D-Day

The month is winding down here in San Carlos and our sunsets will soon be setting in the Tucson Mountains, another spectacular location. We have yet to go to the top of Gates Pass to catch the sunset, maybe next week. Adding to the list of things not done was getting up during the wee hours this morning to capture the setting full moon over the Sea of Cortez...not a very committed photographer am I!

Our minds are slowly wrapping around departure details, scoping out all the stuff we've tucked away in way too many nooks and crannies.  The actual packing event will start tomorrow as we've decided to leave a day early, on Sunday, thinking the traffic may be a bit lighter and the going around Hermosillo a little easier to maneuver. Not sure about the border crossing on Sunday; could go either way.

There are a lot of homes and property for sale and one day as we were driving out in the Nacapule Canyon we noticed an older subdivision of large RV sites that fell victim to the economical downturn.  Some had elaborate covered patios sporting fancy ceramic tile, with decks on top for ocean viewing, reached by wrought iron spiral staircases.  Full hookups were evident and outdoor bar and barbecue facilities were in place. Some were occupied, but most vacant, overgrown, and for sale.

The RV parking is on the other side of this covered patio

A Gringo development nearby

We had breakfast this morning at Rosa's Cantina, without a doubt one of the most popular places in town, and always packed with ex-pats, tourists, and locals.  The food is excellent and the fresh orange juice propelled us to Walmart to purchase our own citrus juicer, about $10, so we could make our own.

Breakfast as Rosa's

Fresh OJ with our new juicer

With sightseeing behind us, I've settled into some serious reading this last week.  First was Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls, an obvious classic about the Civil War in Spain in the 1930s that I'd somehow missed over the years. Then for a change of pace, David Baldacci's The Hit, a page-turning thriller I couldn't put down.  Now I am absolutely enthralled with Isabel Allende's Maya's Notebook, just released in English.  Meanwhile, Howard is laughing out loud as he reads Catch 22, a satire of military madness with a San Carlos connection.  And then there's computer chess...

Our stay in Tucson will be limited to a few days.  We need to receive mail, get haircuts, visit with local friends, and start preparing the motorhome for the trip west to the Bay Area. We're anxious to get back to our kind of normal, though this has been a most wonderful month.

A Mexican Catch 22 connection...

When we finally dragged ourselves off of the balcony and away from the mesmerizing views, we started looking around for places to explore.  We do not fish or dive and the water is still a bit cool for swimming, nor do we have any desire for expensive yacht excursions or banana boat rides.  But we do love to eat, take walks on the beach, and drive to the "end of the road", taking a few thousand pictures along the way.  Our tourist visa prohibits us from traveling beyond Empalme, just south of Guaymas, without obtaining a car permit, so we do have rather close boundaries.

An overview of San Carlos with Mount Tetakawi always dominating the landscape!

An overview of our area would be in order:  San Carlos is to Guaymas what Ixtapa is to Zihuatenajo; a newer subdivision of condos, hotels and tourist attractions, with a large American/Canadian population and located in a beautiful beach side setting on the outskirts of the older colonial city. 

A forest of Organ Pipes in pretty indicative of the Sonoran Desert environment!

Guaymas is a major industrial and port city with a huge shrimp and fishing fleet, much to our dining pleasure (we're now on our 2nd kilo of shrimp).  It also has the major shopping delights of Walmart and Home Depot plus a mega Leys Supermarket.  There are ferry connections from Guaymas to Santa Rosalia and La Paz across the Sea of Cortez on the Baja Peninsula, and an international airport with flights from Phoenix.  Located in the Sonoran Desert, the climate is hot and dry, though now we are having daytime temps in the 80s with an afternoon breeze....very pleasant!  

Guaymas fishing fleet

In the 1960s, San Carlos caught the eye of the motion picture industry, going "Hollywood" as the site of many movies including the classic film Catch 22, based on the Joseph Heller novel.  We had heard that remains of the airstrip and remnants of the buildings used in the filming could still be found out in the desert in our Playa Algodones neighborhood.  Now this is right up our alley!  I finally found a Catch 22 Airstrip satellite map that gave us a pretty good idea where to look, when all we had to do was look out our front balcony at the vast desert landscaping...

Remnants of airstrip with our condo in background

Skeletons of buildings used in filming...

A eureka moment...

And there it was, visible from our front balcony

An afternoon walk down the beach to the Soggy Peso Bar for a Margarita and delicious shrimp quesadilla is an opportunity to meet lots of fun folks and share travel experiences. The entertainment starts as the wind picks up and kite surfers put on a real show!

Gotcha!

There are camping facilities for every budget....

$24 per night

At Totonaka RV Park

Or free on some beaches!

Good advice hanging on our wall....

Once again we're drawn to the balcony at sunset....Peace!

South of the border, down Mexico way!

Our second experiment with living out of the motorhome for an extended period of time brought us south of the US/Mexico border to San Carlos in the state of Sonora.  We took the Mariposa crossing in Nogales, driving the jeep some 330 miles from our RV park in Tucson.  Mexico's international highway 15 provided an easy direct route south with stops at km 21 to obtain a tourist visa, approx. $25 each, and 3 toll stops that totaled $15.  You do not need to get a vehicle pass if traveling in the state of Sonora but do need to get the tourist visa if staying longer than 7 days. 

The only real obstacle is navigating the streets of Hermosillo, a very large city and the capital of the state of Sonora.  It does not have a proper peripheral bypass like most big cities. Fortunately Mike and Terri Church's Traveler's Guide to Mexico gave us clear, concise directions with GPS coordinates that we used both now and in 2010 when we drove to Puerto Vallarta in the motorhome. 

Our home for the month of April is a one bedroom condo at Playa Blanca resort, located on Bahia Algodones in the west end of San Carlos. We arrived about 3 in the afternoon after driving approx. 7 hours.  We were forced to have a Margarita in the beautiful lounge while waiting for our 4 pm check-in time.  Interestingly there is very little English spoken by the staff, though they are extremely polite and accommodating.  In fact, most of the other renters are young upscale Mexican families on vacation during Spring break.

View Larger Map

View from the lounge!

We unpacked a month's worth of stuff with the help of a young, strong porter and transported by high speed elevator to our new home on the 13th (out of 15) floor...Wow, this place is incredible.  I won't know how to operate all these fancy gadgets: dishwasher, washer and dryer, electric stove with mucho burners, garbage disposal.  Lights, and switches, and fans and beautiful decor.  Did I mention a jacuzzi tub and a second half bath! Seriously, we've lived in a motorhome for 18 years; this is luxurious!

52' widescreen with all the channels

and into the kitchen !

But then there's the view from OUR balcony...

Looking down.....

Looking west..

Looking east..

And the nightly spectacular sunsets....

And now the weekend...from OUR balcony!

Up the road at the public beach, winding down Spring break!

$10 or 120 pesos bought us a kilo of shrimp from the roadside fish monger and provided delicious homemade stir fry the first night and shrimp tacos the next...with leftovers!

Howard's shrimp stir-fry served al fresco!

Yummy shrimp tacos for night 2!

We're here, we're loving it, we'll show you around.  It will be interesting to see if we get the Week 3 itch.  Hey, if so we have our own wheels!  For now this is working out just fine...