El Golfo, Mexico - 2008

I mention 2008 because it is a new update on our previous stays here at our CRA park. I hope to add more as we stay here. I will just add on to this blog. This is our 6th venture to this park. We like it here as we have made many friends and we all seem to gravitate towards this park. Some spend most of the winter here, others like ourselves visit for different time periods(2 weeks to 30 days). We expect to be here till mid March. We spent the last two weeks in November and the first two weeks in December 2007 here. So we are back again and we arrived here February 21st, just 3 days after our Mexican Cruise. We hopefully are here to relax and rejuvenate ourselves. So far we have had a busy time. We have attended several karaoke singing venues held in our clubhouse. Bones and Rose are the DJ/hosts and they do a very good job of this. A few days ago Dave & I took off in his little 4 wheel Asuna(Tracker) and travelled down the new road towards Puerto Penasco. Once on the road we travelled until the end. The sign when you turn off the highway at El Golfo indicates that Puerto Penasco is 134 km away. It may be but you are not going to travel all the way via blacktop. About 36 km down the blacktop it abruptly ends. Some day it may be finished. So from here we turn back, find a trail that we think will lead us to the beach, and away we go. After several turns and stopping to look possibly where we should or should not go we find a route that takes us there. View pictures under the Links column Webshots - Our photos under the title El Golfo MX - 2008 album.

Our next venture is dinner at Oscars. Don one of our friends asks if we would be interested in going to dinner at Oscars? We accept the invitation as most Mexican food we like, plus the adventure of new options. There are 13 of us all together. From the outside you would question whether you wanted to go there, but once inside the dining room is very clean. He has one long table that will seat us all and he is dressed in a starched white chefs hat and clean white clothes and apron. He serves one and all the same menu. This evening we have beans, salad, chili relleno, 2 chicken enchiladas,and mexican rice. For dessert he serves us all orange jello. All in all a very tasty meal. Pics can be viewed under the Links colum Webshots -Our photos under the El Golfo MX - 2008 Dinner at Oscars album.

Yesterday, Feb. 27th we went on a poker run put on by our local activities club. All monies that are collected from this event is given back in the way of prize money. We left the camp about 11 am. The course that was set out covered approximately 38 miles with 7 stops. The first card you drew was obtained when you entered the run and you were given a course route. My first card drawn was an 8 of spades. We can only build on this I thought!! Dave (drew a Queen of hearts) & I got away as he was the driver and I guess I was either the passenger or his navigator. Our wives decided they would best spend their time back here around the pool. The temperature couldn't have been better for this, blue skies, a moderate breeze and very warm. Beautiful. Our second stop was about 10 miles down the beach. I drew a 7 of spades, things are looking up. From here we travel over hill and dale and after a couple of attempts up a very steep hill where we are in loose sand we make it after engaging 4 wheel drive & first gear. Our third stop I draw a Queen of Diamonds. So much for that straight flush I thought. On we travel. This time the hill & loose sand prevented us from climbing that steep hill. So we back down and find an alternate route. We travelled down a wash that appeared hard, and no one had travelled there before. So after skirting the hill! we find a route that will get us back on course. The fourth stop is also a rest stop along with refreshments. Time to wash some of that dust out of your parched throat. So after this stop and another card that didn't fit in my hand well, we proceed. Shortly after this we get to the 5th card stop. No help there from this card pull either. Our sixth stop is at the top of the hill where the light house is located. Our choice in how you get there we take the easier route and get to the lighthouse for our sixth card pull. So after this card pull all I need to pull is a 10. This would give me a straight. Possibilities I think, but that 7th stop has to be good to me and I need to be lucky. So the end is near once we arrive at our final stop. A bar located next to the park resort. I pull an 8, thus I end up with a pair of 8's. Not good enough for any prize money, but a lot of fun. Dave ended up much better than I, having 3 Jack's. He is in the money. All in all there were 27 people who won money and the top winner had 4 Aces. There were 104 paying entrants who each donated $5.00 to enter. Photos can be view under the Links column Webshots -Our photos click on the album El Golfo MX - 2008 Poker Run. A good turn out by all people in the park and super volunteers who made the poker run go off with out a hitch. Fabulous!!!!

Mar 1, 2008. We assemble several ATV's and 4 wheel drive units for another trip out into the Sonoran desert. This time our intended trip was to the monument. This monument was erected I am told to honor 4 engineeers that died while the train tracks were being laid. Apparently, a sand storm erupted and the engineers were virtually surrounded by mountains of sand. No one could reach them for days. They ran out of food and water and starved to death. This monument was erected in there honor and is a structure approximately 96 feet tall and is 3 sided. At the base of this monument there is embeded in the concrete a surveyors medallion. The trip started out at camp and we travelled thru town and ended going in an easterly direction. About an hour later we cross the tracks and at this point there are Federal army personell here. They are posted here for 30 days at a time and they are here to watch over any illegal traffic that may try to sneak by. They are friendly and wave as we go by. We travelled about 16 miles till we made our first stop. Here we had a refreshment that you provided yourself. Also at this stop is several small buildings that at one time housed the workers that were building the rail line. At first all the tyes that were under the tracks laid were wood, but in the late 1990's they were removed and replaced with concrete tyes. The buildings that are left appear to be in fairly good shape, and wouldn't take much effort to make them hospitable. But who wants to live away out there, far away from civilization and any stores? It takes us about an an hour and a half to travel this far from camp. We aren't exactly on highways or even smooth roadways. They are just dirt trails in the desert, several new ones as we make our own. After about a 20 minute break we get back onto our units and move further east. After another half hour has past, we are at the monument. Here we stop and besides having a drink to wash away the dust, we also eat our lunch. Each person is responsible to provide there own refreshments and eats along the trip. We have travelled about 22 miles to this point. It is near noon and we spend about a half hour here. After taking photos and chatting we take a vote to see how many would like to travel the same route home or to take a different route. 12 of the 14 units vote to try new territory. So this time we travel in a north-westerly direction. This travel route is much slower as the trail is very rough. Far rougher in a 4 wheel drive unit than a ATV/Quad unit. We bounce around pretty good and not very fast. We stop about 30 minutes later just to work the kinks out of our bodies and to stretch, along with chatting about the trip so far and what to expect up the trail further. Eventually we get to the same trail that we took on the poker run. From here we are about a hour to camp. Some of the pictures may look the same as on the poker run, just different people in them. We come out to the beach about 4 miles from camp. There was an active shrimp farm at one time here. About the year 1999 it closed operation, why is anyones guess. Since we saw it last year the roofs from many of the buildings have been dismanteled. We arrive back at camp about 2:30 in the afternoon. We have travelled a total of about 42 mles since our departure. A very good day for sightseeing and travel once again into the Sonoran desert. View pictures of this adventure under the Links column. Click on Webshots - Our photos and click on El Golfo MX - 2008 Monument Run.

Los Algodones, Mexico - added April 8th

We spent from the 21st of February to March 14th in El Golfo, MX. During this time we had friends arrive from Sarnia, ON. Bruce & Carol drove there 5th wheel & truck combo from Sarnia. They arrived and we were able to have them stay 10 days at the park there. We took them to Los Algodones. This is a border town and there is lots of traffic as people travel across from the United States to have glasses replaced, teeth & dental work, prescriptions filled. All of these things are relatively inexpensive. Many Canadians also travel there for the very same reason. I had teeth work done there. Although I could have it done at home & insurance would pay 75% of the cost, it still was way cheaper to have it done there. I am very pleased with the work done!! Pictures can be seen on our Webshots - our Photos under the heading Los Algodones, Mexico