Puerto Penasco 2

We're at Organ Pipe Cactus NM for one night.  We left PP at 7:30 AM, the early departure inspired by our Mexican auto insurance, which only covered us until 10 AM today.  The insurance isn't a legal requirement but is highly recommended.  Without it, an accident would place a person at the mercy of Mexican state and federal laws and a justice system that is, most likely, exceedingly slow and, I suspect, somewhat (?) corrupt.  No, thanks.

Glorious sunset on our last night in Puerto Penasco.

Terry and Lisa.

Our PP adventure was great fun, despite the constant stream of native vendors strolling by our campsite, asking if we wanted to buy blankets, sunglasses, hats, jewelry, pots and plates and other assorted junk.  The other downer was a group of 4 toy-hauler rigs that set up beside us and proceeded to party hearty and drive their freaking loud ATVs around the park well into the night.  I fantasized charging outside, armed with my trusty ax, and bashing several headlights, tires, windshields, and so on.  I managed to resist the temptation.  Barely.    

A couple of minutes later than the above picture.

We watched for the green flash, didn't see it, too cloudy I think.

Below: the EDGE on the last night of our last journey therein.  Picture taken at Twin Peaks Campground in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a few miles north of the Arizona/Mexico border.  On the left is the park’s namesake organ pipe cactus.  To the right of the cactus is the campground’s namesake, Twin Peaks.

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I felt a bit nostalgic about our last night in the EDGE.  It’s witnessed much, traveled far and, except for a few flaws and shortcomings, has performed well.  Trish was not enamored of it.  She spent 2+ years in a high end 5^th wheel and small travel trailers just don’t measure up to 5^th wheels for comfort and convenience.

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The nostalgic feeling reminded me of a pair of hiking boots that finally wore out after climbing Mt Whitney, Mt St Helens (twice), several Columbia Gorge conditioning hikes preparing for climbs of Mt Adams and Mt Hood, plus casual hikes too numerous to mention.  I considered bronzing those puppies and hanging them on the wall in my den but ultimately decided doing so would endanger my carefully cultivated swave and deboner image.  Uh huh.

Puerto Penasco

An attractive plaza in Old Town 

Terry & Lisa, our traveling companions

Puerto Penasco, Mexico, aka Rocky Point, is the closest ocean resort town for most Arizonians and a popular gringo/spring break destination for several decades.  The EDGE is parked right on the beach, beside Terry and Lisa's RV, in Playa Bonita RV Park; T and L are good friends from LHC/CO.  This RV park, like most, is full of old fogies rather than large bevies of scantily-clad coeds.  My high expectations of ogling said coeds have been thwarted.  I am bereft.

Typical shop, typical stuff, typical pitch, "For you, nearly free!"

Earliest evidence of PP occupation dates back 20,000 years.  When the Spanish arrived here in 1698, they found it occupied by natives whose favorite cuisine was each other, often with a side of oysters.  Yep, they were cannibals.  A Spanish padre noted the rich oyster beds early on and 'recruited' natives for pearl divers.  The pearls were shipped back to Spain, natives got squat.  Another Spaniard, a sailor, wrote in his ship's log, "Ye Likesly Spot 'O Treachry and Villeanous Skum".  I assume he was referring to the natives, who, I'm sure, were overjoyed at the arrival of the Spaniards.  Everybody gets tired of eating the same darn entree, day after day.

Looking north, several resort hotels in distance.

Okay, it's late afternoon, time for the natives to plan the evening meal.  Instead of asking, "What's for dinner?", the question was, "Who's for dinner?"  Did they draw straws?  Did they choose the weakest and most useless?  The youngest and plumpest?  I can imagine a conversation around the campfire after dinner, Lizard Lips commenting to Buzzard Bait, "Boy, old granny Goat Grunt was one tough, stringy hunk of meat.  Not much to her either, no leftovers for tomorrow."  Buzzard Bait: "Yeah.  Besides that, her skin was so dry and cracked, we had to burn it, was hoping to use it for moccasins.  Hey, remember last spring when we butchered and roasted up my 2nd cousin Snake Snot, little sawed-off runt with the club foot, about 8 years old?  Delicious!

