WONDERFUL San Carlos

Wow, we have been in San Carlos a month! We can hardly believe it. We have been so busy…NOT! And yet, when recently made friends have asked us to dinner and to play cards, we find that our schedule is, well, packed.

It has been very windy the past couple days…actually, for a couple weeks. We had a totally calm day on Wednesday this week, but wind off the Sea of Cortez has been fairly relentless. The past couple of days, we have been doing what all folks must do…bookkeeping, budgets, expense allocation, financial reviews; all the mundane stuff that must be done. We are NOT on vacation…rather, we are living in the Retirement Villa (RV) and still have the normal bills to pay, et al. Life goes on while having fun, so every once-in-a-while we have to “pay the piper.”

I thought I would give you an idea of the food. Here is a picture of Coconut Shrimp prepared at Charley’s Rock restaurant which sits on a small point in the Bay. There were six shrimp on the plate, but Betty and I had to each have one to be able to tell you that they were FANTASTIC. GIANT shrimp, and well prepared. About $9.50 US including steamed vegetables, rice and toast. The Modelo Light was about $1.80. (Okay, several Modelo lights!!)

Did you see the movie “Catch 22” with Steve McQueen? Made in the early 1970’s? This movie set is located about 2 km from where we are parked, and the Catch 22 beach is close by (formerly? Clothing optional). We drove on the old airstrip just off of the new parkway which leads to Hotel Paradiso (former Club Med) to the old movie set. There is a concrete ramp for cameras still in place. The extensive rock structure is in ruins (see photo), but still visible. The old airfield has lots of weeds in it now, but is easily distinguished from the surrounding desert. We will have to get the video from Netflix when we get back to the states to see the movie. Don’t believe we ever saw it, but in our advanced years, even if we had seen it, it will be new to us…HA.

Coming up soon is the Carne Asada Festival at the Ranchitos Elementary School. Parents of the attending children prepare their favorite foods, and we get to buy tickets to lunch to support the school. Benefit: we get REAL local fare. We did the Homes Tour, sponsored by the San Carlos Rotary Club for the benefit of local school. Wow, some pretty impressive homes. Coming recently from California, we viewed these Bay-Front homes as multi-million dollar properties. If fact, $7-800,000. Still seems expensive, but killer views.

Don’t forget to look at the previous post (no notification sent) for maps and locations.

Time for happy hour. Retirees cannot pass that up. Until next time…..