Beautiful San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

We arrived in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico on January 26th about 6:30 in the evening. We set up our campsite, had dinner with friends and hit the hay. It is hard to believe that we have been here 10 days already. We have barely relaxed. The skies are sunny, and the town has many fun little places to stop and shop, wonderful restaurants, a good ice cream store, and beautiful sunsets. Betty has been busy with the digital camera, and pressuring me to get on the stick to get some posted on the blog. I am struggling to learn how, so if you have any hints, let me know. I know this should be easy, but heck...I didn't know what a blog was a year ago.

Last Friday, we drove to Hermosillo, the capitol of Sonora, to do some shopping. Our friend who lives here wanted to go to Home Depot to get a chop saw for cutting bricks and paving stones. Across the street is a Sam's Club and a Super Wal-Mart. Costco is a block away. WOW, not the Mexico I remember from 25 years ago. Hermosillo is about 130 km north of San Carlos and four lanes the entire trip. Diesel fuel is subsidized by the government to aid the trucking industry, so apparently Mexican citizens are not allowed to own diesel vehicles. Tourists, however, need to buy fuel, so I filled up the other day at $5.72 pesos per liter. 3.78 liters per gallon. I "think" that is about $1.97 per gallon at $0.09089 USD per peso. I paid $2.69 USD per gallon in Nogales, AZ before leaving the US. It is fun to see all the brightly painted shops and houses as we drive along the streets and roads.

This picture is the Palapa Restaurant (a palapa is a thatched canopy) on the beach just a little bit out of town. It is in a site where an old hotel is being torn down and a new one is being built. This little oasis had two large and wonderful crab cakes for $100 pesos (a little over $9.00 USD) including a salad. We have eaten at several local restaurants and are trying what the locals tell us is good. Tequilla's is a restaurant at the marina where we had their fish special: mahi mahi browned on an iron skillet in butter with garlic and lime. Seasoned perfectly, and the garlic was crispy. It came with house rice (all the dishes seem to come with rice and always VERY good) and steamed vegetables. This was also $100 pesos. An evening or two later, we went to the Fiesta Hotel and enjoyed 1-1/2 whole lobster with steamed vegetables and rice for $220 Pesos.

Well, it just about margarita time, so I had better get the limes out and cut them up. Limones are small, cute little limes that are used everywhere on everything. Drizzle them over food, in your drinks and even over your hands as a sanitizer. One of the local bargains, for sure.

Until next week...hope you stay warm. WE ARE!!!!!