(posted 03/26/24)
We awoke early, ~6 am, and we’re on the road by 6:30. The hotel provided coffee in the office which we appreciated.
The drive east was quite lovely! The terrain changed from a dessert full of cacti to a dessert full of rocks. There were tall mountains, mesas, and lots of curvy roads. Neil did all the driving. Passing trucks and vehicles with trailers was exciting to say the least.
This is the post I put on Facebook:
Well a pretty good day came to a rather nasty end.
I have a rental car that we picked up at the airport in Tijuana Saturday. I was supposed to return it by 8 pm tonight (Sunday) at the Loreto airport car rental. I arrived at 7 pm.
We stayed at the Turista hotel 22960 ejido nuevo Uruapan, 22960 El Rosario de Arriba, B.C., Mexico last night. So, 700 miles in two days.
It’s Mexico, so DON’T drive at night. The airport is dark, nobody there. I call customer service, they acknowledge it’s their fault. But, the only option is to keep the car overnight and return it at 10 am when they open.
But wait there’s more! Our boat is in Santa Rosalía 120 miles or 2.5 hours north, AT NIGHT!
But wait there’s more! The car headlights are worse than useless, pointing in odd directions. This is the first time I’ve tried to use them at night because, DON’T drive at night in Mexico!
So, the plan was to drop off the car, and take a taxi to dinner then the bus station for which I had a ticket for the 9:35 pm bus. But now I can’t use the ticket, as I still have to deal with the car!
So, all I have to do is go to the bus station and exchange the ticket.
Remember that I can’t really see where I am going, and I am trying to look for the bus station (should be easy, right? Buses are pretty big and brightly colored). Three times around the city, in the dark with virtually no headlights! Different addresses, all using Google maps, keeps taking me to a little market. I am thinking that can’t be it…. But I ask, by the way, this gringo CAN NOT! speak Spanish at all.
So, Reneé is on the phone talking to the cashier, as the line backs up.she gets the story, and calls one of the guys from the back (meat cutter, maybe) who speaks a little English, and he walks me around the block to the other side of the building, which is a big dirt lot with a big old bus in it! We go to the office, he explains the situation, Reneé is on the phone again, and at the end of it all, I have exchanged (with a bunch of help) my ticket for one tomorrow, at 3:35 pm.
So, it’s now 8 pm, I have been up since 5 am, and driving since 6:30 am. It’s time to get a hotel.
I get an address and start off. In the dark, with a car with virtually no headlights, in a strange town, and in Mexico. Google says 3 minutes to get there. 20 minutes later I find the place. (A little more than just across the street). The hotel is nice, and 800 pesos, about $48. No dinner tonight, no toothbrush either.
Tomorrow, I will turn in the car at 10 am, and wander around town until the 3:35 bus ride. Then spend about 3 more hours to get back to the boat.
Living in Mexico is an adventure!
