First Time Out

This trip to Jamaica revived memories of my trip to Puerto Peñasco some years ago. I was then either nearly done with high school or just beginning junior college. In any case I was 18, which I found was enough for me to be able to drink. I didn't do a tremendous amount of that, since I was with my family. I do think I had a little at some bar, which I seem to recall being owned or managed by an American. There was a lot of that there.

In mentioning that trip as my only one out of the country, I'm always quick to make mention of the fact that they had my hometown newspaper available for sail just as early in the morning as it seemed to be available back home. I gave that as evidence that it wasn't truly a trip out of the country in any meaningful sense. I didn't actually buy a copy, but in retrospect a Mexican Arizona Republic would be a novel keepsake.

I remember the sand fairly well. We had a nice little house to stay in, and while we had to walk a bit to the beach, that wasn't so bad. What I didn't really enjoy was the sand, which seemed to be all about the house. It maybe wouldn't have been so bad on wood floors, but the feel and sound of sand on tile was very bothersome. I imagine it was just impossible to prevent, because it was like that when we showed up.

I don't believe I went in the water. I did spend time on the beach, which was memorable for two things. Firstly, Rocky Point (as Puerto Peñasco is also known) comes by its name honestly. The beach is littered with rocks, and going barefoot there is inadvisable even under ideal weather conditions. The other memorable thing was the scores of people wandering around selling things on the beach. We did not buy.

There was more to the trip, including ATV riding, but some things are not as sharp in my mind as they were then. I would not be against a return trip now that I am grown up. It seems fair to grant the place that much considering I did the same for Las Vegas. Las Vegas may not have improved any in my estimation from another examination, but I suspect that Puerto Peñasco could very likely be another story.