Terry celebrating the launching of his kite, with big stogie; Trish in middle, Lisa on right.

The feature known as Rocky Point is in the background. 

Pancho Villa used to hang out here, as did Al Capone.  Al and his partner had a hotel here and used the natural port for bootlegging operations during prohibition.  He, along with a few Mexican fisherman, put the town 'on the map.'

Wasting away again in Margaritaville.

It's 5 O clock somewhere!

COUGAR TALES

In about 3 weeks Voyages of the EDGE will become history.  The blog will continue but with a new name: Cougar Tales.  If you're thinking, Mike found a new main squeeze, a much older woman with a predatory nature who lusts after younger studly types like himself, you would be wrong.  Truth is, we're upgrading from the EDGE travel trailer to a Cougar 5th wheel.

The Chalet Alpine A-Frame Trailer

The EDGE was preceded by the Chalet A-frame pop-up trailer which boasted 10 SF of open floor space.  We used that space very effectively in  perfecting the now-famous dance known as the Chalet Shuffle.  It goes like this: stand as straight as possible, hold your breath, tuck in your butt, and shuffle sideways towards your partner - who is doing a mirror image of what your're doing, moving towards you.  When exactly opposite your partner, you pause briefly (sometimes not so briefly) and slowly rotate your pelvis several times before moving on.  There are 3 variations to the dance: Back to Back, Belly to Belly and, of course, the ever popular Oh, Doggie!

EDGE M21 Travel Trailer

Compared to the Chalet, the EDGE seemed palatial.  Didn't need to do the Shuffle anymore - although we still did it occasionally anyway, just for old time's sake.  We logged 32,000+ miles on the EDGE, equivalent to driving across the US, coast to coast, 11 times.  We enjoyed the EDGE but it had limitations that became increasingly aggravating over the course of our 3+ month-long annual summer adventures.

The EDGE is basically a studio apartment with bedroom, living room, dining room, and kitchen all in one room. Said configuration is not user-friendly if the the occupants have different sleep habits and my sleep habits are as different as they get - in fact, they're freaking weird!

Keystone Cougar 276RLSWE 5th Wheel Trailer

5th wheel bedrooms are isolated so one person can be zonked out while the other is up and about, reading, computering, cooking, whatever.  The one we're getting also offers a variety of seating options and enough room to have friends over occasionally.  It has numerous other features that the trailer didn't have, a conventional oven for one.  We're excited about our new home on wheels!

Artie

By Guest Blogger Trish

About 3 months ago I started getting the stirring that precedes the yearning which leads to the decision to add to the pack.  I started visiting websites for red poodles.  I kept returning to a site for a kennel in Pismo Beach, CA; mini reds and apricots.  Then I saw a posting on the site for Artie, a 2 year old male who had been recently retired as a breeding sire. His age appealed to me because I could start training him for therapy dog work right away.

I corresponded with the breeder about his personality, health and why she had taken him out of her breeding stock.  I told her I was looking for a dog who would mature into a good candidate for therapy work.  Her responses led me to think he might be a good pick.  She decided that if I was going to train him for therapy work, she'd like to give him to me rather than sell him.  

I met the little termite on Feb. 12th, and "little" is the operative word.  At first I thought, no way.  He weighs 11 lbs. and stands about 13 inches at the shoulder (about the size of most cats.)  I always thought Ranger was small at 22 lbs. and 15 inches.  Ranger looks like a giant next to Artie.  But, there is a huge spirit in the little guy, and a people-loving personality second to none. So, I crated him up, loaded him in the car with Ranger and drove back to Havasu.  I think he will be fantastic for therapy work, and much easier to lift onto beds and laps than Ranger is. 

Artie has been part of our pack for almost 4 weeks, though he's had to spend some of the time in a kennel while I made two last business trips.  Artie adds a lot of energy to our home and he's doing his best to keep us young; he's 14 in dog years while the other three of us are over 60.  He's growing his mustache to achieve the soft lamb like appearance of his older brother, begining obedience training and learning that dogs who stay inside the kayak stay drier than those who don't.  I'm hopeful his obedience training will progress well over the summer and he will be ready for therapy dog evaluation in early December.  We feel lucky to have Artie, aka Scooter, as our newest pack member.

