The Cabo Del Este Race is Coming!!

If you like off-road racing, make plans to watch the Cabo del Este race that is being held on the 16th and 17th of February. This is always a good race. It's a fairly long race with lots of places to park and watch. Here is the course map; you can pre-plan your position.

Rain!! There's rain in Los Cabos!

With apologies to our visitors who have come to enjoy the beautiful sunshine of los Cabos,

IT"S RAINING!!!!  Woo Woo!!!

We haven't had a nice rain like this in what seems like years. Actually, I think it really has been years! The photo above shows slight flooding near the estuary in Santa Rosa.  It was taken by a friend in San Jose del Cabo. Earlier, this same area burned pretty well.

The rain puts us out of our daily patterns a bit but the long term benefits far outweigh the temporary inconveniences. The ranchers' cows can quit eating store-bought hay and enjoy fresh greens right in their own back yard.  Oh, you're a vegetarian.  Never mind.  But just think, now you know where your house leaks and can fix the leaks before the next rain!!  Right, you said that last time and your wife is mad again. Sorry. Well then, there's the pretty factor:  Our whole countryside will be be blazingly green in days. Your next guests will be amazed at the beauty of our area and want to return soon. What's that? You hope they never come back? Alrighty then, just enjoy the rain: It's not often we get this much rain without the side effect of 100 mph winds!

Wet Fun Water Park

I've featured the water park before but it is so cool that I'm going to post it again. We've been several times and it never gets old. If you've never been, you are missing a full day of fun for very little money. It's located about 15 minutes North of the San Jose del Cabo airport.

Am I Safer Here in Baja than in the States?

Here is another excellent article about safety while traveling in Mexico published by the good folks over at Lonely Planet.  Let me know what you think about this opinion.

Read more:
Are Americans safer in Mexico than at home?

Todos Santos Dessert Challenge Off Road Race

We went to the races last weekend over at Todos Santos. The race is the Wide Open Dessert Challenge. Fun race; 2 laps of about 70 kilometers each. Donna's son Pat and his copiloto Keith raced Pat's Class One car the "Warlock." Here are a few photos. Click here to see some short videos including Steve Berry's unscheduled pit stop to fix a flat.

The San Jose Estuary Burns Again!

Somehow the estuary caught fire a few days ago. I have 2 sets of friends who live on the edge of the arroyo. The fire was stopped almost on their property lines! One of them, Mike H. sent me these photos. Fortunately, the wind changed a bit and the local bomberos did a fine job in arresting the spread of the fire.

East Cape 250 Off Road Race

Yesterday was a big day in San Jose.  The East Cape 250 started and finished just outside of town in Guaymitas. We drove down too late to watch Pat Ryan roar by but went to the finish line to congratulate he and copilot Kyle Maisner. They drove their class 1 Chevy powered car to a 6th place finish.  The key word being "finish." These races are tough on every car no matter how well it's built. Every race, many cars fail on the course because of metal fatigue, flat tires and numerous other maladies due to the conditions of off-road racing. Congratulations Pat and Kyle. Well done.

Mexico is Indeed Safe for US Tourists

  

DECEMBER 21, 2011
From "Baja Good Life News"

DESPITE THE HYPE,
MEXICO IS INDEED SAFE FOR TOURISTS

HSI's Craig Morganson is working to dispel myths and repair damage to Mexican Tourism and its impact on travel companies.

Click here to read the complete story.

Read a related article:

Los Californios Moto Club at the Roadrunner Cafe

The Los Californios Motorcycle Club has stopped and eaten at my wife's restaurant many times. These guys look like they are livin' large. What could be better than cruising the loop on a beautiful day in Baja California Sur with a nice bike and good friends? Not much in my estimation. Last Sunday they stopped for lunch and I went out to chat with them a bit. Fortunately many of them have great English so I don't have to embarrass myself with my below average Español! Yuri Lugo and I traded info and he emailed me the link to their site. Click here to see a slideshow from their ride.

Bisbee's Black and Blue Wrapup

And the winner is....

 
 Bad Medicine!!
You never know how this is going to turn out. Their first day fish won the overall prize. Great job guys.
See the final standings at CatchSat.com.  Great site with all the data and lots of videos.

Bisbee's Black and Blue Day Two Results

There were a lot of fish hooked today but only one weighed. Francisco Navarro fishing aboard the Pegasus landed a 329# Blue in about 9 minutes. He was entered in all the daily prize categories except 5 and 10 thousand. Their catch earned them 3rd place in the overall team standings. Congratulations to Francisco and crew for making the most of their opportunity. Got to the CatchStat site for more details.

Bisbee's Black and Blue Day One Results

Sounds like the first day of the Bisbee Black and Blue Marlin Tourney got off to a good start.  At last report, bad medicine was holding the top spot with a 409# Blue.  Here's a short video of the weigh in. Like I said before, if you can get over to the docks, it's pretty exciting watching the fish come in.



You can see all the results and videos from day 1 over at 'CatchStat.com'

746 LB Marlin Caught!

746 LB BLUE MARLIN, ONE DAY BEFORE BISBEE!

746-Pound Monster Marlin Caught on Bisbee Registration Day!

The Little Boat that Could…Pisces’ Tracy Ann!

Click here to read the story!

The Bisbee's Black and Blue is Due!

It's starting again: The 18th of October marks the umpteenth running of the Bisbee's Black and Blue Marlin Tournament. Hundreds of fishermen and ladies, pro and amateur, are going to plow the fertile waters around the Cape of San Lucas. Here they hope to catch and land the top prize which amounts to a small mountain of moolah!!! There have been several very large marlin caught already this fishing season including a behmoth Blue that was initially believed to be a genuine grander!!


