A Little Tour of San Carlos

WHERE ARE WE? San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

We are getting into beach life.  Just hung around and drank some coffee and did some chores.  Remember we are not on vacation, but rather living, which involves doing day to day chores to keep things rolling.  After a couple cups of coffee I was out checking things around the MH and saw the bike locked up to the ladder at the back.  Do you see anything wrong with this picture!!!  I laughed as I told Sue about it.  Keeps an honest thief away!!

So we headed out in the Jeep for a little tour of San Carlos.  Sandra and Michael took us on a little walking tour of the marina area which was awesome.  I did not know that San Carlos was only founded about 60 years ago and is mainly a vacation town for Mexicans from the city as well as some gringo's.  The Marina sports some pretty nice boats as well.  The whole town is a little more upscale than what I thought it was.

After the marina tour we went up on a view point on the other side of Tetakawi Mountain.  This a fairly new area with many really nice homes and another major marina.  Its probably safe to say that there are Billions of dollars worth of yachts in San Carlos as well as billions worth of houses. 

But we didn't come to see the houses, but rather the view of the mountains and beaches.  The viewpoint is way up high and on the edge of a cliff.

We made a quick stop at the local grocery store for some supplies on the way home.  Very nice stores in this town.

Back out to the beach for a wee happy hour.  Archie gave us the sad face because he had to stay home this afternoon.

It wasn't long and the sun was going down.  Yes I'm going to subject you to another one.  

And the view out our window today.  Good Nite!

Meeting Lots of New Friends

WHERE ARE WE? San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

Had the best sleep ever last night and woke very refreshed.  I'm thinking the air is different in Mexico.  It is very quiet here on the beach but I am told it can be quite noisy when the locals come to party.  I'm sure we will hear the mariachi music being blasted from some huge car speaker before we leave.  After our coffee we went for a walk on the beach with Sandra and Michael.  It is nice to get the feet wet again!!  Archie enjoyed it too.  I only went half way and turned around while the other three continued on.  They did about 15000 steps.

Because we will be here for a week or so, I got Michael to help me take the hard top off the Jeep and we replaced it with the Bimi top I bought last year.  It is just a canvas that covers the top just to keep the sun out.

Using the hard top as a mini storage shed

I can feel the breeze already

After we finished, Michael and I took it for a little drive down the beach.  Really need 4x4 here cause the sand is really fine and soft.  

And here is our little community near the beach.  Most of these people spend 3 or 4 months of the winter here.  It is a nice spot with fairly good weather and sunshine for the most part.  

It is a good spot for anyone looking for a free place to camp with probably more consistently warm weather for the winter months.  It is a comfortable days drive (450 kms) south of Tucson with very little worries.  Because you are not very far south, you don't require a TIP which is the time consuming process.  You do require Mexican Vehicle Insurance which you buy online, and an FMM visa but other than sometimes a lineup, the paperwork is quick.

We hit it just right as the community had decided to do a little potluck supper on the beach tonight.  Sue made some appies to contribute and we joined them.  Another fun thing about the beach life.

After supper they got the bonfire going and we all sat around enjoying some good conversation.  It was great fun but it was soon San Carlos midight (9 pm) and time to shut it down.  We made some good friends today and enjoyed their company a  lot.  Let me see if I remember them all.  Of course Sandra, Michael, and then Chris, Pete, Ollie (Lorne), Wayne, Jody, Greg, Laurie.  (Spellings may vary).  

Its been a good first day here in San Carlos and we look forward to a few more.  Here was our view out the window with the Bimi top on.  Good Nite!!

We Made it to San Carlos Mexico

WHERE ARE WE? Beach Boondocking, San Carlos, Mexico

Up early (for us) at about 6 am and on the road by 7.   It was quite chilly as I readied the MH for todays drive.  

The border crossing went well but we did get stopped for a quick look by the Mexican border people.  No problems and off we went.  It is another 30 kms or so to the spot where we get our TIP (Temporary Import Permit) for the Jeep and Motorhome and we also get our Visa (FMM) to visit Mexico.  This building is about 21 kms south of the border and well marked!!  NOT!!!  Do you see a sign anywhere announcing it?  Nope!

