Blogs from Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico, North America

It was so nice to spend a day without driving! We slept like babies at Walter and Cindy's place. There weren't even any barking dogs...unusual for Mexico... Mexico is one of my favorite places in the world. While I can't say I'm "comfortable" here, since I'm always struggling with speaking Spanish, but all the smells, and sights and sounds are attached to wonderful memories, starting in 1987. The people are so courteous and friendly...Yesterday, we had several cars stop in anticipation of us crossing the street! And the food of course is wonderful. And being able to swim without my legs and hands being numb is a treat. One benefit of being a cold water swimmer is that what was once cold water now feels warm! I started the day with a run down to the ... read more

Yesterday was our last full day in Puerto Penasco and another service project and at the end of course was another dinner party. Our goal was to survey and fix up the water treatment plant the Red Rock club installed back in 2015. The purpose was to supply water to schools in the area. Tap water here is not suitable to be consumed by humans. The plant is set up to take the local water, filter and treat it to a consumable level and then deliver to the schools by truck. Water tanks were installed at the schools on the roof to use gravity for water pressure. In addition water was was made available to local residents at a small cost to help pay for operations. The operational portion of the plant is in perfect condition ... read more

Yesterday we went and visited the Biosphere Crater, which not exactly the crater. It is the volcanic area resulting from the crater activity which is actually 1 1/2 hours away. The area is much like the Entrada area in St George. Most the same vegas ion and wildlife. We some hiking in the area on several interpretive trails, but all the signage is in Spanish with little or no English. I guess I expected the area to cater more to us Americans. Some of my prejudices coming through. We did have a catered lunch at the site from Jose’s friend. Always excellent food. Our evening adventure was scheduled to be a tour of a local farm with dinner. That was cancelled due to a few not feeling well and the rest basically just tired. The long ... read more

Well today is the day to pack everything you won’t need on the trip. Joanne tries to pack for everything that might happen or go wrong. I just pack. I have to admit this trip is a little more challenging. We drive through cold weather to get to Phoenix and the the weather turns warm from Phoenix to Mexico. A very perplexing problem when only packing one small suitcase. Another problem is dressing for a rotary meeting, some still consider this a business attire occasion. Next packing work cloths for working parties, then finally dressing for the relaxation time. For me that’s shorts, t-shirt and sandals, which could qualify for all the events in my world. So the panic day continues. What ever is in the suit case tomorrow morning at 8 will have to be ... read more

There is something about North America. After witnessing the unforgettable Pacific sunset in California, our first evening in Puerto Peñasco was met with an almost equally stunning display of celestial beauty. E and I arrived from the US into Mexico via the small border town of Tecate. The most common point of crossing from California is Tijauana but we'd heard that it can take up to three hours to get through the security procedures; when in Portland, Stacey had told us of Tecate as a quieter, quicker route through. She was right. With nobody else crossing, we breezed through the paperwork and security procedures in 15 minutes. Our next step was to catch a bus to Mexicali, a major city east of Tecate and Baja California's gateway to mainland Mexico, and for that we needed pesos. ... read more