January 26, 2007 – El Mirador RV Park, Playa Huatabampito, Sonora. http://elmirador.tripod.com. We really did plan on getting to Playa Las Glorias near Los Mochis, but we were slow getting started this morning, and then we went into Guaymas to shop at the Ley, and it soon became clear that we weren’t going to get anywhere near Las Glorias before dark. R saw a sign on Hwy. 15 advertising this RV park, so we turned right off the highway at Navajoa and found our way down here.

Along the way, we saw a few horses tied here and there along the side of the road, and even one by the edge of a field, harnessed to a cart. There was a woman in layers of bright clothing, loading produce into the cart. At another place, herd of goats browsed next to the highway (where the grass is always greener, insists R). There were moments when we both thought we had wandered off on the wrong road, so we asked directions and we asked directions, and at about 4:30 this afternoon, all of a sudden we were here. The park is right on the beach (right on the beach. The rig is full of sand ;>). There is a hotel beside it (five rooms) with a restaurant and bar. Our $18 beachfront site came with electricity, sewer, city water that isn’t working, and a free drink at the bar. We passed on the drink and went for a walk on the beach right at sunset. It was very lovely, if a little cool.

Our next-door neighbour Jim introduced us to his wife, Carol, and their sixteen-year old Chihuahua, and also to Liz, the extremely friendly black dog that they found in Arizona two years ago. Liz has the coldest, wettest nose in all of dogdom, and she’s a leaner. Then Jim went inside his rig and brought out Ritah, a four-week old spaniel(?) puppy who was rescued from the surf a couple of days ago by another couple staying at the park. Jim and Carol adopted her instantly and took on the job of bottle feeding her. They figure somebody had just thrown her into the sea, that being the all-too-common fate of female puppies around here. Jim told us that the two rather pretty strays that were hanging around were nice dogs. They didn’t want to be touched, and they weren’t keen on little kids, but other than that they were fine. He was right. A third soon joined them. The three could even be from the same litter. They’re maybe a year old, if that. When we had had our walk, R took some leftover chicken out to feed the three strays. Later, while he was out talking to another neighbour, I found some sausages in the fridge and gave each of the dogs a bit. Now we’re both inside, and we can hear them playing out on the beach.

I washed the dishes and was getting ready to close the curtains when I realized that the sunset we had thought was over wasn’t, really. The sun had gone below the horizon, and most of the sky was pretty dark, but the colour on the western horizon was a very beautiful deep coral. I turned off the lights and sat in the dark, watching the coral until it was gone.

Well, I haven’t heard anybody yelling “Hey, the water’s working!” So we will probably be out of here tomorrow. We have enough water to manage tonight, but not enough for an extended stay. It’s about six hundred kilometers from here to Mazatlan, so if we want to get there tomorrow, we’ll have to leave early.

By the way, Jim also told us that another couple had just been through, traveling north from Las Glorias (where we were trying to go), and they said it was great, except they were covered with sand flea bites. Whew. Saved by our own slowness.