Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The driver said he could take me as far as San Pedro, a seven-hour ride, and then I could
connect to Creel.
No seat was the best seat. I stood on the steps in the door well. Standing in the bus's en-
trance steps, I had an expansive view. I got off and on at least ten times as we stopped and
dropped off passengers and picked up new ones. Seats were always full, and I maintained
my windshield panorama station. I had a better view than the driver because I did not have
to watch the road.
It was a long day and a lonely road. I don't think I saw five vehicles all day, but with the
changes and connections, I hardly noticed the time. The Sierras were magnificent, with
pipe-organ and saguaro cacti in bloom, encinos (scrub oaks), long-needle pines, cypress
pines and the incredible flora that changed with the elevation, like Sedona, Arizona.
A coyote ran across the road, stopped and turned to watch us pass. Squirrels frequently
raced across the road, darted into the brush or found a safe crevice among the rocks. One
squirrel, munching a dead snake on the highway, was so deaf, or concentrating on his meal,
that it didn't even flinch as the bus roared by.
The Estrella Blanca halted at a rest stop. We were given twenty minutes. I took a short
walk and was standing on the highway, making sure I wasn't left behind, when I saw a
hiker dressed in green fatigues coming down the hill towards me. He had a walking stick
and a backpack. As he neared, I greeted him in Spanish. He explained why he was there.
“I'm mapping the area using GPS for a Canadian company. We're mapping minerals.” He
told me he'd be there for three weeks.
The bus driver waved me over to board. I told the hiker, “Good-bye and good luck.”
The bus slowed down in the mountains, and it was great to travel with the driver and co-
driver. They told stories and joked with the passengers. Because the trip took fourteen
hours from Obregon to Chihuahua, the drivers switched off.
From time to time the driver played a Mexican-music CD. Selena was his favorite singer. I
asked for José Alfredo Jiménez, and we listened to
José's Exitos
(
Greatest Hits
). Because
Estrella Blanca was Second Class, the driver's music did not compete with a TV.
The bus dropped me at San Pedro, a crossroads, at 9 p.m. I stepped out of the bus and into
a night blacker than a coal mine. Where was the horizon? I couldn't tell were the Earth
