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Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Strange days indeed!

The weather has been odd lately. 

Over Friday night we had some showers and again on Saturday morning when I went for my 7am walk.  By 9am it had cleared off a bit but the wind was icy cold and we closed the door.  About an hour later the temperature had risen to over 80F and the wind had changed direction.  By the afternoon it was stifling hot and over 90F with low humidity…what the heck.  By 7pm we actually had to run the A/C for the first time since December.  Eric was way too hot doing the dishes and said he just couldn’t work under these conditions so…on with the air! 

The last couple of days have been warmer but the ocean is chilly and rough and Eric hasn’t been able to swim except for one day and even that wasn’t very good.   The swell has been large and there has been a strong current with really rough water.  Eric loves to swim so these conditions aren’t making him a happy camper. 

We are starting to get road reports about travel from Mazatlan to the American border.  Frank and Sandi crossed at Nogales yesterday and Frank said next year he’s going out through Lukeville like he usually does.  They had to wait over and hour at the border and he also said that the road from Military check point north of Hermosillo to the border wasn’t very good.  There has been a lot of concern about going out through the Lukeville crossing as it was bad coming south in the fall.  Some rigs coming south had to go down into the ditch around bridges that were being rebuilt and said they weren’t going home that way.  We have just heard from Cathy and Doug who went out through Lukeville that the road heading north from Santa Ana to Lukeville is actually pretty good.  There was a  little paving being done just north of Caborca that may be finished by the time we leave.  We will get another report from Carole and Richard as they will leave Mazatlan about ten days ahead of us.  We had considered leaving through Nogales but at this point we have decided to go out through Lukeville as usual.   Road reports are always helpful at this time of the year.  Of course everyone’s idea of road conditions vary  depending on what type of rig they are driving.  The motorhomes seem to have a much easier time enduring the road conditions than those of us in pick up trucks hauling 5th wheels. 

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We have a lot of different trees in the RV park.  Park owner Felipe has planted many trees that have all sorts of types of fruits and even nuts on them.  This big lumpy orangy looking fruit is some sort of a cross between an orange and a lemon.  I looked it up on line and it appeared to be something called an Ugli that is supposed to be edible and eaten like an orange.  Nope!  It is really, really tart and will have to be juiced and used as you would lemon juice.  Felipe said that the Mexicans like it with lobster. 

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When I went over to visit Val the other day she pointed out the very tiny baby iguana over by the fence.  Can you spot it in the leaf litter?

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You have to be careful when you are this small as something just might eat you!  He is nibbling on the small leaves growing along the fence.

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Pretty little thing.

Val was unpotting some of her very damaged plants when I arrived.  The Chachalacas had smashed her Poinsetta and it was toast.  Her hibiscus were missing their lower leaves as the Iguanas had eaten them but they will survive.  Hard to keep a potted plant looking nice here.  As I’ve said before I do lots of gardening at home and don’t have any interest in it when I’m in Mazatlan. 

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The park is over run by Chachalacas.  The description of these birds says that they are “ secret denizens of dense thickets” ….well, not so much.  They fly poorly and are always launching themselves at the trees with a huge crash.  Once in the tree they walk around eating whatever they can find.  This tree is across from us and I took this silhouette picture through the window while sitting in my chair in the rig.

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Sort of looks like a peacock and it is just as noisy with all sorts of interesting chatter.   There are quite a few flocks in the park and they all squawk at each other.  They travel around the park like quail and are really interesting to watch. 

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The last three pictures show them in the evening light and you can see how pretty they are.  The Chacha with his mouth open is squawking very loudly.  Fun birds!

2 comments:

  1. I really appreciate the travel reports heading North. We had decided to use Nogales for the first time in 10 years but now have changed our minds and will stick with Lukeville.

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  2. Hi Contessa: I will post again about the road from Santa Ana to Lukeville after Carol and Richard go out. It was Doug and Cathy's first time going out through Lukeville and they were in a truck pulling a 5th wheel. Carol and Richard are in a motorhome (without a towed.) Carol will send me a detailed report when she gets to the states and I will forward it to you.

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