Spring in Mexico....what could be better. We could not get down for the full week so 4 days had to do. The weather cooperated and we ended up with warm nice temperatures the entire time. We also had a minimal tide change for the first few days, which with the calm weather, turned the ocean to glass.
I got some odd jobs done around the house. Back in January I had brought down a new TV unit for the living room that Carey had purchased 6 months ago. It was heavier then I had thought and Vincent and I had a time getting it up the stairs, but we worked it out. It is great having a teenage son around. I was able to get all of the furniture moved and get the TV, and most of the stereo and DVD player, etc back up and running. I had planned on re-piping the water pump (I know here we go on the water pump again) but I chose to hire Gerry to get that done along with some other maintenance on the generator and solar system.
As always we ate well and enjoyed our down time. We enjoyed the patio, a good book, naps, and great sun sets. Matthew did a little playing in the ocean on his surf board as well as the sea kayak. And we got some good games of paddle ball in (one of our favorite beach games). A pod of dolphins made an appearance and we even had one jump all of the way out of the water to give us a good show. On Friday we went into town to run a couple or errands and get some lunch. We stopped at the Thirsty Parrot and enjoyed some shrimp, a couple of drinks, and the Sun Devils Basketball game. Good win over Temple for ASU, but a bad loss to the Orangemen on Sunday.
New TV Unit....this should help keep the dust off the TV and stereo
Sea Kayak fun.
A little surf....not very good waves, but Matt got one ride in.
Paddle Ball....an underrated beach game.
With all of the bad press about Mexico the crowd felt like it was a little smaller this year. The only noticeable sign of any added US pressure was an added check stop on the US side right at Lukeville on our way down. They had two agents checking cars right before they entered Mexico (that was a first in 20 years of going down), and they asked the same questions as they always do. I guess if they can stop some of the guns and money from entering Mexico that would help. With a home in Mexico I get asked a lot about if "we feel safe" when we are there. When we were on our patio or when we were on our way to town on Saturday we felt very safe. In fact in our Mexico beach community I feel safer there then in my garage in Phoenix. There has been some good web articles on http://mynparty.blogspot.com/ site that I agree with. In one article they noted that the numbers on the violence can be deceiving as most of the issues are in other border towns.....not in our small part of the world. Puerto Penasco is not a border town. We are off the beaten track a little. There is not a major highway that links the Mexican interior through our town, and due to our vacation related economy we should be shielded from the really bad stuff. If one looks at vacation related cities all over the world, those government will do what is really necessary to protect those places as those cities are the real economic engines of the country. Cancun, Cabo, and yes Puerto Pensaco all fall into that category.
I look to Columbia as a good example. We were down there last September and were able to see first hand how a city can be changed by tourism. We stayed in Cartagena, and enjoyed the city, culture, music, and food. That is a place that I would have never gone to in the 1980's, but the new president understood the economic power that a city like that could have if it was safe. They now have many high rise condo buildings (Think Miami Beach), cruise ships are coming back, all due to increased police presence and a focus on this areas of the country. Sure, they still have drug issues, but they do not occur in Cartagena....and I would predict, they will not come to the tourist locations of Mexico......that is my soap box for the day.
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