Friday October 28th

I arrived at SJD airport at 1:30pm MDT and was through customs and immigration in just 15 minutes. I attempted to exchange US dollars for Pesos at two different ATMs, but they were both out of service. I met my driver outside the terminal from Nice Ride Cabo who suggested that US dollars would be accepted everywhere, and he was right. After a grocery store stop enroute, I arrived at the JW Marriott Los Cabos around 3pm. The hotel was incredible. The artwork inside and outside was worthwhile (first picture below), my room was great, and the grounds were impeccable.

After a quick turnaround, I taxied to Buzzard's Bar and Grill for what turned out to be my most authentic Mexican meal of the trip. I watched the sun set at Buzzard's and then taxied back to the Marriott for some nightfall and night shots (second and third pictures below), some reading on my balcony, and then retiring for the night.

I woke early and did a long walk around the hotel grounds and the deserted beach. It was already getting hot as I got ready for the 10am hotel shuttle to downtown Los Cabos. The city was getting ready for a big Ironman event, so the town square was filled with barriers and fences. I walked all through the backstreets (fourth picture above) and the art district (first two pictures below), ending up at the church on Plaza Mijares (large picture top of page left and third picture below). It was getting beastly hot by noon, so I ducked into an air conditioned restaurant that I had looked up before the trip - Retro Burger Bar, which was great for learning about different tequilas and cooling off. I taxied back to the hotel around 2pm, did my own version of a siesta and then did a sunset walk around the hotel and beach (fourth picture below and large picture top of page right). That large picture on the staircase was also the last for my venerable Sony RX100 point and shoot camera, which has accompanied me along hundreds of thousands of miles, as it tumbled off the railing along with its tripod to the wooden deck below. After a snack at the bar, I did some reading on my balcony and retired for the night.

Sunday October 30th - The beach and marina walkabout

With my big, heavy DSLR camera slung over my shoulder after the untimely death of my point and shoot, I headed out around 8am to do my long walkabout for the trip. I walked from the Marriott west to Puerto Los Cabos. I then circled the Marina (first picture below), arriving very hot and exhausted at The Container restaurant, where I parked for a couple of hours watching American football on their TV and enjoying their happy hour brunch (second picture below). Around noon, I walked through the cactus and sculpture gardens (third picture below) before returning to the restaurant to arrange for a water taxi across the marina. The view from the dock in the fourth picture below also shows the Macotela Cross, which is a landmark sculpture in the area. It was way too hot to walk the beach back to the hotel, so I taxied back from the east side of the marina. According to my pedometer, my walkabout was just over 6 miles, but in the heat it felt more like 20.

An impromptu siesta was in order when I got back to the hotel, after which I dug into several books on my balcony while sipping some very good Chilean wines accompanied by three different cheeses that I had bought at the grocery store when I arrived. There was no need for dinner after the cheese, so I did an evening walk around the hotel grounds before reading and retiring for the night. On Monday morning I had an excellent breakfast at the hotel, using up some meal credits that came with the room, before packing and meeting my Nice Ride Cabo driver to take me back to the airport for my return to LAX. All-in-all another great sanity trip.