I’ve been on the beach near San Carlos for more than a month now, and still love it here. It’s strange that this place almost feels more like home than my house in Alaska. My first year camping at this same spot in March 2013 I stayed less than two weeks, but the following winter in 2014 I stayed in Puerto Peñasco instead of continuing south. That fall I returned to Mexico and by the first of January 2015 I arrived at my “camp home” again from a rough drive down the “new” coastal highway, coming through Kino Bay. This time I stayed more than three weeks. It was painful to leave, but I wanted to try the Baja side “new” coastal highway along the Sea of Cortez, so headed back to Puerto Peñasco, where I got my poor beat-up car repaired and repainted, and then headed to Mexicali and south to San Felipe, into another driving adventure. However this year I was determined to stay longer in San Carlos, so after two weeks in PP after Thanksgiving, I headed south again.

I arrived Dec 14, so was here for Christmas and New Year’s, through days of rainy mud and weeks of warming sun, near friends and suffering through a nasty bronchial virus. Looking back through my web journal I see that I have spent some time sick every winter, but thankfully recover each time after a rest and good meds. Next month I will leave before Valentine’s Day to head to California to see my new great-granddaughter Ava Rose. I can see now that even being here for two months isn’t enough to satisfy my nesting urge.

It’s been decades that I’ve been coming to Mexico, and I first visited this place in the mid-1980s to find my friends Jo and David’s dear Healy Burnham. I returned every winter to visit him until 1994, including the time I sailed here to leave my storage boxes with Healy and drove back the next year to get them. After that Healy’s health declined and soon he was taken back to Iowa to die. I didn’t return for nearly 20 years, and by then it had changed a lot. It’s much more “Americanized” now, but the city of Guaymas only ten miles away is completely Mexican, so we get the best of both worlds. Ever since my first visit so many years ago, this place has felt like I belong here, and by now I think I do… at least annually for a few winter months.

One more perfect evening –

Every time I’m here I attend the San Carlos Rotary Club and really enjoy getting involved in their activities. My experience with our Alaska District eclub has been a little disappointing and I’m tempted to join this Mexico club. I enjoy Rotary but need to feel bonded with some group members, and this club allows us to attend whenever we are in the area instead of being permanently in residence. Some others are only here for a couple of months, so that would suit me fine. On February 9th will be the big Rotary Tour of Homes and I’ve been asked to be hostess for one of the houses on the tour. I’m even signed up to sell tickets a couple of days next week. After the event I’ll prepare to leave, and I know I’ll be sad about going away. This Rotary Club conducts their meetings in English, one of the only clubs in Mexico that does. During years abroad of attending meetings in languages other than my own, that’s a relief.

It makes me happy to be here, I feel contented to wake up to a glorious sunrise and visits from my beautiful hummingbirds, only a couple feet away right now from my fingers on the keyboard. I enjoy having group happy hours with my neighbor campers and they are always amazed to see the hummingbirds whizzing by their heads to my window, and hovering under my outdoor shade fearlessly as if they own the place. The blue heron visits every morning and night, fishing in our little pond, great white egrets and many bright-colored birds are frequent visitors. The fishing terns crash into the water outside my door hundreds of times a day, and we even have brown pelicans fly over our little protective dune to glide around our water, getting a rest from the sea waves. If I walk a few steps to the outside beach I can watch the dolphins follow schools of fish and the afternoon cruise boats showing off our neighborhood to the tourists.

A local family comes out to fish in our little pond –

Even on the rare days it clouds over and rains, my solar panels recharge my batteries to 100% by early afternoon. I’ve learned to have the propane delivery trucks follow me out here to deliver “Gas” and the reverse osmosis water delivery guys come to fill my freshwater tanks whenever I get low. I only have to move the motor home once a month to empty and clean the holding tanks, which only takes a couple of hours away from “home”. There are many places in town with high-speed internet when I want to download something bigger, but my Telcel aircard works fine at home. It costs about $23 for 3 gigs, so I refill it every couple of weeks and can get current news podcasts every morning and enjoy them all day on my little mp3 player as I walk the beach or desert to get exercise for me and my dog Cheyenne. She also loves it here, we have a very good calm and peaceful life. This is a good way to get older, hopefully wiser, or at least to gain some perspective on my varied and interesting life..

