3:10 to Yuma; South to San Carlos

A drive through the desert requires good music and a good radiator.  Traveling east from the second most southwesterly city in America, we turned right at Yuma crossing into Mexico at San Luis Rio Colorado at the three corners of Arizona, California and Sonora.  Night fell and the driving got dangerous on the unlit, two-lane road to Hermosillo, the state capital.  We made it as far as Santa Ana passing by an hour-old head-on between a semi and a bus.  We said a prayer as the firemen directed traffic around the crumpled metal dinosaurs.  The sound of the impact must of been horrific.

     

Santa Ana is where [my wife] Adriana remembers as a child seeing the infamous General’s arm (for which the town is named) preserved in a glass case.  We held up there at midnight in a clean, cheap motel and left the next morning at sunrise.  The toll road was safely divided with two lanes and few cars.  The landscape was lush green – the only evidence we saw of Hurricane Henriette.  It sprinkled enough to clean the crickets and yellow butterflies off our windshield.   

Our first stop was San Carlos, a quaint small port village Americans have transformed since the ‘70’s into their own little enclave.  After visiting the beach area where the hotels, new homes and condos are being build, we wondered through the older neighborhood of cliff-perched large view homes and narrow cobblestone callejons.  Several homes were for sale, one had a sign informing passerbys that it was in litigation and all seemed built by excellent craftsmen and a breathtaking view of the emerald green bay. 

We are looking to meet Americans living in Mexico.  Looking at the cars’ plates – Arizona, Oregon, Minnesota, Idaho, Arkansas–it was obvious a lot of Midwesterners have chosen San Carlos for their Mexican home.  Turning a steep corner, we found ourselves behind a LNG gas truck slowly lumbering down the hill, stop and blocked our way as it arrived at it’s next customer’s home.  Resigned to our fate, Adri, the kids and I got out of the car just started to take a look around when a distinguished lady opened her gate for the propane guys.  Seizing the moment, we had only to explain our mission for Linda to graciously invite us for a tour her spectacular, newly built three story home.  A Colorado native, she had just driven 12 hours yet didn’t hesitate to open her home to strangers passing through.      

 

 

 

Her parents originally purchased a home from Rafael T. Caballero, the town’s founder and apparently negotiated the land out of the ejido’s legal control in the 1970’s.  She couldn’t remember even one title challenge during the forty years her family has owned land (she would have – she’s a retired attorney).  Sitting on bedrock, Linda and her husband designed the entire home and built the structure on top of the original hoe’s foundation using concrete and Styrofoam technology.  Even thought it was scorching outside, the home was cool and comfortable with breath taking views, exceptional architectural features and finish details that made it a home no one would want to leave. 

Unfortunately, it was time for us to leave.  The gas truck had long since left and we had to get back on the road to Puerto Vallarta.  San Carlos impressed us with it’s emerald green waters, September heat and quality homes.  The number of Americans living here would make it an easy transition even while it’s not a high-energy resort town like Cabo or La Paz.  Hermosillo has an international airport, hospitals and big city conveniences little more than an hour away on a safe toll road.  San Carlos may be most underrated place for Americans to live in Mexico that we’ve ever visited.

Do you have an under-rated place you want to share?  Let us know. 

Paul’s Traveler Tip: San Carlos has a water park where guests can swim with dolphins!  If you want to spend more time and less money for this incredible experience to swim with smart mammals that won’t steal your wallet, this is where it!

Linda’s Americans Living in Mexico Tip: Over the years, lot’s of local real estate agents have made terrible reputations for themselves, so be very selective with whom you do business. 

~ by Paul O'Sullivan on September 16, 2007.