San Carlos Marina

San Carlos has two marinas and we particularly like the old marina which is located at the north end of town. There have been a few changes from last year which make this a fun place to visit. Surrounding the boats and yachts are three or four restaurants, five shops and many fishing tour companies. San Carlos was originally famous for its excellent fishing and even today many people come here strictly for the boating and sea life.

Over the three months we have been in San Carlos we have spent a few afternoons at the water soaking up the sun and having Fred's favourite quesadillas at the Marina Cantina. Yesterday was a beautiful, hot day so we found a table on the water's edge and watched the boats come and go. A great way to relax!

Catch 22

We found out two years ago that the movie Catch 22 was filmed close to San Carlos. We have often been to the beach where some of the filming took place, but we have never taken the time to search for the old studio ruins. Yesterday we finally made a point of looking for the proper area - it wasn't that hard to find. Even though the buildings are falling apart, you could still visualize the workings of the actors and film crews. Small parts of the old landing strip are still visible, but not usable.

The view of the beach and Tetakawi Hill from the old studio is spectacular, although new condos will soon block that out.

Birthday Celebration

Actually there wasn't much of a celebration, more like a relaxing afternoon on the beach with Maggie. We went to watch the kite boarders and let Maggie run on the beach and play in the water. She had a great day and so did we - until the wind picked up driving us back to the RV Park.

We had planned to go out for a nice meal, but that changed after we got back from the beach. We were tired from the heat and wind so supper consisted of quesadillas and a beer. How romantic!

An "Almost" Palapa Bar

Three months ago we were complaining about the cold Saskatchewan weather and yesterday we were complaining about the hot San Carlos weather. It was 34 degrees downtown and 35 degrees in Totonaka RV, with not a hint of breeze. Maggie could not get comfortable and neither could we.

We decided it was perfect day to go palapa bar hunting and we chose JJ's Taco Stand. This little bar has many of the requirements needed to be rated, such as a sand floor [it was gravel, but what the heck]. The roof is "sort of" thatched - it actually is made of bamboo poles lashed together.

The two biggest drawbacks are, as you can see, the bathrooms and the lack of a sea view. The waiters were awesome. JJ and his son Juan were very friendly and talkative. Juan wanted to practise his English as he wants to move to Canada to make some money. He is thinking of BC as a starting point.

The palapa had a little kitchen operated by one woman who seemed to run the place, even though JJ is the owner. There is also a strange looking BBQ that they use to cook the chicken or beef for fajitas or quesadillas.

Even though this place is not on the beach and the washrooms leave little to the imagination, I would have to rate this palapa a 5 out of 10 just because of the atmosphere and friendliness of the waiters. The fact that we can ride our bikes to JJ's is an added bonus.

The Life of Maggie

There are 140 sites in Totonaka and approximately 15% of those people know Fred and I well enough to call us by name. I can guarantee that the people in all 140 sites know Maggie by name. She is the "entertainment" of the park.


Maggie tries to get us up every morning at 7:15 with multiple yawns and by 7:20 she is bored enough to crawl on the steps leading to the bedroom where she sits and rules the house, much like Cleopatra and her barge - thus her nickname "Cleo".


After her long morning walk Maggie finally takes a break, or should I say she gives us a break!




Like all Golden Retreivers, Maggie loves the water and we try to take her as often as we can. She is the only Golden we have owned that likes to dunk her head completely under the water trying to catch that ever elusive seaweed.

Thankfully by the end of the afternoon she is worn out [sometimes] and needs her beauty sleep. As you can see by this blog, Maggie rules the day.

Some Days Are Just Like That

Because weekends have no special meaning here in "manana-land" we complete our work around the unit when the mood strikes. Today was "The Day". I needed to mow our lawn and just like the Mexicans, I used whatever tool was available at the time - a small pair of scissors. The weeds were growing in our herb garden and that took five minutes of my day completing that huge task.

As usual, Fred was the window cleaner. There is only one person in this family who hates dirty windows - it ain't me, and Maggie 'makes' dirty windows.

After spending so much of the day [at least 45 minutes] working around the yard, we needed a break and went to check out a house that is up for sale. Very nice, but too costly (and too close to Froggy's).

Rescate Grand Bazaar

Yesterday was a complete surprise. We went to another Rescate fundraiser thinking it was a bake sale type of event. It was that and more as there were handicraft booths, art work booths and many others.

The highlight of the day was the dancers from the Cultural Middle School. These students danced for more than an hour and were terrific. The dancing is unique to Sonora and its neighbouring states of Chihuahua and Sinaloa, but there are many similarities to the dances of the Yucatan and the rest of Mexico. The Chihuahua dances had a definite western flair.

We had a wonderful day and so did the large crowd as was displayed in the standing ovation for the young dancers.