End Week Eight 1/24/09

Week Eight

Ended week seven with a social hour/ fish fry sponsored by our neighbors. Was a good time to say our goodbyes and thank everyone for their acquaintance. Then Sunday morning, the 18^th, pulled out and gave “hugs and goodbyes” to other Kino Bay friends. Was really a great stay. Drove Sunday to Santa Ana, Mexico for an overnight stay, split our trip back to the USA to allow for a potential border crossing delay. Nice little “mom & pop” English speaking RV park recommended by Kino Bay friends, only 12 sites. We were only one of two rigs there for the overnight. Nice visit with owners and other RV guest. Other guest was 85 years old, with his wife, have traveled all of Mexico, a professional collector of Mexican “branding irons”, a lost trade. He said there are over 40,000 registered brands, just in the state of Sinora, of which he has 4,000 and no marketable interest, but he doesn’t seem to care. Interesting guy to talk to. Calls himself a museum curator, but in reality, I think he is a “junk collector”. Claims to have his own “ghost town” in Independence, CA. Fun to hear all of his stories.

Off early on Monday the 19^th. Boarder crossing day. Got good directions. Lots of rules regarding what you can and can not bring back, constantly changing. Long lines at boarder, particularly for semi trucks. They redirected us around the trucks for speedier processing. Pulled over for a complete inspection, but not a “total tear down”. Confiscated two “potatoes” out of the frig. Potatoes actually from our garden back home, makes no difference, once in Mexico must stay. Boy, we are a “bad” national threat. Lots of other questions and literally opened every compartment in the 5^th wheel and truck, then sent us on our way, total time 1-1/2 hr. Lunch in Patagonia, AZ, nice to be back in the states, but suddenly the cost of living rose from our Mexican lunches of $6-8 to this one of $18. Oh well! Got our cell phones reconnected now that we’re back in the states, and switched our vehicle insurance back. Traveled to Huachuca, AZ, first to post office trying to catch up with mail, then to our RV park, Quail Ridge. Settled in by 3pm.

Tuesday/ Wednesday the 20^th & 21rst, glued to TV till noon for the inauguration, was pretty special. Then drove to Sierra Vista, breakfast, truck wash, and then shopping. Visa card idle for 6 weeks while in Kino Bay, but it got a work out today. Back to RV for a quiet evening in the states. Wednesday laundry day.

Thursday the 22^nd, rain came in, first in 8 weeks for us. Took a road trip to Bisbee, AZ, a historic copper mining village tucked into the mile high “Mule Mountains”. Founded in 1880. Some mining still continues, but at a much lesser extent now. Typical historical town, full of gift shops, restaurants, etc. Stopped at a local saloon for a beer and popcorn, to get out of the rain, and observed some locals. Enjoyed talking to the lady bartender who originated from MN, living in Bisbee for 30 years. While in saloon, local gal came in out of the rain pulling a “motor bicycle” with her, remember, the ones you’d peddle to start. Well, chatted with her a bit and turns out it was a new replica built right here in Bisbee, “SpookyToothCycles.com”, around $600, 80 mpg. Some really do live like the 1900’s. This is a mountain village, so homes built in “unusual places. Fun! Stopped at the mine center for the “Queen Mine Tour”. Missed the tour, but lots to see in the center. Then drove to an overlook of the entire mine landscape. Back to RV around 5:30pm for fish fry in.

Friday the 23^rd, still rain so decided to do the “Extraordinary Kartchner Cavern” state park cave tour. Well, thinking caves are caves, we became a bit overwhelmed by this one, a real jewel. Discovered in 1974 by two young college “cavers”, found a “sink hole’ that lead to three very large rooms. Stalagtite /stalagmites going back 200,000 years. Incredible findings, skeletons, fossils, going back 86,000 years. Became public knowledge in 1988, but not opened for tours until 1999. A must see if you are in the Benson, AZ area. Sorry, no pictures were allowed in the cave. After cave tour did a little self guided tour of the city of Benson. The much needed rain cleared by 5:00pm.

Saturday the 24^th, rain done nice sunny day. Decided to take in an outdoor activity and went to visit the “San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area”. Lays on the San Pedro River near Sierra Vista, AZ, and is primarily a wildlife refuge with heavy focus on bird watching. Nice hiking trails. Enjoyed a couple mile hike. After a short week here in Huachuca City, Quail Ridge RV Park, preparing to head for Casa Grande tomorrow.

End of week eight

Week Seven 01/17/09

Week seven – January 11, 2009

Saturday night invited to neighbors for a “Clam Bake”. Very windy evening and they invited 8-10 couples. So they used their “toy box trailer” to host the party. 28’ long towed behind a 37’ coach. They haul their Jeep, two ATV’s, a 17’ boat and motor, and who knows what else. Anyway, after they emptied the toys, it served as a very nice party room. Met a lot of nice new people. Everyone brought a dish to pass. Clams prepared a variety of ways, on the grill, in onions and garlic, wine sauces, numerous dipping sauces, chowder soup, you name it. Was fun and very good!

