Back On The Bus

After an extended weekend in Mexico, it was time to head back to the border and focus my attention on the Southern Tier route to Florida. My main reason for going to Mexico (other than the fact that it was there) was to try to wait out the unseasonably hot weather in the desert. As with a lot of my plans, that hasn’t really worked out. In fact, it seems to be getting hotter. Looks like I’d better get a couple of more water bottles.

The border crossing from San Diego to Mexico was simple and reasonably quick. Certainly quicker than I expected. I anticipated that wouldn’t be the case on my return crossing. As such, I figured it would be better to get the border sooner rather than later.

My unofficial plan (or at least hope) was that I would be back at Sue and Craig’s place sometime around 3:00 That seemed pretty reasonable to me. That plan got off to a good start as I arrived at the bus terminal shortly after 10:00 where I soon found out the next bus to Tijuana departed at 10:15.

Having spoken very little Spanish since my arrival in Mexico (mainly because I only know very little Spanish), I was determined to use at least a tiny bit more before I left.

The walk from the hotel to bus terminal only took about 15 minutes but that 15 minutes was spent practicing one simple phrase. Over and over and over again. With no one around to listen to me, I thought my progress was pretty good. Of course, I knew I was just being delusional and that when the time came to use said phrase it would be a struggle at best. I would find out soon enough.

After the initial exchange of “Hola” with the young woman at the ticket counter, it was time for my big performance. “Quiero un boleto de ida a Tijuana.” As I slowly worked my way through the sentence, the woman behind the counter nodded with each word implying that what I was saying was somewhat making sense. I should point out that I acquired said sentence using a translation app on my phone so I didn’t REALLY know how accurate it was. I can only assume that it was accurate enough because a few minutes later I had a one-way ticket to Tijuana in my possession. Side note: Personally, I think the woman behind the counter knew more English than she implied but opted to let me struggle with my Spanish – not in a mean way, but it was just a feeling I had.

The bus was much like the one that brought me to Ensenada on Friday. It was a full size tour bus complete with interactive media screens at each seat and even WiFi. Pretty nice. And much more comfortable than the local transit buses – although, those served their purpose. I forgot to mention in yesterday’s update that during the ride to La Bufadora, the bus did a quick detour at the gas station to fill up. I don’t know why, but I found that amusing.

One thing that riding the buses through Mexico has made me realize is that I have a new found interest in cycling down there. Not that I DIDN’T think it was a good idea before but now I think it’s a REALLY good idea. Not because the roads look so great or that the conditions are ideal for cycling (I’m sure there are good and bad sections along the way) but the idea of cycling here has just become more appealing. I don’t know why. Mexico (and probably South Amercia) are now on my list of places to cycle (along with Germany, Taiwan, and Thailand). Although, I’d likely need a different bike for some of those but I’ll worry about that later. It’s crazy, the more I travel the more places I want to go. I really need to figure out a way to fund all this pending travel.

It was shortly after 12:00 when I found myself in line at border. As suspected, it would be a much longer process than when I left San Diego. That said, it was a pretty painless process. It was a hot day but the line was in a shaded area and so not at all uncomfortable – which was good since I forgot to bring water with me.

In total it took a little under two hours to find myself back in the United States. Normally, the thought of spending two hours to cross the border would drive me crazy but it really didn’t bother me today. Perhaps expectations had a lot to do with that. Plus, I wasn’t in a rush so I had the mindset of however long it takes, well … that’s how long it takes. After all, there was nothing I could do about it.

From the border, I had to take one trolley and two buses to complete the 18 km trip back to Sue and Craig’s place. The trip cost $7. I only mention it because it cost less than $4 to travel about 70 km in Ensenada.

The rest of the day was spent visiting and recapping my Mexico excursion. Oh, important side note: After 4.5 days in Mexico, UPS was finally able to deliver my tire. That saga is officially over. I won’t rant about UPS because, well … what would be the point? Instead, I’ll thank Tom and Terry at The UPS Store in Goleta for all their efforts in finally getting this delivery completed. To say that it wouldn’t have happened without them is an understatement. And thanks to Scott for sending me the tire in the first place. Very much appreciated!

Having still not come up with a concrete plan for my Southern Tier crossing, Sue and Craig graciously offered to let me stay another day – but there was a catch. Sue was going to put me to work.

Sue had been working on a video for their church’s website. She had done the hard part of picking the clips and had in fact edited them together. She just wanted me to clean it up a bit. Bartering video editing for an extra night in San Diego sounded like a great deal to me. Although, I’d have gladly done it even if I wasn’t staying an extra night. What can I say, I like to help. Either way, Sue seemed happy with the arrangement and with the end result.

So, I’ll be spending one more full day in San Diego and then, one way or another, I’ll be back on the road again on Thursday. Heading east. And, at the moment, that’s as detailed as the plan gets. Yes, I’m okay with that.