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Monday March 16, 2009

Pictures from Pima Air and Space Museum


We took a tour of this museum and got to see many static exhibits of planes and spacecraft. It's a not-for-profit endeavour, supported by donations and entry fees. The aircraft are donated and the volunteers overhaul the donated pieces to bring them back to the appearance when new. They actually go out and fly some of the donated pieces back to Tucson when the planes are flyable!

The camera was giving some trouble so I only got a few shots, but I purchased a slide show CD that shows all the planes on-site.

This is a picture of a couple of presidential airplanes, the one in the background was used by Kennedy and Johnson:



Another Presidential plane:




Wednesday March 11, 2009

Back in the USA!

We arrived back here at Beaudry RV resort in Tucson earlier today. Last night we stayed at Edgar and Ana's place in Santa Ana, there were about 7 others in the small park, it was crowded but it's always a great stay there. We donated some chicken to Ana that couldn't be taken across the border to the US. The border crossing took an hour and a quarter, as usual we were inspected but didn't have anything taken away.

We are here for a couple of days to do some shopping etc., then we head east.



Monday March 9, 2008

A great Lunch!

We dropped out to a local hotel with the friends who we first met in Celestino in December and have stayed at many of the same campgrounds we've stayed at down here in Mexico, it was great to have a meal with them before we all head north tomorrow.

Our waiter was good enough to take a number of shots, this is the one he took with our camera:





Rain in San Carlos!

It actually rained here yesterday, the first time we've experienced it here. Not heavy rain by normal standards, but enough to wet the roadway and to be heard on the roof of the RV overnight.

It was also cool yesterday, the weather is improving today. At least with the cool weather yesterday, Suzette got to do some souvenir shopping!



Saturday March 7, 2009

In El Mirador RV Resort in San Carlos

We arrived here earlier this afternoon after a 5 hour drive from Huatabampito. It's still relatively quiet here and the San Carlos area was without city water for a good part of the day, the water came on at around 4 pm and we took the opportunity to fill the tank (just in case!!). We are here for 3 nights to enjoy our last look at the Gulf of California before we head north.

Friday March 6, 2009

In El Mirador in Huatabampito

We arrived here yesterday afternoon, we reconnected with the to Dennis's and their spouses. We plan to spend two nights here then head to San Carlos for a final few days in Mexico.

As usual, we had a great seafood dinner at the restaurant, however Al is craving some US steak or hamburgers, he's had enough seafood for a season!

In the restaurant, everyone was serenaded by a small band, and our group of gringos joined in!



Judy is having a good time!





Enrique has done a good job with the beachfront sites over the winter, there is solid 30 amp service and the wall and some shielding keeps the sand down somewhat:





Wednesday March 4, 2009

In Las Glorias

We got into Mr. Moro yesterday afternoon after the 4+hour drive from Celestino. We had a great shrimp dinner at the restaurant and we enjoyed the sunset and cooler evening.

We plan to stay another night here and then head to Hauatabampito.

Some pictures:

Kasey relaxing in the shade:



We like to park on the side of the complex separately from the other RV slots, there is a bit more space and the trailer shields us from the breeze off the ocean:



We like the look of this house on the ocean nearby:



There is always a litter or two of wild puppies around the hotel, it was tough for Suzette not to adopt this little female and take her north with us. We've seen some rescued Mexican dogs adopted by gringos, they make the best pets and are intensely loyal!



Some other members of the "menagerie":



Kasey greeting the little one:



Monday March 2, 2009

Heading North!

Yesterday, we packed up and left Villas Onac (actually the packing took 2 days with all the "stuff" we had out!). 

We are settled in at Punta San Miguel at Celestino, The two "Dennis's" and their spouses are here, they left Villas Onac before we did.

We relaxed after setting up, and took a couple of sunset pictures:













As mentioned below, before we left Teacapan we took in the sand castle contest and dinner at La Tambura, put on by the Friends of Teacapan, it was a great event. We also took the opportunity to donate the baby car seat and some extra baby food left over from our grandson's visit to the Friends to help out some locals.

Some pictures:

There was some room for dancing!



The band played well:



One of the Villas Onac tables:



One of the sculptures, probably the winner!





Thursday February 26, 2009

Busy week!

This week is turning out the be busy (at least by our Mexican standards!) compared to earlier weeks.

Yesterday we had a pot luck dinner at the park, arranged by Laura and Gilles, it's an opportunity to do more socializing with fellow campers and enjoy some great offerings prepared by others. Also, we get to look at  things others bring down here (tables, kitchen stuff etc.) so that we can add to the shopping list of stuff to bring next year. From the get together we plan to add a small slow cooker and a better table to the list of "must haves".

Some pictures:

Everyone brought their tables and chairs, a dish of some sort (some folks even prepared items on-site!) and of course suitable refreshments.



















Today there is a charity sand sculpture contest and dinner at La Tambura, tomorrow we head into Escinapa for groceries, that leaves the final fishing outing in the estuary for Saturday morning, followed in the afternoon by some advanced packing (after a month there is a lot of "stuff" to be packed away!). On Sunday we leave for Celestino, just north of Mazatlan.  Wow, we almost need to do the scheduling on Outlook to keep track!


Monday February 23, 2009

Last week at Villas Onac

We are starting our last week here, next week we start moving north.

We finally got around to inflating the Zodiac and doing some fishing in the estuary, Gilles and Al have been out three times, the first time we tried some calamari for bait (no luck) and the past two times we have been fishing using shrimp (bought at the market in Escinapa at about 70 pesos per kilo). We use about a half a kilo per morning and the market shrimp isn't quite as good as the live shrimp that Victor, the tour guide, uses but we got some smaller fish each time out with the shrimp.

