Organ Pipe National Monument/Puerto Penasco Mexico
November 6, 2006
Last night we watched the stars come out, all twelve of them and Kathy had gone to sleep leaving Will on the computer. We are getting about two hours on a charged battery for the laptop. That was good since there can be no generators used in the NP campground and we had company. This morning the moon was over the mountain setting in the west as the sun came up in the east.
We hiked the Alamoso Trail to the ruins of an old ranch and corral. Back in 1978 it had a roof; when it joined the national park they took the roof off and let the elements take over. It was a nice hike of about two miles through the saguaro cactus and organ pipe cactus along a wash. After puzzling and reading time we drove past the saguaro cactus with a face and on to the visitor center where Southwest Association Member Janet Castro helped us. She gave us information about traveling through Mexico to Rocky Point on the Gulf of California. She showed us a spot in Sonoyta to get good food; her friend Reina owns it. There is also the sister park, El Pinacate.
We headed south and arrived in Lukeville, US border town, where we filled up on gas, asked the customs officer about the food we carried, and got our Mexican auto insurance. Prohibited items are sugarcane, and potatoes. Avocados are okay if the seeds are out. Pork, eggs, and chicken is prohibited unless cooked really well. Most else is permitted. We called Jayne and Sueann, numbers we could quickly remember, to tell them we were going into Mexico.
Off we went. At the border is a traffic signal. If it is red they ask you questions and may even search your vehicle. If the light is green you pass right through. Yep, we got stopped at the border. A man in blue with a badge came in and checked out the bathroom to make sure we were not bringing anyone or anything with us. He admired our GPS on the computer. He said to have a good visit. We dove in along with three other bigger RVs and traveled through Sonoyta noting the large Mexican shop and eateries. The sixty-three mile ride down a two-lane highway through the desert was hot. The Sonoran Desert started with lots of the same cactus and vegetation but soon was just sand at 351 feet in elevation. We past yellow highway signs with animals, coyote, quail, cow, prairie dog, and turtle. Along the road is evidence of many years of broken glass and litter. We see how the benefits of Adopt A Highway. We got to the flat sand dunes; still only creosote bush grow. We saw places staked out with palm trees-lots for sale, RV parks and sand. This is a poor country.
Puerto Penasco is the next Cancun or Acapulco. It is on the Gulf of Mexico with beautiful blue water. High rises are being built to cover the shoreline. Old town, Rocky Point, is where we found little shops, eateries and pleasure resorts. We parked at the end of a public parking area and walked around. This is shrimp season and hecklers at the fish market opened their coolers to show their bounty of large and jumbo shrimps. At $4-$5 a pound it would seem about half the price of the states. Anton talked with us for some time; he was inviting people to visit the condos for breakfast and a sell talk. We had talked and he knew we were not interested, but offered us to park in the secure parking gates. Will asked if we could go to a restaurant; he said sure. Will asked about us walking around til late; he said fine. Will said what about f we were parked all night; he said that was fine and safe for us. We gave him a willow tray and a new US map. On his map he has written the slogan for each state: PA is the keystone state, OH is the buckeye state and so on. Anton asked about the two he did not have: Delaware and Maine. Do you know them?
We went next door to Sr. Amigo’s for dinner. We had shrimp cocktail, shrimp chives tosadedas and large shrimp wrapped in bacon, grilled and smothered with baked apples, served with rice and a baked potato. We finished our meal with flan, a Mexican pudding. Later we found that Sr Shimp also has a great meal at reasonable prices. We watched the sunset, the pelicans feeding and the darkness squeezed out the light. We walked around town at the water’s edge, around the central courtyard and back along the shops where people were closing up and cleaning. Only the restaurants were open. Not many people were in town. This weekend they are expecting hundreds of bikes for the 50th Bike Run. We climbed into the roadtrek, watched The Mexican and went to bed feeling safe.
Last night we watched the stars come out, all twelve of them and Kathy had gone to sleep leaving Will on the computer. We are getting about two hours on a charged battery for the laptop. That was good since there can be no generators used in the NP campground and we had company. This morning the moon was over the mountain setting in the west as the sun came up in the east.We hiked the Alamoso Trail to the ruins of an old ranch and corral. Back in 1978 it had a roof; when it joined the national park they took the roof off and let the elements take over. It was a nice hike of about two miles through the saguaro cactus and organ pipe cactus along a wash. After puzzling and reading time we drove past the saguaro cactus with a face and on to the visitor center where Southwest Association Member Janet Castro helped us. She gave us information about traveling through Mexico to Rocky Point on the Gulf of California. She showed us a spot in Sonoyta to get good food; her friend Reina owns it. There is also the sister park, El Pinacate.
We headed south and arrived in Lukeville, US border town, where we filled up on gas, asked the customs officer about the food we carried, and got our Mexican auto insurance. Prohibited items are sugarcane, and potatoes. Avocados are okay if the seeds are out. Pork, eggs, and chicken is prohibited unless cooked really well. Most else is permitted. We called Jayne and Sueann, numbers we could quickly remember, to tell them we were going into Mexico.
Off we went. At the border is a traffic signal. If it is red they ask you questions and may even search your vehicle. If the light is green you pass right through. Yep, we got stopped at the border. A man in blue with a badge came in and checked out the bathroom to make sure we were not bringing anyone or anything with us. He admired our GPS on the computer. He said to have a good visit. We dove in along with three other bigger RVs and traveled through Sonoyta noting the large Mexican shop and eateries. The sixty-three mile ride down a two-lane highway through the desert was hot. The Sonoran Desert started with lots of the same cactus and vegetation but soon was just sand at 351 feet in elevation. We past yellow highway signs with animals, coyote, quail, cow, prairie dog, and turtle. Along the road is evidence of many years of broken glass and litter. We see how the benefits of Adopt A Highway. We got to the flat sand dunes; still only creosote bush grow. We saw places staked out with palm trees-lots for sale, RV parks and sand. This is a poor country.
Puerto Penasco is the next Cancun or Acapulco. It is on the Gulf of Mexico with beautiful blue water. High rises are being built to cover the shoreline. Old town, Rocky Point, is where we found little shops, eateries and pleasure resorts. We parked at the end of a public parking area and walked around. This is shrimp season and hecklers at the fish market opened their coolers to show their bounty of large and jumbo shrimps. At $4-$5 a pound it would seem about half the price of the states. Anton talked with us for some time; he was inviting people to visit the condos for breakfast and a sell talk. We had talked and he knew we were not interested, but offered us to park in the secure parking gates. Will asked if we could go to a restaurant; he said sure. Will asked about us walking around til late; he said fine. Will said what about f we were parked all night; he said that was fine and safe for us. We gave him a willow tray and a new US map. On his map he has written the slogan for each state: PA is the keystone state, OH is the buckeye state and so on. Anton asked about the two he did not have: Delaware and Maine. Do you know them?
We went next door to Sr. Amigo’s for dinner. We had shrimp cocktail, shrimp chives tosadedas and large shrimp wrapped in bacon, grilled and smothered with baked apples, served with rice and a baked potato. We finished our meal with flan, a Mexican pudding. Later we found that Sr Shimp also has a great meal at reasonable prices. We watched the sunset, the pelicans feeding and the darkness squeezed out the light. We walked around town at the water’s edge, around the central courtyard and back along the shops where people were closing up and cleaning. Only the restaurants were open. Not many people were in town. This weekend they are expecting hundreds of bikes for the 50th Bike Run. We climbed into the roadtrek, watched The Mexican and went to bed feeling safe.
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