Have you ever had one of those days? Well, we certainly did today. According to the San Carlos website, “The Delfinario Sonora offers demonstrations with dolphins and sea lions, that include information about the biology and the evolution of these creatures. There are currently four Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin and two California Sea Lions in residence.” They also say they are open every day except Monday, so we thought we would go to the 11am show and check it out. Well, some of the information on the website may be true, however, it is only open to school groups Monday – Friday, so we missed that opportunity.
Since we weren’t planning to stay in San Carlos until Saturday, we decided to go ahead and drive to Kino Bay. There are two roads to Kino Bay and we opted for the shorter road. Wrong. Shorter maybe in distance, but not in time! We turned off the toll road and soon discovered potholes and rough pavement. We had 45 miles of this mess which certainly took longer than 75 miles on a good road!
Kino Bay was founded in 1920 as a fishing camp and is geographically divided into two parts: Kino Viejo, the old fishing village, and New Kino, where majority of the homes, hotels, and restaurants are located. We stopped in Kino Viejo for lunch and a walk out on the pier. We had a greeting committee who kept a close eye on the fishermen.
After lunch we drove on to New Kino to look for a good spot to camp for the night since most of the area around Kino Viejo had little beach access. In New Kino, we met a lovely couple, Tom and Carolyn, from Arizona who have actually retired to Puerto Penasco, Mexico. We spent the afternoon visiting. At 5pm we realized we needed to get a move on and find a spot for the night so we said our goodbyes and headed out.
So, what does it take to get a motorhome out of the sand? Well, we found out that the phone number listed for our Good Sam Emergency Road Service for Mexico doesn’t work! So, we tried letting air out of the tires, no luck there, either. Two nice Mexicans in a pickup truck tried to pull us out and we ended up even deeper in the sand. In desperation, we tried the Green Angels, a free Mexican roadside assistance, but got no answer. We are getting closer to the border and earlier today I saw a sign that said, “911 works just like home.” I tried it and the operator spoke very little English, but I was able to convey our location and our plight. I “think” she said she would send help. Soon a Police truck came by and checked us out, it seemed like he just happened by. He had a tow strap and thought he could pull us out. We are much bigger than him, no dice! By now, 3 more locals are helping dig, push and whatever. Then a fellow from New Mexico who lives here happens by with his son and grandson. He speaks Spanish and has a chain. He acts as the coordinator as we try to figure out what to do. More spectators show up and this is becoming quite the scene. Along comes a city bus and he watches for a while and decides he should have a go at it. Well, bus trumps a motorhome and we got out. We all had a good laugh and all I can say is you probably couldn’t get that much help in the States, especially the bus.
And, just so you don’t think we are total idiots, we were not driving on the beach. We pulled into one of the beach access pullouts where we had seen several trucks and cars parked earlier. We thought it would be a good overnight camping area and just happened to hit a soft spot. In all the excitement, Sue forgot to get the camera out and take pictures of our predicament! Just use your imagination to see an 11,500 pound RV up to its axels in sand, tailpipe buried, and tilting at a strange angle.
Okay, so the RV is out of the sand, the scooter is reloaded, and we are parked for the night.
Today’s drive took us 139 miles. 
1 comment:
I have driven a motorhome on a beach and did get stuck. I feel your pain!
Post a Comment