First Post....from Mike

The First Post

A new author on the beach in Lo De Marcos.

Hola and hello from the beach and RV park in Lo De Marcos.  The better half is out shopping for vegges for supper and left me in charge of the blog.  You will have to excuse the grammer but thank goodness for these things called spell checkers.  As you can see from the picture above (and below) the beach and the weather is quite nice for this time of year although the ocean water has cooled down quite a bit from when we were first here. 

The former author but still smiling.

There probably won't be a great amount of text in this write up but I will include quite a few pictures because if you're like me, I like to look at pictures.

Looking over the 4th hole.

To the left is a picture of the golf course at the Field of Dreams which is seven km to the north of Lo De Marcos.  We have bought memberships for 4 months and golf 3-4 times a week.  A Can-Am (The cactus cup) was held last week on Dec 13 and the better team (us not them) came up on top.  You can see our picture on the Jaltembasol website.

We also have neighbours who visit us on a regular basis although they normally stay outside the gate.  Apparently, one of the neighbours came in two weeks ago and was enjoying the grass before he (a horse) was asked to leave by Walter.

Some of the neighbours.

Mavis, Bev and Ruby spent the better part of a day sewing pillow for the Cancer de Mama clinic held at La Penita RV park in February for Mexican women who have have breast cancer.  The pillows are used under the arms to relieve some of the pressure and hopefully, make movement a lot easier.

Heart pillows, 3 of 13.

Ruby and Bev, hard at work.

On December 13, the author hit a milestone-60 years young.  The Canucks won the Cactus Cup at the Field of Dreams. and we celebrated with a dinner at Salvadors at the beach in Rincon de Guayabitos.  The company was great, the food was great, the cerveza was great, and thanks to all for the celebration.  There were two birthdays, mine and Carol's (who is way younger than me).  The staff at the resturant made a special dinner.  You have to see the pictures to believe what they did, and yes, I did eat my vegetables.  They were carrots.

Salvador's of the beach.

Great presentation....made from carrots.

Self explanitory.

Just a few more pictures of some of the wildlife around here.  Time to go to the beach.  The one with the camera out the window is taking pictures of hummers.  They had one in their rig 3 weeks ago and took a video of the bird.  Its on their blog-http://southbound canucks.blogspot.com

. 

One of many.

The hummingbird picture hunter.

And last but not least, the Christmas wreath we have on Dos along with Hobo.  We hope to have another blog before Christmas, but if not, Merry Christmas to all and have a restful and wonderful break. 

Merry Christmas from Hobo.

Thanks to my proof reader......

San Xavier Mission, near Tucson

On our way out of Tucson, heading south we stopped at the San Xavier Mission.    The mission was one of many opened by Father Kino in his travels through what is now Arizona, establishing missions to convert the natives to Christianity.
We joined a tour group but I had trouble hearing what was being said but the church is a fine example of early mission architecture.  It makes a nice stop.  

View from the roadway

The church in the middle with the mortuary chapel on the left and the  convent on the right

the front of the church

The choir loft 

Statue on the exterior of the central structure

Lovely cupola painted by native hands

It was very serene in the church.  I could have sat there for some time in meditation.  The church is located on Indian land and there is a small community right there with a school that is supported in part by donations from the public.  Donations also help with the upkeep and maintenance of the church.

Hello from Lo de Marcos

I promised I would put some more pictures of our trip to Tucson.  These photos are from the Reid Park Zoo.  It isn't a large zoo but it was fun to see the animals and birds and watch the reactions of others visiting.

Giraffe eating pumpkin; she's a beautiful animal

This is her companion.  She is also filling up on pumpkin

This is the third female at the zoo.  She's enjoying some fresh grass

 This is Herbie the tortoise.  He's not very old because he was quite small

This mysterious creature is actually a slumbering rhino.  We went back  before we left to see if it had moved.  No.

These two didn't see eye to eye about something because they were ready to go at each other's throats.

Something was making him/her mad.  Look at the hair on it's back.  I was happy to be behind  the glass.

No zoo would be complete without a flock of snoozing flamingos

Mama lion watching the crowd watching two of her three babies nursing

Looks like he's still napping

Show's over for today

Just when we wanted to shoot them they moved, but the colours are still wonderful

There were three anteaters here, all in separate compounds.  Wouldn't like to run into them in the dark

These were two sisters.  They are black panthers.  Seen up close and not through glass, their spots  are visible

Hope you enjoyed our trip to the zoo.

Some photos of Tucson attractions before going into Mexico

We've been here in Lo de Marcos since last Thursday, November 17.  We spent some time in Tucson exploring the area and some of the great places to visit.  We went to Biosphere 2, Kitt Peak Observatory,  the Reid Park Zoo and San Xavier Mission.