Tournament

The tournament players.

 The mayor is front row center.  He read a proclamation, made March the Official Pickleball Month in LHC.  He's not a player - yet.  To his right are Tim and Carol; they got PB going here, have donated hundreds of hours to the effort.  Great people!

We had our first annual LHC pickleball tournament this week.  It was a 'fun' type event with only local players - as opposed to a sanctioned 'open' event with people coming from all over.  We only have 4 courts, all indoors, none at all outdoors; would need 10-20 outdoor courts to hold an open tournament.  The city has lots of park space but no outdoor tennis/pickleball courts whatsoever.  Go figure.

The sign in table.

Buy paddles, balls, T-shirts, raffle tickets.

Although not a big fan of tournaments, being one of the regulars, I felt obligated to participate.  If we make enough 'noise' and get enough publicity maybe we'll convince the city to build several outdoor courts.  I played in both men's and mixed doubles but didn't place in either one, didn't play all that well.  My partners did their best but both were new to the game, had only played a few times, lacked the skills and locked-in strategies that only come from spending many hours on the court.  I've been playing off and on for 35 years now and know the game well, have no excuse whatsoever for making dumb-ass mistakes - but make them I do.

The mayor's proclamation and tournament medals.

Partners are paired to even the playing field, to avoid having one highly-skilled team dominate the competition, making the winning team a foregone conclusion.  Thus, we teamed the most highly skilled player with the most lowly skilled, and then worked towards the middle, 2nd highest with 2nd lowest and so on.  Most of the winners were mid-skill pairs.

That guy in the foreground, is he as tall as he appears to be?

Yep: 6' 8".  He's also 15 years younger than most players - and is the best player I've ever seen.  Guess who won men's doubles; he could have won all by himself, didn't really need a partner.

If you want to learn more about the game and find out where you can play, go to usapa.org.  There you'll find the rules, tournament videos and state by state lists of the cities where the game is regularly played.  As we travel this summer, I'll be a drop-in player in several cities along the way.  It's a great way to get exercise, have fun, and meet the local folk.

Ludlum & Clancy

Several years back I was an avid reader of these two authors.  It's been a long time since I've read either one of them and it's unlikely I ever will again.  Both authors crossed the line long since.  My line.  My line isn't really a line per se.  Its very fuzzy, can't draw it in the sand.  Think of it as shades of gray on a piece of paper with white at one end, black at the other, all kinds of grays in between.  You schlock readers, listen up: there are more than 50 shades.

Both writers were, perhaps still are, great story tellers.  Their stories were action-packed thrillers and I loved reading them.  Then, the love died, killed off by excesses in the writing.  In Ludlum's case, it was an excess of characters and places and plots and subplots.  Said I, "Yeah, there's a story in there somewhere but I'm tired of sifting through extraneous crap in search of it.  I'm outta here!"  

In Clancy's case, the excesses were in high tech stuff, political and military organizations, acronyms and superhuman heroes.  Said he, "Story be damned!  I'm famous and wealthy and people will read anything I write so I'm gonna use all these technical terms and acronyms and government agencies and unbelievable characters as much as I damn well please."  Once again, trying to follow the story line through the maze just wasn't worth the effort.

Last night I watched The Bourne Legacy (Ludlum).  The night before, I watched The Sum of All Fears (Clancy).  I read both books years ago: Ludlum was just stepping over the line; Clancy was still well behind it.  I enjoyed aspects of both movies.  Both had excellent casts and great action sequences.  Sum was best by far, was able to follow the story line, no problem.  Bourne, like the book, was over the line, disjointed, skipping and hopping around like a cat on hot tin roof.  Half way through, maybe earlier, I was mostly lost and remained that way for the duration.

My junior year in high school, , inspired by a challenging remark from my history teacher - something about the number of characters and pages - I read War and Peace.  Yeah, it was a struggle.  I certainly wouldn't include Tolstoy in my top ten list of greatest authors.  Not even the top 100.  Seems like Ludlum and Clancy evolved into Tolstoy wannabes.

Is it me?  Have I become a simpleton over the years?  Weigh in here if you will: have you read these guys?  Are you still reading them?  Do you connect at all with what I said above?