The Crones' Chronicle

The epi-center of the quake struck about 70 miles from our place north of San Felipe. It was pretty frightening. We don’t know the official times, but, we could swear it lasted at least a minute plus. We were visiting our friend, Millie, over in the electric section of El Dorado Ranch when it hit. At first we thought the winds were picking up again from off of the mountains. Then, things began to shake, sway, and heave up and down. Buildings and electrical poles heaved back and forth and up and down. We are in a sparsely populated area, and the buildings are all single level. So, we didn’t experience the devastation felt in Mexicali and surrounding communities. Our place was fine. Here is a video taken at about the epicenter of quake by some people who happened to be traveling north on highway 5 when it hit. Pretty amazing footage.

The last several weeks have been spent preparing for the On-the-Border Sheepdog Trial, here in Campo, California at Jennifer and Ron Ewer’s place. Everyone has been busy drawing the run order and getting that information out to everyone; ordering and collecting food for the crew and the judge; cleaning up the trial field; moving and setting up the set-out pen; tarping the set-out and exhaust pens; preparing for parking; cleaning out stock tanks; repairing equipment; setting up port-a-potties; moving sheep around; and, on and on and on.

The range sheep, all 278 of them got here yesterday. And, they’ve been run through the set-out pen and chutes several times. They look big and healthy and challenging.

Wednesday has been scheduled as the day to set the course. We should begin to see trialers rolling in about then, or, on Thursday. Looking forward to seeing old friends again.

Saw this on moveon.org today.  Thought we’d share it with everyone.  Merry Christmas, Happy Winter Solstice, and Happy New Year to everyone!

The community of Percebu. Restaurant/bar in foreground with homes in the background.

March 5, 2009 Laguna Percebu, BC, Mexico

One of our favorite places to go is Laguna Percebu.  The last time we were here, we had our kayaks.  With the help of expert kayakers/seafarers Lynda and Sharron, we had timed the tide so that we could get in and out of the lagune in time to catch all of the spectacular bird watching.  The tide comes in and out of here so quickly that you almost have about an hour in which to see everything.  If you are unfortunate enough to not time things well, you’ll either wind up out to sea with the strong currents, or, you get to haul your kayak several hundred yards in the most God awful muck you’d ever want to be knee deep in.

Sharron tells Woody a little about the area, while the dogs look on hoping for a frisbee.

Today’s adventure was not to be of a kayaking kind.  Although Woody and Arlene did bring their kayak on the off chance that they might be able to put in at a different point.  Today we focused on getting down to Percebu by way of the old road to Puertocitos.  Lynda, Sharron, Lisbeth and I took our sand rails, while Woody and Arlene wanted to test out their “new” Suzuki desert car.

We drove south through the village of San Felipe before heading inland and south past Las Minitas.  Then, we hopped on to a power line road and followed it south about 8 miles before turning east, back to the Sea of Cortez.  The roads are all sand and dirt.  They are primarely washboards and what we call, “whoop-dee-doops.”  The trick is to drive fast enough to skim along the tops of the washboards without killing yourself or the vehicle.  It’s easier to do in a sand rail than it is to do in a car.  So, Lynda, Sharron and us faired much better than Woody and Arlene with their short wheel based car.

View of the beach at Percebu with the tide out

Being off the paved highway allows you to really enjoy the spectacular views of the desert and the hills in the area.  You also have a chance to see rural desert life, stripped of tourist trappings.  This is when you begin to realize that when you come down here to the Baja, you find yourself either loving it or hating it.  There is no middle ground.

Percebu, itself, is a remnant of what was once a small fishing “campo.”  Many fishing campos dot the beachscape up and down the Sea of Cortez.  Today, it is inhabited by a mix of Mexican locals and American/Canadian ex-pats.  There is a small restaurant bar with bathrooms.  Sometimes you’ll be lucky and find it open.  There are also a series of palapas (palm frond covered shade area) where you can park your RV, or, just come and have a picnic.  There is a small charge on vehicles that use the area.

Although we found the restaurant open on this trip, we had already planned a picnic lunch.  Lisbeth has been dying to cook shrimp on the Cobb grill at the beach.

