Time is running out

Well, as our time here in San Carlo runs out, we are feeling more and more sad about leaving. It really is nice place. We're getting in as much beach time as we can, and we plan to pick up a couple of kilos of fresh shrimp to freeze and bring back to Tucson.

Even Ben seems to really like it here, and loves to go and lie on the beach. We always set up the umbrella to give him shade, and of course we bring him snacks too.

Yesterday we looked at a couple of small houses to rent for next winter. One of these casitas had a great view, but the place was pretty dumpy. They want $600 a month for it. The other was across the road from the beach, in a small development where a lot of Mexicans have weekend places. It was smaller, but much nicer, and only $312 a month. We have a lot of thinking to do. To spend 4 months here without something to do will drive us crazy, so we really need to figure out how to keep ourselves busy.

Today we had our propane tank filled. The price here is 1/2 the price that we paid in Tucson, and the truck comes to us.

We've been pounding away at getting bookings for Armageddon, with some success. We are about half way to where we want to be for the season.

That's about all the news for now. Sunday we'll be packing up for an early start on our road trip back to Tucson on Monday. Stay tuned...

We get blown about

On Thursday night we were hit by a windstorm. A HUGE windstorm, with winds up to 70 MPH. Things were flying around, and Georgie Boy was rocking! After the wind subsided Friday morning, the rains came. Now it is Saturday morning and the skies are clearing. Could have been worse, could have been in Tucson where they are expecting snow!

We also have been without water pressure for a couple of days after a construction crew hit the water main with a backhoe. The crews are working hard to restore water. Luckily we had filled our tank, and so we're just fine.

The windstorm also knocked out the wi-fi network here, but at least the office internet is working, which is where I am updating this today.

The fish man was around bright and early today, so we bought a kilo of fresh sea bass fillets for 70 pesos (about $5.80). Should make a nice dinner with wild rice.

We're hoping for sunshine tomorrow, so we can hit the beach. Next week we will go out for one nice supper before we leave San Carlos. We're already feeling kind of sad about leaving here on the 1st of February, but we are looking forward to seeing Miranda and Dustin on the 10th.

Well that's all the news for now. Stay tuned....

We look at real estate... again

Hi everyone! Time for an update of our life in paradise. On Sunday we drove to Miramar, an upscale seaside town about 20 minutes from San Carlos. There are two roads to Miramar, so of course we chose the scenic coastal road. The scenery along the way is spectacular, with towering hills on one side and the blue water on the other. Several islands loom out of the water as the road winds along.

Miramar is a nice town, really a suburb of Guaymas. Most of the residents here are Mexicans, with a few gringos here and there. There is a large beach here, often crowded on weekends by local folks. There are some really spectacular homes here, all built with glass walls and high terraces to take advantage of the views.

We drove around town, all the way to the pearl farm (which was closed). Then we saw signs for some model homes, and decided to take a look. These are casas intended mostly for Mexicans. Built in a gated complex up the side of a hill with views of the water, these are 1800 sq. ft. 2 story houses. Very nice layouts, with high ceilings, large master suites, etc. The salesman was happy to translate the sales brochures for us. These homes sell for about $100,000. After looking the model over, the salesman told us they have another development a few minutes away behind the police headquarters in Guaymas, so we tootled over there, and found these smaller casitas. These are about 800 sq. ft., single story homes, with the same high ceilings and nice tile floors. Also marketed to Mexican people, these are much less expensive at about $35,000, but no view of the water. The salesman here had limited English, but we were able to speak using our rudimentary Spanish and his English. He pointed out that an American couple had purchased one of the homes already. An interesting experience.

