A Slice of Life in San Carlos | Sonora | Mexico

Dogs at the beach!  They love it, get to socialize with other dogs, and they don't have to find a doggy park.   Most beaches in the States are off limits to dogs.

The area I live in is mostly dirt roads and the majority of dogs have the run of the area, but stay close to home.  This is a typical photo of Mexican dogs - taking a nap wherever they feel like it.  You do get used to it......

I watched two men clear this lot next to my RV site.  It took them 2 days with shovels and a machete to get it cleared for construction.

This photo and the next shows construction on a road that is quite heavily trafficked.  Only one man has been working on this area, using shovels and other tools.  He uses whatever he can find to block off traffic on the spots he works on.

 

We do have lots of beauty here - I was just waiting for a friend to open the gate to her house when I snapped this with my cell phone. 

 

This shot was taken at the beach while dolphins were playing in the water.  I got a few shots of just fins breaking the surface, and finally got a tail shot.  He was quite far away.

 

 

And this is what life is like in San Carlos, Mexico - very relaxed and laid-back. 

 

 

Cow Plop Bingo | San Carlos | Sonora | Mexico

 

I had never heard of Cow Plop Bingo until I came to San Carlos in Mexico.  Now I know what it is and how it works, although I don't know if anyone else does this.  Above, you can see the grid laid out in squares which corresponds to the chart below - which has numbers randomly placed in all the squares.  Numbered tickets were sold, corresponding to the numbers on this chart.

 

 

While everyone was arriving and socializing, lunch was being prepared by the Rotary Club, who sponsors this event.  Ribs, beans and hot dogs were on the menu, along with soft drinks and harder drinks.  Hot dogs were served with your choice of chopped tomatoes (they looked like they may have had a bit of heat added), mayonnaise, onions, ketchup, mustard - any or all of it.

 

 

Even the smallest kids were on horses.

 



 

These two were dancing to the music that was playing between the plopping events.

 

 

This guy was really good - snagging that piece of branch multiple times with the lasso.  I was wondering how they kept the cows from wandering off the grid and into the crowd.  This guy is the main reason they were under control during this event, as well as some of the others from the local ranch. 

 

When the cows came out, they were under control with a lasso around their neck and another cowboy had a line around one of the cow's back feet.

Then, the cow was able to move around the grid until he produced a plop in one of the squares, which was then located on the chart shown.  The winner of the grid that was plopped upon won 5000 pesos, about $230 US dollars.  Three different cows were brought out for the event.  

 

 

The first two cows were taken off to a nearby stretch of land to be released to find their way home. 

 

 

The last cow actually had the hardest time producing anything.

 

He was out there for almost a half hour while the cowboys were moving him around the grid. 

He was not a happy camper and I was feeling sorry for him.  Finally, he squeezed out something and they let him go.  The event was over and that was one happy animal!

 

Abandoned Buildings | San Carlos | Sonora | Mexico

 

For some strange reason, I have always been intrigued by abandoned buildings, I feel the need to explore and photograph them.  I find them in almost every area I travel in. These two buildings are on the outskirts of San Carlos, near the Pilar Condominiums. 

 

 

This one sits up on a hill, accessible by a road that has been deteriorating for decades. 

 

The views from the building are beautiful.

 

 

 

This may have been a sales office for a failed condo site or something, since neither of these buildings seem as if they had been a house.

 

 

 

This one close by looks like a small house, but surrounded by bushes - with thorns! 

 

 

The next photo shows a shopping center outside of town.  There are For Rent signs in most of the units and there may be one shop open.

 

 

 

This is on the road into town, and apparently, we are still welcome there.

 

 

We are welcome here also, but there's no driveway - just a fence.

 

The next photo is an apartment building not too far from the marina in town.  I'm not sure what happened to it, but I do like the cactus growing on the roof - see the closeup in the following photo.

I'm not sure what happened to the supermarket, which was close to the apartment building.  I didn't check to see if the pay phone still works - they certainly are rare.

This last photo is the back side of the apartment building.  There is a pile of building material that has been pulled out of the building now.  I don't know if they are going to tear it down or try to rebuild.  Again, cactus growing on the roof.

 



 

 

Pajama Parade | San Carlos | Sonora | Mexico

 

Everyone knows about pajama parties, right?  San Carlos has taken that concept a step further and plans a pajama parade on New Year's Day each year. 

 

 

This event is sponsored by the Sons of Freedom, a motorcycle club here in San Carlos.  Everyone meets at Delfine's, a popular restaurant.

 

Everyone is dressed in some version of what they consider their pajamas.

 

 

If you look at the left side of this next photo, you'll notice that we even had a police escort.  They blocked off the side streets for us also.

 

It was a bit chilly, but there were some people riding in the back of a pickup truck, as well as convertibles.

 

 

 

There were all types of vehicles, this Suburban I was riding in had been chopped a bit.

 

We arrived at Hammerhead's, another popular restaurant, for a while so people could refresh their drinks and socialize and then the crowd went to El Mar for breakfast and costume judging.

 

Obviously, San Carlos is a unique community!