Asada Lucas | Puerto Penasco

Wednesday | 14 February 2007 | Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico: Again, the weather is just gorgeous - warm and sunny, with little wind. Early this morning my Dad left a box of Valentine chocolates on the front step for me.  Our neighbor (who has been happily tapping into my wireless internet network) left a pretty Valentine plate with home-baked chocolate cupcakes. Happy Valentines Day!

Mid-morning, hubby went for a run along sandy roads, and I followed on my bike. This was fun for a while, until the sand just became too deep and I kept falling off my bike! Crazy stuff. I wasn't going fast enough to hurt myself. The sand was too deep and soft for much damage and I never crashed... I was always able to land on my feet. Anyway, you know things are not going well when a runner (jogging on deep sand) is traveling faster than you can on a bicycle. Finally, I turned around and headed over to the hard roads. Notice I did not say "paved roads". The roads outside of the town center are not paved; they are graded and a guy (I am not kidding) drives up and down the sand roads all day tamping them down with a heavy tractor-thing. It works remarkably well. Even the paved roads are soon covered with blowing sand here on the point, so paving is probably pointless anyway.

Asada Lucas cook

For lunch we drove over to one of our favorite restaurants in Puerto Penasco - Asada Lucas - for the best grilled chicken available on Our Planet. Long-time readers will recall we visited this restaurant several times during our last visit to Puerto Penasco/Rocky Point. Yes, it is still open-air - but things have improved at Asada Lucas. The dirt floor has been replaced by ceramic tile and the huge wooden cutting board has been replaced by a huge plastic cutting board. The chef now wears a face mask. Fortunately, the chicken remains the same. Perfect.

 
Asada Lucas: there were about five dogs hanging around the tables,
looking for a friendly handout

 
We ordered two chickens, but could not eat it all


Mom and Dad, digging in

Hundreds of chickens are served daily from the Lucas Asada open-air stand in Puerto Penasco. They are brought out in huge plastic buckets, already marinated, and placed over hot coals for grilling. There are several assistants, but only one guy grilling - and then chopping - the chicken with a huge cleaver. There are stacks and stacks of white Styrofoam containers ready for the constant stream of take-out orders. (There is also a steady stream of cars in the teeny parking area and always a crowd of customers hovering waiting for orders.) Stray dogs wander through the restaurant, though the waitresses are always shooing them off. Each patron is given a paper plate with a garnish of shredded cabbage and red onion. A basket of tortillas and a small bowl of salsa is placed on the table. The paper napkins are so thin, they may as well be tissues. (Bring wet wipes.) No beer - only soft drinks and water. Then, the chicken is placed on the table and the smell is so wonderful, you don't care about anything else except devouring the crispy morsels. After our lunch, I handed out dog biscuits (I keep a stash in the car) to the pups. I wonder if this was the first time they had ever had actual "dog food"?

On the subject of food - I wanted some tomatoes, so we went over to the Super Ley. Actually owned by the same mega-corporation that owns Safeway, Super Ley's is a great grocery store and an American traveler will be very happy and familiar shopping here. DT and I did notice that the store is a bit worn, even though it opened less than three years ago. The selection (and low prices) are remarkable. We bought six tomatoes for 40 cents.

 
The imported cheese aisle in Super Ley Penasco


Bakery bins at Super Ley


One of the decorated cakes


The fabric softener selection

On the way back to the RV park, DT drove us over the sandy path he jogged this morning and we continued out to the point (of Rocky Point). Not much has been happening out on the point - many half-finished homes, one awful restaurant and a bunch of litter and illegal dumping.

To celebrate Valentine's Day, we had dinner at Portofino - a great Italian restaurant on the waterfront. Last visit, we had two great dinners at Portofino. Tonight, the food was again delicious and young boys were selling red roses table-by-table, so Mom and I were treated to pretty flowers from our Valentines. It was as if we had never left Italy - I had a Caprese salad and a breaded chicken cutlet.

RV Park: The Reef RV Park at Sandy Beach