Snowbird 101: Arizona in Winter, So Much to See and Do

It's not just that there is a lot to do, but you get to do it in warm, pleasant weather (once January is over).  While you can frequently wear shorts and flip-flops, the news from back home is it's cold...gray, dreary i.e. not Arizona.

Snowbirds head south in winter, so do most all other birds.  A favorite place to find birds is Patagonia Lake State Park, just east of Nogales.  We could usually count on stopping there anytime without a reservation.  It grows in popularity every year.  This year we arrived to learn the park was full.  Additional RV parks and a few Forest Service campgrounds are in the area.

Professional ornithologists lead bird walks every Wednesday and Friday

You might see a vermilion fly catcher. 

And for years we looked in the mesquite and hack berry forest for the resident elegant trogon.   Sadly, as of 2018 the trogon has vanished (likely dead).  Because the trogon is at the far north end of its range, Patagonia Lake drew lots of birders for a chance to add this rare bird to their life list.

Beautiful cinnamon teal are just one of a dozen duck species to winter in Patagonia.

10,000 sandhill cranes are said to winter west of the Mississippi.  An estimated 8,000 are said to winter in the valley south of Wilcox.  Any given day, you can see thousands of Sandies lolling around Whitewater Draw, just north of Douglas.

The sounds of 100s of cranes calling will provoke something like rapture in birders.

There are dozens of ghost towns in Arizona, and locating ghost towns is a good way to locate boondocking campsites.   

The bottle house in Rhyolite, Nevada, not technically in Arizona, but on the way to AZ right outside Beatty, Nevada and on the road into the northern end of Death Valley.  Worth a look.

When we took up snowbirding, Susan took up the guitar.  Now six years into it, she as gotten very good at entertaining me around happy hour.  This is my favorite picture of her/guitar in  hand.  I consider it the cover art for her first album.

The OK Corral shoot out re-enactment in Tombstone is very entertaining.

Wait for the stars...or lights to come out at night (Lake Havasu).

Take in the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show starting late January into the middle of February, said to be the biggest such show on earth. 

The view from Gilbert Ray County Park, west of Tucson, only $20/night with water and electric hookup.  Easy access to Old Tucson film studio, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park. 

You can count on a great sunset, just about every evening.

And if you can at all help it, don't miss a visit to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument for some of the finest desert scenery in Arizona, a great campground ($8/night with your Senior Pass) and really good jumping off point for a trip into Mexico.  See post regarding trip to Puerto Penasco for details on an easy trip to Mexico.  Located an hour south of Gila Bend on Highway 85, we frequently make it one of our first stops in Arizona and the last on our way north.

Organ Pipe Cactus NM is the farthest north home to this over-sized cacti, the signature cacti of the Sonoran desert.  If you can time your visit to see the Organ Pipe and Saguaro blooming (any time from late April to early June, depending...) you won't regret it.

  The blooms open at night and are gone by the next day.

Raw desert beauty in every direction.

The OPC National Monument was established in the 1930s.  Several large cattle ranches were purchased and then allowed to revert to wilderness.  There are only two loop roads through the monument, the rest only accessible by foot.  The diversity and quantity of desert flora is unlike any other place we have seen in Arizona; which is a testament to how much is lost when cattle are turned out to graze. 

The occasional winter storm front stirs up the moodiness of the Ajo Mountains. 

The curtain falls on another perfect 70 degree winter day.

End that perfect day with some rousing songs around the campfire.

Snowbird 101: Entering Mexico

Basic things you need to know about driving into Mexico.

Bring your passport, proof of vehicle/RV ownership and a valid Mexican auto/RV insurance policy.  If you are bringing a dog, bring as a minimum, proof of rabies vaccination. (Cats...well that is another story.)  

Don't bring guns or ammunition without a permit.

