A Walk in the Park
The week of Christmas and the week after, the La Penita RV Park took on a character all its own. We had been told by the RV’ers who have been at the park in previous years that many Mexican families would be coming to camp and that every available space would be filled with tents. Many of these families, now with families of their own, camped here with their parents when they were just children. The Mexican personalities that came to occupy the park were as diverse as us foreigners who were already here. We had many mixed functions in the evenings such as Karaoke where someone with a heavy Spanish accent would try a Johnny Cash tune and someone with a Texas accent would try Solomente. There was lots of laughter and it was fun to watch the cultures come together. The pool was filled from morning to night with a large contingent of Mexican kids, but as if on cue they would give way to regularly scheduled events such as 10:00 volley ball or adult water aerobics class.
The beach took on a totally different look. There were simple shade shelters constructed between wood poles using a plastic tarp as a roof. There were elaborate shelters that had circus tent like structures to hold the tarps and the kids running in and out of the water kept their parents busy.
A Walk through the Park as you will see in the slide show that follows shows a sample of what the park was like. There were both elaborate and plain Christmas decorations. One could find a friend working on his wood lathe. As crowded as it was some streets were quiet. Tent city in the overflow area was jam packed. The beach was crowded and much more active with some surfers having a go at the waves. Those participating in Line Dancing Class ignored the cameras presence. Flowers were in bloom everywhere and with all of this it was difficult to remember that this was Christmas.
