Planes, Trains, and Automobiles to Los Cabos
Mexico Quickie Travelog #2
Rolling to Cabo San Lucas, MX · Tue, 12 May 2026. 1pm.
We had a relatively easy trip to Los Cabos today. Although it did start early with a 5:45am wakeup our flight out of San Jose left on time. Actually, I think it left a few minutes early. There were a lot of empty seats, so that helped things flow quicker at the gate. That was just the first leg of our trip. We had a connection at SNA (Orange County).
I took advantage of having a few minutes on the ground at SNA to hit the Carl's Jr. near the Southwest gates. It's not that I was super hungry, but there it was 9:30 and I figured I might not have lunch until 3:30 so I wanted something. And why have just something when I can have a western bacon cheeseburger? Mmm, mmm. Oh, and because I'm on Ozempic I ordered only a single western bacon cheeseburger, not a double, and no fries. It's my "eat two-thirds" discipline... except today was more like eat half. It works.
I wolfed the food to make it back to the gate in time for (re-)boarding. I need not have rushed as the connecting flight was delayed. Clearly it wasn't that we lacked an aircraft. 🤣 It's that we lacked pilots. They crew-changed us, and while the new flight attendants arrived on time— and were waiting in front of the locked door to the jetbridge with the rest of us— the new pilots were delayed.
Things were smooth at SJD, too— surprisingly smooth, for international arrivals. I mean, first there was this little number....
The Southwest flights at SJD don't use jet bridges. Apparently Southwest cheaped out on the rent. That meant exiting the aircraft by descending stairs— I always imagine I'm The Beatles waving to paparazzi— and walking across the tarmac to a bus to the terminal. That actually went a tad faster than I expected, but it dropped us off into the part of international travel that's often the worst: Immigration and Customs.
In the US Hawk and I have had Global Entry for going on 10 years now. That speeds up our return home through immigration— in theory. In practice we've occasionally stood beneath banners touting, "No paperwork, no lines!" waiting in a literal line with literal paperwork in our hands. "Mission Accomplished!" I guess.
In Mexico we have no such fast-track benefits. Except nowadays... it doesn't matter. Mexico's immigrations and customs checks are fast. Even for people with nobody status in Mexico.
The next curious thing about SJD is that one you walk outside you're in the bar zone. Like, there are two bars right at the exit doors, one to the right and one to the left. You don't even have to walk across the street. Then, across the street, are two or three more bars. Those you can see in the photo above. They're opposite the area where all the shuttle drivers and coordinators— the real ones, not the scammy time-share liars— meet arriving passengers.
"Why not call an Uber and not worry about who's a scammer?" you might ask. Ah, easy answer. Uber and other ride-hailing services are banned by federal law from picking up passengers at the airport. Apparently the scammers have paid off the authorities better than Uber, et. al. ever will. And these federal police, once bought, are fiercely loyal. I read that Uber drivers face a $2,500 (US!) fine and confiscation of their vehicle if the heavily armed federales wish to make an example of them.
Well, we skipped the bars and found our shuttle coordinator. After a few minutes of waiting a driver pulled up in a Chevy Suburban. For just the two of us.
And there's more beer in the car, BTW!
Oh, and that's a picture of my second car beer. Since it was already my third drink of the day (I had a bourbon on the connecting flight) I figured I should switch to light beer. I like Pacifico so I figured I'd give Pacifico Light a try. It's... very light. "This is sex in a canoe," I quipped to Hawk. Then I checked the can and noticed it's just 3% ABV. Yup, that's light. I think from now on I'll switch to real beer. When I want something fucking close to water, I'll drink water.
Rolling to Cabo San Lucas, MX · Tue, 12 May 2026. 1pm.
We had a relatively easy trip to Los Cabos today. Although it did start early with a 5:45am wakeup our flight out of San Jose left on time. Actually, I think it left a few minutes early. There were a lot of empty seats, so that helped things flow quicker at the gate. That was just the first leg of our trip. We had a connection at SNA (Orange County).
U-Turn and a Bacon Cheeseburger at John Wayne
As we left for SNA I checked my flight app to see if our connecting flight was tracking on time. Part of that is checking if the flight that's bringing the aircraft inbound is on time. There I saw "SJC - SNA" and timings. Our timings. We'd be exiting our flight and at John Wayne airport, turning right around, and reboarding the same aircraft!I took advantage of having a few minutes on the ground at SNA to hit the Carl's Jr. near the Southwest gates. It's not that I was super hungry, but there it was 9:30 and I figured I might not have lunch until 3:30 so I wanted something. And why have just something when I can have a western bacon cheeseburger? Mmm, mmm. Oh, and because I'm on Ozempic I ordered only a single western bacon cheeseburger, not a double, and no fries. It's my "eat two-thirds" discipline... except today was more like eat half. It works.
I wolfed the food to make it back to the gate in time for (re-)boarding. I need not have rushed as the connecting flight was delayed. Clearly it wasn't that we lacked an aircraft. 🤣 It's that we lacked pilots. They crew-changed us, and while the new flight attendants arrived on time— and were waiting in front of the locked door to the jetbridge with the rest of us— the new pilots were delayed.
What if Security Freaks Didn't Make Travel Suck?
Although we were late getting off the blocks from SNA we arrived into SJD pretty much on time. It was scheduled as a 2h15m flight and didn't take that long. Once we got rolling things were smooth.Things were smooth at SJD, too— surprisingly smooth, for international arrivals. I mean, first there was this little number....
The Southwest flights at SJD don't use jet bridges. Apparently Southwest cheaped out on the rent. That meant exiting the aircraft by descending stairs— I always imagine I'm The Beatles waving to paparazzi— and walking across the tarmac to a bus to the terminal. That actually went a tad faster than I expected, but it dropped us off into the part of international travel that's often the worst: Immigration and Customs.
In the US Hawk and I have had Global Entry for going on 10 years now. That speeds up our return home through immigration— in theory. In practice we've occasionally stood beneath banners touting, "No paperwork, no lines!" waiting in a literal line with literal paperwork in our hands. "Mission Accomplished!" I guess.
In Mexico we have no such fast-track benefits. Except nowadays... it doesn't matter. Mexico's immigrations and customs checks are fast. Even for people with nobody status in Mexico.
Have a Drink for the Road. Or Five.
Past immigrations and customs at SJD is a hall repeat travelers call "the shark tank". It's a room full of touts, shills, liars, and thieves who all misrepresent themselves as taxi starters and shuttle coordinators. They're actually all time-share conmen, I'm told. WE bypassed them and walked outside.The next curious thing about SJD is that one you walk outside you're in the bar zone. Like, there are two bars right at the exit doors, one to the right and one to the left. You don't even have to walk across the street. Then, across the street, are two or three more bars. Those you can see in the photo above. They're opposite the area where all the shuttle drivers and coordinators— the real ones, not the scammy time-share liars— meet arriving passengers.
"Why not call an Uber and not worry about who's a scammer?" you might ask. Ah, easy answer. Uber and other ride-hailing services are banned by federal law from picking up passengers at the airport. Apparently the scammers have paid off the authorities better than Uber, et. al. ever will. And these federal police, once bought, are fiercely loyal. I read that Uber drivers face a $2,500 (US!) fine and confiscation of their vehicle if the heavily armed federales wish to make an example of them.
Well, we skipped the bars and found our shuttle coordinator. After a few minutes of waiting a driver pulled up in a Chevy Suburban. For just the two of us.
And there's more beer in the car, BTW!
Oh, and that's a picture of my second car beer. Since it was already my third drink of the day (I had a bourbon on the connecting flight) I figured I should switch to light beer. I like Pacifico so I figured I'd give Pacifico Light a try. It's... very light. "This is sex in a canoe," I quipped to Hawk. Then I checked the can and noticed it's just 3% ABV. Yup, that's light. I think from now on I'll switch to real beer. When I want something fucking close to water, I'll drink water.