Since we were in "open house" mode, on our return to San Carlos we followed some open house signs to Loma del Mar, a long-term RV community. This is a weird setup. You buy a "membership" which entitles you to use the land and facilities. People build these large, strange homes around old RV's. Some homes have no RV at all, and rules mean you must bring an RV when in residence. The membership (leases) run to either 2014 or 2023. There are no empty lots here. We are shocked to see that there are 40 of these places for sale, and the residents have a concerted sales effort going on the move them. Some of these weird places are nicely done, but they want ridiculous prices for them. We saw a couple that were priced from $159,000 to $199,000, and for that you don't own the land! Why would anyone pay that kind of money for a place where the lease ends in 4 years? We asked why so many are for sale, and received a convoluted story that smelled bad. The residents association was hosting this giant open house day, and the ladies of the association were gushing about how wonderful it is to live at Loma del Mar. They asked what brought us to look at their community, and we made the mistake of telling them we had just come from some model homes in Miramar. We were given a strange look, and one woman said "well, if you want to live with Mexicans..." then she must have seen our reaction because she compounded her error by telling us "of course the Mexicans are nice people, and we know some very nice ones, but do you want to live beside them..." . We never like bigots, and really can't understand people coming to live in Mexico but wanting to stay away from Mexicans! Who wants to live in a ghetto? We drove around a bit looking at these places, and couldn't come to grips with the whole concept.

We must say a few words here about the people of Mexico. Everyone we meet is friendly and helpful. In Canada, if you drive around neighbourhoods looking at houses, the residents will often give you a stare. In Mexico they wave and yell "hola" or "buenos dias". Walking down the street strangers smile and and greet you. In the supermarket we were trying to decipher milk jug labels to find the 2%, and a woman customer overheard and pointed out what we were looking for. The service you receive from everyone whether waiters in the bar to the water delivery guy, to the maintenance guys is amazing. They are happy to look after us, always with a smile. All in all, the Mexicans as a people seem to be nice folks. I'm sure there are bad people here too, just like everywhere, but the average guy or gal on the street is just nice! North Americans could take some lessons on manners from these lovely people.

Monday we went to the beach and worked on our tans some more, then went for happy hour at the place next door to the RV park. Had a lot of fun, some great food, and plenty of beer and margaritas. Then we went for a walk to work some of it off.

Yesterday we went for our Spanish lesson, but the teacher didn't show up, so we did laundry and took it easy. We went for our walk and picked up some nice fresh peppers. Marlene made a great curried chicken for dinner, and we vegged out watching TV.

Today we will go shopping for some fresh fish for dinner, and some beer, then its off to the beach. Stay tuned...

Ben gets the beauty treatment

On Friday Ben went to the Vet for grooming. The Dr. was very personable, and asked detailed questions about how we wanted Ben's hair cut. We ordered the complete treatment: Shampoo, Nails clipped, Ears cleaned, Anal glands expressed. We left Ben at 10:00 a.m. and the vet said he'd be ready in about 3 hours, and he would call when done. We didn't hear from the vet, but at about 2:00 he just showed up with Ben in his truck. He'd done a nice job, and Ben looks good, and smells good too! All this for only $20. Check out the before and after pics here.

Yesterday Ben started acting funny, not wanting to walk and sitting down at strange intervals. We think its the irritation from having his butted poked and squeezed. If it continues we'll go back to the vet to make sure he's O.K.

Since Ben wasn't up to walking, we went for a drive, checking out various parts of San Carlos we hadn't seen yet. Once you get off the two main roads, the streets are typical Mexican, i.e: dirt and rocks with huge dips and almost impassable areas. We saw several casitas (small houses) for rent, and might consider something like that next year because they rent for less than an RV site and we would save on the gas and Mexican insurance for Georgie Boy.

After our drive around, we relaxed with cocktails, then had a nice siesta. Later we cooked up a bunch of fresh giant shrimps on the BBQ, and ate them with beans and rice. A real San Carlos meal! The leftovers will make a nice lunch.

Today is a bit cloudy, the first time since we arrived here. Ben is still bothered by his bum, so we're going to take a drive to Miramar, a beach community (and former pirate/ seafarers center) with upscale Mexican homes and lots of fancy beach activities.

