surfers. We were in the off-season, but it still was a cute little tourist beach town. Palm trees and tropical plants, very Mexican architecture, no high rise buildings. What’s not to like.
And, as an added benefit, it sits right on the Tropic of Cancer. It really is a tropical town.
Half an hour or so down the road, we finally came to Cabo. It had been a long, hard trip. I don’t know that I would care to make it again in one hop. The next time we bring the car down, we’ll stay at Guererro Nego, the half-way point, for the night.
We tried contacting Heidi on our cell phones, but couldn’t get a hold of her. We drove up to the Hacienda Encantada anyway. The valet took our car and left us with our bags, standing in the lobby. He told us we had to check in at the front desk.
Miss Heidi
While we stood there with our heads spinning, Dawn said, “There’s Heidi.”
Sure enough, like in a movie scene the tall, beautiful blonde walked through the breeze way, wind in her hair and a smile on her face. She and Dawn gave each other a big hug, then I was introduced.
We moved our stuff into Heidi’s room and sat around on the balcony and talked for an hour or so. I was exhausted and hungry, so we went down to the beach where they have a little beach-side grill.
The lunch was not memorable. I think I either had tacos or nachos. Definitely not as good as street food.
After lunch, I took a nap while Dawn and Heidi caught up. When I woke up, Dawn had put on her swimming suit and was in the pool. That girl will swim in any kind of weather.
We returned to the room where Dawn got dried off and dressed. I flaked out on the bed for another nap. Heidi and Dawn caught up on old times.
Heidi had two margaritas down by the beach. She was sick. Dawn and I snuck out to the restaurant on the cliff for another forgettable meal. I don’t even remember what either of us had, but it wasn’t impressive. I guess in an all-inclusive resort, they don’t have to serve 5-star meals.
When we returned to the room, Heidi was still in bed so we slipped into bed and slept the night away.
At least I slept the night away. Apparently, they say, I coughed, gagged and snored all night. I don’t believe a word of it, I never heard anything. But, so their reasoning goes, my cold is so bad that I kept clearing my throat, coughing, sneezing and gagging all night.
When I awoke in the morning, Heidi said she didn’t get an hour’s sleep. Dawn said that Heidi kept talking to her and kept her awake all night.
I awoke refreshed and ready to face the day.
We had another forgettable breakfast, then drove into town. We checked out Cabo, a totally tourist oriented town. The prices at the marina were fantastic. They wanted $2600 a month to moor the Victory. In Seattle I paid $600 a month.
We were told that everything here was expensive, but I didn’t know that the docks were paved with gold.
Heidi had a friend flying in today, so we had to have her back to the hotel by 1 pm. We dropped her off and headed up Highway 1 to La Paz.
Highway 1 is the old road. It is two lanes, twisty and turny all the way. It climbs into the mountains and then winds along the sea coast. If I had known it would take so long, I would have gone back via Highway 19, but I wanted to see what the alternate route looked like.
We climbed up through the mountains, then down to the coast. As we approached the Sea of Cortez, the highway was typical coastal highway, following the coastline, with sharp turns around each point.
It was a much longer trip back to La Paz on this road. We got in around 5 pm and settled into the Casa Buena again. Milton put us in our same room.
There was a fire in the fireplace in the cabana and several guest huddled in front of the TV. I went out and got a mediocre pizza and Dawn and I settled down in the cabana for a quiet evening.
Sure enough, like in a movie scene the tall, beautiful blonde walked through the breeze way, wind in her hair and a smile on her face. She and Dawn gave each other a big hug, then I was introduced.
We moved our stuff into Heidi’s room and sat around on the balcony and talked for an hour or so. I was exhausted and hungry, so we went down to the beach where they have a little beach-side grill.
The lunch was not memorable. I think I either had tacos or nachos. Definitely not as good as street food.
After lunch, I took a nap while Dawn and Heidi caught up. When I woke up, Dawn had put on her swimming suit and was in the pool. That girl will swim in any kind of weather.
We returned to the room where Dawn got dried off and dressed. I flaked out on the bed for another nap. Heidi and Dawn caught up on old times.
Heidi had two margaritas down by the beach. She was sick. Dawn and I snuck out to the restaurant on the cliff for another forgettable meal. I don’t even remember what either of us had, but it wasn’t impressive. I guess in an all-inclusive resort, they don’t have to serve 5-star meals.
When we returned to the room, Heidi was still in bed so we slipped into bed and slept the night away.
At least I slept the night away. Apparently, they say, I coughed, gagged and snored all night. I don’t believe a word of it, I never heard anything. But, so their reasoning goes, my cold is so bad that I kept clearing my throat, coughing, sneezing and gagging all night.
When I awoke in the morning, Heidi said she didn’t get an hour’s sleep. Dawn said that Heidi kept talking to her and kept her awake all night.
I awoke refreshed and ready to face the day.
We had another forgettable breakfast, then drove into town. We checked out Cabo, a totally tourist oriented town. The prices at the marina were fantastic. They wanted $2600 a month to moor the Victory. In Seattle I paid $600 a month.
We were told that everything here was expensive, but I didn’t know that the docks were paved with gold.
Heidi had a friend flying in today, so we had to have her back to the hotel by 1 pm. We dropped her off and headed up Highway 1 to La Paz.
Highway 1 is the old road. It is two lanes, twisty and turny all the way. It climbs into the mountains and then winds along the sea coast. If I had known it would take so long, I would have gone back via Highway 19, but I wanted to see what the alternate route looked like.
We climbed up through the mountains, then down to the coast. As we approached the Sea of Cortez, the highway was typical coastal highway, following the coastline, with sharp turns around each point.
It was a much longer trip back to La Paz on this road. We got in around 5 pm and settled into the Casa Buena again. Milton put us in our same room.
There was a fire in the fireplace in the cabana and several guest huddled in front of the TV. I went out and got a mediocre pizza and Dawn and I settled down in the cabana for a quiet evening.