I do miss my family, kids and offspring now number a dozen, but none miss or worry about me at all. Since they are scattered all over the world, it will be up to me to go visit them and that suits me fine. Maybe someday one might come and see my beloved Mexico home too. And with any luck I’ll live long enough to visit the ones in Europe and then spend some months RVing around the continent. In any case, this is a wonderful time of life and I’m grateful every day to be in such a wonderful place — emotionally… physically… and environmentally.

The morning view from my windshield — could this be better?

After spending a couple weeks in Puerto Peñasco I headed south again to San Carlos. I was drawn by the thought of warm sunshine and even warmer memories of that place I’ve loved for more than 30 years. It was a long eight-hour driving day, my longest all season, and getting through Hermosillo was nerve-wracking as always. It was wonderful to pull in and see my friends Bob and Jan were settled in their RV at the usual place. Our herons were out fishing and we have new diving ducks. I’ve been so happy to be back to my favorite spot on the beach that I haven’t even thought of writing in this website journal!

The morning sunrises and glorious sunsets literally feed my spirit.

It’s so peaceful and beautiful, I love my neighbors and I even had my first Christmas here. It was a special night when the Yacht Club held their Parade of Lights. The whole town was lined up along the shore to watch the gloriously lit up boats.

It’s wonderful that I have lots of books to read, and brought other things to do — sewing, beading, carving, and other projects — none of which I’ve worked on! I only pulled out the sewing machine for mending, otherwise I’m happy with my camera and a world full of life to enjoy. I still bake bread and love to cook so if the day is windy or damp it’s a good excuse to stay indoors and make yummy things to share. Yesterday I got out my little pasta roller and made whole wheat fettucini. We have fresh fish, shrimp, lobsters, scallops, crab, a heaven of seafood, so next week I’ll make crab ravioli and have friends over for dinner. We can get homemade tamales, chili relleños, tortillas, and so much more.  What’s not to like?

My home away from home –

I don’t feel isolated at all and do keep my AT&T cellphone charged just in case.but it almost never rings except when my son Peter in Germany has his kids talk with me, or we get on Skype. I only receive enough texts from my other kids to know they are doing fine. Mexican internet is great, even though I still pay for my Verizon wifi in order to keep the good plan with them. I can stay up to date with the outside world, getting all my news podcasts every morning, broadcast news at night, and my favorite weekly radio shows. I love to have them on my mp3 player so I can listen while I work or go wandering. I try to walk three miles each day, sometimes much more. It’s almost as good as the cardiac rehab I had at the hospital and except for the usual aches and pains of aging I feel pretty healthy.

Every day really is a gift and I know how blessed I am. My niece Lisa in Seattle sent me a holiday picture of my sister Lee. She’s only two years older than me but has full-blown dementia and is in a long-term care facility. My kids should be as grateful as I am that I’m not like that! I keep thinking how wonderful it is that I spent summer before last sorting my lifetime of accumulation and packed up my big houseful of “stuff” to donate, sell off, store, send to my kids or throw away. I sure wouldn’t want them to have to do it when I’m gone. It was a huge chore and I don’t ever want to do it again, don’t think I even have the strength left to haul all those boxes around. I’m very conscious that I’m almost 70 years old and treasure my freedom and independence, desire the luxury of empty wide open spans of time above all else. Each morning I love knowing that I can do whatever pleases me, or nothing at all. If I could, I would send such a gift to all the people I love for the New Year. I spent too many years being busy, running here and there, earning money and being responsible, pursuing productivity and feeling accomplished when I could manage ten things at the same time. I’m glad that I passed that stage and have graduated to another happier and more peaceful time.

My favorite birds –

Random beach shots from up north –

Beach shots from here –

My favorite beach buddies, Bob and Jan –