A day at the beach

This morning I decided to sort out the taillight problem on the tow dolly. When we left Tucson we realized that the signals weren't working properly. Today I traced the problem to the way the wiring had been installed at the factory. The idiots there had run the wires through the big pivot bolt hole, so after a while the bolt wore through the insulation and shorted out the wires! After much crawling around and cursing the problem was solved. We bought this dolly because it was "Made in America" rather than the Chinese ones we looked at. Not impressed.

After repairing the wiring and cleaning up, we loaded up some lunch and headed to the beach. We decided to check out a beach we hadn't seen before, and were we pleased! The long, sandy beach was virtually deserted, and the rolling blue surf was magnificent. We set up our blanket and umbrella, and settled down for some serious tanning.

After a while we broke out the leftover shrimps from last night, and cracked open a couple of beers, and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. This is the life! After a couple more hours we packed up and headed home for cocktail hour. Both of us caught a bit of sun today, and Ben seemed to enjoy himself too, and even developed a taste for shrimps.

We relaxed for a few hours at home, imbibed a few cocktails, and then Marlene cooked up perogies and kubasa to celebrate Ukrainian Christmas eve. All in all a great day.

Now we'll relax, so we have lots of energy to go to the beach tomorrow! Ben has an appointment for a complete beauty treatment on Friday, so we won't be going to the beach then. Stay tuned..

We settle into life in paradise

On Sunday we explored more of San Carlos. We checked out the remaining beaches, and looked at the RV park that was our second choice. Good thing we didn't stay there. The place is in a lovely location, with views of the marina and the mountains, but it was virtually empty. They have 200 spaces, but only 7 RV's were there! Apparently the owner died a couple of years ago and the son took over the operation, but he's let it go downhill. We even had trouble finding it because the signs had been covered over. Their website is defunct, they have no operable wifi, even the staff don't speak any English. Too bad, because it was a 5 star park originally, and the facilities they built are top notch. Good management could really turn it around. (Business opportunity maybe? LOL)

We visited Alongondes beach, and it was very nice, with large sand dunes and beautiful views, although it is very windy there. Perfect for the para-sailors. We also found a cool beach bar called the Soggy Peso, that we might check out in the future. Even Ben can drink there!

We also checked out a brand new 5 star rental condo tower, with fantastic grounds and lovely building. It is totally empty, but they have not reduced the $2200 a month rental rate. In Mexico, when business is slow they don't lower prices to raise volume, they actually raise prices to try to make up the shortfall. Weird!

In the evening we made drinks, and put on the stereo and showed all these old farts from BC how us redneck Albertans party! We had a great time dancing on the patio.

Yesterday we went into Guaymas to do some shopping. We went to the Ley Super Mercado (super market). This is like a Mexican Superstore, with just about everything available. We stocked up on Tequila (reasonable prices), milk (more expensive than Tucson), veggies (really cheap) and famous Sonoran beef New York steaks (very reasonable). We had some trouble identifying some things like types of cheese and sour cream, but did pretty good. On the way back to San Carlos we stopped at a Pescateria (fish mongers) and bought half a kilo of HUGE shrimps. They look like little lobster tails, and cost us about $7.

For dinner we roasted a chicken in herb sauce, and had a fine feast, accompanied by some really cheap Mexican red table wine ($13 a gallon).

We tried to go for a walk Monday morning, but it was just too hot for Ben, so we went after supper, which was much better. There are plenty of bars here, but they are pretty empty. Everyone here is very friendly, even walking the streets at night. The locals are always wishing you a Buenos Noches (good night).

This morning we lazed around, then went for our first Spanish lesson. The teacher is the mother of the manager here, and she loves to talk about her life. In the afternoon Marlene went to a Mexican cooking class, which she really enjoyed, while I worked on contacting promoters about booking Armageddon. Our Monday email blast to 500 contacts has yielded some good prospects, and we will keep pushing to book up our season. Our plan is to work March through October, then take the winter off.

