New Places to Explore!!!

As many of you know, exploring when one is in Mexico is part of the fun. I have not done much of that lately, but my Mom and Dad were down this last week and had some time. They took the new El Golfo highway over to Santa Clara as my dad was hoping that he could turn off and run down to our old stomping ground. In my minds eye I thought the new highway would run parallel to the railroad tracks and at the old salt depot ( I think on the old map I had it was called El Tornial (spelling ???)) turn off toward the ocean and you would be there. Well....as my dad describes it, the highway turns west and the tracks are on the east of the road with the highway running very close to the ocean......and very close to the cliffs near our old camp ground. He said that at about kilometer marker 73 there were trails right down to the beach. I have not confirmed yet if one can get a vehicle down at this location, but he said that in less then one hour from the house you could be there. In fact, they made it all the way to Santa Clara in about 1 hour. He said town was odd with many tent like stores and as he described "like a mining town" feel to the place. There are a couple new hotels, but they did not stay long so they basically just drove through town.

The other thing he discovered was that East of Playa Encanto, past the houses, there is access down to the beach where one can drive an ATV on the beach for about 3 miles before you get to the sign for the Mayan Palace......that could be another cool trip. Leave it to my dad to find two new spots in one week.

I have got to go hit the El Golfo road and see that beach again before it is all gone....fenced off....or with houses, hotels and such.


Chris,
I can still see Sybil blasting down that beach......good times.

Semana Santa (Easter to all Gringos)

Being at the house over Easter has been fun the last two years. Last year we took down Matthew's friend Shane...this year it was Debbie and Darren Parmiter, Cougar and Shelbie.....and we had a great time. We were able to get out of the valley Thursday night and had an easy trip down until we got to Why....where we were pulled over for speeding. It turned out ok as the sheriff just gave us a warning, but it did delay out progress for about 20 minutes. Darren gave him the sad eyes and the "we have never driven down here before" line and he let us go.....good for Darren as paying a $120 ticket would not have been good.

I have to make a quick statement about the red cross. On the outskirts of Sonoyta, they have a Tecate tent set up, that has been there for years now and on most week ends they man this station to collect donations. Most contribute something; a dollar, pesos...whatever. Now as part of your donation, they stick a red cross sticker on your window as a sign that you are a good citizen...or at least a kind soul. I took the sticker off when we got to the house this last time right away but I forgot and today tried to remove the sticker and now I will need a razor blade.




Rough seas on Friday




Thursday night was good. We all settled in and enjoyed cocktail hour for our first night. The weather report before we left called for wind on Thursday night and Friday.....and it did not disappoint. It was windy and cool on Friday. The ocean was rough (the photo above does not do it justice), but it never got to the dark grey green color that it can in the winter. Shelbie and Darren hit the tide pools looking for sand dollars and found a few. Cougar and Shelbie had not been to the ocean before so this was a new experience and one my family hopes we can share with them many times. We got some odd jobs done around the house.

It was Friday and we needed some shrimp. We packed up the gang and had planned on going to the malecon to the fish market....planned was the operative word. The traffic was bumper to bumper. As we got over to the harbor we could see that the road had been blocked with temporary fencing and we could not drive down to the malecon. So we went over to the other fish market we knew La Chi Chi and picked up some shrimp (two kilos) as well as a fillet of what they called "manta" but what we would call sting ray just to see what it tasked like. All in all the total was $21.00. It would have been a little less if we had pesos on us, but it was still a good deal. We asked the lady at the fish market why the road was blocked and she told us it was a recreation of Christs procession with the cross. We thought that could have been an interesting thing to see and that next year we would get there much earlier.

Tough day on the beach.....everyone asleep at 10:00pm

A quick note about the water tank (I know....is that finally done?). I think that this issue will be in the past. Gerry re-piped all of the connections. Built a bracket to support the water filter, and added coupling connections to allow for the pump to be removed without having to cut the pipe. It worked well while we were there except for a little rough starting once in awhile that Gerry came back to fix on Monday.....lets keep our fingers crossed.

Back at the house we cleaned the shrimp, enjoyed the sun set and had a great shrimp dinner. We had grilled shrimp, steamed shrimp with peppers and onions, as well as shrimp quesadillas. The manta we fixed the way were told to cook it; boil it for a few minutes then grill it.....not the best but I think we just did not fix it right. If you recall, back in January we saw some fishermen landing ashore in a cove east of the house and they had a lot of sting rays in their catch. I was wondering then what it tasted like and I hope we just cooked it wrong, as the meat was tough and had almost no flavor.