You can find information on Kitt Peak Observatory and Biosphere 2 on the net so I am just going to give you a camera's view of all of these attractions.

It was a windy day

Path down to the facility

The different climate zones are housed in this huge framework

This area represents the oceans and has a viewing station underneath

This is one of two 'lungs' that are used as life support for the  scientists who lived here in the '90's

Inside the Lung

Outside in the fresh air again

The area is outstanding; high desert and cannot be seen from the highway.  Worth a trip for a guided tour.


Now, some photos of Kitt Peak Observatory which is west of Tucson off of the Old Ajo Highway.  It is on native reservation land and is 12,000 feet above sea level.  The view from up here is truly outstanding and Tucson can be seen on a good, clear day.  Our son and his partner had come up here the winter before and warned us to wear warm clothes.  Good thing we did; as we rounded the last corner to the entrance there was icy snow on the road.  We had a docent (guide) give us a talk about the origin of the Observatory before we went to see some of the telescopes.  We came back from viewing the solar telescope and had another docent give a small talk before taking us to one of the over 20 telescopes in operation at Kitt Peak.  If you want to experience the night sky be prepared to pay big bucks for this experience.  

Kitt Peak 4m telescope seen from as far away as Tucson

Yes, there was snow and it was very cool

A nice view from the solar telescope site
  

The Solar telescope (yes it is)

Inside the viewing room of the 2m telescope

The large white turret is the 4m telescope

Yes folks they have a solar telescope and it is a very interesting huge piece of machinery and mirrors.  After viewing the inside of the solar scope we walked out and around to a small round building that housed the camera that received the images from the sun.  I saw spots, and for a moment thought it was just the floaters in my eyes but I was assured that yes those were sunspots and there was a solar flare happening as I watched through the camera.  The sun is right now at the top of the solar activity cycle, which may or may not account for strange blips on your TV and interference with other communication devices. 


 I would like to point out that Kitt Peak is a teaching observatory and that it is open for the public to use.  If you have something you want to study, you have to submit an abstract with your intentions, etc. and hopefully they will find a telescope that you can use.  One famous amateur actually discovered a comet up here at the Observatory.  His last name was Levy.


I'm going to sign out now, but I'll be back tomorrow with the trip to the zoo photos in another blog.

Hello from San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

 We arrived in San Carlos, Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico on November 11, 2011 after crossing the border at Nogales, Mexico.  We spent some time at the border getting our papers in order and paid for.  Included are our visitor visas, and our vehicle registration stickers.  I won't go into details because it can be complicated to explain, but we finally got on the road about noon and arrived four and a half hours later in the seaside town of San Carlos.  San Carlos is located on the Sea of California, across from the Baja on the mainland of Mexico.  It is a popular stop for touristos/as on their way south to Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and beyond.
There was a detour that was clearly marked with orange signs pointing the way around construction in  Hermisillo for those travellers going to Guaymas.  San Carlos is next door, so to speak.  The detour only took about half an hour and was very easy to follow.

We are staying at Totanaka RV park again.  We were here in March 2010 and 2011.  We had supper at a restaurant across the road from the park where I tasted my very first margarita.  Yes, my first!   I am not normally an imbiber of alcoholic spirits but tonight there were three grande margaritas on the table for four poeple and I shared one with hubby.  Tequila itself not so nice but I can see why folks can get really drunk on margaritas.  Tastes like sody pop.  lol.  

Saturday morning we did the usual; breakfast, then hubby and I took a drive around San Carlos; which didn't take very long.  We came back to the rig and had some lunch then went out again.

Hubby and I and our 'winter friends, Bev and Vic', wanted to visit the Delfinario so off we went.  First up was the sea lion show.  I was chosen to be the 'girlfriend' to the elder sea lion.  I am up for some fun today so into the (sea) lions' den I walked. 

Mavey entering the Lions den

Thank goodness the trainers both spoke English so I could understand what they wanted of me.  I got to touch this big guy and I even got a kiss.  I was told I could kiss him on the lips but declined (and not very politely either), lol.  It was a real treat to do this and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice he felt.  He's not slimy at all.  This show was great.  Just don't stand too close to the pool.  You might just get wet!! (Like I did).

Mavey getting a smooch 

After this half hour show we were escorted over to the dolphin pool.  There were six dolphins in this pool and they put on a great show.  Below are some photos.

Waiting for a treat before the trick

walking backwards

 balancing act 

Taking their trainer for a ride.

Relaxing after the show; what a beauty

All in all this was a delightful show and I'd go back in the blink of an eye.

Tomorrow we are on our way again.  We will likely get to Los Mochis and stop for the night.  Later...