San Carlos: Beachin' and Site-seeing

In a coastal town like San Carlos, there are a lot of beaches. For a little fee, you can visit primo spots. One of them is known as Los Algodones beach. It was a chilly day so we only put our feet into the water. But, we had a relaxing time as the gentle waves rolled in. The seagulls realized we had a lunch with us and we not going to leave us alone haha. Pretty soon there were a couple of dozen beaked beggars hoovering around us! Part of the beach behind us was a sand dune hill, so of course we raced each other down it repeatedly.

Mermaid moment  :)

*Insert "Seagulls, Stop it Now" song:
This is funny if you actually know the song lol.

On the drive back to our condo we detoured to an overlook called "Vista Point." There were some great views from up there. As I stood there I couldn't help but think how cool it would be to climb up one of those peaks to get some more elevation. Maybe research a hike while we are here?

There were some days we didn't go out. We just played and relaxed around the beach in front of the condo. One fortunate day, a really nice guy offered to loan us his paddle-board. Of course we exclaimed, "Yes!" Off Ava and I went to explore three nearby shallow(ish) coves, playing safe in the big, wide ocean.....

 The water and air was so warm in the coves. Ava paddled and I peered. Vise-versa. We covered much more area that way. Ava counted over 10 sting rays. We saw lots of different kinds of fish, shells, and star fish. Getting out of our desert rat comfort zone into the larger fish bowl ;)

We made it a point to see the sunset from the beach every night. Lovely December evenings.

San Carlos, Mexico Holiday

We decided to do something different this year for the holidays. We wanted to make memories and have adventures instead of collecting more things. Bryan and I honeymooned at a cute coastal town called San Carlos, Mexico back in 2004. We decided to return with our brood. Five passports and 16 hours later we were back at the same condos we'd stayed at before, La Posada. It was the off-season so it felt like we almost had the whole place to ourselves!

After the long drive it felt great to stretch out on the beach.
This view would be our "home-base" for the next 12 days!

Practicing Wu Wei ~ "The ancient art of non-doing." 

We were greeted with a warm, Sea of Cortez sunset....... 

View from our condo balcony. The pool wasn't heated so we didn't use it much. The ocean water was warmer and there was a small warm tub that we used almost everyday.

The town had most of the amenities we needed. We stocked up on groceries at the local market and got a feel for the town. The local marina and shops were one of the tourist attractions. It was an educational, cultural experience especially for the kids this being their first time to Mexico. We were really going to "see" and explore it here. We were really looking forward to being here for a long stay. Isaac got really good at converting dollars to pesos and he knew when we were not getting a good deal on something haha.

Willow made sure to bring her mermaid suit. Isaac gave us a good laugh when he put it on too lol.

We cooked in our condo most of our stay. Bryan got some fresh fish from a local fisherman. We ate a lot of beans and tortillas. We treated ourselves to the local restaurants occasionally.

"Feliz Navidad!" from the beach of Old Mexico!

There was a nice restaurant/bar on the beach next door. We had an option for pina coladas if we got caught in the rain. Or mix it up like a sunset in the sky.

Bryan, Ava, and Isaac got some good snorkeling in for as long as they could stand the chilled water. There was a lot to see just in the rock outcrops next to the condo. Really neat.

Stormy morning waves lured Ava into the water......

We soaked up the sun as much as we could during the week. Most days were as colorful and bright as this 6 year old I know ;)

San Carlos, Mexico ~ where the desert kisses the sea.

Our vacation had begun!