I borrowed some of these slides from my Traveling in Baja presentation from 2017.  First the peso exchange rate as of 6/14/2018 is 20.85 pesos to the dollar.  Dollars are accepted all over Baja and Sonora but beware when paying in dollars you may not get a competitive exchange rate.  I try to buy pesos or withdraw cash in pesos from ATMs whenever possible.

Two paper work issues you need to be aware of Tourist Visas (Mexican acronym FMM) and Vehicle Importation Permits.  An FMM costs 500 persos ($24) and is valid for 180 days.

Tourist Visa:If you are driving into Baja and will be more than 75 miles below the border, or in Mexico for more than 7 days, you need one FMM per person.  The FMM can be purchased at the border in Baja or ordered on-line.  If flying into either Baja or Sonora, your airline will handle the FMM for you.

If you are driving into Sonora and will be in the "No Hassle" zone (see map below) you don't need an FMM.  If you proceed beyond the No Hassle zone there is a checkpoint at Empalme, below Guyamas where you be required to obtain the FMM.

Vehicle Import permit: Not required in Baja.  In Sonora, you must stop at the checkpoint 20 Km below Nogales and register for a free Vehicle Import permit.  If you travel a route that bypasses the Nogales checkpoint, you will be required to stop at Empalme, to obtain proper Vehicle and Tourist Permits.  

We traveled within the Sonoran No Hassle zone without either an FMM or a Vehicle Import permit.  We had no contact with the Police, Federales or local, and thus had no clue what would have happened if we didn't produce the free Vehicle Import permit. 

Mexico uses International highway symbols.

Military Checkpoints are common in Baja (about every 150 miles) and can be quite intrusive.  Armed military personnel may ask to inspect the interior of your RV, to the point of opening/probing inside of every cabinet.  Sonora has fewer checkpoints.  Expect one on the outskirts of San Luis Rio Colorado on Highway 2 (with corresponding traffic back-up/delays). 

Drive appropriate to the road conditions at all times.

The worst thing about driving in Mexico.  On minor roadways, there are very narrow lanes, no shoulders and frequently dangerous/deadly drop-offs on eroding road edges.  Be aware: slow down to a speed appropriate to the roadway.  Narrow lanes, lack of shoulder, steep drop-offs are a major cause of accidents and vehicle or RV damage.

Be aware of seasonal creek crossings VADOs and speed bumps TOPEs.  I didn't see too many topes in Sonora, but there were three sets of them in Nuevo Kino.  One almost cost me my front suspension leaving NK, so pay particular attention anytime entering or leaving a small town/village.

Be familiar with special conditions within the "no hassle" zone and know you will have additional visa and vehicle paperwork requirements to keep legal once you proceed south of the NH zone.   Know your route ahead of time if possible.  Gathering current road condition information once on the road in Mexico is not always possible.

Snowbird 101: Great first trip to Mexico -- Puerto Penasco

You're ready to try a trip into Mexico.  You're right on the border in Organ Pipe Cactus NM, why not for it!

Head out of the National Monument campground and turn right.  Five miles to the Border Crossing in Lukeville, you're on your way.  Oh, don't forget to take your passport.  Stop at the Quickstop in Lukeville to buy Mexican auto insurance if you haven't already purchased a policy.  Follow the signs through Sonoyta for Puerto Penasco and you've got it made.

Follow Mx Highway 8 through Sonoyta watching for signs directing you to Puerto Penasco.  You will make a left at the intersection with Mexico 2 and a right onto Mexico 8 a block later then straight ahead to Puerto Penasco.

Approaching the border crossing into Sonoyta.

The crossing at Lukeville is pretty hit or miss.  Typically you will be asked if you have anything to declare.  Unless you are a professional exporter with resale goods, you will have nothing to declare.  Chances are you be waved through without stopping.  I have a cover over the bed of my pickup and if I get stopped, it will be to open the cover to show what is in the bed.  I have yet to have Mexico Customs ask to inspect the inside of our trailer.