Lisbeth cooking the shrimp on the Cobb grill for the shrimp tacos.

So, she got her wish.  Everyone brought lots of goodies to munch on and beer and pop to drink while we waited for the shrimp tacos.  The dogs had an opportunity to run and play on the beach.  Liddy with her neon green tampon toy, Finn with his chuck-it squirrel, and Gabi and Tristan with the frisbee.  Fly, was Fly.  Chasing everyone that moved!

Coming home we opted to take the paved road along the coastline.  By taking this route, you can begin to understand just how many little fishing campos really do continue to exist in this area. We also pass by the Giant Saguaro forest and the south beach homes of San Felipe.

We got home mid afternoon, well-fed, tired, and happy.  Thanks, Lisbeth for the great shrimp tacos! And, thanks to everyone else for the good munchies!

February 28, 2009 Las Minitas, South of San Felipe, BC, Mexico

SFAR shade pavillion for the dogs in the summer

There are two major animal related service organizations here in San Felipe.  The oldest of the two organizations is the San Felipe Animal Rescue.  Within the last three years a second organization has come onto the scene: ZAPP (Zero Animal Pupulation Growth).  Our understanding is that originally these two groups attempted to coordinate their efforts (even though they apparantly don’t share a common philosophy).  ZAPP is dedicated to spaying and neutering every dog and cat they can in the San Felipe area.  They believe that, in so doing, they will eventually eliminate stray and un-wanted dogs and cats in the area.  Initially, they would go into an area and capture strays to spay and neuter.  Their work with the locals has been so successful that people are now beginning to bring animals to them for this service.  They conduct clinics every two weeks.  With the help of volunteer vets from Mexicalli and the US, and, under the supervision of a local Mexican veterinarian, they spay or neuter up to 50 dogs and cats in every clinic.  ZAPP also believes that once the animal has been spayed or neutered, they should be treated for any other ailments and released back into the environment from which they originated.

Baja puppy waiting to be adopted

SFAR (San Felipe Animal Rescue), on the other hand, was created as both a sanctuary and an adoption center for the strays in San Felipe. They are a no-kill facility.  Somehow the the two organizations managed to work together and maintain somewhat separate fundraising strategies.  Recently, however, SFAR lost it’s major donor.  And, the two organizations have decided their political differences are just too insurmountable to continue any cooperative ventures.   SFAR decided to throw a Hoe Down BBQ Benefit to help raise much needed funding for their organization.  Needless to say, Lisbeth and I, along with friends Lynda, Sharron, Woody, Arlene and many others were more than happy to attend and contribute.  We were very impressed with what they have been able to create out of a virtual wasteland.  The dogs in their care appeared well fed and cared for under the circumstances. Veterinary services equal to the services we are used to in the States are scarce or non-existant.  So, it’s a miracle that these dogs are in as good a shape as they are. Here are a few photos of the event.  We’ve also included a video produced by SFAR explaining their mission.  Please take a few minutes and watch it.  Then,  find a moment to go to their web site at http://www.sfanimalrescue.org to make a donation.

February 22, 2009 San Felipe, BC, Mexico

Lynda, Lisbeth, and Sharron on the Malecon waiting for the parade

Every year during carnival time, visitors and locals can expect to be entertained by the San Felipe Carnival Parade.  We are guessing that this year’s theme was “sea world.”  The parade usually occurs on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday.  It can begin any time between two and four in the afternoon, depending on who you talk to.  This year we were told that the parade wouldn’t happen on Sunday.  We decided to go into town anyway and take our chances.  We had a drink on the Malecon (the main street that runs along the beach) and at about 3:30 decided nothing really was going to happen, so decided to walk around downtown before going home.  Jus t as we were about to get to the car, we noticed floats lining up for the parade.

Girl

As usual, we were not disappointed.  The children’s routines were delightful.  And, the music was particularly loud and rousing.  Here were some of the things we saw and heard. Since we weren’t able to catch it on the Malecon, this year we give it four tortugas.

Watch and hear a bit of the parade:

San Felipe Carnival Parade 2009