Did Shelbie have a good time.......what do you think?

The wind stopped over the night and we had a great day on Saturday. I purchased an 4x4 ATV to use at the house that has big steel racks on the front and rear. The hope was that this would be the ticket to haul stuff to and from the beach; chairs, coolers, sea kayaks, etc and it worked great. We just loaded it up in the garage and drove it all down in one trip. What a back saver. The day was great on the beach.....a little cool for me, but all in all a good day with clear sky's. Matthew did not get to play in the water all that much as he thought it was a little too cold as well, but Shelbie and Cougar had a great time. I can not wait to take them down again at the end of May when the sea is like a big swimming pool.

We decided to run to town as we really did not get a chance to do some tourist shopping on Friday. It was very crowded, but fun. Mexican drum bands playing in the square and just a festive atmosphere. Lourdes had to get a Mango Tango at the Thirsty Parrot, and their patio was a great place to people watch. After we left there we did the tourist thing. Darren and I found a place that had beer on sale for 15 pesos; and with the dollar to pesos conversion @ 14 to 1, that was very cheap price for a Bud Lite....so we had two each.

Sunday was Easter and we awoke to a nice clear day. Lourdes and Debbie made an egg, sausage, bacon, cheese, etc casserole that was very good. As it was Easter, the kids all got a chocolate bunny, and my wife got me one as well...she must love me. We also had an egg hunt for the kids. Darren and I hid the 60 some plastic eggs outside around the house. Not an easy task when all you have is sand and very small bushes as your landscape. But we made it work and it was somewhat of a challenge. The kids are all getting older and who knows if we will keep doing the egg hunt....that said deep down I think even Vincent had a little fun. About 11:00 we went back down to the beach and enjoyed the middle of our day. Around 1:30 -2:00 we got back to the house, did a little packing and I took a quick nap in preparation for the drive home. We had to leave on Sunday as we had work to get back to, but the Parmiters had Monday off so they stayed over night (lucky dogs).

Vincent found the golden egg.

We were a little concerned about a big line at the border. Town was very busy and usually that translates into a long wait on a Sunday. I had read that most of the bookings for the hotels in the area were not by Americans, but from within Mexico. The crowd in town confirmed that was the case, but as we cleared the small hill by the old "Wendy's" and we could see the border we were still surprised and relived.....there was no wait at the border crossing. We breezed through; stopped for some gas in Why, and pulled into the garage in Phoenix at 9:30.

It was a great time and a big thanks to Debbie, Darren, Shelbie and Cougar for spending the weekend with us.

Thinking about getting away???

This time of the year is what started the Mexico itch for me those many years ago....a little free time, good weather, and dreams. There are many of us out there in search of those same feelings......maybe trying to find them selves in this world; or maybe "re finding" or redefining". I do not know. I have found a couple of blogs out there that are much better at writing about this then I am. Most are retired and have found a place in Mexico that reconnects them to who they were before, or to who they want to be.

One of those blogs that I have been reading is http://hammockmanpaul.blogspot.com/2008/06/living-in-mexico-every-mexicophiles.html

Here is one of the lines from this Blog; 

"Mexico is for those of us who are pioneers or adventurers or swashbucklers or whatever. If you are not, you would be better off in Hawaii or Disney world or Sun City. But if you crave new experiences, want to see what you're made of, like challenges and have an ability to stretch and give a little, then the border calls to you, "Cross me. Let the adventure begin."

I feel that way on days like this....in need of a little change in latitude, and maybe a little adventure.

Spring Break 2009

Spring in Mexico....what could be better. We could not get down for the full week so 4 days had to do. The weather cooperated and we ended up with warm nice temperatures the entire time. We also had a minimal tide change for the first few days, which with the calm weather, turned the ocean to glass.

I got some odd jobs done around the house. Back in January I had brought down a new TV unit for the living room that Carey had purchased 6 months ago. It was heavier then I had thought and Vincent and I had a time getting it up the stairs, but we worked it out. It is great having a teenage son around. I was able to get all of the furniture moved and get the TV, and most of the stereo and DVD player, etc back up and running. I had planned on re-piping the water pump (I know here we go on the water pump again) but I chose to hire Gerry to get that done along with some other maintenance on the generator and solar system.

As always we ate well and enjoyed our down time. We enjoyed the patio, a good book, naps, and great sun sets. Matthew did a little playing in the ocean on his surf board as well as the sea kayak. And we got some good games of paddle ball in (one of our favorite beach games). A pod of dolphins made an appearance and we even had one jump all of the way out of the water to give us a good show. On Friday we went into town to run a couple or errands and get some lunch. We stopped at the Thirsty Parrot and enjoyed some shrimp, a couple of drinks, and the Sun Devils Basketball game. Good win over Temple for ASU, but a bad loss to the Orangemen on Sunday.

