Kino Bay Trip with the Mexican Connection - Part l

We made an one night stop at Picacho Peak State Park. It is a very pretty campground set against the now very green hills. We got there late in the day and left for Tucson in the morning but plan to stay there another time when we can stay longer.

We arrived at Pima County Fairgrounds in Tucson for the pre ralley of our trip to Kino Bay with Chapter 8 Mexican Connection. One of the days there was to get visas down in Nogales. It was farther south than we thought. We should have gotten the visas when in the Yuma area where the border is a very short drive. Our group was smaller this time with around 50 people. A lot of the people we spent time with the last few trips didn't come this time for various reasons but we got to meet some nice new folks as well as got to know some of the other returnees a little better.
The trip down was interesting. Our group was the last one and we were the tailgunners for it. The border crossing was very easy and we got through with ease. We did have one problem on the way to our first stop. We had stopped for a break and one of our group's rigs wouldn't start. We weren't able to jump start it and ended up calling a mechanic who came out and was able to get it started. This cost us a few hours. However, we finally made it to Rancho Betania, a church run campground that is on the way to our 300 mile trip to Kino Bay. They put on a nice Mexican dinner for us.

The next day we continued on our way and finally made it to Kino Bay, which is about 60 miles southwest of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. Kino Bay RV Park is in the new section of Kino Bay and is across the street from the beach. This section of town has a lot of nice homes on the beach side of the street and a few restaurants, including Jorge's which is just across the street from the park. The park is a winter home to many retirees from the US and Canada. Some of the sites have decked out patios and casitas which are very nice.

Our first night we went over to Club Deportivo's happy hour. Club Deportivo was established in 1977
and is a social club for those who spent part or all of their time in the Kino Bay area. They also offer the only 24/7 Rescue service, the only one of its kind in Mexico and are very involved with charities in this area. As the Mexican Connection is also involved with charities in Mexico this was a good fit.
They were also a great help in organizing a few outings for our group. There isn't as much to do in this area as the other places we have been in Mexico and so this was very helpful.
As I mentioned before, we are right across the street from the beach and we took daily walks on the beach which we had almost to ourselves during the weekdays. We took a long walk with our friends from Jojoba Hills, Richard and Ann. Their dog, Rusty, and Savannah had fun off lease on the beach.
Savannah is a real beach girl. She runs straight to the water to get her paws wet and then rolls around in the sand.

We went out to eat a number of times with different members of the group, including Jorge's, which was across the street and a restaurant, Mariscos Bahia, near Old Kino on the beach. Joe and I had dinner by ourselves for Valentine's Day at a great little restaurant at the Casablanca Hotel. We both had Fish Piccata with a great sauce and rice with lime and cilantro and a delicious flan with an orange sauce. When we got here we were a little disappointed to find out it wasn't shrimp season this far down. We had some great shrimp our last trips in the Baja area and had planned on buying a bunch of it to take back home. Oh well, next year when we go to Puerto Penasco.

The next blog post will feature some of our side trips, including a 4 Wheel Drive trip and a bus trip to Hermosillo. Stay tuned.