Hola! Mexico!

December 30 (Saturday)

Saturday morning we were up early (for us) to catch the tour bus at 0715 down the street in the mall parking lot. We were off to Puerto Penasco, State of Sonora, Mexico for the New Year holiday. We booked with Tour West America, a bus tour company that has locations in Phoenix and Yuma. They seem to specialize in casino trips, day trips and some one to two might stays. Our trip to Puerto Penasco is a four day, three night trip.

Thousands of dairy cattle along Interstate 8. In the sun, no shelter.

Pretty scenery along the highway. I wasn't driving so I could see it all!

Large solar generating station along I8.

Thousands of panels that track the sun.

 

Our first stop was at McDonalds in Gila Bend, about an hour and a half east of Yuma. Whatever happened to a quick, cheap Egg McMuffin and coffee at these restaurants? The food gets worse and prices go up. Terrible. Anyway after a quick stop we headed south toward the border at Lukeville. The scenery is very nice and ever-changing. It was so nice to have someone else drive for a change. I could gawk around and snap pictures. The border crossing went pretty quickly. Crossing into Mexico is certainly easier than entering the US.

Lots of Saguaro cactus south of Gila Bend

Many murals on the buildings in Ajo

Slag pile from the copper mining operations south of Ajo. Miles and miles of piles.

Huge cactus in Organ Pipe National Monument. It borders Mexico.

US Customs at Lukeville, AZ.

Mexican Army on the Mexico side of the border. Sonoyto, Sonora

Streets of Sonoyta

Turkey Vultures having a feast on 'something'.

We arrived in Puerto Penasco about 2:30 pm. First stop was Super Leys, and grocery store that sells liquor. Most folks on the bus picked up snacks and booze for their rooms. The hotel, Playa Bonito Resort had some renovations of the front desk area underway so check-in took place on the bus. Our room was recently painted and had new furnishings. Actually it was a four-star place all around. I do have to say that the blood stains on the stone floor in the bathroom and the patch that covered the wall where the bullet hit and the door that was obviously kicked in……was a bit disturbing at first, but hey….it's Mexico! The room was very nice otherwise!

Modern Shopping

It wouldn't be Mexico without fireworks!

Welcome to Puerto Penasco!

Nearly all the side roads are unpaved.

Lots of RV parks

Homes for sale

The view from our room. Toward the expensive condos down the beach.

The Sea of Cortez from our balcony. I think we're gonna like this!

The RV park to the north of us. Lots of condos down the beach.

From our balcony. Lots of Sea-Doo's tearing around.

The courtyard

The unserviced RV park to the south.

The courtyard of our hotel toward the pool.

The beach!

The downtown area.

Lots of these guys tearing around. The pilot and a paying passenger.

Lots of beach-front shacks. Most were not open.

This place was popular. A good spot to get a drink on your beach walk.

Lots of families enjoying a day at the beach.

Our Hotel during low tide.

The restaurant at the hotel

You can't beat the view. Food......not so great.

The hotel restaurant, Puesto del Sol, had incredible views of the Sea of Cortez. The food……was a bit mixed in the quality. We had Mexican food on Saturday night and it was very good. The breakfasts are buffet style and not so good, although the guy that cooked the omelettes whipped up a tasty egg.

The beach was full of shells. We picked up quite a few.

The RV resort beside us is a full service. I heard they charge $25/night.......and have a TWO year waiting list! You can't beat the views, but the sites are very close together.

As the sun went down the sunset sight seeing boats made their way out and the fishing boats came in.

This pirate ship went out every evening to view the sunset.

Fishing boats returning to harbour

Evening cruise boat heading out

We enjoyed the view from the restaurant patio in the evening and watched the sun go down. Very nice way to end the day.

Sunset over the Sea of Cortez.

That was Our View From Here!......and what a view!!