1991 Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico
Left Silicon Valley 38 hours before totality. Hit San Diego at 03:00 and slept in my car for a few hours at a Denny’s parking lot. Crossed the border and bought temporary car insurance. Drove end to end Baja in almost precisely 24 hours of near-constant motoring. The roadbed’s piranah potholes ate up my tires like licorice Lifesavers[sup]™[/sup]. It was strange to see Mexican army recruits carrying automatic rifles at many of the gas stations. I passed without stopping through all of the Federales’ roadblocks unscathed. I can only assume that one of Mexico’s most corrupt police forces had been told to put a sock in it while all of the rich gringos (with all their good media connections) passed on through. I saw no evidence of any shakedowns. At least, not until I needed to replace one of my tires. The mechanic wanted me to sell my car because he couln’t find me a tire. AS IF!
One of the most memorable driving moments was just when I had left the 45° Latitude monument and the sun was setting. As I drove southeast with the sunset at my back, the hot road glistened in front of me from the sun’s glow. In my rearview mirror, the roadbed suddenly turned pitch black due to improper angle of reflection. It was like my car was eating up a silver ribbon of road that lost its gleam right as I passed over it. One stretch between Catavina and Guerrero Negro was as if someone had tied a laser pointer to the cab of a Caterpillar bulldozer and put a brick on its accelerator pedal. It was something like 50-75 miles of perfectly straight-line cruising. I could have hit the cruise control, lashed the steering wheel to the stick shift and taken an hour’s nap.
Out of the straight-away and off of the highland desert, suddenly you descend towards the Gulf of California coastline. I stopped in Santa Rosalia and had some cooked food. No spending the eclipse sitting on the throne doing Montezuma’s bidding for me. Onward to the Mulege river oasis. It was one of the most stunning transitions I’ve ever experienced. Barren sandy flat land tumbles down into a verdant palm tree filled river valley.
It was dark by the time I hit the sea of Cortez’s coast. Dawn was hitting as I passed through the foggy little town of Todos Santos. I noticed all sorts of tour buses and cars parked along the road. Didn’t see much else until I arrived at land’s end in Cabo San Lucas around 05:00. I crawled into the back of my car and snoozed a few hours.
Woke up and wandered through town waiting for the sun to disappear. Drank a mess of Pacifico beers at Squid Row and watched the sky slowly begin to dim. I started to snap off photos through the welder’s glass I had brought. Trees were throwing hundreds of miniature crescent suns onto the sidewalk through the pinholes between their leaves (I have photos of it).
Just before and after totality, you could see a partial ring of scintillating, fiery jewels encircling the lunar orb. Bright sunlight was breaking up as it passed through valleys between mountains of the moon forming the classic Bailey’s Beads. Diffraction lines were visible on the sidewalk from this same dispersion effect. The air began to cool noticeably and the sky began to darken. Finally, the totality hit, the birds and insects left the air and there was a profound stillness all around.
It was one of the most awe inspiring moments in my entire life. About the only thing I missed was being at a sufficient elevation to see the moon’s umbra sweep across the land at hundreds of miles per hour. As a scientific person and lover of astronomy, it was the fulfillment of a dream.
It turns out I only witnessed ~98% totality. 100% was 60 miles back up the road in Todos Santos, where all the buses and cars were parked. Back where they had fog all day. Back where they could only see infrared images of the sun through telescopes. For once, being a completist sort of anal-retentive driver paid off in spades. By insisting upon driving Baja end to end, I managed to have perfect seeing. Many people in Hawaii who weren’t at high elevations also missed the show as well.
Took my time driving back up Baja for the rest of the day. Ate a passle of superb tacos at Karen’s taqueria in Cuidad Constitution. I drove out and slept at Magdelena Bay on the West coast. Cruised up and stopped in Santa Rosalia once again. The dusty little town was nowhere near as romantic without its night time lights twinkling in the evening’s gloaming. This time it was the fresh caught lobster salad. A quick stroll through town brought me to a small, unprepossessing church. To my astonishment, a plaque indicated that the ironwork trusses in its roof were designed by none other than Gustav Eiffel. Later I bought a small bottle of white Sauza tequila that remains unopened in my China cabinet to this day.
Up the peninsula I drove, stopping only for gasoline. A brief detour in Tijuana provided me with a monster sombrero for my hat collection. Onward into the night and finally back across the border and up to Los Angeles. Breakfast found me at The Original Pantry for their killer New York strip steak and eggs with hash browns. As the carbonate tide boiled through my veins, I began to doze off at the wheel. Halfway over the grapevine I was shouting at myself to keep awake. Finally, a rest stop loomed ahead and I caught another few precious hours of sleep.
Back on the road and rocketing up Interstate 5 to get back in time for my friend’s birthday party in Silicon Valley. Freshen up at home, gift wrap a present, learn how to say “Feliz Compliaños!” (happy birthday) and off to the Los Gatos restaurant I went. Barging in the door wearing el monstero sombrero, I made the party in time for the appetizers. When I got home, I barely had time to slip out of my clothes before I hit the bed comatose.
It remains one of the most fabulous adventures of my entire life. Bar none.
I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Fortunately, some new friends of mine are Baja freaks and plans are in the works for a redeaux, sans eclipse. Oh joy!
But if I had to, I’d still make the trip to see an eclipse.