Sunday through Tuesday very windy. Limited outside activities with winds gusting to 30 knots. Bob played “skins golf” with a bunch of guys. Shari took a “girl” shopping road trip into town and lunch at Jorjes. Shari had Tortilla soup and the other gals had Shrimp soup and Cheese soup. Very good. Bob climbed a nearby mountain.

Wednesday / Thursday, Shari had a pedicure in the park only $15, Bob played Golf. A retired RV biologist in the park gave a very nice talk on aquatic life in the sea around us, specifically the calms, oysters, squib, octopus, reproduction, feeding, etc. Thursday ended with a very nice social happy hour, all bringing a dish to pass, so really served as supper.

Friday the 16^th, Bob got invited to go fishing with a fellow RV acquaintance at the social hour. Up at 7:00am for an 8:00am departure. Day looked beautiful. He carrys a 10’ Portable Fold up Boat in his RV 5^th wheel along with a 6 hp motor. Hauls in the back of his pick up truck when not traveling. Works out very nice and quite stable for the two of us. Well, no shortly after launching we were being entertained by 5 Dolphins, sometimes right next to the boat. Played with us for some time. Fun!

Then got situated in my friends favorite fishing spot. Water level varies from 3’ to 40’ at 61 degr and we were after bottom feeders in the 40’ water. Wind picked, so became difficult to hold the anchor and wound up drifting and or controlling the boat with the motor. No sooner finding the forty foot water and we had fish. Man! Did we have fish. Two and four at a time. These were locally called Sea Bass, but I think there is a more technical name that I don’t know. Anyway, they resemble a very large jumbo fresh water perch or a small walleye. Rigged with a two hook, heavy weighted Wolf type harness baited with squib tentacles. No sooner hitting bottom, and generally got two fish on at once. Man do they fight. Kept and cleaned around 50, then went to catch and release. Fun! Evening, joined a group into town, yea, over the rough 12 mile road, but recently graded so better. Road with neighbor RVr’s that needed to do some shopping, so invited us to ride along. Shopped, then went to the “ Potato Restaurant” for supper. Incredibly large baked potato grilled & stuffed with steak, cheese, and served with all the topping goodies you can imagine. A very good meal. Shari and I spilt one with a side Taco each.

Then stopped at a local ice cream joint for desert, not my idea, but shared anyway.

Saturday the 17^th, last day in Kino Bay, so pack up and prepare to head out. Morning started with a breakfast burrito in the club house. Sorry to have to leave, but at the same time ready. Kino Bay was fun and met a lot of great people. The negative is the “Wind”. When it comes up pretty much eliminates outside activities, and being so far from town on a rough road, not much to do. We will be back one day.

End of Week Seven

Week Six - 1/10/09

Week Six 1/4/09

Sunday the 4^th, stayed close to home, Church in the AM, then a long walk in the PM, a desert walk, Shari taking pictures of desert plants. Monday, the 5^th, our first “Clam Digging” experience. Another couple, more experienced then us, invited us to join them. Low tide around 2:00pm, so went out around 1:30pm. Clams just under the sand in shallow water. Got a good bag full, now need to learn how to process. Borrowed a rake from an RV neighbor, rake till you feel something, then dig down with hands and find. Now told to soak overnight in fresh water with salt and oatmeal added, clean sand off in the AM, transfer to new fresh water, then steam or boil till they open, then “done”. Clean out shell. Numerous ways to make, but clam chowder seems appropriate. New RV’s arriving daily now. Looks like we are going to extend another week here, so nice,

Tuesday the 6^th, steamed clams, bagged and froze. Not much meat for the amount of clams we had, so will have to do again to get enough for a good soup making. Was kind of fun watching them open as we steamed. Repaired a leak in the kitchen sink drain, turned out to be more work than thought, totally disassemble, clean, reseal, but done now.

Wednesday the 7^th, really fun day, joined a “tag along group” (about 10 couples), to Old Kino Bay, nice beach for shells followed by lunch at a local beach restaurant. Observed locals cleaning oysters and clams. We ordered Shrimp and Clam Tacos. Then went into the village proper for a self guided tour. Noted the living standards, many shacks at best. Small fishing village primarily. Stopped at the local bakery and picked up a couple of sweet rolls. Yum. Then out to the wharf to observe the fishing harbor. Pretty quiet this time of day. Parked truck and walked the village. Found good buys on Shrimp and Crab. Picked up 1 Kilo each. (2.2 lb./ kilo), $190 pesos or $15 prox., $3.45/lb, not bad. Crab we picked up on the way from the restaurant and were able to watch the whole family cleaning the crab. They were doing it right in their backyard, very small area. The shrimp we purchase at one of the Supers as they call them here, store, in town. Then went by a Tortilla factory and stopped for a picture, asked first. Where there is a business there is where the owners live as well. The Mexican people here are very nice and friendly. While poor, they are proud and work hard. We’ve never felt threatened or unsafe. On way home toured New Kino Bay, mostly beach condo community and larger homes. Dinner, shrimp scampi, really good. Fun Day!

