We got a chance to meet up with Sue and Orwin DeBoer last night. Will and Orwin are DeBoer cousins and we figured out they hadn't seen each other for 11 years. Sue and Orwin live in Escondido, California and came to Tucson for the holiday weekend to spend it with Sue's aunt Arlene--who we got to know at St Andrews church. We made the "Dutch Bingo" connection several years ago when we first met Arlene and Everette Kuizinga. She was so gracious to host our little rendezvous last night.
We asked if we could be served breakfast extra early so we could get an early start on the drive home. Was uneventful, nice day for a drive. Started out actually cloudy and just a few sprinkles of rain but that did not last long and sunshine all the rest of the way. Lunch in Hermosillo at a Kentucky Fried Chicken where we stumbled through ordering our chicken. Couldn't quite figure out the "original" or "crispy" but all in good humor we got what we wanted.
There is a lot to see just walking about town. This old cemetary dates back to 18th century and new section still in use today. This old grave has tree roots that are taking over and moving the stones around.
We drove the road down to the coast of Sea of Cortez and birded the estuary in the dusty little fishing village there. Lots of fisherman hauling thier boats in after a morning of fishing. Shore birds fishing also.
old rock fence that is still in use. Topped by barbed wire now to keep the grazing cattle contained.
We wanted to hike to a spring on the ranch property this morning but trail was so overgrown that we couldn't find our way to the spring. This underbrush is full of stickers and scratchy stuff so we gave up. Nice try, though.
Its suddenly looking like Christmas here at Ranch Acosta. They decorated Thanksgiving day.
Thanksgiving sunrise in Alamos. Our hearts are as full as this splendor with gratitude for how we have been blessed.
A restaurant at another resort served a traditional Thanksgiving meal and we made reservations. It was great food--almost as good as my own Turkey and pumpkin pie my mother would have approved of! And the resort is a beautiful setting, they have been restoring this place and adding to it for 19 years. It's a 5-star resort, really cool. 
This Turkey vulture with wings extended to warm up in the morning sun before air warms enough to soar in the thermals.
The birding has been really fun too. We came upon this big tree and spotted 7 different species in one tree and 5 of them were Mexican birds we wouldn't find in US. The longer we looked, the more birds showed up, what a hoot.
And this Caracara perched on top of cactus is just classic. He's part of the falcon family and is as big and aggressive as he looks. He's pretty much a scavenger, however. We seem them on rare occasions in southeast Arizona but they are common here.
Driving around countryside we see all kinds of living conditions. Now just cause you have simple living conditions doesn't mean you can't enjoy some color. Gotta love it.
We found a bakery in town that still uses an outdoor brick oven to bake thier pastries. They fill it with wood, burn it hot, rake the ashes out of fire box, put in the proofed dough, seal it up and let it cook!
The plaza church
a street, one of many with old colonial archetecture.
That church is the center of town.
Bougainville everywhere. I've never seen such large ones.
These huge hecho cactus in the tropical deciduous forest is why the area around Alamos is considered a protected biological region. And they are enormous. Always think of our saguaros as being huge, until I see these.