New TV Unit....this should help keep the dust off the TV and stereo

Sea Kayak fun.

A little surf....not very good waves, but Matt got one ride in.

Paddle Ball....an underrated beach game.

With all of the bad press about Mexico the crowd felt like it was a little smaller this year. The only noticeable sign of any added US pressure was an added check stop on the US side right at Lukeville on our way down. They had two agents checking cars right before they entered Mexico (that was a first in 20 years of going down), and they asked the same questions as they always do. I guess if they can stop some of the guns and money from entering Mexico that would help. With a home in Mexico I get asked a lot about if "we feel safe" when we are there. When we were on our patio or when we were on our way to town on Saturday we felt very safe. In fact in our Mexico beach community I feel safer there then in my garage in Phoenix. There has been some good web articles on http://mynparty.blogspot.com/ site that I agree with. In one article they noted that the numbers on the violence can be deceiving as most of the issues are in other border towns.....not in our small part of the world. Puerto Penasco is not a border town. We are off the beaten track a little. There is not a major highway that links the Mexican interior through our town, and due to our vacation related economy we should be shielded from the really bad stuff. If one looks at vacation related cities all over the world, those government will do what is really necessary to protect those places as those cities are the real economic engines of the country. Cancun, Cabo, and yes Puerto Pensaco all fall into that category.

I look to Columbia as a good example. We were down there last September and were able to see first hand how a city can be changed by tourism. We stayed in Cartagena, and enjoyed the city, culture, music, and food. That is a place that I would have never gone to in the 1980's, but the new president understood the economic power that a city like that could have if it was safe. They now have many high rise condo buildings (Think Miami Beach), cruise ships are coming back, all due to increased police presence and a focus on this areas of the country. Sure, they still have drug issues, but they do not occur in Cartagena....and I would predict, they will not come to the tourist locations of Mexico......that is my soap box for the day.

Water pump and other things

As you have read before the water pump has been an issue. We decided to call the contractor and see if in fact the one year warranty they told us they gave us on the house was real. In the states all new construction has a one year warranty. The contractor gave us one for this home as well, but I did not know if they would keep that promise. We e-mailed them, and they have been to the house to review the issues, get the parts they need, and they have plans to fix the water pump, a roof leak, as well as some tile problem this week.....if that come true I will be a very happy man. Nothing like going to your vacation home and spending the entire time fixing stuff.

If all gets fixed I will take photos of the repairs.

Other Photos from January 31st trip.

Jeff wading the estuary.

Fishing?






The main boat ramp in Cholla Bay right by JJ's.







The guys prior to the RCPM show.






The patio at JJ's.




The wheel that sealed Grant's doom.

Jeff Turns 40 and RCPM

We picked a great weekend to run down to Mexico and celebrate Jeff turning 40 and catching RCPM at the January Jam....but I am getting ahead of myself......

Jeff, Grant, and I departed Phoenix late on Wednesday January 28th. The truck was loaded with furniture (Grant says he has never gone down to the house when I have not had some type of house hold item loaded), food, beer, fishing stuff, and Jeff's crab traps. The trip down was uneventful except for the roll of wire that flew out of the back of the truck just outside of Gila Bend. It just so happened that right behind us was a Border Patrol truck who ran it over, then pulled us over. He was very cool and he just asked us if it was something important and to check our load. The border was easy and we arrived at the house around 11:00 pm and settle in. Thursday morning we had a great breakfast of elk sausage and eggs. Jeff had made up some crab traps that we wanted to try so we went to the estuary behind the house and placed the taps using a concrete block, some rope and a milk jug float to mark the location. Last May this area was full of crabs and little fish, but this time of year it did not have the same about of sea life, but we set the tarps and hoped we would catch a couple. We then ran into town to get some squid for bait and a couple of items we needed at the house. We tried a small fish market closer to the house for the squid. In our broken spanglish we learned we could get the squid at La Lei (spelling of that I do not know for sure) which was great as we could then get everything at one stop. We picked up the squid, some catchup,and a couple of telcell cards for my two Mexico cell phones and we were set. We wanted to bait fish on an incoming tide. Our first try was at the mouth of the estuary West of the house. The signs say that this area is for members only, but we talked to the caretaker and he said it was ok for us to fish there but that this was not the right time of the year (a common trend for the week end of fishing). We casted out into that area and spent the rest of the afternoon watching our line and drinking beer....but no fish. That evening back at the house Grant made up some elk corned beef and potatoes and we enjoyed the evening. We built a good fire in the fireplace and started to get the house warmed up.

