The Road to Oaxaca

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It doesn't look too hard, with all those clear labels, straight roads, easy intersections.

We rented a car this weekend and drove the six hours or so to Oaxaca. By far the most daunting part of it all was just finding our way out of DF. After loading into the rental car we looked at each other and said now what? We sat there studying the map for about five minutes before turning on the key. S was asking if we were almost there yet before we'd even found the freeway.

It was not my most stellar moment as navigator. We went north instead of south on our first main street, we got on the freeway going the wrong way and watched the cars heading the way we wanted to sit in traffic as we searched for an off ramp that we could use to turn around and join them sitting in traffic.

It included getting our windshield washed and the ensuing explanation to S about world poverty. "Why are they touching our car?" "But our windows don't need to be washed!" It included a tour of a residential neighborhood or two that illustrated our explanations.

But there were no accidents, no damage, and pretty soon the boys were laughing in the back. The video isn't very good, I couldn't actually let them see that I had the camera or they would stop, and our $10/day rental car allowed for some interfering road noise.