We are watching where the local fishermen are fishing and we try in the same area (nothing beats local knowledge!). We plan to go out a couple of more times before the Zodiac needs to go back in the truck.

We filleted and cooked this little guy for supper tonight, the locals said it should be good eating (and it was!).



We've also  been going out to lunch at La Tambura a couple of times, the shrimp have been good, at 80 pesos it's a very ecomomical lunch! I know, I know, we should be peeling and deveining the market shrimp and cooking these instead of using the shrimp for fish bait, but the restaurants do a much better job of cooking than we can! And Kasey gets to come along as well.



This is the view looking towards the beach from the restaurant:



The president of Mexico was in town last week to inaguarate the new Fonatour vacation spot just north of us on the way to Escinapa, he flew in on a business jet (and flew at low level down the beach!) and landed at the military airfield in Teacapan. The road crews worked feverishly over the weekend to pave the raod from the airfield to town, they also patched all the potholes from Teacapan to the Fonatour site and the lines on the road were also repainted! It's too bad that our local politicians back in Canada don't get the same stuff done when they visit a community, we might get some real roadwork done! I guess Harper gets no respect!



Saturday February 14, 2009

Valentines get together

It's traditional for the park to have a get together on Valentines day, the ladies prepare some finger foods and everyone enjoys a couple of hours by the pool enjoying the company.

A few pictures:



This is Rafael (the owner) and his family:



Some of the balloons were being taken by the wind, so someone decided to anchor them in the shallow end of the pool. I'm not sure if this was a later destination for a guest with a couple too many drinks under his/her belt or not!



Friday February 13, 2009

Back to Mazatlan

Today we took our family back to Mazatlan so they could catch the plane back home, it's been a fantastic week, amazing how quickly it goes by!

We spent the week together enjoying the area and catching some sun. The area here is much quieter than Mazatlan, it's a bit more of the real Mexico. Some pictures:

Carter is still crawling, but he's on the verge of walking. He's exploring the RV in this picture:



Suzette caught this shot of some kites being flown. Our neighbour actually sews the kites together from scratch!



We took in another restaurant in town, the food was quite good, the only downside was that the large shrimps they served still had their heads on, it's kind of tough looking a shrimp in the eye as you eat it!



Carter enjoying the surroundings with his toys!





Thursday February 12, 2009

A great week with the family!

This week Sam, Nicole and our grandson Carter are down here enjoying the sun and sand in Mexico. We've enjoyed some local food and just relaxed around the camp.

Grampa with Carter:



At Pelicanos prior to enjoying a great meal. Suzette is behind the camera:



Carter enjoying playing with Kasey:



Getting ready to board the boat:




On the way to get the fish we saw this bird, a "tiger" heron I think:









Sam reeling in a fish:



Nicole caught the biggest one!



Al got to bring the panga back to the dock:



Nicole pointing out her big catch!







Saturday February 7, 2009

Victor 1, Mouse zero!

When we are here in Mexico, we always pick up a mouse or two in the RV. This year a little guy made it into the trailer when we were in Playa Amor, we asked our daughter Nicole to bring a couple of traps down when she spends a week with us.

Our neighbour Charlie lent us a couple of traps, as most folks have had mice come in and have the traps available.

One trap was the classic "Victor" trap, updated with a plastic paddle (that's where you place the peanut butter), the other was a "new technology" victor trap, it looks like a large plastic paper clip, you open the trap and place peanut butter on the paddle inside the clip, when it goes off the clip closes on the mouse's neck.

Well the old technology trap did the job yesterday afternoon, we heard the snap from the outside of the trailer. We cleaned up the blood and said a few last words on the demise of the little guy then gave him a burial along with the rest of the park's trash.

The traps are in-place for a day or two to ensure that  we don't have any more guests!


Tuesday February 3, 2009

Catching up on local events

We have settled in and are relaxing.

We did some walking on the beach:



Today there was a pig roast put on by the Friends of Teacapan, net proceeds go to this worthy cause. It was held on the "free beach", one of the folks there is an expert at cooking a pig on a rotisserie, apparently 2-20 lb. tanks of propane and about 8 hours of monitoring were needed to make the perfect dinner, Sides were brought by each couple and the proceeds from the beer sale, the 50-50 draw and the dinner tickets went to the charity.

Some pictures:

The pig being transported to table for presentation and cutting. The gentleman with his back to the camera was the chief cook:



You need to have an apple in it's mouth!



Some of the folks at the get together:









Our neighbour Gilles enjoying himself:






In all, over 100 people took part, the afternoon was great and I hope that we helped the village through the donations.




Sunday February 1, 2009


North to Villas Onac in Teacapan again!

Today we made the easy run up the toll road to Teacapan where we will spend the month of February. We will miss all our friends at Playa Amor! When we left this morning the park was very busy, apparently Monday is a holiday of some sort , I will try to find out what it's called, as a result there are quite a few locals camping over the long weekend. On edit, I found that the holiday is Constitution day, a statutory holiday, the official date is February 5 but it is celebrated on the first Monday of February.

We look forward to the month here and the visit from or daughter, son-in-law and grandson.

The park folks here have a happy hour and we were invited this afternoon, lots of new folks to meet!

After happy hour and the sunset, we looked at some beautiful cloud formations lighted by the just-set sun, some amazing colours: