Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
What happened was this: Because I was in the ABC station, where you caught the bus to
San Luís Río Colorado (SLRC), forty miles from Mexicali, Juana, my escort, assumed I
was asking about SLRC's Central Terminal, not Mexicali's. I was on the bus when I put
the puzzle together. Juana told me that ABC takes two hours instead of one due to fre-
quent stops. I was on the “stop-and-pick-up” bus to San Luís Río Colorado.
Juana said she came to the U.S. in 1983 and now lived in Los Angeles. She was a great-
grandmother in her fifties. I asked, “What was your first job in L.A.?”
“Packed pickles in a factory.” Now she baby-sits. She tried to learn English and memor-
ized words. She said, “Grammar is difficult.”
Although I took the wrong bus, I was headed in the right direction, and I was entertained.
I looked over the outstretched city, stop by stop. There were vast islands of wrecked cars.
“This must be auto dismantlers' heaven,” I said to myself.
The bus stopped, a young college student boarded and sat in the row ahead of me. She was
as slender and attractive as Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. She had smooth,
soft, mocha-colored skin, narrow lips and a fine nose. Her dark eyes were so bright they
made me recall the reflections off my grandpa's black Cadillac when I'd wash and wax it
in the sun. As the bus went around a curve, sunlight struck her black hair, which she must
have rinsed with a reddish tint, for her hair sparkled red in the sun. She promptly opened
her text to a page with a picture of B.F. Skinner. I asked, “Are you studying psychology?”
She smiled and said “Yes,” then she resumed reading. B.F. Skinner was more interesting
than an old gringo, even if I might be a good subject to psychoanalyze.
We neared the end of the two-hour ride. As the bus crossed the bridge, we looked over the
railing at the Río Colorado. The river was dry. Its white sand looked more like a beach
than a river. The bus turned into the city, passed small, one-story bungalows, neatly cared
for, gated and fenced, painted in whites, pinks, blues and aqua greens, and adorned with
red bougainvilleas.
The bus stopped on the main street. Juana picked up her shopping bag. I followed. We
got off in downtown San Luís Río Colorado, which ended the first of my three bus trips
for the day.
Arriving in San Luís Río Colorado, I thanked Juana then followed her directions to the
Central, walked about six blocks and checked in at the bus station. Buses left every half
Search WWH ::




Custom Search