Gas is no longer the bargain in Mexico it once was.  I recommend filling up in Lukeville if you need gas.  If you drive a diesel truck, be sure to bring ample DEP, it is not easy to find below the border.  As of 6/18/2018 regular gas is just over 20 pesos/liter.  That is ~ $3.75/gallon.  On the same day, at the Lukeville Gastrak you would pay $3.48/gallon.

Puerto Penasco is 60 miles from Lukeville, an easy one hour drive.  It is a good road, built by the American war effort during the early stages of WWII.  Concern over a Japanese submarine blockade of west coast ports resulted in picking Puerto Penasco as a potential supply base for incoming/outgoing goods to our allies/forward bases in the South Pacific and ANZA.  This map shows PP's proximity to Tucson and Phoenix.

Arizonans refer to Puerto Penasco as Rocky Point, the rock outcrop at the upper left.  There is a sizable America ex-pat community out there that dates back to the 1920s and includes such colorful residents as Al Capone in the day.  

Enjoying the fine food and views from La Casa del Capitan on the bluff overlooking the harbor and Bahia Penasco.

The background "Sandy Beach" is home to high rise condos (and some derelict building projects victims of the 2009 real estate crash) and three of the four beach front RV parks.

We like to stay at the simple beach front camp "Concha del Mar."  For $12/day you get a parking place close to the beach (if you want front line plan to arrive in October or early November) access to reasonable bathrooms/shower rooms and 24 hr. security.  For small fees the proprietors will empty your holding tanks, refill your fresh water or arrange for any number of other services at ridiculously affordable Mexican labor rates. 

This is what you became a Snowbird for -- warm winter days, plenty of sand and sun and a life-time supply of Canadians (many bitching about the price of oil).

You'll wonder why didn't I do this sooner.

The Concha del Mar "parking lot" is really very haphazard.

In our many stays we have at best had a "peek-a-boo" view of the water.

Next door to Concha del Mar is Play Bonita, a much more regulated and more 'high-brow' RV park.  Full hook ups run $25/day with weekly and monthly rates priced accordingly.

Playa del Oro is on the south side of town seems fairly laid back with a very nice beach.  The Canadians were swimming in the ocean the day we investigated, even though it was only 70 degrees and the water temp in the 60s.

There are many long-term resident Snowbirds in Playa del Oro testifying to its chummy vibe.  Rates are similar to Playa Bonita.

Way out towards the tip of Rocky Point lies the newest RV camp, "The Reef."  You get a little more exposure to the ocean, less crowding, but at the cost of being far from town.  There are two Cantinas next-door so you are not totally withdrawn from civilization.  Prices similar to Bonita and del Oro.  A Cruise Ship dock is going in next door, so it remains to be seen how that will impact the currently peaceful, wide open beach setting.

Winter 2018 saw several front roll through Puerto Penasco.  Mostly just stirred up the sand.  Here we and our friends Cathy and Andy Graetz from British Columbia are trying to block the wind with our trucks.

Snowbirds should not have to put up with more than two or three days of unpleasant weather, after all we didn't come here to sit in our trailers and read books...

We heard lots of good things about San Carlos, near Guaymas, from travelers along the way.  Question was what were the roads like between Puerto Penasco and San Carlos.  Since nobody could get accurate information about the state of Highway 3 from Puerto Penasco to San Carlos fellow Snowbirds at Concha del Mar were going to go miles out of their way to backtrack to Santa
Ana to pick up the toll road south towards Guaymas.  We decided to chance it and take Highway 3 on the word of a couple locals who said the road was in good shape.  Heck, if it has pavement what is the problem?

It wasn't the worst road I've ever been on.  One stretch was under construction with no signage to tell you which fork in the road to take.  One section between Puerto Libertad and El Panuelito had potholes big enough to blow a tire or two.

But it did pass through some incredibly beautiful coastal scenery.  One little fishing village, Puerto de Lobos looked especially deserving of a repeat visit.