Just a dirt trail into a parking lot. Building is way down at the end.  

We had to wait in line for about 15 minutes outside the FMM office before it was our turn.  It was cold!!! (Freo!!)

It was so cool that I could hear Canadian sounds coming from the parking lot.  Yes, a guy was scraping his windows!!!  I missed the picture but got one of the exhaust as he left the parking lot!!!  I have driven 7000 KMs in a mostly southerly direction and still experiencing frost!!!  Something is wrong!!

It took about 20 minutes total to get our FMM, then around the corner we went to get our TIP.  Only about 6 people ahead of us and 6 windows operating.  Piece of cake!  Well to get a tip you give them your passport and your registration and Mexican insurance document and they read all of it line by line.  Then the arduous process of entering the information.  Each entry is double checked plus a supervisor has to double check it.  It took almost 90 minutes to get the 2 documents we need for the MH and Jeep.  So about an hour an a half later we were back on the road at 10 am.  The Mexican countryside is very similar to southern Arizona but the roads are actually better than some Arizona ones.

Time to brush up on the Spanish!!  I think I forgot a bit over the last year.  I actually made myself count to 100 in Spanish a couple times because we are paying tolls and its tough to tell how much they want unless you know the numbers.  And there are lots of signs to read.

Something about slow traffic stay right

Don't Abuse the signs  (Obey signs)

About 3 pm we arrived in San Carlos and our friends Michael and Sandra were waiting for us.  We have stayed at Totonaka RV park here before but always wanted to boondock on the beach.  Today our dream is coming true.  They have invited us to spend some time with them in a beautiful spot on the beach and its free!!

There is quite a nice bunch of people here and to Archies joy, there are other dogs running around.  He had a blast with them all.  We met most of the friends and can't remember hardly anyone except Chris and Oley!!  We will revisit the names again tomorrow. 

We chatted for a while and next thing you know the sun headed behind the hills.  They get awesome sunsets here as well!!!

Some of the locals are here tonight and these ones are having a bonfire.  Looks like fun, but we are way too tired to join them.

This was our trip today.

Here is the view out our front window tonight.  A nice little lagoon beside us and the ocean right behind it.  We will explore it more tomorrow.  Thanks for inviting us M & S!!!  Good Nite!!

A Day of Preparation

WHERE ARE WE? Canoa Rest Area near Nogales AZ

It rained a nice steady rain for about an hour last night which is always nice if your in the desert.  It washes some of the dust from the windshield and it gives the Palo Verde trees a nice drink.

We spent the day running around and accomplishing nothing much.  We did manage to get a new microwave and I got it installed this afternoon.  It is slightly smaller but will work just fine.  I even got a picture of the professional installer!!!

I don't know why, but the day before we enter Mexico is always a bit stressful trying to remember what we will need for the crossing and for the next few months, while trying to rid ourselves of the the things that might not be admissible at the border.  Of course we have never been checked going into Mexico but we still try to follow the rules for the most part.  Tonight we headed down toward Nogales where we will cross into Mexico in the morning.  We want to be close so we can get to the place where we get the TIP and FMM because the lineups can get long by mid morning.  So we go to a rest area which is about 20 minutes to the border.  That way we can get an early start.  The rest area is called Canoa Rest Area and is a nice spot to spend the night.  There is a nice restroom area and interpretive center which of course was closed for the night.

They have drink and snack machines but they were locked up!!!  Oh wait, you can still get through the bars to put your money in and get what you want.  This way its really hard to vandalize!!!  

Just behind the building we spotted some Javelina's rooting around looking for supper.  I like to give them a wide berth in the dark because they can be a tad mean if you rile them!!!

This was our trip today.

Here is us all parked up in the truck rest area.  It has rained almost all day and is still drizzling.  Hope the sun comes out tomorrow.  We did a bunch of photocopying of documents which was our last task of the day, then it was off to bed.  Early to rise tomorrow, at least early for us!!!

This was the view out our window earlier in the day.  Love the colour of the trees.  Good Nite!!