Puerto Penasco to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

On Friday, we drove from Puerto Penasco to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

Some views along the road...

The road was in pretty good condition.

Obviously the no-passing solid line on your side only applies to *some* people!

 Some signs along the way...

Flash flood area

Welcome to Sonoyta (the border town where we would cross back into the US).

Warning about a "Topes" or speed bump -- it was nice when there was a warning sign... there weren't always any notice at all, and although the speed bump may have been painted yellow at some point in the past, the crew that paints speed bumps seems to be lax on their job...

We had seen signs on our way down that we were in a "Hassle Free Vehicle Zone". I wasn't sure what that implied until looking it up now that we're back in the US -- evidently in the border areas, you can drive a US licensed vehicle without an import permit being required - these are designated as "hassle free zones".

Coming up to the US border - Steve and Nancy are in the motorhome with pickup truck towed behind just ahead of us. No pictures allowed of the border crossing area. We had an uneventful crossing - they just asked if we had anything to declare, we told what things we had purchased and were bringing back, and no one came onto our rig to find out if we had any other items that we had not declared. We did not mention things that we had previously acquired in the US and were bringing back.

An ocotillo at Organ Pipe - most of them are looking very green and "plump" and some are blooming.

We waited to fill with water and dump when we arrived at Organ Pipe - there was quite a queue as only one of the fresh water spigots was working... Carl is there at the side of Gracie monitoring as the water was filling.

The entry and exit to sites at Organ Pipe are quite tight -- I should have taken pictures of us working our way into the site - the hardest thing to avoid is the sign with the site number on it -- we realize that part of the "charm" of the campground is the abundance of desert plants....

...as one of the campsites next to us has discovered as they have their slide out very very close to a saguaro!

There are very limited generator hours here in the campground at Organ Pipe (8-10am and 4-6pm), so we got the propane stove out to heat up lunch after we arrived.

We drove down into the town of Ajo (about 35 miles away) to get a few groceries, fill up our drinking water containers (we used about 14 gallons in 14 days while in Mexico), and to meet friends Steve and Nancy at the Elks Lodge for supper.

Supper included a broccoli salad, potatoes au gratin, and a delicious pork chop, as well as a dessert, for $10. Yum!

We have 8 nights booked at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. We're looking forward to some time to be quiet and enjoy seeing beautiful night skies, hiking, and desert flora (and maybe fauna too).

A quiet last day in Puerto Penasco

No pictures from Thursday! 

Our last day in Puerto Penasco - it was still windy, but not as bad as on Wednesday. We worked on eating any fresh fruits and vegetables and any meats that we would not be allowed to take back to the US. Since we've been here almost 2 weeks, we had quite a lot of things to put away (Carl says that the longer you stay in a place the more the rig grows "roots" that make it take that much longer to get ready to go). Our friends Pam and Ada decided to join up with another group that were heading to Baja (the western peninsula) and they left Thursday morning. We enjoyed our last day with Steve and Nancy, Wayne and Amanda. The plan is to leave by about 9am on Friday morning on our way toward the border, where Carl and I and Miss Kitty will stay about a week at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

More painting on Gracie

We had had a to-to list entry to sand down our entry steps and re-paint them, so Carl asked Santiago on Tuesday if he could get that done before we leave. Santiago agreed with Carl on a price and said he would be there Wednesday morning between 8-9am to sand and paint our steps.

We were busy making potato soup for later in the day when Santiago's crew arrived at 8:30am, so I stayed inside the rig and Carl went outside to provide them power and answer questions if they had any and to take pictures.

They started by removing the non-skid material (that was already peeling off)...

And then started sanding -- they sanded underneath too...

Since I was stuck inside, and Carl was stuck outside, I made coffee for him and sliced him some banana bread... (I put a sign at the window "Patti's Coffee and Tea Shoppe").

They have started putting primer on... and, since they have masked off the door, I now cannot exit the rig...

I decided (based on input from our fellow campers) that there were a few other services that I could offer from my service window and started updating my sign...

Updated sign (see next picture)

Some explanations: Carl turned in his coffee cup after drinking it to get it washed ("dish washing"), I had written thank you notes to our friends and passed them out to Carl to deliver ("mail"), "Counseling" (ala Lucy from Peanuts), "Bug Supplier" because we *still* have brown stinkbugs that we picked up in Pennsylvania (we find 5-15 each day and kill them) -- some have been found on the ground outside our rig so our friends say that we've become a bug supplier to Mexico, "Car Warranties" because... well... why not? "Spreadsheets while U wait" and "Data bases on demand" because I love making spreadsheets and analyzing data, and "Almost Free Today!!" because that's what we hear from all the folks selling stuff here in Puerto Penasco.

First coat going on edge

More paint on the edge

Finished steps - we're not using the steps to step on yet - they should be dry enough, but we want to be sure - so we have a stepstool and outside step to the side that we are using to get in and out.

Another picture of the completed job.

We have anti-slip material that we plan to put on, but want the paint to be cured before we do that. We are very happy with the job they did.

It was very windy at Puerto Penasco today, it was a little windy while they were working but came up even more after they had finished painting, so we spent most of the day inside. Nancy and Steve had us all over to their rig for supper -- we took the potato soup that we had made. Nancy made a song parody for our anniversary and she and Wayne collaborated on singing it for us -- I uploaded it to YouTube and it is only available if you have the link:

https://youtu.be/gEfOABjqVOo

Thank you Nancy and Wayne!

Happy Anniversary

Our 2nd anniversary is 2-2-22, but our friends decided to celebrate it on Twosday (Tuesday) because the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed on Wednesday.

We started with a shared breakfast - Nancy made burrito fixings and we had delicious fruit.

We did laundry and found this sign at the laundry room door in the RV park.

Ready to leave for dinner -- Steve was coming around with our "chariot" (pick up truck) to take us to the restaurant.

Our group at dinner

Such a sweet card (we both cried)

My glasses are off because I was tearing up!

Side salad before dinner

Ravioli

After dinner, the waiter brought us a dessert

"Happy Aniversary(sic)"

Our group sang us the Flintstones, "Happy Anniversary" song...

And then the waiter sung us an Italian love song

The Italian restaurant where we ate was next door to the Mexican one where we had had lunch the day before - way up on the hill above the town.

Our goal was to eat early enough to return to the campground before sunset (we'd prefer not to be out on the streets after dark).

A beautiful sunset - So lovely!

Since it is our 2nd anniversary on 2-2-22 (2-2-2-2), I told Carl that we should be going to the ballet to see people in 2-2s (tutus)... I think he is glad that we are in Puerto Penasco where there is no ballet to be found...

Happy anniversary to us!

Second day of cleaning

We had a second day of cleaning on Monday...

... but this time, it was the Jeep's turn... and... it needed it!

Edgar waxing the Jee-rage

All done! So shiny!

We went to La Casa de Capitan for a late lunch

Lighthouse next to the restaurant

Our group at lunch on the outside terrace

Carl and I shared fish tacos and nachos

Beautiful views from this restaurant which is located way up the hill...

Looking northward

northeast (the RV park is about in the middle on the far side of the water)

A look more down toward the businesses and town below us (the Malecon).

A more panoramic view

Looking west out across the Gulf of California