Adventures in Mexico! April 14, 2007

Greg and I started the day early in our beautiful suite at the fabulous MarinaTerra Hotel in San Carlos, MX. I grabbed my camera and went out to take pictures of the marina and beautiful flora of the area. After eating a pop-tart I changed into my running clothes and headed for a run to the beach. The temperature was perfect and the flowers were beautiful. When I got to the beach (only about 400 meters), it was a bit of a disappointment- not the white sandy beaches we had been picturing in our mind. It was very rocky, and lots of seaweed in the water and all along the shore. There was some sand, but it looked like it was brought in by the MarinaTerra Beach Club which was located right there (they had a snack bar and swimming pool.) I walked down a little further where the water was clearer, and sat and listened to the sounds of the ocean and felt a wonderful sense of peace and tranquility.

I was in a cove with a large island right in the middle, and on one side were these towering cliffs that had beautiful homes built right on the edge of them- what a view they must have had. It was all very beautiful, even if it wasn’t what I expected. So I decided to head back to grab the fam so they could enjoy it with me.

We changed into our suits, then headed for the beach down the flowering walkway. (The flowering bushes they have here are absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately this is where my camera battery died, so I missed pictures of the beach.) Kevin and Greg experienced my initial disappointment at the beach, but then we all had a nice time. They got in the water with the kids and I worked on my tan while Aaliyah slept on a towel in the shade.

Later Kyah and I waded through the water looking for “a big seashell” that she wanted so bad, like the one Kevin found for Parker, and I saw two small stingrays, a dead fish, and found lots of hermit crab shells (some with hermits still in them). We did find a big seashell to her satisfaction, and all was well until she slipped and cut her leg on a rock. With the saltwater stinging it, she wasn’t too happy about it, and the rest of her hour was ruined. We decided to head back to the pool by our room, where we hung out until check out.

We arrived the night before when it was dark, so we actually were able to see the town on the way out- as well as the beautiful beaches that we had been dreaming of! The first hotel that we had stopped at that had no vacancy (called Fiesta…something) was situated right on the white sandy beaches that we wanted! That’s one good reason to get to your destination during the day- you can see where you want to go. Next time we go to San Carlos, we’ll know where to stay.

Our next destination for the night was Los Mochis, about 4 hours away we figured. We headed south, and stopped over for lunch in Ciudad Obregon, where we stopped at Pizza Hut (Kevin got McDonald’s- we finally found one after all their advertising!) We met some very nice boys, 12 and 13, who washed our windshield, and were very fascinated with the laptop. I gave them some granola bars, which they really enjoyed. We got our pizza, which included packets of Salsa Catsup (it’s just regular catsup)…weird, then headed out of town.

Obregon was a large city that had many name brand stores like McDonalds, KFC, even a Nissan dealership (Greg liked that), and a Super Wal-Mart with covered, guarded parking. We had to go to Wal-Mart, just because it was there in Mexico, and to get a part to try and fix the DVD player cord which Kyah broke day before yesterday, so that we can have a DVD player again.

Los Mochis is actually inland, and you know us, we wanted to stay on the beach, so we headed west through Los Mochis to Topolobampo, which was on the coast. Of course we’re just going off the map, so we have no idea what any of these towns are like. Los Mochis was…a Mexican city, but advertised some nice hotels, a brand new Best Western, etc. We arrive in Topolobampo, which was about 10 km west of Los Mochis, and this is the real Mexico. A tiny little town, built right into the hills with colorful concrete houses, laundry hanging on clothes lines, rabid stray dogs and narrow little streets. We of course stuck out like a sore thumb in our huge American car loaded to the hilt, looking like we are definitely lost.

We drove right through the middle of town looking for a hotel that we saw advertised, but never saw anything that looked slightly close to some place we would feel comfortable staying. It was a very small place, and very fascinating. Some of the buildings actually seemed to be hanging off the cliff right above your vehicle.

The thing that struck me the most was how “normal” the people seemed to be. They were walking around, laughing, talking, gathering together at a park, eating, and playing games. They were all dressed in American style clothing with name brands; many of them had cars, some very nice. They are born here (in hospitals??), play as children, fall in love, marry, raise their children, grow old and die, but they do it in these 3rd world conditions that are so foreign to our lives of luxury. Yet they all looked so very happy and were all so friendly. It was really neat to see it.

We decided to head back to Los Mochis to sleep. By now the kids were going crazy!! “We’ve been driving forever!” So we stopped at the first hotel we could find which was the Coronado, checked in, then bribed the kids with M&M’s to get back into the car to go find some food.

Some event had just gotten out, so traffic was horrendous (at 8:00 p.m.), so we pulled off at the Bodega (a Wal-Mart like store) to grab…something. We must have been the most interesting thing these people had seen in a while- at least that’s how it appeared the way they were all staring at us. A six foot white guy with tattoos and a screaming little boy on his shoulders (Parker), a red-headed white boy with freckles pushing the other kid’s twin brother (Kimball), a brown skinned little girl (where did she come from?) being yanked around on a monkey leash by a white women holding a chubby cute little baby (whom they all loved to come up to and pinch her cheeks).

After wandering around like a bunch of idiots, we finally found a deli, but all it had left was some crusty buffalo wings, old fries and some decent looking chicken nuggets. So we got the chicken nuggets and then found some bread, ham and cheese. When we went to check out, we saw on the opposite side a nacho and burrito place. I went over and asked “Abierto??” (Open?) “Si,” he replied. So I waited for 10 min. while Greg put away all the bread, ham and cheese, and then checked out with the nuggets and some water. So then we got in line behind all these people who had been ordering food while I was standing there, but when we got up to the window I said, “I want two burritos.”

“No tenemos, “ was the reply.

“You don’t have any food?”

“Tenemos Nachos, sin queso” (We only have nachos left, without cheese.)

Well, Greg and I started laughing and did so for a few minutes (Kevin must have not thought it was that funny- he has food issues), then Greg headed back into the craziness (everyone in town must do their shopping at 8:00 at night) to get our bread, ham and cheese.

We made it back to the car, tipped Fernando for guarding it, then headed back to our hotel to eat our sandwiches. It was an experience in itself. A few adjectives to describe it; musty, smelly, 2 watt light bulbs, (the pictures make it look nice, that’s because my flash is brighter than the lighting,) one outlet in the corner about half way up the wall, the beds are really just foam pads on top of a cement pedestal, and I swear there is a bird or something in the ceiling. I was able to sleep for a while after laying my own blanket down on the bed. It was too hot to have a blanket on top, even with the swamp cooler adding musty-ness and fragrance to the air. At least there are no bugs (except for these annoying gnats), and there is guarded parking. As I was writing this at about 3:00 a.m., two guys got up, started talking and turned on their radio. They were ready to start the day. My only wish is that I could capture the smell through the camera so that you all could enjoy it with me.

Livin the Dream, Baby! Bienvenidos a Mexico!

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