February 18th

Meagan’s birthday today!  We unsuccessfully tried Facetiming with her a few times, but the wonky wi-fi would not even permit audio only.  In the end, we bit the bullet, turned on Nancy’s cell and made the call on Telcel.  What ever it costs is worth it to talk with our daughter on her birthday.  Three feet of snow and -38 in GR, chilly here at 23 with a cool ocean breeze.

The road to 'Choya"

The Reef RV Park is a coupe of miles west of Puerto Penasco, literally, on a big sand dune.  The pure sand road is watered and graded daily; it also allows access to Choya, an american development out on the point to our west.  The Reef “Get Wrecked at the Reef!!" also has a large bar and restaurant.  It caters to recreational americans, who pile in on the weekends, toy haulers and trailers disgorging quads, side-by-sides, sand buggies, and motorcycles.  They spend the weekend ripping around on the extensive dune systems to the north of us.  There’s 2 or 3 tandem hang-glider trikes that give expensive rides all weekend, with flight patterns that would give the FAA nightmares. Most flights include a low-level buzz of the waterfront/campers, often less than 40 feet over the row of motorhomes.  Sunday night/Monday morning they all go home, leaving the park in quiet, to the snowbirds. When the sea haze clears at dusk, you can see mountains on the western horizon, in Baja, I think.  The tidal range here is extreme, from 15 to 27 feet (9 metres), depending.  The Bay of Fundy looks more impressive, due to the extensive tidal flats, but the tides here are nearly as extreme.  Nancy & Kirk were out at low tide, last night, supervising some clammers.  She tried fishing, but the wave action defeated her flat water setup.  Wilson’s Plovers, Willlets, Oystercatchers, Snowy Egrets, Blue Herrons and a myriad of gulls, Brown Pelicans, and Cormorants make a living on the beach out front.  Nancy also wanted me to mention she enjoyed watching a pod of dolphins playing/fishing in the surf out front the day we arrived.