I can't tell you anything about marlin fishing. But I can tell you that if you want to enjoy the Bisbee tournament, go hang out at the marina in Cabo for a few hours. Do some shopping, have lunch but keep an eye open for a crowd forming by the weigh-in scale. When the fish start coming in, it is exciting. One day at the 2010 tournament, an 800 pounder was weighed TEN MINUTES after the scales closed. It would have beaten the daily winner by 200 pounds.

Oh the joy of victory and the agony of defeat.

Colorful History of Hotel California

I found this in the online version of 'Escapes' magazine which is the official publication of Coldwell Banker Riveras. Great article, I think you'll enjoy it.

By Romana

The Hotel California was founded in, 1947, by a Chinese immigrant named Mr. Wong. After three years of construction, it opened on February 5, 1950,.  Mr. Wong lived in the 16 room hotel with his wife and seven daughters.  Wanting the locals to believe he was Mexican, Mr. Wong changed his name to Don Antonio Tabasco which didn’t work as well as he had planned since he soon became known as “El Chino,” meaning “The Chinese Man” rather than Don Antonio Tabasco.

Click here to continue...

Blood donors needed!!

Hi folks. Just got back from the states to find that our friend Susan Tucker is still in the hospital and needs blood. I also saw that Amparo's sister is in need of blood. Please check this link for more information. Thanks. Bob

Our Weather Station

For those who use it, our weather station is working fine.  However, there is a software glitch with the folks on the other end.  I've written both Weatherlink who are the gatherers of weather data from individual stations and Wunderground who are the folks that assimilate all that data and make forecasts and keep historical data.  I'm hoping they solve the problem soon.

Bob

Fishing Tourneys

I didn't post a fishing tournament schedule this year.  "Skipped a groove man" as my young friend from LA used to say. 

However the best are yet to come.  We still have the Dorado shootout which starts July 16.  I fished it once about  3 years ago and it was a hoot. What impressed me the most was how well organized it was, especially the awards dinner.  Capt. Kit McNear from Western Outdoor News was and still is in charge. From the start, it was a seminar on how to do it right.

It's almost time for the Bisbee East Cape fishing tourney again. Registration is July 26. I spent a lot of time there last year watching the boats come in.  The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat were experienced several times as  bigger fish came to the dock. Click here for the wrap up. I've known the Bisbee's Mexico organizer Clicerio Mercado for quite a while and he knows how to put on a good show. 

The last I'll mention is our own ALMA "For Pet's Sake" tourney.  It is a catch and release billfish contest that is scheduled for Oct. 28, 29, 30. I couldn't find results from 2010 on the internet but as I recall, the ladies team cleaned UP last year. Besides a bunch of good stuff, I think they won this year's entry into the Bisbee offshore.  WOW!

If you don't fish, you might want to get tickets to the award dinners. I haven't been to one yet that wasn't worth going to.

Caduaño Water Park

Donna and I stay pretty busy with the Roadrunner Cafe and other activities. So we went to the water park at Caduaño for the day to relax. It's only about 20 minutes from los Barriles.  It was our 3rd or maybe 4th time. If you haven't been, let me tell you a little about it.  It's not just a bunch of pools and slides; there are hundreds of square meters of beautiful landscaping, a volleyball court and several areas where you can walk or rest quietly that are away from the noise and activity.  They have plenty of parking and snack bars with good prices. There are many employees keeping things orderly, there is a first aid station that I had to use the last time we went (Bloodied my toe on a rock) and nice restrooms. This is as good as it gets folks. Where else can you spend all day in such pleasant surroundings for 150 pesos per adult?

I'm going to let you in on a secret. There is a beautiful pool that is pretty much exclusively used by groan-ups. I mean grown-ups. There are no slides, no spraying water tricks that lure the children. Wonderful place to hang out. And it's quiet!!! It's behind the kiddy pools. Check out the last photo in the slide show.

I always see someone I know there and this time was no different. This is an old friend Kelli Castiñeiras (and her boys), who has the MEX SUN day spa in San Jose del Cabo. I think Mr. Castiñeras was buying a bag of hamburgers at the time of the photo.



Here is a short slideshow to give you an idea of what goes on there. Below the slideshow, there is an individual photo that I had to bring to your attention. You can't come to Mexico without knowing what "baño" means but if you don't, you can surely tell by the graphic painted below the word "baños". If you have an Ipad that doesn't display the slide show, click here:

Enjoy.

Entrepreneurs in Mexico

The following article is an email from my pal Ed who is having an interesting time in Mexico this year.




Thanks everybody for the responses to my first report from Baja! Now it is time for an update.

Eileen is back from the Yucatan and is now selling Chiclets at the Tijuana border crossing. I’ve lost my singing and dancing job at Buzzard’s so I sold all my fishing gear and bought a second-hand Snap-On rollaway tool box, a Coleman stove and a lantern. I’ve converted it all into an “Ed’s Best Beans and Tacos” stand. Viva free enterprise and an honest peso!! Eileen is complaining about driving the Subaru because I used the bumper jack to make my tortilla press. She has negotiated the wholesale purchase of nine large portraits of Elvis on black velvet. I told her “Don’t let your business expansion replace quality”. Chiclets to Elvis is a big jump.

Slim, the Mexican communications magnate, came into town and bought a taco. I told him how my wife and I got into business and asked him if he would care to franchise the Best Beans and Chiclets enterprise. He noticed one of the velvet Elvis paintings so I told him the story. He was interested but wanted his portrait sold as opposed to Elvis’……It was decision time for Eileen………………

Love, Ed