“Mexico 🇲🇽 ~Part 1 of 2 Lazy Dayzzz on the Gulf of California at The Reef RV Park in Puerto Penasco/Rocky Point”

• October 8, 2023
• By Pen
• 0 Comment

Rocky Point/Puerto Penasco, Mexico 🇲🇽

….Apparently, we arrived at The Reef RV Park mid-week, and ahead of the crowds here, for October.

It’s only our first weekend, since arriving, so we have no idea if the people who arrived after us are here long-term, or short-term, but Daryl did talk to one group, who come each year and build homes through the “Homes for Habitat” program.

Our next-door neighbors on one side are a very nice family on their vacation, and have come here before. They have four kids and four big dogs. All well mannered, (dogs) and great entertainment (the kiddos) for us, for sure. Kids have a blast, here! 

It really is a great spot for families with kids. The water here on the Gulf is pretty warm, and not cold like the Pacific Ocean side is. The beach does have a combination of sharp rocks and sand, at the waters edge, so everybody needs to be careful, while at play. Paddle boards and kayaks are popular, as the water is very shallow for a long ways out.

 Showing the tide being out

⬆️ I bought a memento from a vendor on the beach, which is a nice addition, inside The Whale, for now. A seashell wind chime. It’s honestly so windy in the later afternoon, here, I’m good with it being inside. In the meantime, we’ve collected enough shells, I want to make another wind chime, with different kind of shells than what I bought.

The weather has been very warm, with lots of sunshine!!! It took a while; two days of our being here, before it started raining! 🤣

It made it very humid, and the small storm passed, soon enough…strangely, before the humid rain, the tide went out further than normal, and stayed out for a day, until the rain passed. Now, the tide came back in.

So yes, by the weekend this place really filled up! We learned it’s a college break in October, so it’s busy, here. It’s a huge property, but being on the beach front access, farthest right from the office, we don’t notice anything much. I only noticed how the spaces filled, when I was up at sunrise taking photos, as I walked away from the beach, behind our rig, as sunrise is the direction across the majority of the park, towards the office. 

Waiting for cooler weather is not a thing, here. According to the gal who gave me a pedicure at our site, she said it is their busy season, starting now, thru November. Christmas month is slow, then after the first of the year it gets busier, again.
BTW, I have not gotten a Pedi for a couple of years. It was very nice!

⬆️

$30 here. I priced a pedi in Las Vegas at $75, which I didn’t do.

We also had workers come to give Jonah and The Whale a bath. (before water shortage) They are both shiny again!!
($80 here: $250 in the states just for The Whale)

Other jobs for The Whale, that are underway, are:

ONE: a new bay door (underneath storage door) that we ordered and had delivered in Oregon, for when we visited there, (thx Debby). It is now being painted to match The Whale, at an off-location site (next to the RV Park) and when it is finished and dry, the guy will put it on, replacing the dented one.

And TWO: We also sustained damage to our skylight in our shower last year, when a limb crashed down on us during a storm, whilst in Barstow, California, and cracked it all the way across.

Daryl also ordered a new skylight and the same guy said he can swap them out, too.

The price doesn’t sound like a huge savings at $500, but to get the same work done in the states, would be a couple grand, by the time we dropped our home off at a shop and would have to stay in a hotel.

⬆️ This lady, named Mary, does massages on her table which she wheels around with her, on the beach, or inside your RV. $45/hour.

We passed on the opportunity, so far. Mexico massages aren’t that great, (no training that we notice) since we’ve tried them before, but who knows, we may decide to give Mary a try.

I’m not saying they are bad, but they are not what we are used to, and we are quite spoiled when it comes to good massages; living all over the world, and indulging in the best of the best. Thai massages are the best. Russian massages, surprising great, as they focus on friction for warmth. Chinese massages, are big nothing burgers. In Mexico, it’s like your sister giving you a light shoulder rub kinda thing.
Anyway, I got her phone number. She is very sweet. 

⬆️ These pictures also reflect just how empty this park was when we got here.

We went to town and ate shrimp tacos and got our pharmacia purchases done and out of the way, so far. The shrimp in this area are quite large, so there are three different sizes to choose from. There are no Lobsters. I was told the sea is not the right sea for them.

We are also stocked-up with good expiration dates again for our medical stores for a long while: Ivermectin, HCQ, Cipro, Z-pack, Penicillin, and my thyroid meds…kind of stuff. I haven’t been to a doctor for eight years, not even when I got Covid. Daryl got me pneumonia medication at the pharmacy. We were in Egypt at the time, in January of 2020.

