Mexico

Fresh Condo, New Friends: Another Month in Mexico

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We’ve just finished our second month in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico at the Playa Bonita RV park while waiting for our condo to be renovated. What a month it’s been!

February was punctuated by visits from dear friends. First we had a great weekend with Michelle and Owen May. The four of us have spent a lot of time together in Puerto Peñasco over the years, so we searched for new experiences this time, in honor of Owen’s birthday. We hit at least four new restaurants, Jessy’s, Grapes & Barley, La Negrita, and Ole Mole.

First of several visits to Jessys
Jessy’s peacock
Ole Mole
Lighted margaritas
Mole!
Salud!
Sunset at Grapes & Barley
Lunch at La Negrita

We played pickleball and visited Fernando at the Tequila Factory. Sunsets on the beach too!

Sunset on the beach
Sunset at Grapes & Barley

One Saturday we met up two of Steve’s former colleagues. Cheryl and Janie are so much fun! They even invited me to join them at Sip and Paint the next evening.

Cheryl, Steve, and Janie at Diego’s Tiki Bar
Budding artists
The final product

We had a great visit with “The Toms,” our long-time friends and now Prescott neighbors. While we missed dear Nancy terribly, we honored her by visiting some of her favorite haunts and toasting her memory more than a few times.

The Toms at Grapes & Barley
Mandatory stop at Manny’s

Dave and Peggy Armstrong, our fun neighbors from Prescott, made a quick trip down. So far they’ve visited us three times while we’ve been RVing: Montana, Alaska, and Mexico. Despite a cool and windy weekend we had a great time showing them our favorite places. They hadn’t been to Rocky Point for 40 years so there was a lot to show off and, they even got to meet our long-time friend Betty at Regina’s Mexican Cocina.

Candy Cake for Breakfast with the Armstrongs
Dave meets Betty at Regina’s
Peggy with Nancy VanPelt’s peace pole

In between visitors, we enjoyed time with new friends we met at the RV park, including one more session of Sip and Paint. Even Bob got in on some action that night!

Caren and Bob
Bev, Caren, Karen with me and Bob
Bob likes Karen from TN

One of the downsides of RV travel is making friends only to move on down the road. We’ll miss Ian, Bev & McDuff; Ken, Caren & Lulu; and Karen, Mike & Bo; and so many others we hung out with. Dinners out, sunset happy hours, and a lot of time standing around swapping stories!

Steve, Bev, and Ian
At Jessy’s with the neighbors
Dinner with neighbors at Jessy’s
Another gorgeous sunset
Happy hour with Ewa, Janus, and Michael on the beach

I’ll especially miss my “boyfriend” McDuff, the most fun poodle I’ve ever gotten to play with! Sorry, Bev, for destroying so many of McDuff’s toys!

McDuff and Ian on the beach
My boyfriend McDuff. Isn’t he cute?

From these photos, you’d think all we did was eat while we were in Puerto Peñasco. Well, that might have been true, but in the midst of all the fun, we spent time most days at the condo, following the renovation process.

While construction was to be done before we left, it wasn’t meant to be. When we departed the tile work and painting was mostly done and final details still needed to be taken care of. We are confident (fingers crossed) that it will be done and ready for renters by next weekend! Here are a few shots from the day we left.

Master bath sink without mirror
Finishing work in guest bath shower
Hallway tile is done
Deco in guest bath shower
Kitchen is in good shape

We had to hit the road. We’re currently headed east to Austin for 10 days of music, comedy, and learning at SXSW. If you aren’t familiar with one of the largest tech/music and more festivals on Earth, you can learn more here. We promise to post updates when we get there.

And the fun continues…

Winter Camping in Mexico

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We’ve been offline for a few months, mostly staying stationery at home in Prescott to celebrate the holidays and enjoy the luxuries of “home.”  But you can only stay put for so long before the itch returns to hit the road.  Plus, the weather in Prescott has turned cold and icy, so it was time to head south! 