Jeff setting one the crab traps.....and yes the water was a little cold.

A side line on owning a concrete house. As I stated in a prior blog, it takes some time to get a concrete house warm as the mass of the house stores energy (cold or hot). Once you do get the inside of the house to a comfortable temperature the house stays fairly constant, but still a little on the cool side.

The next day after another good breakfast we tried to fix the water pump. We had noticed the night before that the pump had stopped working, and agreed that we would tackle this job during the day. After a bunch of running around and checking voltages with a borrowed voltage tester, we were able to wire the pump motor with a cord to a wall outlet and we had water pressure. It was not a permanent solution, but one that could work. After we resolved that big issue at around 10:00 am we started off to another estuary spot we had scouted about 6 months prior. When we left the house we locked it all up and shut the damper on the fireplace to prevent a down draft into the house. This fishing spot was a lot more promising. At this location some locals launch their fishing boats and the bay appears to be a good crab fishing area as there were many old crab traps up on shore....but none in the water. We fished this spot for a few hours. Might of had some nibbles, but no real strikes. We did get to see a local land his two pongas and unload his catch. Flounder and rays were the majority of the fish he had caught. He cleaned the fish right there and the birds went crazy. No wonder this area had the crab traps if the fisherman cleaned there fish all the same way; leaving the fish parts in the water for the crabs and rays. We stayed in this area for another hour and then went back to the house.


As soon as we opened the garage door I knew I had problem. Smoke poured out of the house....the fire in the fireplace was not totally out when I closed the damper. The house filled with smoke as it had no place to go. He aired the house out but it took the remainder of our stay to get the smell of smoke out of the house. That night we fixed some carne asada and settled in awaiting the rest of the gang.

Darren and Chris arrived around 10:30 - 11:00 that Friday. We had a few gin and tonics and vodka and tonics, etc. Sometime that night Grant started to talk about palm trees and then vanished to his bedroom.....so we assumed the remainder of the week end that anyone who mentioned palm trees must be drunk.

Gin and Vodka Tonics are good around a nice fire on the patio.....Jeff had whiskey...

The next morning we took a ride out to the mouth of the estuary at low tide. I had never been to that part of the beach at the lowest tide and it was very cool. There are some rocks and reef out in the middle of that area with all kinds of sea creatures. It will be a great place to take the kids when the water is warmer to explore. We goofed around over there until around noon and then went back to the house to have lunch and get ready for the RCPM show that evening. We had been told that we needed to be over to JJ's around 4:00 to get a table so we left the house soon after 3:00 to make the run over there. It was a cool night, and a great show. Jeff had never been to a peacemakers show and he was impressed. We drank a few beers from 4:00 until we got out of there at 11:00 that night...good thing they sell beer by the case (but only 20 per case?) It was a great time had by all....we got to see a lady fall off the rock wall and hit her head. She bled all over, and on Chris as he tried to help her. We also got to see Grant get a girls phone number, which was worth the trip in it self. After the show we stopped by a place called Chango's over by Sandy Beach on the way home...nothing really going on there so we stopped by Manny's...which was even more dead. At that point it was time to get home.

Super Bowl Sunday: It was one of those picture perfect days in Mexico in the winter. Clear, very little wind, and the ocean was like glass for most of the day. We hung out around the house, enjoyed the warm weather, made up some bratwurst on the grill, got cleaned up and went to town to watch the big game. We picked the Boo Bar. We had been there a couple of other times and I had see the photos that Myn had taken there of the last playoff game and the place looked packed. With a game this big, we wanted to enjoy a place that would have some crowd atmosphere and we were not disappointed. The game was good (at least the the last quarter) and the half time part of the night was almost as memorable....the attached photo says it all. Needless to say, the Cardinals lost the game, but we have a very good time. After the game we strolled down to the Thirsty Parrot and had a beer but on the way we lost Grant. We hung out on the patio over looking the street and then we caught sight of him. He was wearing a new Mexican pull over jacket and a pair of yellow goggles that only "Hancock" would have on. He tried to explain what a great "deal" he got on the set. Needless to say we gave Grant hell on that purchase for the remainder of the night. Back at the house that night we packed up a few things as Jeff had to be back home very early.

Yes,that is Grant up on the stage in his underwear......

Nice goggles....

Thanks to Jeff, Grant, Chris and Darren. It was a great week end and one of those I think we all will remember for a very long time.