Arizona and Puerto Penasco must be an oddity to all of those who live in the any other place....except maybe Florida. Where else can one have a Thanksgiving with 70 degrees at 10:00 in the morning and a high of 76? The above shot is of our thermometer in the house Thanksgiving day....a nice 72 degrees.
This was our first Thanksgiving at the house and it was very relaxing. It was very much a gringo dinner, with a little Cuban meat stuffing to add some flair. My dad did make up a mixture of mashed squash and potato that was great, and the turkey was good as always. Lourdes cooks the bird in one of the oven bags and it does help to keep the meat moist. It was a simple table, with a few good wines to make the day. The beach was nice and warm with the water a little too cool for my taste, but there were some out playing in the calm water that day.
Friday per the weather report was to be a great day so we planned to pack a lunch, some beer and drinks and go over to the beach by El Golfo. If you recall, Chris and I took the trek over there in the summer and my Dad had been wanting to look for shells there for some time. We know of a few beach zones along this stretch that have great shells from sand dollars, to translucent pink shells, to very large clam shells. The day was great. We aired down the tires on the truck and hit the beach. After about a hour and a half we pulled out out chairs and turned on the truck radio and enjoyed a cold beverage. I went back out to look for a few more shells and when I got back to the truck I discovered I had left the lights on and the truck battery was dead. We waited about 30 mins for another truck to come by (a couple of jeeps passed by us an hour before), and to double our chances I walked up to the main road cut to see if I could see anyone. Just when I got to where I could see the main dirt road a group of ATV's and a Ranger were approaching. They gave me a ride back, a jump for the truck, and a couple shots of tequila. Like most I meet in situations like this they were open and willing to help and relished at the chance to help and meet us.
After a few cold beers with our new friends they took off to El Golfo for other adventures we decided to take the beach farther southeast. There was another shell spot to try and it was getting to be about 3:00. I was off by the cliff bank when kids and my wife started yelling for me to come take a look in the tide pool.....the discovery was a once in a lifetime. What they had found was a live humbodlt squid about 4 feet long. We took large shells full of water and poured them on him to keep him wet (I say him, but who knows) and as we poured the water it would change and flash colors or gray and blue; just wild.
After a few minutes I decided we needed to see if we could give it a fighting chance...so I pulled it by the front wings into deeper water. It was heaver then I thought it would be with a texture like a sting ray....it was a little creepy. This was one of the coolest things we have ever seen on beach and made for a great trip.