We are spending the next few months at the Playa Bonita RV Park, on the beach in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. We’ve owned our condo here for 20 years, and it was time for some renovations. We’re staying in the fifth wheel while the condo is under construction and it’s been a fun new way to experience our little Mexican town. 

Playa Bonita is one of about four RV parks here in Peñasco, and it’s been here forever. Many of our fellow campers are here for months, Americans and Canadians escaping the winters up north. It’s a super fun environment, and we’re really enjoying the group bike rides, weekly “shot” bingo, and happy hour at the beach at sunset. The water man delivers a bottle to our door for $1, propane man will refill our tanks without moving, and we had our rig washed and waxed for a fraction of the cost in the US. Even the dogs are enjoying the Mexican lifestyle, with $15 haircuts at the local dog spa. 

One day Steve discovered a leak somewhere in the bowels of the trailer. He worked hard to find out where the leak originated and then we were able to hire a guy to come fix it. Problem solved!

One weekend we fully participated in Roger Clyne’s January Jam, a three day music event that features one of our favorite bands. Good food, good drink, and great music right outside our door made for a fun few days. 

Most days we head about a mile down the beach to the condo to check on the progress and to workout in the gym. It’s been good to be here to supervise the construction as it seems there is always something to decide or adjust. We’ve had to pick out countertops at the local shop, which allowed us to watch the craftsman at work. 

Overall the remodel is coming along very well, appears to be on schedule, and is looking pretty good!  Our crew has been very professional and appreciative of the daily goodies and Friday afternoon beers. Here are some pictures of the work being done and you can be sure we’ll post “after” pictures!

Of course there’s been lots of time for the beach, soaking in the sun, and enjoying the slow lifestyle that is Puerto Peñasco! We are grateful that Mitch made the trip down to visit for a few days and brought us some needed supplies from Costco.  More visitors are expected in the next month and we’re looking forward to seeing our friends!

We probably won’t have much more to report for awhile as there’s not much variation day to day – sun, fun, relax, repeat.  But rest assured, we are enjoying every minute!

Dry Camping, Mexico, and Another Surgery

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We’ve been home for about a month and are already longing to be back out on the road. The freedom we feel traveling is like nothing else, and we’ll be back on the road soon (with new blog posts, of course). In the meantime we have been busy and thought we’d share a few updates.

Once we arrived home to Prescott after 81 days on the road we set out to clean and fix up the trailer. We washed, we polished, and we added a few decorations. Thanks to my dear friend, Dr. Michelle May, for hand-painting two pictures inspired by our photos of North Cascades National Park. They are now framed and proudly hang over our bed in the rig.

We also did a dry camping experiment. In our almost three months on the road this summer we never went more than a day or two without electric, water, and/or sewer hookups. We wanted to see how we’d fare without utilities, so we headed to a dispersed camping area south of Flagstaff and survived four days without the luxuries! It was a beautiful spot, nice weather, and a good place to just hang out. We probably could have gone another day or so, but we figured four days was good enough!

We also made a trip down to our condo in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. With our dear friends Sam, Nancy, Tom, Rick, and Mary, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner out at our favorite restaurant, Regina’s. After being closed for six months for the pandemic, the restaurant was as warm and welcoming as ever.

We also enjoyed a nice dinner on the patio of Pane y Vino with sweeping views of the Sea of Cortez.

It was great to catch up with friends while taking care of some business for our rental. Beach time and sunset happy hours on the patio were also on the agenda, as usual.

On the way home we ran into a protest being conducted about 1/8th of a mile north of the Mexican border. A group aligned with the local tribe has been protesting the construction of the border wall and its encroachment on sacred lands and water sources. Luckily it was only a short delay and we were on our way.

Next up is another surgery on my left foot. Tomorrow I’ll go in for another procedure to hopefully alleviate the still nagging pain in the ball of my foot. My previous Lapiplasty surgery didn’t seem to do the trick. This time the doctor will be focusing on the nerves between my third and fourth toes, which are separating after numerous, ineffective coritisone shots.

They say this surgery will be easier than the last one. After four+ years of dealing with pain I’m hoping this is the end of this journey. I’ll post an update as soon as possible.