Thursday the 8^th, 9:30am a fellow RV’er knocked on our door inviting us to go kayaking. Winds and seas looked calm, so off we went with two other couples. First time in water for our new kayaks, and a new event for us, so a little apprehension. Fellow RV’ers understood, coached us and helped. Once in, got used to and felt pretty good. Paddled up and down the coast for about an hour and half. Really felt pretty safe. Winds picked up with a little chop, but still felt good. Happy with kayak performance.

Back to RV for lunch, book reading and then 3:00pm off to the beach with a large group for claming. Neighbor RV’er loaned us his rake. WOW! What a harvest. Clams everywhere. Hardly any raking, just bend over and pick up. After an hour, bag so pull we could hardly carry. Everyone had a great time. Then came across our RV neighbor that was searching for Scallops. He found several and proceeded to show me how to find and clean them. Seems like such a waste. The scallop is fairly large, yet the morsel of meat inside is quite small, but very delicious. Maybe that’s why when ordered out, many times not “real scallops”.

No sooner back from claming, we headed up to the club house for Mexican Taco night. They were loaded with the “works”. Shari and I, two each, complimented with margaritas. Another great day!

Friday the 9^th, early morning “walk away the pounds” exercise, then jumped into the kayaks, beautiful flat seas, 2-3 hour trip up the coast with another couple. Winds started building around noon, so glad to be back. Pm, cleaned and steamed clams. Man, did we have a bunch. Found an “Octopus” in one large clam. Gave to neighbor for fishing bait. I would guess a couple of good clam chowder makings. Evening, winds continued to build, hot tub, then tucked in for the night. No TV down here, so watching videos or playing cribbage for entertainment. RV neighbor gave us two bags full of DVD’s for use. Pretty nice! Most here have satellite TV or Dish. Not us! Another great day, but tired.

Saturday the 10^th, very windy. Stayed close to home. Farmer / fish market guys here in the AM. Picked up a few things.

End of week Six

End Week Five 1/3/09

Week Five 12/28-1/3 - Happy New Year

Settled into a regular routine in this very remote but beautiful RV park right on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. Regular walk away exercises, water aerobics, desert golf, hot tubs, reading, and just enjoying the serenity and scenery and beautiful sun sets. Some new after the Christmas Holiday RV’s beginning to come in. Looking forward to “clamming and fishing”. Also our kayak’s have been quiet because of too much wind, hopefully this will change. Rigged up our hammock we bought at EAA last summer, really light parachute type material strong enough for two. Works great tied off on the fifth wheel pin and the awning leg, so no trees needed. Nice shade too, great for reading or a nap.

News Years Eve celebrated in the park, pot luck snacks, local Mexican band, lots of dancing, drinks and concluding with fireworks. Ball dropping at 10:00pm mountain time so a NY eastern time Happy New Year! So not a real late night, in bed by 11:00pm mountain time, but a really fun night. New Years Day a 2:00pm pot luck lunch/dinner with bowl games being played in the club house.

Scramble golf tournament on Friday the 2^nd. Saturday the 3^rd, biscuits and gravy breakfast in the club house. We were going to kayak with a couple of other couples, but the seas to rough, so put off for another day.

Shari and I decided to take the truck down to the beach and ride the beach to the point off the island, advised ok after discussing with a fellow park RV’er, asking if we had four wheel drive. I quickly responded “yes”, but neglected to tell him about the “dulleys”. (Dulleys don’t do real well in soft sand) Well about 3-4 miles down the beach we got stuck. Front wheels buried up to the axle. Nobody around for miles. No shovel. So Shari said we have a plate from breakfast, so I began digging with a plate. Got down to the bottom of the tire and started filling the tracks with rocks from the beach. I was terribly relieved when we got out. Now the problem was to figure out how to turn around and get the hell outa here. Any slight turn of the wheel would bury the tires again. Stuck again. More plate shoveling and rocks. Out again. Backed up for about ½ mile, then gunned it for a quick turn. We made it. Back to park safe & happy. Won’t do that again. RV park friend said we should have lowered our tire pressure to avoid getting stuck. Now he tells me.

Evening, a large group, 30 or so from the park, went into “Panchos” (mom & pop place) for dinner. Yeha, the rough 12 mile road into town. Shari and I left the park early to do some shopping in the village 20 miles further up the road. Met the group at Panchos a little after 4:00pm. Brown bagged our own margaritas, Pancho serves no alcohol and brown bagging permitted. Pancho made a batch of his special soup, can’t pronounce, but good! Had a great time. Good original Mexican food. Back to RV by 7:00pm.

End of Week Five