⬆️ There are so many Pelicans down here

Also up, in the maintenance department for The Whale, was to get her oil and oil filter changed, as well as a service done on the Generator. Our big rig is not an inexpensive machine to take care of, so it’s one of the reasons we come to Mexico; mobile maintenance services here, saves us many hundreds of dollars. We can stay in our home, while work is being done, and the work gets done in short order, too! No appointments necessary. We call and they show up! This guy also changed-out our Agua Hot filter. $80 here (price without oil) and would be $600 to $700 in the states, plus oil. Daryl brought oil with us, purchased in the states, in preparation. We also bought extra fuel and oil filters, prior.

Between the two boxes with door and skylight, plus 26 gallons of oil, which are now out of our basement storage, we have so much more room down there!!!

⬇️ So far, we purchased about four pounds of beautiful fresh shrimp, and feasted on them by barbecue, along with steaks! Yum! We are stocking-up whatever room we have left in our freezers, since our Alaska fishing trips, and we will get to feast in North Carolina, big time with the kiddos, when we get there!!
Our oldest Grandson goes especially bookers for seafood, just like his Mom and his MeMa. ❤️

Everyday a guy drives a propane truck through the RV park, for anybody who needs a propane tank filled. Also a good deal. We definitely topped off!

One little hiccup we’ve had, was the water situation, at The Reef. We did not get notified, but our neighbors shared the info with us and the written message…. How weird the water dried up, but this is exactly why we keep our (over 100 gallons) fresh water tank full, at all times.

The water issue was corrected in just over one day, and no issues, since. The “word on the street” is, the locals around the area, turn off their water at night, to ensure the water built back up for the guests at Rocky Point. As nice as all the locals are here, I think this might be very true.

All that being said, we have not had a single power outage, yet. Last year, further south in San Carlos, we had them, daily.

The internet is non existent for us, though we do have a wifi on our phones. We bought enough hot spot, each, I can work with uploading my photos and publishing blogs. The signal is not strong enough to stream, but can get emails, use the cell phone and check social media. I did watch a “Cold Case Files show on my cell phone. 🤣

Every day around 4:30PM, the birds come around, just off-shore for a feeding frenzy. There are diving birds and pelicans. Whatever is in the waters is aplenty for them to feed off of. Seems like all the birds get their fill and the frenzy is over, in about 15-20 minutes. This area is very popular for shrimp, so maybe that’s what the birds are feeding on.

Our neighbors on the other side, had to leave. The wife wanted to take a peek inside The Whale, before they left. We are always happy to show off our digs. Anyway, they had to leave, we learned, because she told us her husband had a stroke awhile back, and she was afraid he had just had another one. OMG!! She was doing it all; breaking camp. We offered to help get her truck backed-in and hook her up. How very sad. She was sad their camping days were ending.

This spot on the Gulf of California is great for Whale Watching, but February is the month to see that. We don’t normally see anything at this time, though one morning at sunrise I thought I did. I took a picture. It sure looked like one to me. ⬇️

We aren’t ones for repeating visits, to Glamp at the same places, but it might be fun to return here, again, and come during the Whale Migration, as long as we could score beach front property again, because our spot rocks!!!

Several years back, when Daryl proposed to me, after he traveled from California to Texas for a visit (we had only met in Thailand the month before). Anyway, a Hurricane had come through this area of the Gulf, and Texas got a part of that storm, too. Daryl and I had many planned outside activities that we could not do. The storm just raged on, with 24 inches of rain in just one day!
Anyway, here at The Reef, in Mexico, it is evident that the biggest hurricane to ever cross Mexico, did some damage. There is a drop-off now, from the Beach Front camping spots, on to the sandy beach. The erosion that occurred from that storm, definitely changed things up. SO MUCH SAND just went away!

I’m thinking, that if measures are not taken, soon, to shore-up the transition between the camping spots and the beach, the first row, behind the current beach front row, will become the future beach front row.
Currently, at our end of the beach front row, a few spots to our right, have exposed water pipe, since the erosion continues…

….no worries, we are on solid ground right now, but I think it’s a year to year thing at this point, for the right end of the beach front.

As I mentioned, before, about there being a combination of sharp rocks and sand, at the waters edge, it appears there was a time, here, when the sandy beach was much different; way deeper, before that Hurricane. In the past, the jagged rocks were covered in sand.

So we are enjoying each lazy day after the next, while in Mexico. I’ve taken many sunset and sunrise photos, and we enjoy walks on the beach. Mornings are cool and after the sun goes down, it cools off a little, too. Nighttime temps remain around 75 degrees 

Photo Dump to Date:

Each sunrise and sunset is beautiful, here…..

⬆️ Showing the tide out and the rocky spots 

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MEXICO