After Marlene returned from her cooking class, we went to a neighbouring restaurant/ bar for happy hour. Large draft beers for less than a dollar. Mmmm. We noshed on the free tortilla chips and various salsas, then decided to order some breaded Pulpo (octopus). It was so tasty, and not at all rubbery, we were in heaven! The staff were attentive, and the bill was reasonable (under $20 for 6 beers, the chips, and the Pulpo, including tip).

After that, we needed to walk off our food and drink, so we picked up Ben and went for a sunset walk along the waterfront. We walked so far that Ben wouldn't even move after a while, and I had to carry him home.

This evening we made REAL margaritas, Mexican style, then cooked up our shrimps and had them with guacamole, tortillas and tomatoes and lettuce, with a bit of wine to wash things down. It was delicious. We ate half the shrimp, and are chilling the leftovers to eat on the beach tomorrow.

Now we're watching TV, relaxing before turning in for the night. We definitely will invest in a satellite TV system when we get back to Tucson! Stay tuned for more.....

Hola from San Carlos

Hello everyone from sunny San Carlos, Mexico. We arrived here yesterday at about 4:00 p.m. after a somewhat stressful drive. We left Tucson at about 9, after loading the car on the dolly and torquing the wheel nuts. The drive as far as Nogales was fine, but after crossing the border the road turned to a pretty good 4 lane highway, but there are no shoulders and the drop-off on each side is sharp. We passed through the U.S. border guard checkpoint, then proceeded about 5 miles down the road to the first Mexican control area, and the first customs check. After that we went to the 21 Km. control station where we had to stop for a while and get our tourist visas. This entailed going to the immigration office and filling in the forms (Marlene was nervous as always crossing a border). Then we had to walk to the Banjercito office to pay for our visas, then return to the immigration office to get the visas stamped. Then it was back on the road, through another customs check.

From then on the drive was slow, but uneventful until we reached a military checkpoint. Here Mexican army troops survey each vehicle passing through, while under the guard of Humvees mounted with large machine guns. We got a smile and a wave, and proceeded through.

The next obstacle in the trip was the drive through Hermosillo, the state capital. This is a typical Mexican city: Crowded and congested with really rough roads and many huge speed bumps (Topes). We followed the directions we had downloaded from helpful websites, and navigated our way through. Now it was only 75 miles to San Carlos.

Shortly before reaching the city of Guaymas we turned onto the San Carlos exit, and entered a nice, divided road lined with palm trees. The water appeared on our left as we approached town. The main road was closed for repairs, so we had to detour to find our RV park, but they had put temporary signs along the route and we were able to find Totonaka RV park with no problem. We checked in, and were given our choice of several sites. We chose one with a nice shade tree, not far from the dog run. This is a nice place, and it is mostly populated by people from B.C., with some from Alberta and Manitoba, and a few from Saskatchewan. One fellow from B.C. asked if we remembered to turn off the lights when we left Canada!

Marlene made a nice dinner of meatballs in gravy with mashed spuds, and we turned in early after a tiring day.

We woke this morning to a beautiful sunny day, and after breakfast we went for a walk along the road through town. This is a very nice little tourist town, and the views of the ocean and the mountains are fantastic.

Later, we took the car and toured around the area a bit more, then went to check out a couple of beaches. We found a beach we like, and will go back tomorrow with our chairs and a few Cervezas (beers). We stopped at a fresh fish stall, and bought a kilo of flounder and a kilo of giant scallops (none smaller than 2" across) for just $18.

Ben seems to like it here, with lots of new things to sniff. People are friendly here, and helpful. Many of the visitors here stay for the winter, and it is easy to see why.

Next week we'll venture into Guaymas and do some shopping (Tequila and other staples). Stay tuned...