Kino Bay Trip - Part ll

Kino Bay is a small town with not a lot to do but we did manage to do some exploring. Some of the people from Club Deportivo organized a light weight 4 wheel drive outing. It was a nice drive including some time driving right on the beach which is always fun, Part of the beach drive included a stop at the Christmas Tree shown in the picture below with Joe and I.

Another day we attended a Seri festival which was originally going to be at a later time but they held it sooner as they hear that our large group would be in town. The Seri Indians have been in the Sonora region of Mexico for at least 500 years. They are well known for their beautiful basket work and carvings made of ironwood. We bought a small carving while at the fair. We also checked out the Museum which had lot of its history and examples of their basket work.

Club Deportivo also organized a trip for our group into Hermosillo, the nearest large city from Kino Bay. We took the hour or so drive into the city and then transferred to a tour bus.

1. Hermosillo is a city located centrally in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the capital and main economic center for the state and region. It contains almost all of the state's manufacturing and has seventy percent of its population. Wikipedia

We had a guide who gave us info on the city. Some of our stops included a bakery, Coyota Dona Maria, where we watched them make coyotas, which are pastries with a molasses based filling. They then add different ingridents, such as apples, coconut, nuts,etc Of course we bought some to take back home with us. We saw the Zaragoza Plaza, the /Government Plaza and the wonderful old buildings of the city. We also had a lunch at Xochimilco, a steak house which specializes in carne asada. A whole wall was dedicated to the grilling of large slabs of meat. It was pretty tasty.

Of course, part of the Mexican Connections purpose, besides giving people an opportunity to see what traveling in Mexico is like is Charity. Everyone brings clothing, school supplies, kitchen items, wheelchairs, etc from the US to give to worthy causes in the area we stay at. We also have a live and silent auction to raise money for the needy in the area. This year, Joe was one of the bartenders serving margaritas and wine to get people in the mood to bid on the items up for auction. I was one of the registration people who signed then up and gave them their paddle for bidding. We then had to write down the names, item and cost of each winning bid and collect the money after the auction was over.  It was pretty successful, especially considering we had a smaller group this time.

We had a pretty good time this week, meeting new people and getting to know some we already knew a little better, a few trips, lots of good food, and just relaxing time on the beach. Now we are headed back to So Cal for a Celebration of Life for my Dad and then back to Tucson for the Escapade in March.