Saturday, November 19, 2011

Travel to San Jose del Cabo (11/3/2011)


Awake at 4:30 AM and out of the house in Jackson by 4:50 for a 6:00 flight to Houston where I’ll meet Mom.  Denise wanted to drive me to the airport but she can’t because she’s flying later this morning and has to be at the airport herself in a couple of hours.  Mom has a similar early departure from VA, but she has 2 flights (via Chicago) to get to Houston.

It’s actually COLD in Houston when we land.  That’s something I wasn’t expecting and had not dressed for. I had booked the early flight to Houston because I wanted to reduce the chance of a missed connection to Cabo.  As a result I have a 4 hour layover.  Mom has less than an hour between flights, so we meet at the departing gate just before boarding.  We tried to get seats together but the flight is overbooked.  They are offering $500 for people willing to give up their seats, but the next flight isn’t until tomorrow.  No matter – they still get several takers for the deal.

The flight was uneventful and we arrive in Cabo a few minutes early.  A long, slow moving line through Immigration and Customs quickly consumes those few minutes we had gained.  It takes us more than an hour to get through.  Ruann is waiting for us on the other side and we load everything in our truck and are on our way…or at least we think so.  Much to our surprise the lady at the airport parking lot won’t take US dollars to let us out and none of us have had time to get any pesos (Ru and Ken also just arrived a day or two before).  We argue and plead – finally the attendant relents and allows us to pass for a combination of $2 and about 20 pesos.  With the exchange rate she made a profit.  Lesson learned – save a few pesos or get a few at the airport (something I usually do, but forgot this time).

The airport is in San Jose del Cabo, about 35 minutes north of the southernmost Cabo San Lucas.  San Jose is a large, bustling city with lots of traffic, honking horns, and people.  The climate is arid and in town there’s a fine coat of tan colored dust on everything.  Ru and Ken’s house is in a small neighborhood on the beach about 15 minutes north of San Jose.  It takes about 30 minutes to get there from the airport.  Instead of going straight to the house we stopped for lunch in town.  On the way home we stopped at Flora Farms for a loaf of bread for dinner.

Mom and Ruann getting bread at Flora Farms

Their house is a work of art sitting on a hillside overlooking the beach with San Jose in the distance.  The view is incredibly beautiful (more on the house in a separate post later).




We met Ken at the house (he’d just returned from a morning of fishing).  We spent the rest of a delightful afternoon and evening resting, swimming, and visiting with Ken and Ru.







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